I'm an expat! I love being an expat. Yet, moving from country to country is a lot easier when you're not worried about the effects it will have on your child. When I was 5 years old, my parents uprooted us and moved from Russia to the United States. We weren't expats, we were immigrants. Completely different story, yet can have a similar effect on kids.

I had a horrible time adjusting to the new world. I didn't speak a lick of English, my parents knew even less than me. I was ripped away from my grandparents who remained in Communist Russia. Even though I was too young to understand that I will never see them again, I did understood my sadness and fears.

On top of that, my parents were going through their own fears and despair. For one grandparents were my mom's parents and she literally had to say good bye to them, at that time, forever. So besides being a fish out of water, I couldn't turn to my parents for help, because they were in just as much need for it as I was.

Granted, my son's situation is completely different. He is fluent in Spanish, we've been traveling back and forth to Guatemala for the past 2 years. But I still fear that he will be affected some way or another, it's almost inevitable.

Our main moves happens on June 25 when we say good bye to our home of 6 years and move on to the next adventure. I'll keep you guys posted on the journey:)

Marina K. Villatoro lives in Costa Rica and loves to help people out with their travel plans. Her site Travel Experta is all about Traveling and Living in Central America.