Hi - this is so common, and it resonated. Especially this...
"Even after making a few expat friends, there was still a loneliness that never quite went away. Building community takes time anywhere, but when language, culture, and social rhythms are different, that process moves more slowly than we expected."
And the school issues, which were a real struggle for my children.
I live in France where everything is grey most of the year. I know from grey.
There is so much to consider that's hard to imagine before you actually live abroad. In fact - I think a lot of people don't really want to imagine or think about the loneliness - or the endless "tiny-traumas." Good luck to you back home.
Thank you so much! I honestly wish we would have considered Spain instead. But I won’t grow old wondering what the experience would be like because we tried it.
I won’t get into the business difficulties here because they aren’t something most people will probably ever experience.
I would love to hear more. Most people who use the DAFT visa seem to be ZZP’ers, often YouTubers; you wrote earlier about the challenges of going the BV route. In other words, you took the entrepreneurial opportunity seriously. Sharing a postmortem on the experience makes a lot of sense if you ask me, and honors the original intent of the DAFT.
Hi - this is so common, and it resonated. Especially this...
"Even after making a few expat friends, there was still a loneliness that never quite went away. Building community takes time anywhere, but when language, culture, and social rhythms are different, that process moves more slowly than we expected."
And the school issues, which were a real struggle for my children.
I live in France where everything is grey most of the year. I know from grey.
There is so much to consider that's hard to imagine before you actually live abroad. In fact - I think a lot of people don't really want to imagine or think about the loneliness - or the endless "tiny-traumas." Good luck to you back home.
Thank you so much! I honestly wish we would have considered Spain instead. But I won’t grow old wondering what the experience would be like because we tried it.
> like living in a cloud of cigarette smoke
A literal cloud of cigarette smoke?
I won’t get into the business difficulties here because they aren’t something most people will probably ever experience.
I would love to hear more. Most people who use the DAFT visa seem to be ZZP’ers, often YouTubers; you wrote earlier about the challenges of going the BV route. In other words, you took the entrepreneurial opportunity seriously. Sharing a postmortem on the experience makes a lot of sense if you ask me, and honors the original intent of the DAFT.