“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…
In the last few years of living overseas, I’ve come to appreciate more and more the opportunity that the expat life can offer to simplify my lifestyle and align it closer with my values. There’s a couple of ways I think this can work. The expat life involves moving. And not just moving all your…
I’m writing about this subject early on in my 31 days to embrace expat life series, because it can be so hard to master. And yet it’s important, and it’s become a bugbear of mine when I’m in conversations with other expats. We live in a society of comparisons. We compare our own lot with…
I can still remember some of the many Zulu phrases I learnt the year I lived in South Africa. I even semi-mastered the clicks they use in some words. A few years later, I was in a country with technically the same language as my own, but there was still a lot of new words…
So you’ve moved half way around the world (or maybe just to the neighbouring country). The essentials are unpacked (and face it, those last five boxes will sit unopened for the next six months at least), you’ve got through most of the overwhelming amount of paperwork that any new adventure brings and you’re ready to…