The Road Less Travelled: What Can Be Learnt?

According to a recently published Gallup poll, Bosnia and Herzegovina scored −32% on the potential net migration index (PNMI). This score ranked BiH at the bottom of the list of European countries, with only Kosovo ranking lower. The situation is even more alarming when looking at the indices for brain drain and youth migration, for which BiH scored −40% and −57%, respectively. These results ranked BiH at the bottom on an international scale, with El Salvador, Haiti, Liberia, and Sierra Leone scoring lower. Amidst such abysmal emigration prospects, there appears a truly puzzling phenomenon: voluntary return migration. I embarked on a journey to unravel the mystery of why people are coming back to a place that so many seem eager to escape? I was initially inspired to answer this and related questions after watching the “I want to go home” (Kenović, 2016) documentary in May 2016. While wrapping up my data analysis 3 years later, I was captivated by another documentary film produced by the same news organization. As the show notes state, “Disappearing” (Nestajanje), tells the story of “young, highly educated people from Bosnia and Herzegovina who, despite their different backgrounds, find themselves on the same road. This road, unfortunately, takes them far from their home country, which didn’t give them a chance to realize their full potential.” Leaving BiH is the dominant trend, while deciding to come back, although highly interesting for theoretical purposes, deviates from that norm. In the years of working on this puzzle, I hope to have shed some light on its various facets and contributed to its better understanding. So, what can we learn from those who have taken the proverbial “road less traveled”? The focus of this chapter is to discuss the findings of my study and how they contribute to the current debates on relevant concepts.