My New Year Wishes and Reflections as an Expat in 2019

As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, I stood on my balcony in my adopted country, watching fireworks light up an unfamiliar skyline. It hit me then – celebrating the new year as an expat carries a bittersweet weight that those back home might never fully understand. Living abroad transforms even the simplest traditions, and suddenly, New Year’s wishes become more than just hopeful thoughts; they become lifelines to both the life you left behind and the one you’re courageously building.

The Universal Wishes We All Share

Over champagne and makeshift potluck dinners with my international crew this holiday season, I noticed something beautiful. Whether we hailed from Brazil, Britain, or Bangladesh, whether we’d landed in Bangkok or Buenos Aires, we all seemed to crave the same fundamental things. Health and happiness, sure – but there was an urgency to these wishes that I’d never felt back home. When your mom can’t bring you soup when you’re sick, or your best friend can’t just pop over for a coffee when you’re feeling low, these simple blessings take on profound importance.

And friendships? Let me tell you, the connections you forge as an expat are something else entirely. There’s something about bonding over shared confusion at the local bureaucracy or laughing together through language mishaps that creates friendships with surprising depth. These aren’t just people you grab drinks with – they become your chosen family, your emergency contacts, your holiday dinner companions.

Practical Wisdom from Years Abroad

At a New Year’s gathering, a veteran expat – fifteen years abroad and counting – pulled me aside with some advice that initially made me uncomfortable. “Get insurance. Write a will. Keep your emergency contacts updated and give copies to trusted friends.” Heavy stuff for party conversation, right? But she was absolutely right. I’ve since witnessed enough expat emergencies to know that being prepared isn’t pessimistic – it’s essential. When you’re thousands of miles from home, you can’t assume someone will just know what to do if something happens to you.

On a lighter note, I’ve fully embraced what I call the “glorious failure philosophy.” Every day abroad is an opportunity to mess up spectacularly – whether it’s accidentally ordering sheep brain at a restaurant (true story) or completely bungling a job interview in your second language. As Neil Gaiman so perfectly put it, these mistakes mean we’re truly living. They’re proof we’re not just existing in a safe bubble but actually engaging with our new world.

Personal Goals and Growth

Looking at my own journal from that New Year’s Eve, my wishes for 2019 feel both ambitious and deeply personal:

• Finally moving beyond “restaurant Spanish” to actually understanding my neighbors’ rapid-fire conversations (spoiler: still working on this one!)
• Putting down my phone more often – because scrolling through friends’ lives back home doesn’t help me build one here
• Actively practicing kindness, especially on days when cultural frustrations make me want to scream
• Finding that delicate balance between fierce independence and knowing when to swallow my pride and ask for help

The Challenges We Face Together

Let’s be real – expat life isn’t all Instagram-worthy sunsets and exotic adventures. This New Year, I’m thinking of Maria, battling cancer treatments in a healthcare system she’s still learning to navigate. Of Tom and Sarah, whose Costa Rica dreams are on hold while they desperately search for work that will satisfy visa requirements. Of the Swedish family I met, caught between their Argentine aspirations and the practical realities of international schooling and remote work.

These stories aren’t meant to discourage – they’re reminders that we’re all fighting our own battles while trying to make it in foreign lands. Sometimes the bravest wish, as my Thai neighbor beautifully expressed, is simply to find peace with where we are right now, visa uncertainties and all.

Looking Forward with Hope

You know what keeps me going? It’s this incredible tapestry of human resilience I witness daily. The way expats rally around each other during crises. The creative solutions we find to problems that would never exist “back home.” The moment when you realize you just dreamed in your adopted language, or when a local includes you in their family celebration.

My deepest wish for all of us navigating this expat life is that we continue to see the magic in our daily struggles. That we keep building these beautiful, messy, multinational communities. That we remember to celebrate not just where we’re going, but how far we’ve already come.

So here’s to 2019 – to new adventures and familiar comforts, to homesickness and belonging, to being brave enough to call multiple places home. May we all find our own unique blend of roots and wings!