Tuesday, 30 December 2014

Why do expats go home? Why do they seek new overseas ‘havens’?

Being an expat is hard.
Somehow, that fact is lost in the media hype that seems to suggest that living in a foreign country is easy, cheap, and romantic. As someone who has spent almost half of his life overseas— and happily so, for the most part — I can tell you that the hype paints an unrealistic and incomplete picture.
According to a 1990 survey by the London School of Economics, the average time an expat spends overseas is about three and a half years. The survey focused on British, Canadian, and Australian expats but, from my 30 years of living abroad, it squares with what I’ve seen personally. Also from my experience, I believe the average time frame as an expat seems to be shorter in Southeast Asia — at least among English-speakers — but slightly longer in Mexico and Panama.
My research and experience also lead me to believe that the three-and-a-half-year expat time frame is about right for Cuenca and Ecuador.
Interesting article from
http://cuencahighlife.com/category/expat-life/

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