Moving But Not Moving Back

As I mentioned in a prior post, I have been spending time away from writing in this blog as I re-think where I want to take things. It's no that I have lost any interest -- instead, it's a matter of new opportunities.

Recently, my wife and I started a new venture -- assisting companies who are moving their executives to live in Jamaica.

The inspiration for this re-think starts with my wife's experience of
moving to Jamaica.

Her move to live here in Kingston two years ago was not a case of "Moving Back," because she is not Jamaican. Like many Yardies abroad, I married a non-Jamaican, and I happened to do so in the midst of
my move back. What I had no clue about was the culture shock that she and other non-Jamaicans often experience when they move to live in Jamaica.

After two years of her experience and many others, I am convinced that Jamaica is one of the more difficult countries to move to.

Luckily for us, and for others, there are actually some very good resources available on how to deal with a move to another country, and while recently reading a book on the phases that someone goes through when they need to adapt to a new country we had a good laugh: it described her experience with amazing accuracy.

These resources, and the fact that they have not been applied to Jamaica, have made us think that we could offer a service to others who are making their transition to live here.

This has made me re-think a few things about my blog.

My initial thought was to assist those Jamaicans who are also thinking about moving back home.

Now, I have decided to think and write more broadly -- what could I say that would help anyone who is moving to live here? There are some challenges that are shared, but quite a few others that only expats face that we Jamaicans are quite blind to.

On the other hand, there are many Jamaicans for whom a move back home would be closer to an expat move than anything else.

So hopefully, with this broadened focus, I can meet more of the need that exists for those coming to live here in Jamaica.