What do expats miss most about their home country

Wherever in the world your home country lies, it’s certain you’ll miss a good number of familiar activities, foods and cultural norms as well as communications with strangers in your own language.

Emigrating to far-flung lands is as exiting as life gets, but it’s normal to miss certain aspects of the home country, a good number of which may well be associated with food, drink, everyday communications and entertainment. For Americans and Britons alike, readily-available Western style fried foods are at the top of the list, even although they’re disastrous for health. Drive-through shopping is a convenience which simply hasn’t taken on in the majority of popular expat locations, and is missed most by those with busy lives and a lack of organisational skills.

Missing out on favourite TV programmes, especially soaps, is common to most if not all English-speaking expatriates, and the further away you move the more difficult it is to access reliable, quality English language TV whether for entertainment or breaking news. Shopaholics will miss Black Friday, although its influence is gradually creeping across the continents via the internet and may well reach the furthest expat outposts within a decade or so.

If day-long sunshine is your reason for emigrating, you should remember day-long air conditioning may not be part of the package or even affordable if it is. Believe it or not, your body will get acclimatised to the heat and one day you’ll be freezing cold in 55 degrees Fahrenheit or its centigrade equivalent. Units of measurement are another shock for those used to pounds and inches, especially if mental arithmetic isn’t a major talent. For Brits and Americans who adore dressing up for events, discovering dressing down is the thing in hot climates can be a nasty shock.

If retirement in a charming, isolated small town is your dream, remember mega-stores haven’t yet spread across the globe and may need a day-trip to access. For British wives to whom Ikea is a blessing and their American equivalents who rely on Walmart, this takes a lot of getting used to, but the males of the species may decide they’ve died and gone to heaven. Lastly, and specifically for USA expats, you may or you may not miss the egregious displays of patriotism, but at least you’re out of Trumpland.