Third Culture Kids: Finding Home in the Transit Lounge

Home–and finding home–are such difficult concepts for Third Culture Kids (TCKs). Here’s a truth Interaction International has practiced for almost 50 years: TCKs’ transition support (including finding home) begins with understanding. Imagine waking up in a country where your passport says you belong, yet everything feels foreign. The grocery stores stock unfamiliar brands. Social cues fly over your head. And when someone asks, “Where are you from?” you freeze—because how do you explain a life lived across continents?

This is reality for TCKs—young people who have spent significant parts of their developmental years outside their passport countries. They’re global nomads, cultural chameleons, and bridge-builders. But they’re also often lonely, struggling with questions of identity and belonging that their monocultural peers can’t comprehend.

When Nowhere Feels Like Home

Last summer, I watched Kristin arrive at our Transit Lounge. Just 48 hours earlier, she had been on another continent. Now she stood at registration, clutching her backpack strap, shifting from foot to foot—a physical manifestation of her internal displacement.

For TCKs like Kristin, transitions aren’t just occasional disruptions—they’re a way of life. Moving between cultures means constantly recalibrating: learning new languages, adapting to different educational systems, forming friendships only to say goodbye. Each move brings grief alongside adventure, a complexity that few understand. Finding home is an almost impossible concept.

Finding Their People

What happened next demonstrated why spaces like Transit Lounge matter so profoundly. Within hours of arrival, Kristin found herself leaning across the dinner table, words tumbling out as she shared pieces of her story. Around her sat peers who nodded with genuine understanding—not just polite interest.

“I’ve never been able to explain it before,” she told her small group leader later. “But they just… knew.”

By the end of the first day, something had shifted. The tension in her shoulders eased. She laughed—really laughed—at an inside joke only TCKs would understand. For perhaps the first time since returning to the land her passport said she belonged to, she wasn’t explaining herself or translating her experiences. She was simply being. Because Third Culture Kid transition support begins with understanding. Transit Lounge’s underlying principle is understanding. And that often leads to finding home.

More Than Just Summer Camp

Transit Lounge isn’t merely a summer program—it’s a vital community where TCKs learn to:

• Navigate cultural transitions with resilience
• Process the grief of simultaneous multiple goodbyes and losses
• Build meaningful connections despite geographic distance
• Integrate their diverse experiences into a coherent and explainable identity
• Discover their unique strengths as cultural bridges

When TCKs recognize their experiences as shared rather than isolating, transformation begins. That weight in the chest lightens. The fog of confusion starts to clear. And possibilities emerge for creating a sense of home that transcends geography.  All because Third Culture Kid support begins with understanding.

The Secret Sauce

What makes Transit Lounge different from anything else? It’s the MK staff. They’ve been where you are. They get it. They’re the “special sauce” that makes everything more real, more meaningful, and way more fun. These young adult TCKs take time off work and show up just for you. They lead small groups, share their stories, and create space for laughter, honesty, and connection. Without them, Transit Lounge wouldn’t be the same—and with them, it’s unforgettable.

At Transit Lounge, the MK staff don’t just lead—they pour into you. Some share in workshops or large group sessions, drawing from their own experiences and expertise. But the real magic often happens in small groups and one-on-one conversations. That’s where things get personal. That’s where you get to hear how they navigated the same transitions you’re facing—especially when it comes to adjusting to life in the U.S.

Ken, an MK who grew up in Ghana, put it this way: “As a TCK who didn’t have a Transit Lounge experience, I was poorly equipped and really struggled with my adult life in the US. I volunteer each summer that I can to help the TCKs who are going through those same struggles.”

Another MK staffer, Spenser, said, “When I tell people that volunteering at Transit Lounge feels like a vacation, they always give me a weird look. Not sure why. This is an excellent opportunity to give back and pass forward the things that were shared with me at some point. In addition, listening to the TCKs in my group share their stories, showing them they are important, and being interested in them is my way of loving on them, and I believe the Holy Spirit works through that.”

Spenser continued, “It doesn’t matter how many times you hear about something if you’re not listening.” He’s right. Just being exposed to an idea isn’t the same as truly understanding it. That’s why at Transit Lounge, our MK staff do more than just sit through sessions with you—they circle back. They revisit key concepts in small groups, help connect the dots, and make space to ask questions or share thoughts. It’s not about getting everything right away. It’s about having people who care enough to walk with you until it clicks.

At Transit Lounge, small groups are where the real connections happen. Each group meets daily—sometimes even more often—and every person, including the MK staff leader, shares their story. For many TCKs, it’s the first time they’ve been able to tell their story and know that everyone listening gets it. It’s a rare gift: to be seen, heard, and truly known.

Some groups say goodbye at the end of the week and go their separate ways. Others keep chatting on WhatsApp, checking in long after camp ends. One group even planned a weekend mini-retreat months later—and they refused to do it without their MK staff leader. That kind of lasting connection? That’s the legendary “special sauce” we keep talking about.

Finding Home

Home isn’t always a place. Sometimes, it’s a group of people who understand your jokes, your story, and your silence. At Transit Lounge, you’ll find that kind of home—with other TCKs who are in the same boat, figuring out life in the U.S. You will also find home with MK staff who’ve walked this road before and care deeply about helping you navigate it too. This is more than just a week away. It’s a chance to belong. To be known. To start this next chapter with people who get you.

Come find home with us at Transit Lounge. Registration is still open for three of the Transit Lounge programs this summer. We hope you’ll let us help you on your journey of finding home. Register now!