Expat Nostalgia: Nostalgic Emotions among 'Permanent Tourists' in Pattaya, Thailand

In a globalized world, the ability to travel and settle elsewhere than one’s native country is an opportunity open to still more people. Particularly with the rise of ‘retirement migration’ or ‘lifestyle migration’, increasing numbers of senior members move to foreign destinations in order to live the remaining parts of their lives. The reasons for leaving their home countries in the first place are diversified as are also their experienced upon arrival. However, nostalgia is an identifiable emotion among many expats or, in this article called ‘permanent tourists’, who may experience a longing for what they left behind. Based on a study in the city of Pattaya, Thailand, the author by way of informal meetings and conversations with Western expatriates explored their experiences of nostalgia as an everyday emotion relating to different parts of their lives and memories. The article shows how nostalgia is far from a one-dimensional emotional response to changing life-circumstances, but rather encompasses a variety of connotations, expressions and experiences.