What are some examples of being raised as a third-culture kid? What are the benefits and disadvantages?

As a 3rd culture kid I experienced life as a "child of the world". I knew no different. All of my friends were raised the same way. I went to a total of 9 different schools and was always the "new" girl. But, my peers experienced the same so we all understood each other. My father was a U.S military man for 24 years. Two years into his career he met and married my French mother. Two years after they married I was born in Germany. We traveled and lived between Germany, France and the US for my entire childhood until I was 16. The majority of my parent's friends were multi cultural and the kids were mixed in every combination of nationality and race imaginable. I grew up without knowing prejudice. Race, culture or religion were never considered an obstacle to friendship and care.   I had friends from all over the world. We shared traditions in food, holiday celebrations, birthdays, you name it there was always someone who brought a native dish, tradition or story to any gathering. We always lived "on the economy" which is actually living off the military base and in the local community. I lived as a German girl, spoke German with my friends but went to American school by bus. During the summers we stayed with my grandparents and other relatives in France. When we went to the U.S. we visited family there while we lived in several different states for an average of 2 years each time. I have explored castles in France, played in WWII bunkers in Germany, ran on the beaches in Texas, Maryland, Virginia and Louisiana, learned about and visited history in Washington DC, ate crab and shellfish on the Brittany coast, drank Rauchbier in Bavaria and the list goes on and on. It was a colorful upbringing that has made me comfortable in the world I live in, regardless of governments or politics. The only thing that I would consider a "disadvantage" is that I cannot claim to be "from" anywhere specific. I have no "hometown" so I adapt to whatever environment I find myself in.

Advantage:  in school, doing well in foreign language class that matches your family's. Adapting to your current country's culture & language easily. Disadvantage: possibly being or feeling unaccepted.

I would not trade my upbringing for anything in the world. Moving around as much as we did I learned to be outgoing and friendly, heck I was always the new kid in school. The exposure to the different cultures, foods, lifestyles, religions has made me a much more tolerant adult. We HAD to learn manners and how to behave in a variety of environments. Travel is the best form of education. I spent 14 days on a boat in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. I have been to the  Swiss Alps to ski, I have traveled all over Europe and seen sights that most people will not see in a lifetime.

One fact is that your cultural experience is wide but not necessarily deep.  Because I lived in Saudi Arabia from 1992 to 1998, I "missed" much of what was happening in American culture.  This isn't a bad thing but it does leave you with an incomplete history or understanding of a time in which you were alive!

For me, one of the things that I love about being a TCK is meeting others who are like me. I find that some of the values that I have as a result of being a TCK is being open-minded, interested in other cultures, and loves traveling. So when I meet others who also have that same vibe, an instant connection is formed, which is quite powerful. I was born in Hong Kong, lived in Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, and now Portland, and when someone asks me where I'm from, I now say Portland, since that's where I live. And if they say, no, where are you really from, then I tell them Hong Kong. But culturally, I think that I identify mostly with Ottawa culture. I love traveling, and I have been to over 40 countries, but I also love just talking to others who have traveled a lot. Sometimes, I go to sales conferences in the States, where co-workers from around the world also come, and to me, this is also like taking a vacation and traveling, because I get to hear stories about people's lives in other countries.

American-born _____________. The benefits are that you can easily move in and out of different cultures, relative to people who have not assimilated other paradigms into their thoughts and behaviors. Being natively bilingual/bicultural is very awesome.

I was lucky enough to spend eight years calling Los Angeles home. More time than I have lived in any other city during my life. http://thisisstoner.com/post/98951503158/stay-true-but-dont-stay-put that sometimes I wished I’d never have to move again. By having an international childhood you acquire a kind of reflex– your not grounded in any particular location, you see cultures from a distance and feel grounded in none, Los Angeles is a different place for me, the city literally gave me life, love, and so many other wonderful things. While we may leave our roots, the sense of place, of where we are from grows stronger as the years pass. AND I am constantly reminded that my roots are determined by people, not place. I’m fortunate to have an amazing circle of friends around me.https://medium.com/@stoneage/travel-leaves-you-speechless-then-turns-you-into-a-storyteller-37e77b10abe2#.g8eco7fvo. Not me. My roots were determined by the people and experiences that have influenced me. I grew up with a perspective of the world that has shaped my motivations and understandings. Growing up abroad, taught me the importance of relationships. It shaped me to be more inquisitive. It awarded me with patience to endure differences. And it made me more open-minded during my formative years. I credit my third culture upbringing with influencing my adult life. Learning how to be adaptable, find niches, take risks, fall and pick myself up again.

My dad was a businessman who worked for a multi-national company, and I went to international schools. Benefits: You are comfortable around all people, all cultures, all socio-economic groups, in all countries, and you can figure out how to accomplish anything in any situation. Disadvantages: You are a stranger from your past and can't know, recognize, or remember places that you grew up.  You may be independent to a fault.

My credentials as a TCK are a little weird -- I grew up in the US and my mom is American, but my dad grew up in colonial Africa and between him and his siblings they've lived on five different continents.  I am the least culturally interesting of my cousins on my dad's side, but I still strongly identify with the TCK persona and it's hard to identify with monocultural people. I agree with just about everything I've read here, both the advantages and the disadvantages.  However, I'm curious to know if anyone else has had the experience of fear you'll never find a place that completely feels like home.  I never really identified as an American growing up, and always wanted to travel and find a place that was a better fit.  There are four countries besides the US that I've spent more than a few days in at this point, and it seems to follow a familiar pattern: learn about the host culture and prepare myself for culture shock (fortunately my dad used to do counseling with people coming back Stateside after long terms abroad, so I have a good handle on the models) get there and have a typical "observation" phase of entry into a new culture -- notice lots of things that are different, get enthusiastic and enjoy it start consciously analyzing lifestyles, traditions, and values of the culture that are different from the States and other countries I've been to; recognize that some things seem to be improvements on the "flaws" I see in US culture but other things that I don't identify with as much as I do with US values start to feel discouraged and worried that I'll never find a place where my head says is most in line with my values or where my heard/gut tells me feels like home; start to have feelings of irritation over every culture I've spent time in simultaneously The worry only seems to get worse every time I go through the cycle.  While I don't believe that any culture is superior to any other culture, I would really like to find one that feels like a fit for me, and each time I try a new place I seem to feel split in just one more new direction -- each place feels even less like home than I did before.  Is this something anyone else experiences?