50 shades of expat... Which one are you?

[Salbertina]

So theres the overstayed the extended holiday/ sabbatical and could never leave version

Or the "Gone native" - moved overseas as married a local

Or the Expat queen packaged to the hilt (I seem to know lots and am jealous as hell)

The "worthy" aid worker type on contract

The "grass is always greener type" who just
keeps relocating in a relentless search for the perfect place to live

The retired seasonal "swallow" who lucked in with the pension and property market enough to be able to follow the sun

All slightly tongue-in-cheek at such stereotyping by the way... No offence meant...

Must be many more types... If anyone wants to play... Must be bored...

Goldmyrhh So you've lived in Dubai your whole life?? Wow- you must have seen A LOT of change. You should write a book or something

I'm the same as Vagndidit (it's so nice to see that there is someone else im my situation!) but also an over-stayer gone native as we've been in Germany for a long time but have moved cities 3 times for work.

Was hoping to be a swallow but the market crashed and we were just up the Amazon without a paddle.
Just become an EX expat as finally sold the house after having gone native for 8 years.
Fancy being an expat Queen but it will never happen but we will probably get itchy feet again and try to find the greenest grass we can after a year or two as homing pidgeons.

I'm the overstayer. Lived in Iceland, met Israeli DH, had two kids, and decided to go on a visit to Britain. We went back- to arrange a transfer for DH's job and get our stuff. We now live in Wales. Not exactly overseas for most people, but for us two (and the DCs), we're expats.

Although I'd described DH as a more grass-is-greener (or itchy feet) person. From Israel he went to live in Senegal, became an aid worker in Kenya for Save the Children, moved to France and then became a native, when he married me/an Icelander and lived there for years.

I would place myself between a native and the sabbatical,as i have married a south american but we live in uk for half the year then in his country for half the year. I am looking forward to eventually settling in his country though.

I'm a missionary so do I get my own category? I dip my toe occassionally into the expat scene and try to contain my at the very different lifestyles

I'm a cross between gone-native - but will never fit in due to massive British accent and grammar mistakes - even though DH is French. And grass is always greener - no-one could by happier that M&S has reopened in Paris (well - apparently lots of people given the number of Brits that were in there the other day

I'm in a 'hoping to go native' camp, not because I'm planning on marrying a Canadian, or indeed stopping being English, but dd and to some extent ds have become Canadian-English rather than the other way around. We are in the queue for permanent residence and will then go for citizenship (we can still be British too though). No real interest in going home, although we might move somewhere else for a while once the children are off to university.

Married Johnny Foreigner and followed him with his job after a lengthy stay in UK first. But don't see my self in any group, I'd say reluctant ex-pat. Hubby wants to come back too!

Overstayer, gone native but really a Forces wife married to a grass-is-greener-but-currently-in own country DH and therefore potential expat queen if he can find a nice package when he comes out the Navy...

I'm an expat mirage. No one pays any costs for us and having met quite a few Queens and listened to them complain about what wasn't paid for I gave up and plunged myself into the local school and local friends. See, mirage - we look like rich expats, but there's really nothing "expat" there.

Disclaimer, I know not all families on great packages behave like ungrateful children and I have met a lot of wonderful people of many different nationalities.

Oh, but OH is a grass-is-greener expat.

Adora I might be a mirage too then!
I have met people who should be top of the Queens (including some ambassador's wives) who are truly wonderful, it does make up for the rest of them. I think most of them are depressed, insecure and a bit out of their comfort zone, not that it is an excuse to behave like arrogant tits.

In my head I am Itchy Feet, in reality I'm on DH Visa too (kind Expat Queen but moved with an American company, not FCO or anything)...grew up the child of itchy feet expat parents, can't believe it's taken us this long to get round to it ourselves. Eventually want to "settle" back home but would like to go somewhere else in between. If DH doesn't get another job somewhere, we're planning a South American year long trip between countries anyway

AM just a bit gutted I've ended up in an Expat Lite destination (Southern California) having grown up in Sri Lanka and Nigeria!

just read back and reaslied what an Expat Queen is - I'm not that! DH got a new job wiht a company in America, so we got a relocation package but other than that he is treated like any other US taxpayer