[…] –and you don’t really fit into any group—neither the moms‘ circle nor the community of the working expat women.“ ]…]
This post is quite personal.
For the past 10 years, I’ve been living abroad as an expat spouse, across two continents and three countries—a journey that has given me a suitcase full of experiences.
💡 But one experience has remained the same: the challenges and, yes, the prejudices, you can face as a „trailing spouse“ without children.
It’s actually a rather small group because the traditional expat model is still largely based on the family concept. And I understand that an Expat assignment is a great family adventure for those who already have children or are on point in building a family.
When social expectations hit you
But that was never my life path, and in my old life it hasn´t be a “problem”. What surprised me most when I entered the expat world was how strongly social expectations can shape your experience—and how easily they can leave you feeling like you don’t quite belong.
As someone without children, you often don’t naturally fit into the moms‘ circles. At the same time, it can also be difficult to connect with working expat women of the company, who often already have their own established networks – and biases.
Even in books and articles about preparing for an international move, the focus is usually on partners with children – no material for me. And yes, I understand —settling yourself and your children into a new country is a huge challenge, and I have nothing but respect for that.
❗ But not having children doesn’t mean you don’t struggle.
The challenges abroad are simply different.
🔎 At the end of the day, living abroad is about searching for community and a sense of belonging. Or what do you think?
✨ A huge thank you to Annegret Bertsch, CPC, for inviting me to your podcast and for your genuine curiosity and openness to different perspectives. It was such a pleasure talking with you!
And there’s a first time for everything—I was quite nervous, so thank you for giving me this first podcast opportunity.
📌 And not to forget – one last important note:
I’m sharing „some“ of MY experiences. Others will have none or different ones, and that’s completely okay. I’m certainly not trying to generalize.
I’ve met incredible moms throughout my expat journey—and 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁 is one of them.
Go direct zu Post on LinkedIn
To Annegrets Post on LinkedIn
Host: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annegret-bertsch/
Website: https://www.coaching-because.com/
To the Episode: https://www.coaching-because.com/podcast/episode/ddbf447e/10-living-abroad-without-children-when-you-dont-fit-into-a-category
