Going Home: An Interview with Dr Cate Brubaker

‘There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.’

C.S. Lewis

What will 2017 hold for you? For some it will signify another relocation, either to a new location or a move ‘back home’. This can be a bitter sweet experience as I know only too well.

In this week’s podcast, I interview Dr Cate Brubaker, author of the ‘Re-entry Relaunch Roadmap, a Creative Workbook for Finding Happiness, Success & Your Next Global Adventure After Being Abroad.’

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I’ve moved ‘home’ from abroad twice. The first when I was seven months pregnant with my first daughter, and while I was pleased to be surrounded by the support of my family I remember finding the first year and my experience of that time surprising in various ways. The second time, I resolved to ‘get it right’ after all I was experienced in frequent relocation by then. The result; an even tougher transition. I was shocked, surely if anyone should cope it would be me. I wrote about transitions, I supported others through transition. Surely I could short cut the process…

What I learned was that no one is immune from the impact of the process of change that comes with international relocation, and repatriation is very much a part of that process.

In this interview, Cate and I talk ‘re-entry’ or if you prefer ‘repatriation’. It is the one area of global mobility that is frequently highlighted as woefully under-supported by many international organisations. There is an assumption that it will be the easiest move, often it is the toughest.

Cate first moved abroad as a teenager when she went to live in Germany to study for a year. Cate caught the travel bug and started a process of regular sojourns abroad which resulted in an intense restlessness when she returned ‘home’ after each trip. For Cate excitement and adventure were synonymous with a life lived abroad.

In this interview Cate talks about:

• The challenges she faced in coming ‘home’.
• Her process for identifying what she calls, her ‘global life ingredients that would apply wherever she was in the world’.
• The questions that will help anyone returning home after time abroad to think through the re-entry experience.
• The importance of building a life around WHO you are now. Not who you were before moving or who your friends and family expect you to be.

If you have repatriated recently or will repatriate in the future, then this interview will provide valuable insights and advice.

For further support relating to re-entry you can access Cate's Book HERE

Cate is also running a Relaunch – Virtual Re-entry Retreat. For Global Adventurers Who Don’t Want the Global Adventure to End. This is a free virtual event running between the 23^rd and 27^th of January. Every day there will be three interviews aimed to support you as you navigate reverse culture shock, process who you are now and move towards your next global adventure at home or abroad. Go HERE and register for this valuable free event.