Every family in transition needs to face numerous emotional, social and psychological challenges, many of which cannot be clearly defined. The act of packing, moving, and unpacking entails uprooting relationships. Here is a list of questions a family in transition can consider and discuss while moving:

I. before the departure


1. What do I like best about going to the passport country?

2. What worries me most about the passport country?

3. What do I expect to be different about the passport country?

4. What are the likely difficulties that I could have in the passport country?

5. What are the good things that could happen in the passport country?

6. Who do I look forward to seeing? How have they changed since I last saw them?

7. How can I make new friends?

8. How has my passport country changed since I have been here?

9. What will people in my passport country find strange or funny about me?

10. What can I do when I don’t understand a situation?

11. What can I do when I have a problem?

12. What feelings do I have about saying good bye?

13. Who will I miss during my home leave?

14. What am I going to miss about my host country?

15. What are the different ways of being polite and courteous in the passport country?



II. One week after arriving in the passport country


1. What’s my best experience back here? Why?

2. What has been the most difficult back here? Why?

3. Are we financially better or worse off than before?

4. What have I experienced that people here haven’t experienced?

5. How are my values different to those of people here?

6. Who are my friends?

7. Do I feel that I belong to a group?

8. Name things that others do that you don’t understand.

9. Name some things that make you happy.

10. It annoys me if people……

11. Did I expect that I would be treated differently or in any special way here? How?

12. Did I expect people to be interested in my experiences? Are they interested?

13. Are things better or worse than I expected?

14. Do I see things realistically?

15. How do I feel about living here now?

16. How do I feel about the community of people here?

17. The best thing in school is?

18. The worst thing about school is?

19. The best day of the week for me is…., because….




This article is kindly offered by Educare, a newsletter 
covering major TCK issues published by EUROTCK. 
Educare is published 4 times a year (Jan, March, June, Sept) 
and covers a wide range of third culture issues from preparation of 
children for cross-cultural living to re-entry to the passport 
country, boarding to home schooling and much more. 
It is available free of charge on request from Eurotck.net.