Like so many others, I became fascinated with the idea of setting off into the Alaskan wilderness to find the Magic Bus. The Magic Bus, where free-spirited adventurer Christoper McCandless aka. Alexander Supertramp found a tragic end in 1992. The Magic Bus was located just North outside of Denali National Park, along the Stampede Trail near a small town called Healy. In the Alaskan wilderness.
Being an expat is not always easy. You have to battle homesickness and culture shocks. Not to mention your family and friends, who - we know - love us and want what's best for you but keep asking when you are moving back because - let's face it - what is even the point of living abroad during a global pandemic? Yes, living abroad during a global pandemic is especially hard. When all things hit the fan, it is time to give yourself an expat pep-talk.
I am a self-proclaimed expat. If someone asks a room full of people who is an expat, I raise my hand. I publish blog posts in an 'expat' category and use #expatlife on my Instagram posts. Unfortunately, the word expat has an image problem. I don't really have a negative association with the word expat, but some people do. I also sometimes get the question 'Why do you consider yourself an expat rather than an immigrant?' and sometimes I ask myself the same. This is my fourth year not living in my home country and I think it's time to peel back the layers and look into the expat vs immigrant debate.
I haven’t lived in my home country for three years now and recently wrote an article about the things I love about living abroad. And I do! I love living abroad (otherwise I wouldn’t still be doing it, right?) and I encourage everyone to give it a try if they are thinking about it. However, I don’t want to pretend that everything is all sunshine. Living abroad can be hard. I want to give a realistic picture of what it’s like living in another country, so I guess it’s time to shed more light on the downs.
For a year I have been working from my bedroom in an apartment in Dublin. I don't have many exciting things to report, because I have barely left the city due to the lockdown radius the Irish government implements during high lockdown stages. Being an expat during a global pandemic is hard. Here are some tips that helped me cope with >12 months of a global pandemic and several lockdowns.
A global pandemic has been hitting the world for more than a year. Traveling - if possible at all - is a small nightmare with COVID tests, quarantines, and calls from local health authorities. Restaurants, shops, pubs, museums are still closed in many countries. The highlights of my day are the walk to the supermarket and a walk along the canal in my neighborhood. Over the past couple of months, I have lived through various degrees of lockdowns with a radius of 2 km, 5 km, curfews, and police controls. Don't get me wrong - I understand why all of this is necessary. But locked away in my shared apartment in Dublin is certainly not how I envisioned my life as an expat in Ireland.
I have the Big Day app installed on my phone, where you can count days up or down for a specific event. I realized last week, that I had moved to Ireland 1000 days ago. Wow, 1000 days, that’s quite some time - two and a half years. For those of you who don’t know my story, I left Germany in 2016 and moved to the States for a year. After returning to Germany, I lived in Berlin for a year before packing my bags again to move to Ireland. Of course, there are some things that are difficult when living abroad, but here’s what I love!
When moving abroad, things will most likely not be all sunshine. In this post, I wrote about the 5 phases of moving abroad. Today, I would like to give you some tips on each of them and how to overcome feelings like homesickness or culture shocks. I have moved from Germany to the US, back to Germany, and then to Ireland. While I know, that some of these tips might not help everyone, they definitely did the trick for me and I hope that one or the other might find them useful.
There's a difference between people who travel to a country for a limited amount of time and people who actually chose to live in a foreign country. And while I absolutely encourage everyone to pack their bags and travel the world whenever they can fit it into their busy schedules, I salute all of you who board a plane and take the leap without having a return ticket in their pocket.
There's an emotional roller coaster coming with moving abroad and actually living in another country. Making that decision is always nerve-wrecking. You probably feel excited and nervous as the same time - particularly if you've never done such a huge step before. And it can drive you crazy. So a thing to definitely keep in mind when you are considering moving abroad is, that it won't all be sunshine. But another thing to keep in mind is that it is definitely worth it, because you will for sure learn something.
Even though I am huge Christmas fan and Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday, I actually also quite like New Year’s Eve. I know this holiday tends to spark a lot of controversies with people expecting the best party of their lives and sometimes a lot of pressure from family and friends to be all social and happy. What I do like about it though, is that this holiday is not about getting presents, it is all about new beginnings and chances. I also quite like that many cultures and religions do celebrate the new year in one way or another, so it feels like something a lot of people have in common.
Many people consider Berlin to be one of the most fascinating cities there are. Many young Germans think it is an exciting place you should have at least lived once in your life, with all its culture and many neighbourhoods. Many foreigners come to Berlin because it’s artsy, it’s cheap and you don’t need to speak any German in order to get along. I however, have struggled with this city and I think it will never be one of my favourite places to live. The city and I have a difficult relationship.
Hi, I'm Kate - the person behind Kate Rebel! And I love a good adventure - whether on my next vacation, in my everyday life, or between the pages of a book. So why not write about it? I hope you enjoy this little space, where I share the adventures of my expat life abroad, at home, and from one or another book my nose is currently stuck into. Feel free to reach out, ask questions or give feedback!
Kate Rebel is an expat, travel and adventure blog sharing stories from abroad, my everyday life and the books my nose is currently stuck into. Feel free to reach out to me - I am always open for questions and comments!
