We extended my work rotation as long as possible in Ireland, but all good things must end. We are coming home!

Our move to Ireland was through PwC’s International Mobility programme, which allows staff to complete a temporary secondment (rotation) with a member firm (entity) in another country. The standard duration is two years, with the option to extend for a third. Staff who want to stay longer are required to “go local” by breaking ties with the home firm (in our case, PwC US), surrendering their right to a job and benefits back home, and remaining employed by the host firm (PwC Ireland) indefinitely.

While we have absolutely loved our time in Dublin, the end of my contract presented a decision point, and we have decided to return to Portland this autumn. It is hard for us to accept that this incredible adventure, which we have dreamed about for most of a decade, is now ending, but we know that returning home will allow us to be reunited with our loved ones and to pursue new dreams for our family.

What We Look Forward To

When we return to Portland later this year, we know things will be different from the place we left in 2023. Despite a few visits over the years, it will take time to adapt to the changes in the places we knew before and the people who have continued to grow older and wiser while we’ve been away. Even more, we expect that moving home will make us realise all the ways we have changed from our time living in Ireland.

Living abroad has caused us to defer some big life steps that we can now begin to consider: renovating our house, adopting a pet (or two), and starting a family. We’re excited for the stability that comes with putting down roots for the foreseeable future.

While things will be different, we are very excited to be back in our home and in close proximity to most of our family and lifelong friends. Being away these few years has helped us realise how rare and valuable it is to have so many of our people in the same place, and as we return we do not want to take that for granted.

What We Will Leave Behind

To embrace the sweetness of a return to our community in Portland, we must face the bitterness of leaving behind the community and culture we have made our home during this time abroad. While our move to Dublin from Portland was a “see you later” with a relatively fixed timeline, the return home feels much more like “goodbye.” We will stay in touch and travel to visit over the years, but we are unlikely to live in proximity to those we have met in Dublin ever again.

Part of the sadness in moving home is that a significant season of our life is ending. We started discussing a work rotation in Europe around ten years ago, and for many years doubted it would ever actually happen. Returning home means we have completed that goal, an adventure we do not expect to repeat in our lifetimes.

We will miss the places we have come to know, the opportunity to learn from a culture that is not our own, and easy access to explore Europe. But just as it is the people we are most excited to see again when we return, it is the people we will have the hardest time leaving behind.

Our Final Months

In these last few months, we are doing our best to cherish the time we have left with these people and places before we return. Summer in Ireland is amazing—we plan to take every chance to swim in the sea, eat 99 Flake ice cream, play tag rugby, and spend the extra sunlight hours with the community we have established here.

We will begin making plans for home, but we’re working to stay present by confining that planning to specific times and places, resisting the temptation to fixate on things that can wait until we’re back.

We will top it off with one final trip to Spain for the beach and a wedding, then through Italy to see family and enjoy beautiful places and delicious food, before the eventual one-way flight to PDX.

Closing Reflections

Since moving to Dublin three years ago, we have returned to Oregon five times, travelled to other cities in the US, hosted many visitors from home, and made countless video calls to stay in touch. In many ways, it feels like we have stayed well connected, and we are grateful for that. Despite these efforts, our life experience during this time has been starkly different from that of our family and friends back home. We have adapted to an entirely new culture and community, and our return will require us to adapt back to the one we left behind—and to learn how to reconcile what we have experienced during this season with the life that lies ahead.

Until quite recently we stayed blissfully in denial of the impending end to our adventure. But now, with so little time left, we have shifted to a posture of acceptance, preparing ourselves for the challenge of leaving this place behind and anticipating the joy of coming home.