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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Eleanor Gordon-Smith

I moved overseas by myself and I’m desperately lonely. Did I make the right decision?

‘If it sucks it sucks. Many people have moved overseas and then changed their minds – this is not a failure,’ Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes. Painting: On the Seashore by George Elgar Hicks.
‘If it sucks it sucks. Many people have moved overseas and then changed their minds – this is not a failure,’ Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes. Painting: On the Seashore by George Elgar Hicks. Photograph: Artepics/Alamy

I recently moved overseas by myself and I’m desperately lonely. I moved for better weather, proximity to nature and a calmer, healthier way of living but I’ve really struggled to make any friends. This isn’t the first time I lived abroad. I moved around in my 20s and they were some of the happiest times in my life.

Now, at 34, the experience feels different. I’m living alone and working remotely. This is something I wanted to do for a long time but it’s a lot harder than I expected. I miss my family, friends and partner, although we speak all the time and travel back and forth to see each other. I know it takes time to build a new life. I miss the familiarity and my network back home. Was moving the right decision?

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