I felt like that when I heard the UK was going to vote on leaving the EU. I’d not followed UK news for a while and was so out of the loop that the vote was even happening surprised me.

I didn’t get round to renewing my postal vote as I thought it didn’t really effect me anymore anyway - my new life in the Netherlands was what mattered.

Then Leave won, and Brexit was going to happen. I remember waking up to the news and feeling horrified. Then in the coming days I felt a sense of shock: actually Brexit did effect me, of course. I would lose my right to work and stay freely here in the Netherlands, my home of 8 years. Where I had a family with 4 kids.

The point is I now believe every citizen should remain at least minimally informed and involved on politics “back home” and locally. I vote every chance I get now. And I still regret not voting in Brexit.