I'm More Comfortable Off Autopilot

What if you feel more at home somewhere unfamiliar?After nearly 20 years living overseas, Jon Jensen, a senior executive producer and longtime international journalist, moved back to the United States and found himself feeling like a stranger in his own country. Jon has spent much of his life moving between places and starting over. He says he’s more comfortable “off autopilot”.We discuss:• Why “Where are you from?” is the question Jon dreads• What it feels like to return to your own country after nearly 20 years away• Why unfamiliar places can force us to pay attention in a way familiar ones don’t• The instant connection that can happen between people who have lived internationally• The grief and loneliness that come with repeatedly leaving friends and communities behind• Whether being good at adapting can also make it harder to know where you belong• Starting over socially and building a new community as an adult• Why we can carry pieces of every place we’ve called home with youFrom feeling foreign in the country on his passport to finding unexpected moments of familiarity in New York, this conversation gets into the parts of moving we don’t always talk about: what we gain, what we leave behind and how starting over again and again changes the way we relate to people, places and ourselves.