Any Expats Divide Time Between Here And Home Country

[jb5]

Do any of you go back and forth?

If yes, how does it work for you? Are there any issues you find difficult?

 

[starlucia]

I have for 2 years: 3-4 months in BA, then 3-4 months in the States, and repeat. I've actually REALLY loved that lifestyle -- a few months is just enough time in either place to get bored/fed up enough to be grateful for the change in scenery. It's hard on friendships, though, and you do start to feel somewhat out of the loop (I'd get back to the States and be like, "Wait, who died? Who got married? What season is it? Well, gotta go!") I'll still be going back and forth -- from now on between Madrid and Buenos Aires -- but I'm hoping for more of a 9/3 schedule instead of 6/6 (as my patience with BA has, unfortunately, steadily thinned over the last couple of years.)

 

[Barney]

I spend about 4 months a year at home(including some travelling) and 8 in BA.

I think it's perfect because you get the best of both worlds.

Fly 2,3 times a year

 

[Smcali23]

I had a 6/6 schedule for around four years (2001-2005). My girlfriend (now wife) was living here, so I used to save in the UK and travel. Rinse and repeat.

It was tough - no lie. I mean, if I had had unlimited means at the time, then it would have been a nice way to live! But as a young man straight out of Uni choosing love over a career, it was hard, but worth it.

 

[TheBlackHand]

I do.

It works out fine. No issues.

 

[Sleuth]

We just started this year and it looks like we'll do about 4-5 months in the States and the rest of the year in BA. We're lucky that we have a house in the States that rents as a ski house in the winter months and is open in the summers. That would be one of the big issues I would see otherwise.

 

[estebandepraga]

I live 6 mths in BA(where I also call home) and 6 mths in Prague where I have been living for nearly the past 20 years. It's great as one said, just enough and then when you're fed up with THE situation or other things, it's time to go but it's also a great exepense as I must maintain 2 apts, pay bills all year long in both and most jobs don't permit such liberties...mine does, though!

 

[AllKnight]

My wife and I are also investigating how feasible it would be to also split our time between the US and Argentina. In particular we are curious how most people handle their health insurance. We would be both be writing full time so we would have to obtain our own insurance in one country or the other.

We're planning a visit to BA in a few months to check it out for ourselves.

 

[Sleuth]

My wife and I are also investigating how feasible it would be to also split our time between the US and Argentina. In particular we are curious how most people handle their health insurance. We would be both be writing full time so we would have to obtain our own insurance in one country or the other.

We're planning a visit to BA in a few months to check it out for ourselves.

We have our insurance from Buenos Aires. It's about $2000 pesos for me, my wife and our 11 month old daughter. This plan provides us with emergency only coverage while in the US. We have to call them and they provide us with a doctor to go to. I think it is limited to about U$S 14,000 in coverage, which could go very fast here. So far, so good...

 

[AllKnight]

Thanks for the quick response Sleuth.

We have a lot to figure out. What we need to obtain health insurance in BA (not sure if you have some sort of Visa status down there or not), how to handle the tax implications, and many more that we probably aren't even aware of.

I've not had a chance to go through the forums yet to see how many of these answers are in there but I was sort of hoping that someone would be interested in taking a coversation off the forums (email or chat or whatever) to give me a few pointers and hopefully shave off a lot of the discovery process.

Let me know if there are any takers out there.