Family Visits in the mind of an expat

A few weeks ago my father and grandmother visited me in the UAE. It was the first time in my 3 + years living abroad that a family member came to a country where I was living.


As an expat you spend the majority of your time away from the majority of your family. You occaisionally go home for the 1-2 week visit, but the life you choose brings you further away from whom you were raised with.

It is an odd phenomenon, which I have discussed with a few people in this country.

I remarked a very close and strong couple from the US. I told the wife that I believe they have a very close relationship which to me looked stronger than most I was used to back home (other small town families). She remarked that after having lived in Saudi, the UAE, and various other locations for many years, you tend to be close to those you let in.

Now back to me....I have been living basically away from my family since I was 17 years old. When I was younger I wanted nothing more than to leave my family behind and be fully independant.

The odd thing is that today my mother is in Frankfurt on a layover to the UAE to come and live in my studio with me for an indefinite period of time, and, get this, it was all my idea. Life can be funny.