Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 minute ago
I’ve lived outside Iceland since 2006. Denmark, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and now Thailand.
In this video, I reflect on something that has felt increasingly strange to me over the years: why some people get called expats, while others doing something very similar get called immigrants.
This is not a political lecture. It is a personal reflection based on lived experience — leaving home, adapting to new countries, learning new languages, trying to make myself useful, and slowly realizing that the words we use often reveal more about status, class, and perception than we like to admit.
Leaving home changes you. It sharpens some parts of you and unsettles others. This video is about that.
If you’ve ever left home, wanted to leave, or tried to build a life somewhere unfamiliar, this might resonate.
Slog3 LUT:
buymeacoffee.com/egillbjarki/e/91819
Optimised for Sony 10bit 422 (Sony A7SIII, A7IV, A1, FX6, FX3, ZV-E1). Any Sony camera with Slog3 Picture Profile (SL3SG3C to s709).
Instagram:
instagram.com/egill_bjarki
Portfolio:
https://egillbjarki.cargo.site
00:00 - The basketball dream: A friend's ambition
00:43 - Leaving Iceland: Courage vs. Stupidity
01:31 - The real test: Adapting in Denmark
02:13 - The immigrants' dilemma: Can you adapt?
02:26 - The quiet loneliness of moving abroad
02:47 - A life of moving: From Beijing to Thailand
03:16 - Expat vs. Immigrant: The language of status
04:27 - Nuance in the move: Not all journeys are equal
05:09 - What you gain and what you lose
05:54 - Why we really leave home
06:40 - Final reflections: A larger life
I’ve lived outside Iceland since 2006. Denmark, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and now Thailand.
In this video, I reflect on something that has felt increasingly strange to me over the years: why some people get called expats, while others doing something very similar get called immigrants.
This is not a political lecture. It is a personal reflection based on lived experience — leaving home, adapting to new countries, learning new languages, trying to make myself useful, and slowly realizing that the words we use often reveal more about status, class, and perception than we like to admit.
Leaving home changes you. It sharpens some parts of you and unsettles others. This video is about that.
If you’ve ever left home, wanted to leave, or tried to build a life somewhere unfamiliar, this might resonate.
Slog3 LUT:
buymeacoffee.com/egillbjarki/e/91819
Optimised for Sony 10bit 422 (Sony A7SIII, A7IV, A1, FX6, FX3, ZV-E1). Any Sony camera with Slog3 Picture Profile (SL3SG3C to s709).
Instagram:
instagram.com/egill_bjarki
Portfolio:
https://egillbjarki.cargo.site
00:00 - The basketball dream: A friend's ambition
00:43 - Leaving Iceland: Courage vs. Stupidity
01:31 - The real test: Adapting in Denmark
02:13 - The immigrants' dilemma: Can you adapt?
02:26 - The quiet loneliness of moving abroad
02:47 - A life of moving: From Beijing to Thailand
03:16 - Expat vs. Immigrant: The language of status
04:27 - Nuance in the move: Not all journeys are equal
05:09 - What you gain and what you lose
05:54 - Why we really leave home
06:40 - Final reflections: A larger life
