Claire and I were reflecting this month that we are very lucky and grateful to have moved to New Zealand when we did (early 2019), as we skipped a lot of trauma in the USA relating to coronavirus and the presidential election.
However, we also realised that if we were to move back to the USA, we would have missed those big collective experiences in the national psyche.
Yes, I know, life goes on back home, but it feels like the opening of a gap between us and home that is beyond just the physical space between us. Not that it’s unexpected - it’s part of the experience of being an emigrant - but it’s funny to be able to pinpoint a moment in time where we first noticed the gap.