The thing about expat life is, it comes with a lot of goodbyes. The day I left Brussels I cried buckets. I was leaving a home I adored and friends I loved. But I’d also been saying goodbye pretty regularly for the last four years, as fellow expat friends did their own leaving. Expats will…
“God sets the lonely in families…” It takes about eight hours to travel back to where my parents live. That’s four hours driving, an hour on the train, another three hours driving. Even flying is not a lot quicker once you add in check in time and the fact that your suitcase will undoubtedly be…
There’s this interesting phenomenon of international community organisations that you discover as an expat. Yes, you may have moved hundreds or thousands of miles across the globe, but the first thing many foreigners do is join the local British/American/Scandinavian/Irish group. Even where there aren’t official organisations, you can often find people gravitating towards people from…
We’re one week into my 31 days series! This week, I’m looking forward to exploring with you a few different ways you can embrace the unique relationships of expat life. But first, let’s start with the hard. Let’s start with the loneliness. Moving to Luxembourg ten months ago was my fourth international move. You’d think…
“Food to a large extent is what holds a society together, and eating is closely linked to deep spiritual experiences.” – Peter Farb and George Armelagos, Consuming Passions: The Anthropology of Eating There are few better ways to discover the new culture you find yourself in, than to start eating. And I don’t say that…
There’s a reality to moving to a new city or moving across borders that often gets overlooked. And it’s this: it’s likely that no one knows you where you are moving. Maybe there’s a boss that hired you, or a colleague who recommended you, or you know a friend of a friend who already moved…