Watkins writes "Sometimes I felt sorry for myself, with this feeling of no solid ground that I could say belonged to me. But other times I was glad, because I got to see both countries for what they really were. You had to go away from a place to know what it was you took for granted in the land you left behind." That last part hits close to...somewhere I'm still trying to figure out. Thanks for this piece. Hilary Dumas Thanks for sharing this article. It definitely resonated with me. In my case, the biggest stress has been maintaining an adequate connection with my family. When I first started traveling it was easy to do, because I had a youthful confidence my family would always be right where I left them when I came back to visit. However, since living away several things happened, which broke this confidence. First, a fire destroyed my family home and permanently changed my family's life. It's hard to describe the helplessness felt when you're a world away and your family is in crisis. It was incredibly lucky that no human lives were lost in that accident. I realized then that it was no guarantee my family would always be there when I came back to visit. The next thing that happened were births in the family. While living abroad I have become an aunt to nephews and nieces...little adorable people who will hear about their aunt from their parents, but barely know her.