Indonesia Expat Life: Single & Alone During Pandemic
There’s an awesome 70s megamix blasting through my apartment, the 32 degree heat today is dry and wildly reminiscent of the Southern California desert, and…
Expat Life: Lack of Friends Causes Mental Health Issues
I’ve started writing this blog post 10 times, 15 maybe. I’ve even finished it. But that was when I didn’t feel much positivity and those…
From Digital Nomad to Finding Happiness in Indonesia
It’s 5:34 am and I’m awake again, perched in front of the floor-to-ceiling window that looks out onto this pretty lagoon on Batam and with…
2014 - China
You Should Be Living Abroad, It’s 2019 not 1950
A week or so ago I wrote a post on social media about how it’s 2019 and not 1950, basically questioning the reason why more…
Expat Life: Choosing the Best Country For You
The first time I moved overseas I simply drove across the border from southern California on down to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was exciting, life…
Expat Life | Feeling Lonely Not Alone (and how travel helps)
It’s not often I feel lonely instead of just alone but tonight is one of those nights. I haven’t been in a proper relationship in years but it honestly never bothers me because I love my life and I don’t believe that a relationship would improve it. Tonight though, I question it all.
I’m sat on the luxury Paradise Elegance cruise ship in Halong Bay, Vietnam surrounded by happy couples, honeymooners, and groups enjoying the holiday. Me on the other hand … I’m trying hard to find a wifi signal and push out my 1st travel piece that I was supposed to upload yesterday for FEMALE Malaysia magazine! (more…)
Expat Life: Reality of Raising My Child in USA, Spain & India
You know how sometimes we can’t see what’s right under our noses? And as parents we don’t realise how quickly time passes until it’s too late? Well that was me. My little angel was the best thing to ever happen to me. She was my greatest joy and my deepest frustration, sometimes in quite equal doses! Her father and I divorced when she was just 1 year old and anyone who has done it can attest that being a single parent isn’t easy. Yet she made that life we shared a true joy and she always made me proud to be a single mom. (more…)
Life in (Unfair White Privilege) Contrast: Expat vs. Immigrant
I’m a California native, 5th generation descendent of Irish, German, and British immigrants to the United States of America. My family didn’t go to the U.S. because they had a foreign worker’s post in the embassy – or a job at all! They were fleeing from a poor economic climate (mostly from Ireland), looking to improve their life in a country that promised a brighter future. My ancestors were immigrants, plain and simple. Luckily they weren’t fleeing to escape shellfire and tyranny like so many millions of people in 2016. However, just like 99.9% of all immigrants around the world today, they were good people just trying to provide a more secure life for their family. (more…)
4 Signs You’re a Happy Expat (or Should Be Living Abroad!)
There is an undeniable thrill that accompanies all forms of opt-in change. A new job, new car, or certainly settling into a new home all have the power to breathe new life and energy back into us. Now … supercharge that change on some crazy bionic level and that is the exhilaration someone feels when settling into a new country as an expat.
My guess is that being happy as an expat depends greatly on if you CHOSE to be one in the first place. We’ve all met the grumpy ones who bitch and moan about everything, who insist on only eating food from their homeland, and who don’t find joy in the cultural differences or challenges of living in a foreign country. Normally they are someone who was forced to move by their company but didn’t want to (or in a surprisingly large amount of cases its the spouse of that person). Anyway, hopefully that’s not you! (more…)
My Expat Story: One Year In Bangalore, India – The Work Stuff
In April, 2012 I completed one year in India. Welcome to #1 in a series of articles recounting how life has really been for me…