Approaching the fork in the road

The request for me to make an early repatriation to the US arrived over the weekend.  Its not entirely unexpected: with the closure of the facility in Arnhem and the current global economic challenges, corporations are universally looking for ways to cut costs and to improve productivity.  Expatriate agreements are expensive and will continue to face scrutiny in a tough economic climate.

For the past six months, I’ve been weighing options and laying groundwork for this possibility.  In the past, I and others have discussed the absolute necessity for any expatriate to understand their “Plan B”: What will you do if the justifications for staying overseas were to evaporate?  From withdrawal of support to loss of a spouse, unexpected events can occur which suddenly put you into 90-day visitor status.  Under those circumstances, what are the necessary actions that you must put into execution to shift to local contracts, repatriate, or immigrate?

For myself, the notice just starts the clock running on executing the contingency plans.  So far, there’s nothing unexpected beyond the sudden timing of the announcement, so my options continue to be valid.  The start of a new adventure is now 90 days away: really a scary / exciting time.