A Different Lifestyle

Spending the past five years rotating among different countries around the globe, with a pen and calculator always in hand, one may believe that it is like one of those exciting summer holidays around southern Europe, yet it is work that has taken over. My husband, a chemical engineer, picked up the habit of coping in an unstable life as a mobile employee throughout his career.



As humans we are always faced with challenges that come our way on any road we take. Equally, for my husband, his challenge started from day one. As we sat in our open aired balcony that looked over to the high snow glazed mountains, my husband sat with a soft smile drawn upon his face and said “from where do I begin?”



Being in a new country brings up so many new experiences to face and many challenges to overcome, especially if one will be living there. My husband’s eyes turned away from the Beautiful Elburz Mountains, located towards the Northern part of Iran, and looked at me. He said, while laughing, “For example when I was in Egypt, food was the most difficult aspect to adapt to; they mainly serve spicy food there that is very different from what we eat.”



Food is a very important part of a country’s culture and one living there must learn to manage eating what is served. It might be hard but as they say, you always find something that’s better than the rest.



Other challenges in culture may arise such as language, traditions, and such. “Being an expat especially in a country where the English language is limited into the highest education class, has made living in such a community hard, like being in Iran for example. I would go to the supermarket just downstairs, located in my compound and have a hard time asking for something I wanted, so sometimes I would just go without asking and just look for the item myself,” he said.



As an international mobile employee, culture would have to be the number one aspect that is studied carefully so that one may cope and also learn from the surrounding. He finished off by saying, “Another thing would be to understand the culture itself, so you can avoid any misunderstandings that might result in very problematic situations.”



As far as challenges go, nothing is as hard as leaving ones old life behind. Home sweet home becomes as far as the eye can’t see. Waking up in a different bed, smelling different air, and seeing new faces all become a part of one’s daily routine.



Excited to know, I looked at my husband and wondered what was the easiest part to cope with, being away from family. He said, “Believe it or not, being away from friends and family- because I studied abroad I was away from family and friends since I was about 18, so this has made it easier for me to cope with being alone and being able to always make new friends in any environment I live in.” I was suddenly shocked, because I think that it is very hard for many people to be away from their loved ones and open a new circle of friends.



I remembered speaking with his mother, and what she had to say about being away from her son for many years and how she got used to it. His mother teared up as she spoke, “It’s hard. It’s very, very hard, from the moment he left, him and his brother, they were so young. Only high school graduates going on to college and never travelled alone. But I had to be strong, I gave them hope and courage to fulfill their dreams and become strong men out in this hard world. Now I look at my son, and I look at you as his lifetime partner and I praise the lord to bless you both with a beautiful life, wherever you may be. This relaxes me because now I know he isn’t alone anymore in some different country.”



“For everything there is a price to pay.” That was my husband’s answer to me regarding the stability of his life, and his feelings towards being unstable.



“It is true that working as an IM employee, I knew that I would be having a sort of unstable life, however, it was the decision I made looking towards the experience I was about to earn, both in life and work experience. That has made me willing to sacrifice part of my life for the sake of a better future.” It is always a hard decision to make and a very heart-pounding situation when looking at it from a far perspective, but when searching through the golden routes of life, one must always know that a right decision will lead to success. Stability is an aspect that we, as humans, look towards to in any environment and situation. Being unstable we feel insecure, out of place, and lost, however it is building strength and hope that allow us to keep going through any situation we are faced with.



“Do you think it was worth passing through the tough situations and making the decisions you did to get where you are today?” I asked him. After a long course of work experience we hold ourselves and look back and ask ourselves was it worth it? Sometimes we fear the pain that we once went through, and other times we draw a smile and say exactly what my husband said, “Definitely it was worth all the effort I put into the years of being an IM.”



Being an international mobile employee, his life was based upon a single person, himself. When opening doors into a new life, marriage, there’s another person that is now a part of what his life holds.





Sharing a life with another person means that one must be aware that his partner is willing to accept this path and stay strong. “It has become a more challenging life because you need to plan well; my partner needs to understand my life and be willing to live this mobile life with me,” he said while looking at me and smiling, knowing I would be willing to do just that.



I wondered and I asked, “In this type of work life style, what would be the aspect or point that would make you consider a stable career life?” He took my hand and said, “When I see that my work conditions are interfering with my private life and adversely affecting my family.”



Living an unstable life can be hard at times, but when you know how to cope with the surrounding environment than nothing can be hard. My husband passed through five hard and task-filled years, but with a strong heart you can overcome anything. When having the experience and knowledge on a certain aspect, it is always wise to share with another and to give a word of what they will be expecting of it. Upon finishing up the interview, I asked my husband what advice he would give his new partner, myself, on walking this journey alongside of him?



He was relaxed, and I could tell well that he was. He said, “Know what you want, and don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot achieve it, because, if you believe it then you can achieve it.”