Here Comes 2018

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As I write, the New Year of 2018 is about 11 hours away (in my time zone).  My mind goes back to several New Years Dayscelebrated as expats in years past.  Since it is only 6 degrees Farenheit outside today, the one that is really dominating my memory is the New Years we spent on a boat near Stingray City on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean.  We were living on Grand Cayman and a friend of ours had a private boat. He took my wife and I and our two young children out for the day to see the stingrays.  It was an amazing experience.  It was also my first time to drive a jet ski!  I can assure you – that’s not something I ever would have done in Indiana on New Years Day!

While the celebration will be small and private this year, there are some big plans swimming around in my head for this coming year.  I have some goals, and I have some things I want to pursue with regard to my part-time expat lifestyle.

What’s going through your mind as you contemplate the new year?  This is traditionally a time when folks think about the future, make resolutions, contemplate change, and promise themselves they will do a bit better at …

Let’s narrow it down a bit … where is your thinking about being a part-time expat in 2018?

Are you already an expat and making some plans to travel, or planning to make some improvements in your expat situation?

Are you considering a change of living arrangement or are you wondering about getting more involved in your overseas community this coming year?

Do you have some specific experiences you’d like to have this year in your adopted country?

Or are you still in the process of thinking about this whole thing of being a part-time expat, and you’re not sure what to think?

Is there a recurring desire to live in another culture?

Would you like to experience new ways of thinking and doing?

Is there a place you’ve always wanted to spend time in?

Whatever your situation or wherever you are in the thinking process, make 2018 the year you really do what your heart says to do.  Listen to your desires.  Pay attention to your foreign longings.  Read.  Listen.  Watch videos.  Ask questions.  Perhaps make an exploration trip to the place you have interest in.

People who are living overseas part-time have all been in the same place you are.  And what made the  difference for them was:

Listening to their hearts.

Doing the research.

Making the decision. 

That’s basically the process.

I hope 2018 will be the year you take some or all of those three steps.

Have a fun new year exploring possibilities.

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