Nos vemos, Argentina.

It’s time to migrate again.

After 1.5 years in Argentina, Igor and I are returning to our countries of birth: first Macedonia and then Canada.

One of 2025’s global themes is return migration. Our reasons are distinctive; our return is voluntary. But the emotional impact of leaving a country still weighs on the heart.

Home & Community in a New Country

Six months ago, we migrated apartments and neighbourhoods within Buenos Aires.

Matthew’s home office in Colegiales, Buenos Aires.

Our move to the neighbourhood Colegiales coincided with us finally feeling at ease in Spanish. We befriended neighbours and built a sense of belonging through our community gym.

Pictured on the left is my favourite plant, a bird of paradise. We bought it within days of moving here. The level of light and water have been ideal conditions for it to thrive. It’s doubled in size over the six months we’ve lived here.

I feel like I’ve doubled in size with it.

As we’ve grown in Argentina, we’ve learned concepts such as circular migration and emotional processes of settlement and departure.

We’ve learned the important use of the Spanish phrase Nos vemos during a departure. It’s not actually a goodbye.

“We’ll see each other again.”

Nos vemos, Argentina.

I’m thankful that in our 1.5 years as an international students here, we’ve been able to create a foundation. We have something that we can return to build on in the future.

But for now, we’re going back to our homelands.

We return with lessons on migration, settlement, and integration.

We return with a new language and whole lot of perspective.

Matthew’s 40th birthday in July 2024 in front of the Obelisco in downtown Buenos Aires