I would like to move back to Europe after 5 years in the United States. I originally moved here for grad school and stayed to work at a tech company (product mgmt + biz dev). I'm eager to return home. Would love to exchange thoughts and hear from other people that have done the same.
hi, I did the reverse - go back home to the USA after a decade away. Some thoughts for you to think about:
* Heraclitus applies. You've changed, both by maturing that you'd do anywhere, as well as by being in a different culture. Your home country has changed. In both cases, that's in some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse, but in all cases different than what you expect. Remember to keep an open mind as to why things don't work the way that you're used to, five years is enough for you to change your expectations. You almost have to treat going home as going to a new foreign country.
* Have you a berth lined up already ? Job hunting trans-Atlantic is hard, but so is job hunting while you're unemployed. Not sure which European country is involved, but some it's harder than others to get a mid-level position from outside. Remember your connections from undergrad, etc. have largely forgotten you and will meet you for a coffee to catch up but will not be as supportive of you as if they had worked with you side-by-side over the past years. To the extent that you can get hired by either clients or employers with whom you deal with in the USA, you'll have a much better time than if you try going in cold. If you can't arrange that, invest the next trip home into laying groundwork for your future more serious search by networking, conferences, maybe a continuing ed event to the extent relevant. Remember in Europe the job market has many more frictions than in the USA. Also general business culture and practices are different - I take from your description you've never formally worked in Europe other than maybe at the internship level.
* Your reentry will go better if you take serious thought about why you are doing it. Think of reasons pulling you home rather than pushing you out of here - if you blame being in the USA for why you are unhappy, you'll find the same emotional baggage follows you along with your shipping container.
These are some great suggestions. My main motivations for leaving the US are to be closer with my family and because I miss the European lifestyle. I live in NYC and life here is very hectic, with little breaks and a very transitory vibes. A lot of my friends move constantly and I find ut hard having a steady base of friends.
I agree on the going in cold part. It’s probably a good idea to spend a longer vacation with work remote (which I can do) before doing the final move. That might enable me to re-engage with a lot of my friends and professional contacts.
Where are you moving back from and what were your motivations to move back?
I moved back to the USA from London a few years ago. Main motivations similar to yours - also got tired of feeling like a foreigner all the time and not feeling like I fit into the society. Brexit added to my motivation - over my time there I felt the change in the atmosphere from welcoming to not so much.
I hear ya. Same in the US for me. Ultimately feel like I don’t care about the place I live in - still care more about Germany / EU (where I am from). Still, such a hard decision to make, especially if you have a partner
Doesn't everywhere on earth get pretty much 50% daylight hours and 50% nighttime hours over the course of the year (mountain vs. valley may change that very slightly)? It's just the distribution over the course of the year that's different.
Now if you meant sunshine instead of daylight I might agree with you.
You are correct. I am probably using the wrong words.
I saw something once on wikipedia showing more sunlight (sunshine?) hours in one place than another. So I am guessing they are measuring it based on the sunlight strength being over a certain threshold. It may have taken cloud into consideration.
I think the more important point in terms of mood is winters nearer the poles have daylight hours such that you go to work and come home in the dark, and spend all day indoors, so you don't see much sunlight. Then at the weekend you catch up but again it might just be 8 hours of sunlight and 6 hours of reasonably strong sunlight.
OTOH the long nights in the summer nearer the poles don't do much for me over a reasonable 7-8pm sunset time. If anything it makes it harder to sleep.
* Heraclitus applies. You've changed, both by maturing that you'd do anywhere, as well as by being in a different culture. Your home country has changed. In both cases, that's in some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse, but in all cases different than what you expect. Remember to keep an open mind as to why things don't work the way that you're used to, five years is enough for you to change your expectations. You almost have to treat going home as going to a new foreign country.
* Have you a berth lined up already ? Job hunting trans-Atlantic is hard, but so is job hunting while you're unemployed. Not sure which European country is involved, but some it's harder than others to get a mid-level position from outside. Remember your connections from undergrad, etc. have largely forgotten you and will meet you for a coffee to catch up but will not be as supportive of you as if they had worked with you side-by-side over the past years. To the extent that you can get hired by either clients or employers with whom you deal with in the USA, you'll have a much better time than if you try going in cold. If you can't arrange that, invest the next trip home into laying groundwork for your future more serious search by networking, conferences, maybe a continuing ed event to the extent relevant. Remember in Europe the job market has many more frictions than in the USA. Also general business culture and practices are different - I take from your description you've never formally worked in Europe other than maybe at the internship level.
* Your reentry will go better if you take serious thought about why you are doing it. Think of reasons pulling you home rather than pushing you out of here - if you blame being in the USA for why you are unhappy, you'll find the same emotional baggage follows you along with your shipping container.