Those who have emigrated out of their home countries: How do you rationalize/cope with being separated from your family?I'm a 24 year-old American, and I want to live somewhere else (at least for a while if not permanently), but my parents are both quite old, and obviously I couldn't drag my brother along with me.I have a lot of family that I love very much right where I am now, and I don't know if I could bear leaving behind without just being horribly homesick and anxious. But, I also really, really desire long-term traveling ever since I got a taste for it in high school, and I also feel that eventually I would rather raise my own family somewhere that isn't the USA.I can't do anything about it now, but I've just been thinking about it a lot and I'm having trouble resolving this cognitive dissonance
>>2742651>How do you rationalize/cope with being separated from your family?you will forever be cursedwish to move away - regret if you dont. do it and you miss out on life at home. grow tired of weird foreigners and wish you were back home. go home and then grow tired of annoying locals and wish you were with weird foreigners just know you'll miss out no matter what choices you make
>>2742651Have you tried not being a massive faggot?
>>2742652This is true. I picked family and occasionally think about what could have been since my life isn't all that sexy. But I don't actually regret it since I treasure being around them and still have the chance to travel on occasion. Helps that I'm rich.The most obvious thing I'm giving up on by doing this is sex, hard to do in a small American town when you're just a little bit too ugly for online dating
>>2742651>but my parents are both quite olddude your parents are probably in their 60s, 70s max. that's barely "old" these days. they are probably enjoying some time to themselvesjust get on the plane and go. you'll never work things out for yourself unless you do.if things do get really bad, ya know there are planes that fly in the other direction, right
>>2742651You should travel while you're young and not stress so much. When you do, put real consideration into whether or not you think these places are livable. If you find one consider staying for a month or two, you'll probably come to some conclusions then
>>2742665Sorry your dad beat you, anon
>>2742652>>2742667Fair enough, that's the answer I was hoping I wouldn't get, but I guess that's just so.>>2742668Late 70's, with some health issues. I get what you're saying>>2742669Yeah. Gonna save up a little while longer then arrange something
>>2742652Why do people choose to make themselves miserable by regretting every decision and perpetually daydreaming of something different?
>>2742651>How do you rationalize/cope with being separated from your family?>I'm a 24 year-old AmericanIt's called realizing that at some point you generally SHOULD move out regardless. It's a bandaid rip it off or forever have it hang over you.
>>2742651You sound like the kind of person better off traveling vicariously through YouTube vlogs or active travel blogs. All too common for Americans to throw away their family and friends for "muh freedom" only to end up struggling with alienation and loneliness.
>>2742651Talk on Skype and add some meetups.Have family visit you overseas 1 or 2 times per year. If they're not busy they should stay for a month at a time.Fly home to visit twice a year. If you know you'll see family at some point in the next 3 months, you won't feel the guilt or fatigue nearly as badly. It'll be bearable.
>>2743032This is good advice and lines up with my own experience op.
>>2742651Congrats you seem like a good son. Im overseas and between everyone’s busy schedules and time zone differences it’s hard to even talk sometimes. And traveling is hard too of course it’s expensive and takes time.
I moved across country 10 years and my mom tries to guilt trip me a lot into moving back. I visit twice a year and occasionally go on a short vacation with her too. What's ironic, is that she did the same thing. She joined the military and moved halfway around the world. You can't stay at home forever. You have to move out and live your life. In my circle of friends, almost none of them stayed in our hometown. They all spread out. We have a friend reunion every year and we all fly in from around the country and do a short trip somewhere random. The two in our group who stayed close to home had massive families with a ton of siblings, one had 8 brothers and sisters and the other had 10. They were all pretty close, so it made more sense to stay near home.
>>2742651not hard
The farther I've gone afield the less often I've returned to visit my family. Their lives are so different from mine that we don't really have anything in common anymore. The past has faded into distant memory, so we can't do much reminiscing anymore either. My most recent visit in May 2024 was after 3 years of absence. We had a good time, but staying in someone else's house is not to my liking. I've gotta have my own space.
