And how long before you just want to go home?

The answer is in the question.
Lately I have begun to do some soul searching too. The reason I will be going home after 15 years away is that this place has changed.
I had gotten used to doing without the comforts I left back home in echange for the tranquility of a lower less complicated standard of living. My values were more in line with the people I found living here. Now a rising standard of living and the changing values of a younger generation not only takes away my tranquility, it makes me a target for prejudice. Slowly I have been losing my own identity, like me or hate me based on knowing me, and slipped into a collective identity, categorized by people who do not know me.

This is a complicated question. You assume that home is where you were born but for many who move overseas this is not the case. Home is where they live and the place of their birth is just another place to visit to see relatives now and again.

If you are still calling the place of your birth home, then you haven't adapted to your new home. Perhaps this means that living overseas is not for you in the long run or that the ties you have to your home country are stronger than those you have to your current country of residence. Perhaps you are not living in a country that you like. If you are looking for a beer drinking culture than I don't think you will find this in Asia. You might be better suited to living in parts of Europe.

I currently live in Bangkok. Lots of people tell me that they would love to get a job and live here but honestly visiting a place as a tourist is very different from living there. That is not to say that Bangkok is terrible but there are lots of prejudices and difficulties that aren't obvious on the surface to a traveler that become more noticeable and more annoying when you live someplace. Of course, then I stop and think that my home country had many such annoyances and I would rather be here in Thailand doing the work that I do than back there doing what I was doing.

No place is always great all the time. For me, home is where I live and work, not where my extended family and old friends are located.

In answer to your final question, yes, there are some people who move overseas and never look back to their birthplace as home. This doesn't mean that they never visit. Simply that they visit, they don't go home. But they the same is true for someone from the country who moves to the city. It really doesn't have to be to a different country.

For those who say that home is made home by the people who surround you, I would counter that given today's ease of long distance communication, one doesn't need to live in the same city or country with good friends to have a long, enduring and close relationship. Such friendships go beyond country borders for me and I find myself planning my vacations and coordinating my travels so as to include those good friends wherever they are located.

Ruth

Moving home for some is as easy as changing their hat. For others as Everbrite says, it never happens. Their home is always where they grew up and it is quite likely they will never be happy living anywhere else. It isn't a question of good or bad, it is simply the way it is for each of us individually.

For me home is where I hang my hat today and if I hang it somewhere else tomorrow that will be home as well.

As always, I like Ruth's comments. I live in Thailand also - on Phuket. I've lived overseas since 1989 and have no real desire to return to my native country. I like where I live, warts and all.

Sure, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live there again, but my trips home every few years tend to help me see that I like where I am better.

Yup I am not really excited about my current residence, I might give Thailand a try though. It is definately my first option. Even though I complain I'd still like to og to South America, Africa and so on. Guess I just need a breather and some local food..

interesting topic! I'm in the process of getting the paperwork etc... done to leave/work overseas and it's very daunting. I did stints abroad when I was studying, but never more than 1 year at a time. Now, I will be gone at least 2 years but that 2 years might turn into forever... yikes! I am of course very excited and looking forward to it (otherwise I wouldn't be doing it!) but part of me wonders how long I will last before the longing for home becomes unbearable (if ever! but it's hard to get used to the idea now that I may never come back "home" permanently)

As you were only there for a year sounds like you were only on an extended holiday anyway - if you don't like it you are better off going home.

I find that it can be still challenging after one year. You might still think 'there's no place like home'.
After two years you get in the swing of the new country. Life gets easier, you'll find better friends who stick with you, petty annoyances seem silly instead and not so annoying.
After 2.5 years or so, home is where you are, not where you're from.
If you go back after 3 years, you'll feel like a fish out of water, and your adopted country is more like home than where you were born. People in your home country seem strange, narrow minded, and dull!

I still am wistful about Gumare Botswana (Jan 84-Dec 86) though I know it is NOT the same place as when I was there. Heck, they have electricity and a tarred road all the way there now!
And I often wish I was back in China.

been away for 20 years now and home is always where i feel the most comfortable. i got to the stage where home was thailand, even when i was living and working elsewhere

now i consider home is indonesia but who knows about the future

Ruth in Canada has a good point. One year is actually not enough time to really know a place. I found a definite difference after 3 years.

I found that the local people were used to 'foreigners' coming and staying for a year or two and then going back home. Because of that and the fact that a lot of those who did come to live being a waste of space types, they tended to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude. After 3 years I guess they figured you are going to stay and they want from being reasonably friendly to totally accepting.