Ex-patia and Re-entry shock

I have long had in my head a post about Ex-patia. This is the place of being that we currently live. It's not just a physical place, but also a state of mind, a lifestyle, a daily reality, a counter-life. And I made the name up myself.

In Ex-patia, we live in a bubble...a soft, protected bubble. Where it's easy to have no idea what's going on in the local area (good thing - crime? what's that? sure it doesn't exist as I can't read the papers/watch the news/listen to the radio to know it exists, bad thing - something special on this weekend? don't ask me, I wouldn't know), where you belong to a small, supportive group of like-situated individuals who know exactly what Ex-patia is like, where the opportunities for travel are unbelievable - just jump in the car and within a couple of hours you're in France, Italy, Germany - and where you know it won't last forever.

Which is where re-entry shock comes into it. A woman I know recently mentioned a book called Homeward Bound - a spouses guide to repatriation by Robin Pascoe. I've just checked out the website and it looks like I need the book. Good timing. A lot of what she writes about strikes a chord for me.

Think I'm gonna need all the help I can get.