<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The paper analyzes transnational Romanians’ stories about their first trip abroad. The concept of physical mobility is seen in a broader framework for understanding transnational and cosmopolitan behaviours as well as international migration. In order to distinguish between different types of travelling for the first trip abroad the article is constructed keeping in mind the structural changes and constraints regarding physical mobility for Romanian citizens. During the process of transition from a communist country to the status of EU member, Romanian citizens’ stories about travelling abroad for the first time fundamentally changed. Labour migrants, asylum seekers, business travellers, students or tourists left the countries with different expectations and faced different problems at destination. Their attitudes toward origin and destination framed their images about the first trip abroad. Using a qualitative approach and samples of Romanians who live in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom, the analysis emphasizes certain differences between different types of travelling for the first time abroad and reconstructs how Romanians started their transnational careers</p></abstract>

The paper analyzes transnational Romanians’ stories about their first trip abroad. The concept of physical mobility is seen in a broader framework for understanding transnational and cosmopolitan behaviours as well as international migration. In order to distinguish between different types of travelling for the first trip abroad the article is constructed keeping in mind the structural changes and constraints regarding physical mobility for Romanian citizens. During the process of transition from a communist country to the status of EU member, Romanian citizens’ stories about travelling abroad for the first time fundamentally changed. Labour migrants, asylum seekers, business travellers, students or tourists left the countries with different expectations and faced different problems at destination. Their attitudes toward origin and destination framed their images about the first trip abroad. Using a qualitative approach and samples of Romanians who live in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom, the analysis emphasizes certain differences between different types of travelling for the first time abroad and reconstructs how Romanians started their transnational careers

First Trip Abroad: Expectations, Experiences and Stories of Transnational Romanians

University of Bucharest, Centre for Migration Studies - CeSMig, 9 Schitu Măgureanu, 010181 Bucharest, Romania / Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Centre for Social Research, 2-4 Lucian Blaga, 550169 Sibiu, Romania

Social Change Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The paper analyzes transnational Romanians’ stories about their first trip abroad. The concept of physical mobility is seen in a broader framework for...

First Trip Abroad: Expectations, Experiences and Stories of Transnational Romanians

Published Online: Aug 15, 2014

Page range: 43 - 71

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/scr-2014-0003

Keywords
International migration, Physical mobility, Transnationalism, Post-communism, Subjectivism

© by Alin Croitoru

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

First Trip Abroad: Expectations, Experiences and Stories of Transnational Romanians

Published Online: Aug 15, 2014

Page range: 43 - 71

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/scr-2014-0003

KeywordsInternational migration, Physical mobility, Transnationalism, Post-communism, Subjectivism

© by Alin Croitoru

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
International migration, Physical mobility, Transnationalism, Post-communism, Subjectivism