Moving to Bosnia: Can a Foreigner Ever Really Integrate?

An Englishman in the Balkans is a weekly podcast about the people, places and everyday life of Bosnia and Herzegovina, told by David Bailey, who has lived here for more than 25 years. New episodes arrive every Tuesday.

After more than 25 years in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I ask whether I’ve truly integrated, and realise my experience may tell us very little about what it’s like to move here alone.

What is it actually like to move to Bosnia and Herzegovina as a foreigner?

It’s a question I’m being asked increasingly often. The problem is, after more than 25 years living here, I’ve realised I may be the wrong person to answer it.

I first arrived in Bosnia towards the end of 1998 with NATO. I had work, colleagues and a structure around me. Then, in 2002, I met Tamara and gradually found myself not simply living in Bosnia, but becoming part of a Bosnian family.

That brought something enormously important: a network.

Family, friends, neighbours, people who understood the language, knew how things worked and, very often, knew somebody who could help when things became complicated.

So what would happen if I arrived today knowing nobody at all?

In this episode of An Englishman in the Balkans, I think about the difference between living in Bosnia and actually building a life here from scratch.

We talk about:

• moving to Bosnia and Herzegovina as a foreigner
• the difference between residency and belonging
• making friends and building a support network
• dealing with language and bureaucracy
• becoming part of a Bosnian family
• whether integration means giving up your original identity
• why, after 25 years, Tamara still considers me “the same Englishman”
• the question I still cannot answer: could I have built this life here completely on my own?

Perhaps integration isn’t about eventually becoming indistinguishable from the people around you.

Perhaps it’s about learning how to live comfortably amongst them while still remaining yourself.

And if you moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina without a Bosnian partner, family connection or employer providing a ready-made network, I’d genuinely like to hear your story.

Why Bosnia? What surprised you? What was difficult? And when — if ever — did Bosnia stop being somewhere you moved to and become home?

Thanks for listening. If this episode was worth your time, the best thing you can do is pass it on to someone who'd enjoy it.

Every episode, and more about my life here, is at anenglishmaninthebalkans.com.

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