Every expat has a plan. Work a few years. Save. Go home. A few years became five. Five becomes ten. Ten becomes twenty. "Just two more years" has been two more years for 15 years.

Staying is sometimes the right decision. The mistake is staying without deciding to stay. Permanent temporary creates paralysis. You don't invest here because you're leaving. You don't build there because you're delaying.

Make a real decision. Both options are valid. The middle is not.

Today we are talking about someone you know. You definitely know this person.

You might be them.

The expat who has been leaving for twenty years but never actually leaves.

[The Mistake]

Every expat professional has a plan. Work here for a few years. Save money. Go back home. Build something there.

A few years became five. Five becomes ten. Ten becomes twenty.

And at every stage, the plan is the same. Just a few more years.

The children need to finish school first. Then the youngest starts school, so we need to wait. The salary is good right now. The house back home is almost finished — just two more years.

Two more years have been two more years for fifteen years.

[The Recognition]

Here is the truth. The Gulf became home a long time ago.

The children grew up here. Their friends are here. The spouse built a community here.

And the professionals themselves — if being completely honest — is not sure what going back actually looks like anymore. The home country in their mind is the one they left twenty years ago. The reality waiting is different.

So they stay. And call it a plan.

[The Funny Part]

Every year — usually around Eid — this person announces with complete confidence:

This is our last year here.

Everyone nods. Nobody says anything. Because everyone has heard this before. Multiple times.

The children have stopped packing. The spouse stopped telling friends back home they are coming. The relatives stopped preparing the welcome.

But the announcement continues. Every year. With complete sincerity.

[The Lesson]

Staying is sometimes genuinely the right decision.

The mistake is staying without deciding to stay.

Living in a permanent temporary state creates financial paralysis. You do not invest properly here because you are leaving. You do not build properly back home because you keep delaying.

Make a real decision. Commit to it. Plan around it. Both options are valid. The middle is not.

[Close]

Next week — the Gulf professional who knows everything about finance but does absolutely nothing with that knowledge.

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