Life With a Driver While on International Assignment
Are you moving abroad with your company on an international assignment and you’ll have a driver? Not sure what that means for you? Or what it will be like to have a driver? You’ve come to the right place.
I had a driver on my first international assignment and felt totally unprepared for it. I’ll admit, I was really excited at the thought of being driven around everywhere. But after having a driver for a few weeks I realized it would be more complicated than that.
“That must be nice” is probably the most common thing I heard from people when they found out I had a driver. And yes, they are right, it was nice. But like all things in life it wasn’t so simple and there were both positives and negatives to having a driver while living abroad.
My intention with this blog is to share with you my perspective of having a driver. I hope you’ll feel more prepared for life with a driver when you land in your new country.
A Little Background
Luanda, Angola
While living in Luanda, Angola, we had 2 dedicated drivers and one vehicle. We had a main driver that worked for us 5 days a week and then a backup that worked the other two days to relieve our main driver.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
In Argentina, we did not have a driver but we did have a car service that was paid for by Andrew’s company. We were able to call the car service (they normally needed a 30 minute heads up) and schedule a ride. Or we could schedule a ride in advance.
We obviously didn’t need a car very often in Buenos Aires as pretty much everything was walking distance but when we did want to go across the city or to the airport it was very convenient. Andrew also had a standing morning pickup to take him to the office.
Now let’s talk about what it’s like to have a driver…
Always with You
This one definitely had its negatives. As an introvert, I like to be alone a lot to recharge. Well, this wasn’t possible a lot of the time in Angola. Even when I went to run at a park, my driver would sit there and wait for me. After about a year or so I asked the drivers to leave and return in an hour so I could work out alone. I think they were more than happy that I relieved them and they could go hang out with friends for a bit.
I also know a lot of people use their time in the car ride home in the afternoons to regroup and recharge before getting home. You may not enjoy your ride home as much when you have someone in the car with you.
Safety
On the flip side of the drivers always being with you, it means you are safer. One aspect of drivers most people don’t think about is safety. While drivers aren’t bodyguards, they do play an important role in keeping their expats safe. For example, my driver would not take me anywhere unsafe. If I wanted to go someplace that wasn’t ideal he would give me other suggestions.
They also helped keep me safe in other ways like ensuring to drop me off at the safest entry points or watching me as I walked into stores to make sure nobody approached me.
There’s also a sense of safety you feel as an expat when you’re with a local. While I never felt unsafe in Luanda, I always felt extra safe when I had my driver with me. I knew he could read people better than I could and communicate in Portuguese better than me. In fact, there were times I asked him to negotiate prices for me at the markets.
Help You Navigate Life
All my drivers were super helpful with everyday things that I found difficult as an expat. Like getting dog paperwork to leave the country. There was no information online and he was able to go to the government office and figure out exactly what steps we needed to take to get travel certificates.
They also helped us exchange money. If you read my blog post about exchanging currency while living overseas, then you know we would change our USD for Kwanza “on the street”. And normally it was my driver that would handle it for me. I would give him a few hundred USD and he would bring me back Kwanza.
And as a “thank you”, they normally rounded up on the exchange and kept some for themselves. Honestly, it seemed like they preferred to get out and do things versus sitting at the house all day waiting for me to go somewhere.
But that’s also a negative side - sometimes it feels like you have another person you have to worry about or keep busy. If I didn’t have a lot going on, I would feel bad when they were just waiting around for me to leave the house.
Feelings of Guilt
There’s also the guilt. A lot of times I would feel guilty if we were planning to go to a late Saturday night dinner because I knew the driver would have to stay late. And sometimes you just feel bad about it. I knew it was a good job that they were happy to have but deep down I always felt guilt about keeping them around in case I needed to go somewhere.
Scheduling
We had to know ahead of time when we would need them to arrive the following day. This wasn’t a big deal for weekdays when we had a set work schedule. But weekends were more fluid and we had to tell the driver the night before what time we wanted him to arrive at our house.
So we’d have to think ahead about what we wanted to do - a long run, brunch, etc. and then tell him the time to arrive. There were many times we’d plan to do something but then cancel or change our minds when we decided to sleep in. Then I would feel bad that he had to get up early to get to our home just to sit there until 1pm when we left for pizza/shopping/whatever.
The good news is a lot of other expats talked about getting used to it but personally I never really got over the “guilt” feeling.
Convenience
Of course, I have to talk about all the small awesome parts of having a driver! Always having a driver was really handy when you had a few extra drinks at dinner. Or when you just played on the beach all day and you’re 2 hours away from home and you just don’t want to drive.
I also always enjoyed coming out of the supermarket and knowing my car would be super close to the entrance. The drivers would also help with carrying groceries from my basket into the trunk and from the car into the house.
I know, this part makes us expats sound spoiled. And maybe we are. But there are so many challenges that come with expat life that you really have to enjoy these little things.
Familiarity with Your Surroundings
Because you’re a passenger in the back seat, I found it took longer to learn street names and directions. I’ve always been good with direction, I feel like I know Houston like the back of my hand.
But I noticed not driving in Angola made it more difficult to learn my surroundings. I guess it’s lucky I could normally just say a place and my driver would know where it was! But sometimes it was frustrating when I wanted them to go a different way because of traffic and I had a very hard time articulating that to them due to my lack of street names.
Luanda was also notorious for not having many street signs, so this could have also been the culprit!
This also happened in Buenos Aires. I knew Recoleta and Puerto Madero like the back of my hand but as soon as a driver would take us into Palermo or other neighborhoods, I was lost.
Dependent
Having a driver makes you feel dependent. And when you’ve been very independent your whole life, it takes some adjustment to get used to. I was used to driving myself around since I was 16. But all of a sudden I was thrown into having to rely on calling someone else to pick me up and coordinate with.
And we also only had one car between my husband and I. I know, first world problems. But it required more coordination than I was used to when we both had our own cars and could come and go as we pleased. It’s definitely another aspect of having a driver that takes getting used to.
Family
Your driver becomes your family. I wasn’t expecting this. We were so close to ours and we formed a special bond. We had one driver (Francisco whom we nicknamed “Fran”) the entire 3.5 years and I honestly miss him dearly. If I could have brought him back to the US with me, I would have!
It was a good feeling to get to know someone from Angola on such a personal level. Of course we had Angolan friends but there was something more intimate about being in a car with one person for several years. I’m pretty sure I learned more about Angolan culture from my drivers than anything else. Anytime I had a question about Angolans or what was going on in the news, or how they felt about an issue I didn’t hesitate to ask.
It’s an interesting dynamic. You land in a foreign country and you're given this person (driver) you’re supposed to keep abreast of your every move and they will be with you every day all day.
You slowly get used to each other and eventually form bonds and friendships.
And then the next thing you know your company tells you it’s time to leave and you have to say goodbye to this person that has been in your life everyday for the last 3.5 years. This, my friendly readers, is one of the hardest parts about expat life.
I’ll never forget when we left Angola on the final night. I hugged Fran so hard in the airport and didn’t let go for probably 90 seconds. He was so much more than my driver. He was and still is my friend.
As you can see, there are many positives and negatives about having a driver when you live overseas. Like many things about expat life, it is what you make of it. But if you do it right, your driver will be a great resource for you to make your life living abroad a success.
Planning to move to Luanda, Angola? Then be sure to download this activity list I created with over 40 things you have to do in Luanda!
And be sure to check out this overseas packing checklist with everything you need to pack to make your new country feel like home!
