Do any of the following terms sound familiar to you?  Third Culture Kid, Adult Third Culture Kid, Global Nomad, CCK, Cross Cultural Children, Third Culture Individual, Corporate Brats, Multicultural Children, 3rd Culture Kid, Military Brats, Missionary Kids? Those are just some of the common terms for groups of individuals who identify with the Third Culture Experience. The thing they have in common is that they have had the experience of being exposed to more than one culture whilst growing up, which often results in feelings of having no roots.

There is a lot of debate and there are many questions surrounding the traditional term Third Culture Kid. There are hundreds of variations on the theme which can make it difficult when people try to understand the term and match it to their own experience. This is because everyone is unique! 

The simple diagram below may help to illustrate the Third Culture concept. An individual who has been raised outside their home culture creates a Third Culture (middle circle) by borrowing bits from that original ‘home’ culture (First culture) and bits from another ‘host’ culture (Second Culture) and then making their own ‘Third Culture’. An individual’s Third Culture will always be unique but the experience they had in creating it is what makes the magical connection between Third Culture Kids.