Anonymous asked: Hi Lena,

it seems to me that you are always on the move. Have you considered taking up a job abroad? I am asking because soon I'll be leaving Germany tu study soc. abroad and I wonder if i will (should?) come back or stay or move further on. What are your thoughts about mobility, 'home sweet home', study and/or work?

I really love the flexibility of working from home and working for myself, but I would never be able to do it permanently from abroad. It’s great that freelancing allows me to travel this summer and to take trips with Patrick, who is a grad student, but I don’t like being so far from my friends and family. Besides, the situation for me is quite different because I want to make a career out of writing — and my writing is in English which necessitates being in English-speaking countries. Of course, I can technically write from anywhere, but time zones are a pain to deal with and speaking gigs are impossible because of the travel. Most importantly, I can’t meet or network with anyone in my industry. That might not be so crucial if I were working full-time somewhere with colleagues and a boss, but I would go insane never chatting with any other writers when I already spend most of my day working alone.

Perhaps I would feel differently if I went abroad explicitly for college and made new friends in a foreign land, which probably wouldn’t seem all that foreign anymore after several years worth of education. That’s what Patrick did when he left Northern Germany for four years of undergrad in New Haven, Connecticut followed by six (and counting) years of graduate school in Boston. (I don’t understand either how someone can spend three decades living exclusively in cold places.) He has tons of friends in the States and is in no particular rush to leave, though he would like to return to Europe (though not Germany) after he’s done with the PhD. Who knows how you’ll feel in four … or ten years?

For me, it depends entirely on my friends. Somewhere warm and laidback in Southern Europe sounds enticing … but I’d rather brave the New England winter to be close to those I love.

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