Can you ever truly live like a local when you move to another country? And after nearly three decades in Bosnia and Herzegovina, am I still a foreigner?

I've been living in Bosnia since 1998. What began as a NATO posting gradually became something I never expected, a marriage, a family life, friendships, and a place I now call home.

But something I recently read about foreigners claiming to live like locals got me thinking.

Does belonging mean speaking the language perfectly, sharing the same financial circumstances as your neighbours, or abandoning the culture you came from? Or is it something much simpler?

In this rather personal episode, recorded outside in my village garden near Laktaši, I reflect on what almost three decades of living in Bosnia have taught me about identity, integration, community, and belonging.

I talk about the differences between living on a British pension and earning a local wage, my continuing struggles with the language, the friendships that have shaped my life here, and the Bosnian idea of ćejf, taking pleasure in life's simple moments.

And there's another question I've been considering: when you've made your life somewhere else, what does it actually mean to go back home?

I'm still British. I'm not trying to become Bosnian. But Bosnia and Herzegovina is home.

Perhaps belonging isn't about becoming a local at all. Perhaps it's simply about becoming part of a place.

I'd love to hear what you think. If you've moved abroad, do you still consider yourself a foreigner? And what makes someone a local in your eyes?

Thanks for listening, and vidimo se opet!

An Englishman in the Balkans is a weekly podcast about the people, places and everyday life of Bosnia and Herzegovina, told by David Bailey, who has lived here for more than 25 years. New episodes arrive every Tuesday.

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Every episode, and more about my life here, is at anenglishmaninthebalkans.com.

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