How
do I plan and budget for the transition back home?
Heading back home can
be expensive!
Returning
home is often more expensive than heading overseas.
Usually, heading overseas, you'll already have a job set
up. Your employer might be picking up your plane
ticket, housing and other start-up expenses. Also, life
overseas is often a less competitive environment. You
won't feel nearly as pressured to have a nice car, have
the latest bling, all the latest gadgets, and so on.
Many people are overseas to enjoy a more relaxed
lifestyle.
Plan your
Costs
If you
haven't bought a home with your overseas savings (many
people do!), plan on several months rent, plus security
deposits of a month or two. Don't forget the costs of
turning on the utilities or changing them over to your
name.
Transportation Costs
Some places
you just can't get around without a car. Public
transportation is inadequate. So, the costs of a car and
insurance must be factored in (big expenses!). If
you drive and insure a car while you are overseas - be
sure to get a letter from your car insurance company.
Assuming no accidents and no claims, have them write a
"to whom it may concern" letter documenting your driving
and insurance history. Insurance companies in your
home country will consider you to be a very high risk if
you have not been insured recently. You can save
several thousand dollars a year with that letter - don't
forget to get it!
The Reverse
Job Hunt
Plan on at
least a month or two of expenses before you land the
right job. Add in the cost of appropriate clothing if
you don't have it.
Can Do
Attitude!
Approach the
return home with the same spirit you headed off
overseas. For me, after being overseas since 1989 - it
really would be heading to another foreign country!
I truly feel I belong on Phuket Island, it is my home
now. And when I go back to the States to visit family,
I feel a bit out of place. It would be an
enjoyable challenge to re-establish myself there.
Read the section about Reverse Culture Shock to
understand what you might go through.
