In this very personal article, I describe my last weeks before emigrating from Switzerland – between farewells, exhaustion, hope and the conscious break with my country of origin. The text is aimed at people who are interested in personal experiences of emigrating from Switzerland – beyond checklists and advice guides.
Only 24 days left. Then I get on a plane and fly away – away from a country that never really wanted me. Behind me: an apartment that has become a storage room. Half-packed suitcases, discarded furniture, the remains of my „life“. I got rid of almost everything. Sold (for next to nothing). Gave it away (a huge effort). Thrown away (with gritted teeth).
What’s left fits into a 23 kg checked suitcase, a 5 kg piece of hand luggage and a dog carrier. And what doesn’t come with me, I leave behind – including all my doubts.
Emigrating from Switzerland – my personal farewell
I’m going to get my life back
I want to go. Without sadness. Without sentimentality. I no longer have any illusions about my home country. Even the nicest Swiss react to everything that bothers them with a quiet, polite frown – accompanied by structural contempt. They don’t hate out loud. They disqualify with articles: the Albanians. the Turks. the Debtor. the Drug addicts. Of course, these are all just isolated cases – as long as you don’t listen too closely.
Gallows humor helps with packing
What’s keeping me here? Nothing anymore. What draws me there? The hope of real humanity – even if it is chaotic, messy and unstable.
I am not naive. I know what I’m getting myself into. I’m moving to a country where not everything is over-regulated, where many things just happen. In the truest sense of the word. Sometimes a house burns down because nobody pays attention to safety standards. Sometimes a roller coaster derails. And sometimes you get arrested for giving a bottle of water to a thirsty refugee.
But there is also something liberating about the fact that not all is regulated. When there isn’t a system at every corner that controls, evaluates and catalogs you – and then politely but firmly pushes you aside if you don’t fit into the norm.
Why I go despite my fear – between hope and uncertainty
Democracy light – with human warmth
In Switzerland, I would be surprised if someone stormed parliament tomorrow. In Tunisia … let’s just say it would be interesting, but not entirely unexpected. It is a country in upheaval – unstable, contradictory, vibrant.
And yes, that is scary. But not as much as the cold perfectionism of my home country. Switzerland has a lot to be proud of: Stability, security, the rule of law. But perhaps it is precisely this sterile efficiency that makes many people chronically incapable of putting empathy above prejudice.
I have no answers to these contradictions. Only one decision: I’m leaving.
Not because I’m running away from something – but because I’m looking for something that I’ve never found here.
- The text describes my personal situation in the last few weeks before emigrating from Switzerland.
- The focus is on farewells, exhaustion and the desire for a different life.
- It is not about organisational preparation or legal steps.
- The article deliberately addresses ambivalence, fear and hope.
- The text is a personal account of my experiences – not an emigration guide.