Your buddy might be a good example of why living overseas can become a 'literal dead end' and what I mean is that the world back home really does start fading away from his (our) experience. Social connections die off (for us) and then friends and family literally start to die off.

I still remember going home after about 3 years working overseas. In some ways, it felt like I'd been gone for 3 months. To my mind it somehow felt like I should return home to more or less the same things but with lots of updates and news to catch up on.

Instead, I went through a kind of reverse 'culture shock' and a kind of 'time travel shock' too. A family member had died (I did know it of course) but I wasn't prepared for how that changed everything, how the widow had to sell their home. How that really changed family circles and responsibilities. An old friend had died too (nobody emailed me!).

Social circles had died. A friend who would have surely picked me up at the airport had moved. Another family member I'd usually stay with had moved and didn't have accommodation. My old company had a totally new management. Another local businessman I'd often worked with had sold all his interests in town. Suddenly I didn't have any leads, any connections, any social mobility and literally friends and family had died.

In a real sense my life back home had 'died off'. And this was just after 3 years. Three years! Three years that I had somehow misunderstood to be just a short break, a long vacation or foolishly supposed I remained 'part of life' back home? It was genuinely shocking!

You mention your pal being about 55. So I'd say magnify that now. This phenom seems to become more accelerated as we get older as literally more of our family and friends literally start dying. At 20 it didn't seem to make any difference when I came back home after 3 years working in the oil industry. but at 30 it was amazing how much I'd lost, missed, how many moved on, married or old uncles passed.

so this long rant is just to say I think there is a real sense of 'dead end' for those who work and live overseas for any extended periods of time. you mentioned 'year after year' with his case which makes me think he's already at 3 years or more. soon its 10 years. Then there is nothing left to go back to.