This is a funny thing, we expats face when we come back home for holidays, people back home think that we have returned with bag full of money and that we are rolling in gold and cash......haha....seriously. With my friends when I try to be mindful about money, they will pass comments like, why do I need to bother about money, I roll in cash. It is a general mindset that people have that if you are working in Middle East, it means that you have loads of money to throw out. You can lavishly spend and buy expensive things. And they also think that all the time we are buying Gold. People will ask you questions like, how much gold have you purchased till date.
The fact is that the life in Middle East is as expensive as living in the home country, and then when one moves there for work, they do to take care of all the responsibilities that they have on their shoulder. It's never easy. Sometimes I see that my friends in Mumbai are more reckless in their spendings then even I can think of. Their spending power is more than mine, even if they earn less than me.
The other common problem that majority of the expats face when they go back home is that their friends have expectations that they will entertain them and pay for their food bills. In my circle when I go out, I mention it very clearly from the beginning that we are going dutch and I am not paying up for anyone. I do get to hear sometimes comments like, do not be a miser, you roll in money, you should not bother paying up for everyone. How I wish I rolled in money, then I would not go away from home in the first place...hehe.
Another expectation that people have back home when you travel is that you will take gifts for everyone. If you do not take gifts and then when you meet them, they may ask questions like.....You did not bring anything this time. Which makes it like an unsaid rule that you have to bring something for people back home. In the beginning when I shifted and would go back home, I did all these formalities of buying things for people, but then I felt it was too much to do it every time and now I have almost stopped all of these formalities. Though I do take a few things for my very close circle, but that I do it with my wish and not as an obligation.
I travel so often that now I have stopped all these formalities. Every quarter I cannot keep buying gifts for people, else all that I earn will be spent only on buying gifts for others. Things are expensive, even if it is once a year visit, there is a lot of expense to it. And then to be very realistic we make a lot of sacrifices being away from home and family to earn, which we do it for ourselves and not for everyone else to take them out for dinners or to take gifts for them.
Personally for me, I keep shuffling between the 2 homes regularly so I do not have much of issues with these things but some of my friends when they talk it really puts me to thinking as to why such kind of attitude and thinking people have.
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