I have lived in Spain (and some Portugal) for almost 33 years. I have never felt the need to call myself anything. Not to myself or to anyone at all. I am just me, living where I live and being who I am. Maybe I have never spent time with people who use these terms. Most of my friends here are Spanish or Portuguese but in my work I also have friends from all over the world who live here. Or maybe since my entire life revolves around travel and being in other places, it is just my permanent state of being?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed your article!
Margaret, glad the piece resonated and thanks for sharing a bit of your story. One thing I’m noticing in my research conversations with long‑term expats is just how wide the range is — some, like you, feel able to simply be “themselves where they live,” and others find that how they’re labelled abroad really shapes their day‑to‑day reality. The essay was my attempt to put words to that latter experience a little more.
It's interesting to read your perspective and that of others. I’ve never had any contact with people who called themselves expats or anything else until I started writing on Medium and Substack. “Nunca te acuestas……” 😃
Efectiviwonder ;). That makes sense; different circles use different language, and some people never really need these labels until much later (if at all). I’m glad our paths have crossed here so we can compare notes from different angles and perspectives of life abroad.
Expat is a really interesting, and in my opinion, problematic word that gets selectively applied. It just means someone temporarily working in another country but is rarely used to describe seasonal workers for example coming to pick fruit. People who are referred to as 'expats' usually work for big companies, have relocation support etc. And 'expat associations' often have an exclusive (and excluding) feel to them.
I feel like it's worth acknowledging the linguistic hierarchy created between "expats" and "migrant workers" that gets leveraged and manipulated in the current political climate.
Fiona, the selective application of "expat" is absolutely real — and worth naming. What I'm noticing in conversations, though, is how the words people choose for themselves often carry more texture than the definitions we assign to them suggest.
My experience abroad has cycled through all of these. For my first three years in Spain in my early 20s, I was an expat. I didn't fully understand the word and its colonial roots, I was simply a young girl on a one-year teaching program that would eventually turn into 18 years and contributing more to a Spanish pension than an American one.
I began to see myself as an immigrant then, that I had fully made the decision to simply dip my toes back into the U.S. when I wanted.
Now, I am in Saudi Arabia. There is an end date. I really am galivanting, unable to work per visa restrictions. So, I have gone back to expat after many ruminitions on it. Somehow, here, my life doesn't seem fully settled, and I cannot lay down roots that run deep. I can't work, don't pay taxes here (just on goods I consume) and only recently was allowed to connect my cell phone number to my residency card number. I am definitely walking the edge here, just not on my own terms.
Cycling through expat, immigrant, and now back to expat in Saudi with that fixed end date and shallow roots — it maps the shifting ground so many of us walk when circumstances redefine our labels.
Sometimes we have a choice about the label that best fits us. Other times we don’t get a say. Glad it resonated with you :)
I have lived in Spain (and some Portugal) for almost 33 years. I have never felt the need to call myself anything. Not to myself or to anyone at all. I am just me, living where I live and being who I am. Maybe I have never spent time with people who use these terms. Most of my friends here are Spanish or Portuguese but in my work I also have friends from all over the world who live here. Or maybe since my entire life revolves around travel and being in other places, it is just my permanent state of being?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed your article!
Margaret, glad the piece resonated and thanks for sharing a bit of your story. One thing I’m noticing in my research conversations with long‑term expats is just how wide the range is — some, like you, feel able to simply be “themselves where they live,” and others find that how they’re labelled abroad really shapes their day‑to‑day reality. The essay was my attempt to put words to that latter experience a little more.
It's interesting to read your perspective and that of others. I’ve never had any contact with people who called themselves expats or anything else until I started writing on Medium and Substack. “Nunca te acuestas……” 😃
Efectiviwonder ;). That makes sense; different circles use different language, and some people never really need these labels until much later (if at all). I’m glad our paths have crossed here so we can compare notes from different angles and perspectives of life abroad.
Even "expat" can be tricky when your "origin" is already complicated. I guess that's where "TCK" comes in? I love this piece, thanks for sharing. 💕
Ooo Susie, you nailed it. And that nuanceis for my next series of essays… glad this one resonated with you!
Expat is a really interesting, and in my opinion, problematic word that gets selectively applied. It just means someone temporarily working in another country but is rarely used to describe seasonal workers for example coming to pick fruit. People who are referred to as 'expats' usually work for big companies, have relocation support etc. And 'expat associations' often have an exclusive (and excluding) feel to them.
I feel like it's worth acknowledging the linguistic hierarchy created between "expats" and "migrant workers" that gets leveraged and manipulated in the current political climate.
Fiona, the selective application of "expat" is absolutely real — and worth naming. What I'm noticing in conversations, though, is how the words people choose for themselves often carry more texture than the definitions we assign to them suggest.
My experience abroad has cycled through all of these. For my first three years in Spain in my early 20s, I was an expat. I didn't fully understand the word and its colonial roots, I was simply a young girl on a one-year teaching program that would eventually turn into 18 years and contributing more to a Spanish pension than an American one.
I began to see myself as an immigrant then, that I had fully made the decision to simply dip my toes back into the U.S. when I wanted.
Now, I am in Saudi Arabia. There is an end date. I really am galivanting, unable to work per visa restrictions. So, I have gone back to expat after many ruminitions on it. Somehow, here, my life doesn't seem fully settled, and I cannot lay down roots that run deep. I can't work, don't pay taxes here (just on goods I consume) and only recently was allowed to connect my cell phone number to my residency card number. I am definitely walking the edge here, just not on my own terms.
Great food for thought, as always, Kay!
Thanks for sharing, Cat!
Cycling through expat, immigrant, and now back to expat in Saudi with that fixed end date and shallow roots — it maps the shifting ground so many of us walk when circumstances redefine our labels.
Sometimes we have a choice about the label that best fits us. Other times we don’t get a say. Glad it resonated with you :)