Due to the current restrictions on travel to and from Australia, Manuela is now facing a very different situation.
Trips to Italy to visit their families of origin are for now out of the question, which has meant for instance not being able to return when a relative passed away.
Moreover, the initial plan was for Manuela and the kids to move back to Rome next year, while her husband stayed in Australia a little longer to finish his job here, but the risk of being kept apart for long periods against their wishes has made them revise this decision.
While Manuela feels lucky and grateful to be in Australia with her immediate family during the pandemic, her expat experience now resembles more and more that of a migrant, facing harder choices than those she had initially envisaged.
Listen to the interview with Manuela in Italian:
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Expat o emigrata? Il coronavirus allunga le distanze e cambia le prospettive
SBS Italian
26/08/202012:25
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