Publish at May 09 2022 Updated May 16 2022
Before the internet age, the cost of international phone calls for an expatriate for the duration of his stay could be the price of a plane ticket. Sending letters was cheaper, so direct communications were rare. Since then, this is no longer a concern...
Thousands of channels of satellite or cable television are now accessible from everywhere; most national media offer international versions in several languages of their news: RFI, TV5, RCI, SWI, Radio Prague, Radio Romania, The Voice of America, Al Jazeera... not to mention music channels, print media available by collective subscription and all that the Internet and social networks allow.
International student exchange organizations have observed a shift in the behavior of their clientele, who are both rapidly connecting to local entities, whether social, academic, or administrative, and also continuing to maintain contact, especially family contact, with their home communities.
While integration sometimes becomes more difficult and lengthens due to frequent communication in their native language and not in the language of the host country, the immersion is no longer as deep or the disorientation as radical as before. Expatriation is softened by the continuous media link and, as a result, becomes more popular. The success of international exchange programs, Erasmus at the forefront, can attest to this and is no stranger to the development of the Internet.
Most expatriates now maintain strong ties with their family or company and communicate with them virtually every day. Especially during the pandemic, this bond has strengthened both locally and internationally, to the point that even the notion of expatriate is slowly fading: a web is subtly woven between all countries in an increasingly tight and human way.
The new realities of the "Van Life," home exchanges, nomadic workers and even nomadic students, are taking hold internationally; a form of staycation tourism is developing, facilitated by the RB&Bs, Home Exchanges and Trip Advisors of this world, punctuated by the length of stay visas (from 3 months to one year), work permits or insurance requirements. If diplomats are transferred from country to country on a regular basis, these new nomads are also forced to do so, which does not prevent them from creating a circuit of welcoming countries and advantageous destinations.
For students, a question arises: why study in the gray and minimal conditions when it can be done just as well 200 meters from a beach or a corner of paradise? ... as long as it is connected to the Internet! The CNED and large virtual institutions do not fail to offer their online courses to this mobile clientele; however, their promotion says nothing about the success rate or completion times, especially if in addition they work remotely to ensure some income.
The power to communicate from anywhere questions the notion of presence. Tourists are just passing through, but nomads return regularly and develop ties, punctuated by seasons or contracts. They can bring more than money; students or workers can also adopt a culture and enrich it. Now that they can keep their contacts wherever they are, they are less afraid to move away; their media teat will always be able to reassure them.
Illustration: Deposit Photos
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