Can we talk about how people assume exile means you want to go back?

I was at a meetup last week in Berlin and this guy kept pushing me about my 'return plan.' He asked three times if I'd applied for a visa to go home. I told him I left Syria in 2015 after my neighborhood got hit. I'm not planning a return trip. Why do people think exile is just a long vacation you'll eventually end? Has anyone else dealt with this weird assumption that you secretly want to go back?

2 comments

2 Comments

tara70025d ago

and honestly that whole mindset bleeds into everything, not just exile. like people assume if you leave a job or a city or even just a friend group you must be planning your big comeback. it's like they can't wrap their heads around someone moving on for good.

perry.lee23d ago

Big comeback" hits it. I had a buddy who left a toxic work crew in Chicago and moved to Portland, and his old boss kept texting him "when you coming back" for two years, like moving on was a phase he'd snap out of.