Is COVID harder for expats?

On top of the stress and anxiety that COVID has brought into our lives, add being an expat into the mix. Among the expat community, there is an over-riding feeling that people in our home countries do not understand how this is especially hard for those of us who live abroad. Yes, we chose to move away, we have a lifestyle which has many benefits over that of our home countries, but what we do not have are the people around us who love us most. Most of us have not seen anyone for 2 years or more, and this has been very difficult.

Here are 5 reasons why Is COVID harder for expats:

1. Not seeing family and frienffds/ homesickness

Anxiety and homesickness have commonplace among expats during COVID. In many countries, the summer weather is unbearable and massively limits the choice of activities because being outside is off limits. With children to amuse, lots of expat families look forward to returning home in summer for cooler weather. This is not possible at the moment. Additionally, some expats have had babies, which have not even been introduced to grandparents yet. And on top of this, there is the constant worry about the health of our parents, grandparents and family members.

2. Losing family members

This is the ultimate problem expats have been faced with. Not being able to return home due to travel bans, personal incapacity to travel or no time to quarantine, has forced many people to grieve alone. Missing a loved-one’s funeral is truly heartbreaking yet it has been a reality for so many. Being with others through grief helps us to come to terms with our loss. Being alone in a foreign country is the last thing anyone would wish for in this situation.

3. Not being able to travel

Many families are living apart, either through sending dependents back home, being stuck in a country or not being able to get back into a country without citizenship. Many people were/are still stranded in countries away from their homes and had to attempt to work from home, out of a suitcase in different time zones.

When travel was banned and airports closed their borders, anxiety among the expat community rose, as the ‘emergency flight home’ was no longer an option. The travel industry is nowhere close to being back to full capacity, some flight routes are still banned and some countries still have closed borders. This has had a huge impact on expats needing to move country for new jobs, returning home due to job loss or getting home for emergencies. Something that people in their homeland never have to consider.

4. Job loss and financial struggles

Unlike the UK government, governments in other countries have not helped expats with job losses, resulting in many being forced to leave, find new jobs or return home. Life is expensive as an expat, schooling is expensive, and visas are not issued without employment, so once your job goes, you usually have to follow. If you lose your job and have no savings, you have to leave – it is as simple as that. Uprooting your life, your kids’ education, your home, your friends and spouse’s job; simply because it is so expensive to live in some countries that job loss = repatriation.

5. Loneliness and isolation

One thing COVID has taught everyone is that the most important thing for many of us is human connection and with periods of lock down, social distancing, gatherings being banned and working from home, people have been forced to be at home for long periods. Loneliness is common when away from family and friends, as well as starting a new job, not meeting people or being at home with children trying to deal with online learning, it is a lot to deal with.

Everyone needs a support system and when moving to a new country, it takes a while to establish this network. For people new to a country or working from home, without having met their colleagues, loneliness can be overwhelming.

But let’s look for positives…

My top tips for dealing with COVID as an expat:

1. Look after yourself – do things that make you happy – self-care is vital.
2. Stay connected to the ones you love, because although you cannot be with them, you can talk to them
3. Have gratitude every day for our own health, that of our loved ones and the technologies we have, which allow us to be in touch with the people we love.