Expats are friendlier and more adventurous than the average traveller.
We’re the kind of people who “do” rather than plan. We treat our homes like a holiday destination to be explored and appreciated, rather than stay at home to watch the latest episode of Masterchef and think about that next big trip. We’re risk-takers. We’re open to new people.
And we’re fun to be around.
All this according to Ben Groundwater, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Backpacker, in one of his latest articles (Read: What we could all learn from expats). I enjoy Ben’s work and this piece is no exception. I think he’s onto something.
Expats and travellers are different.
Ain’t no party like an expat party. Credit: Tambako the Jaguar (Flickr Creative Commons) |
A foot in both camps
I see myself as both an expat and a traveller.
I’ve lived abroad for extensive periods of time but I also travel as my passion and my hobby. I don’t believe the two are mutually exclusive – they can actually compliment each other.
When I travel abroad, I no longer look at a holiday destination as just that. I want to go deeper. I want to look beyond the tourist traps. I want to hear the heartbeat of a place and understand what makes it tick. I want to know how and why it works the way it does.
I want to know what it feels like to live there and I want to spend my holiday living like a local.
When returning to my UK home and once I’ve booked my London accommodation online, rather than plan my trip around what things to see and do, I contact people I know who’ve moved there or returned to London from overseas.
We spend time with these expat or repat friends, knowing they’ll show us the city they live and breathe, not the London of the tourist guide or travel magazine, and they’ll do it enthusiastically. We’ll see their city through the lens of their daily life and we’ll experience London as Londoners do, not as a backpacker or cashed-up tourist might see it.
Travel and expat life can support each other, but they are not one and the same.
There are differences
Expats are more adventurous.
It’s one thing to travel to a far-flung travel destination but another to make it a long-term home. It takes guts to leave family and friends behind. It takes strength of character to land in a relatively unknown country and start a brand new life there. It takes courage not to run back home at the first setback, to make yourself stay put when every emotion screams at you to give up and return to your familiar comfort zone.
I treat every single day in my adopted home as precious and unique. Every moment is a fresh experience and even when I’ve seen or done something before, it doesn’t matter – it never feels old or overly familiar to me and that makes life interesting. These experiences don’t end after a matter of weeks or months. They form my ongoing expat lifestyle.
Expats are friendlier.
They have to be. To survive as an expat means making an effort with the locals, other expats, your neighbours. This attitude of opening yourself up to strangers and embracing their culture and their way of life rubs off when you meet other expats and travellers who want to learn more about you.
It’s impossible not to smile, to welcome them into your world, to give them help and advice, to offer support, to show them how to have fun around town. It’s do or die and it goes with the expat territory.
The truth about expats
Expats are more adventurous and friendlier than travellers but are they happier? Life abroad is like an eternal holiday for most, myself included, but for some the honeymoon can quickly end.
With expat life comes a multitude of issues – from intense homesickness to frequent loneliness, problems at integration to difficulties with finding a regular job. Expats might talk about how wonderful life is but many secretly still pine for the homeland, wondering should they move back or shouldn’t they?
Expats also form cliques which can alienate newcomers. Some create groups around class lines, some whinge and whine, others constantly compare and contrast to their home countries, and it’s safe to say a few have annoyed the locals over time.
While these are emotional burdens that the average traveller would gladly pass on by, take away the negatives and you have an infinitely richer and more fulfilling life that travel alone cannot buy.
Or do you.
Is expat life more fulfilling than travel alone? Are expats and travellers all that different? Which would you rather be – expat, traveller or both?
Sarah Ward says
I definitely think Expats are more adventurous. I think you really make an effort to explore the country you have chosen to make your home away from home. You try things you may never have thought to do in your country of origin.
Roma says
I would agree Expats tend to be more fearless than your run-of-the-mill traveller. I wonder if that’s because Expats tend to be more resilient. They’ve been through more so therefore they can handle more? (By that I mean homesickness, loneliness, the emotional rollercoaster that is long-term travel)
That being said, I don’t necessarily find them “welcoming”. Maybe they are when you compare them to a tourist that wants to get their passport stamped a photo with the local icon (Eiffel tower, Coliseum etc) but when it comes to making “friends”, Expats and locals alike can fall into the “I already have friends” trap.
Be open, welcome new people into your life, they just might surprise you.
Liv says
Expats are often more outgoing but I think they can be just as fearful as other travellers sometimes. Expats who only befriend other expats for example are missing out on a huge part of the experience.
Laura Fortey says
Very interesting topic Russ! In my opinion being an expat is love hate. There is always a feeling of never fitting in and this is both positive and negative. I always loved that I was different but did have a hard time befriending the locals because they just assume expats will leave. I found that i didnt catch many of the jokes and people never really understood me. However, Being a traveller, locals are either overly friendly or abnormally rude. As a traveller you can never really know a place like the locals do. It will always be “your version” of a place. Which is usually completely different to how things truly are. I think it’s up to the personal choice of how you want to see a place.
I prefer expat life personally and can’t wait to live it again!
Patti Pokorchak says
Totally agree. I made a point to not hang out with other English speaking people until I became totally fluent in German. Why bother traveling around the world to hang out with your fellow citizens!?! I agree when you get homesick, it’s nice to hear a familiar accent but the reason to travel is to experience new things and new people, not to say that you can’t learn that from your fellow citizens but typically it’s more interesting to meet a native.
I’ve been both traveller and expat, for me it was my motto of ‘life with no regrets’ and after spending 6 weeks in Europe, I knew I wanted to come back for a longer time – one year to travel and I ended up staying for 9 years in total. Europe became my home but Canada was always there waiting for me to return.
Anastasia ASHMAN says
Very short answer for a much longer thought process. (See some here: http://www.expatharem.com/2009/11/19/hybrid-writing/ )
I don’t know if it’s about being ‘adventurous’ per se, but expats operate with higher stakes than most travelers. Commitments are deeper, personal, professional and cultural conflicts carry more weight. I bet once you’ve been an expat you become a different kind of traveler because you have a deeper understanding of new-to-you places, if at the very least because you naturally ask “what would it be like if I lived here?”.
wren says
As an Expat you have more time to really get to know a place, but every day life can get in the way…Once you get into routine of work, the school run, kids weekend sport, language classes, volunteering, that can kill the spontaneity and any adventurous side! We always made a pact that once a month we would go off exploring and every school holiday we’d travel.
As a traveller if you don’t like a place you move on, simple easy. As an expat you’re there for the duration, you have a different mindset. As a traveller life is all about “how lucky am I to be here, to see this”, as an expat don’t get me wrong I have had the most brilliant life as an expat, but you also get the days of ‘what the…, I have to live this?!!!!
I am more fearless as a traveller than as an expat because I know less about the risks, once you live in a place you know more…!
Wren
MsXpat says
Its true you get to know your ‘adopted’ country better. Yet, I’d love to do both. I think after a while as an expat you feel more settled its more adventurous to be a traveller, life is always fresh. I think.
Russell V J Ward says
I agree that both go hand in hand because the desire to travel originally led to you considering a life abroad and experiencing other places. It’s good to always challenge yourself and mix things up so travel helps in that regard. I also love to do both.
Russell V J Ward says
Thanks Wren. Some great points there. As an expat, you definitely have more time to sit back, soak it up, and potentially take it for granted where as a traveller would count their lucky stars that they’re there and would be living in that moment. So I try to live my expat life as a traveller would. I appreciate everything around me and, whenever I travel around my local area, I really work hard to take it all in because who knows how long this expat life will go on for.
I’m fortunate that I get to travel through the blog and that keeps me inspired but I do understand that every day life still finds a way of getting in the way. Thanks for making me think some more about this!
Russell V J Ward says
Hey Anastasia, will check out that link for sure. Your last point is really interesting. I’ve noticed that whenever I travel to a new place, I always ask myself what it would be like to live there. Before it was simply about the moment, the experience, but now I want to get under the surface of a place and know it better. I have become a different traveller.
As the worldly ex-expat that you are, I do appreciate your insights and comment – thanks for adding to the mix π
Russell V J Ward says
Absolutely. And you would know better than most! π
Russell V J Ward says
Yep, for sure. And I see that kind of expat everywhere with many unfortunately returning home after a few years. I’ve had it easy in that I’ve often had no choice but to mix with the ‘locals’ so that temptation hasn’t existed for me but I can imagine that when the fear of a new life kicks in, it could be all-too-easy to mix in your own circles, so to speak.
Russell V J Ward says
Thanks Patti. Exactly – why bother indeed?! Life with no regrets is a great motto. I try to love by that too. Whereabouts in Europe did you spend 9 years? One place or several?
Russell V J Ward says
Happy to oblige, Laura! So where next for you on your expat travels? Back to the UK or somewhere further afield? Expats can certainly be perceived as ‘temporary’ but I think travellers are labelled with that badge even more so. Even when you plan to spend 6 months or a year somewhere, you’ll only see as much as time and budget allow. But I think you hit it on the head – it’s a personal choice of how you want to see a place. Expat life suits some, being on the road suits others. Either way, we’re all getting off our butts and experiencing this world!
Russell V J Ward says
Hey Roma, I think expats try to go into this knowing they’ll need to be more resilient – it’s a longer term proposition (usually). But travel still has it’s own fears – maybe they’re just different, rather than one being ‘more’ than the other.
I agree that expats, locals and even travellers can all fall into the ‘already have friends’ trap. I’ve always found integrating the hardest part – not just fitting in to the culture but being prepared to constantly put yourself out there and meet the people. Being open, turning a blind eye to the odd negative comment, and meeting potential new friends. Without doing this, you’re effectively alone.
Thanks for adding to the conversation π
Patti Pokorchak says
I traveled from Ireland to Greece and Tunisia and everywhere inbetween. I lived in England and Germany.
Russell V J Ward says
Great. Thanks for sharing. You got to see much of the continent then!
Laura Fortey says
It’s interesting, because at the moment I’m applying for jobs all over the world! I am eager to have a new adventure and we’ll see where my skills can take me! Seeing as how I’ll be heading out about January, it would be great (smart) to go someplace like Aus…never know; maybe I’ll be your neighbour!
Russell V J Ward says
Good luck with it all and hope to see you over here soon then π January is a pretty good time of year to arrive, neighbour!
Jo Carroll says
I had no choice – married to a stay-at-home with children kept me in the UK. Divorce, remarriage, widowhood – great deterrents to itchy feet. So expat life was impossible.
Now – I’ve children and grandchildren. And I gave up work in my mid-50s to travel round the world on my own – not many women do that. I came home, wrote a book, and then went off again, and again … Are Expats really more adventurous than that?
And friendly – I’ve met the most astonishing people on my travels, and some grumpy ones as well.
Russell V J Ward says
Great insights, Jo. I wondered how long it would take before a diehard traveller jumped in so thank you for showing the travel perspective. Do you think travellers are as resilient as expats? As I say that, I think of expats I know who have struggled and of travellers I know who have stayed away for years at a time in pursuit of their passion. But I’m keen to know how you feel? Do you think you had to be built of tougher stuff to do what you’ve done over and over, and travel where you have?
Wendy DeChambeau says
Good food for thought.
I think the level of adventurousness and happiness absolutely depends on the person. Where I now live there is a large population of retired ex-pats; some are eager to explore and others never leave their condo. Personally being an ex-pat has made me more adventurous on my travels and more comfortable just hanging with the locals rather than seeking out spots where other Americans might be.
Expat Explorers says
I’m an expat when I’m living day to day and a traveller when I’m exploring beyond that. Perhaps that’s the difference between depth of understanding (an expat) compared to breadth of discovery (traveller). Exploration generally helps you clean the sand from your eyes and see life from different angles. But my basic quest is to understand how we live how and where we do. Surely it’s about your approach rather than a label.
Russell V J Ward says
Thanks Wendy. And it’s great to hear you prefer to get out there and live like the locals do rather than jump to your expat community. They have their benefits but nothing beats hanging with the local people π
Russell V J Ward says
Great perspective and I tend to agree. The labelling has always seemed unhelpful. Even after ten years away, I rarely see myself as an expat and more as a new immigrant to the countries I’ve called home.
Rebecca Hall says
Great post! I am an ‘expat’ living in Greece and I love my mix of expat and local friends. I work for a Greek company, I also travel write so I get to travel solo too – I get the best of both worlds. I no enjoy visiting my home country – the UK – and get joy from the things I never noticed before when I lived there.
Russell V J Ward says
Thanks Rebecca! Great insights and I love the sound of your life there π I also found joy in many things I hadn’t noticed before on my recent visit to the UK – things that had always been right under my nose!