Expat life is not for everyone, it can be rewarding and exciting, but it has its drawbacks as well.
People I meet usually ask me to help them become Expats like me, and I always tell them to think carefully and put their priorities straight before jumping into that adventure.
It can be very tempting, but it can also be very painful. My reason was motivated by money.
I accepted my first overseas job with almost five times an increase in salary as head of engineering in one of the “rebuilt Iraq” projects located in the green zone – Baghdad.
Working overseas, I had a considerable Tax exemption, an excellent salary, no expenses of mine (everything was provided in the working camp), and lots of holidays.
In a few years, I was able to pay all the debts and save the right amount of money.
Because my wife at the time was an accountant, she suggested I spend only three weeks of my vacation in the US, and the rest we travel to different places to make benefit of my Tax exemption, and of course, we did that.
However, these trips, without me knowing, was the beginning of the end for my plans to get back home.
When the project was over, I was ready to get back to my old life and join the same company in their California office.
At first, I was happy. The plan worked, I will be back home, with a decent basic salary, and a better position.
However, no more tax exemptions and the pay would become half what I use to make abroad, and the vacation would go back to normal three-week PTOs.
At the same time, I was offered a partnership in a contracting company in the UAE. My wife and I thought about it, and the decision was for me to stay a few more years overseas.
Staying overseas allowed me to advance in my career faster, become my own boss.
It also enabled me to gather great experience in a short time, do what I love, make lots of money, virtually tax-free, having lots of days off, and being able to afford traveling and to do things only I use to see in movies.
It was a no brainer for me to stay overseas and postpone the plans of coming back home, “a little bit more.” The only uncalculated risk was that my wife did not want to join me and preferred to stay in the US.
I lived/worked in UAE, Qatar, Saudi, Iraq, Lebanon, Belgium, and had projects or partners in Afghanistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Djibouti, and other developing countries.
However, for me, working overseas required a lot of hard work, long hours with no break, which led to loneliness and slowly drifting away from everyone I use to care for, except my son.
Even my relationship with my wife became less and less frequent. I knew that loneliness would be an inevitable pain that I had to get used to because travel became not only a hobby, and enjoyment, but also a way of life and staying in one place for a long time started to feel difficult like a prison.
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Great Story! Keep it up