Discovering Yourself as an Expat…
If you’ve made a big life change, such as moving abroad to become an expat, you realize how much of a personal journey this is. It doesn’t happen all at once, rather it is a gradual thing. After a year or so of living abroad, you look back and realize how much the experience has grown and changed you! I call this discovering yourself as an expat. You’ll soon discover things about yourself you never knew! “What are you passionate about?” When was the last time someone asked you that question? More importantly, when was the last time you asked YOURSELF that question?…
5 Ways to Thrive as a Trailing Expat Spouse
Learning how to take control of your own life while living abroad and thriving as an expat spouse. When I first heard the term “trailing spouse” I kind of laughed. It reminded me of the “ball and chain” reference old married couples use. Kind of like watching a three-legged race where one person is being pulled slightly behind. But as it relates to expats, the trailing spouse actually takes on a much more significant meaning. Yay for us! So What’s a Trailing Spouse? Basically, it’s the husband or wife of their expat spouse that relocates abroad for their significant other’s job. In this…
How to Live Abroad: 12 Tips from Expats
So you’ve made the decision that you want a change in your life. You’re ready for a new adventure and are planning to go live abroad. Congrats to you, brave soul! Welcome to the club. You are in for the journey of a lifetime. Buuuut, there’s one problem. You don’t actually have ANY IDEA how to live abroad or where to start. And as the days to your departure get closer, anxiety starts setting in. Are you really ready for this? Where will you live? How will you learn a new language? What about public transportation? Where will your kids attend school (if…
Expat Advice for Choosing an International School
When you are preparing to move abroad, the list of decisions and things to consider seems endless! And when children are involved, understanding what the best option is for their education is top on the list. In this featured podcast with The Expat Cast, I loved sharing my advice for choosing an international school for our two older children and a local trilingual school for our youngest. Check out more of the podcast on Choosing an International School here and my high-level tips below for making this big decision as an expat family. *Listen on the website, on an iPhone with the…
5 Reasons Why Moving Abroad with Kids is Awesome!
Before we became expats and made the decision to move abroad, my husband and I would sit in front of the TV and watch HGTV’s House Hunters International. Each week a new family was featured relocating across the world to a life unknown. We marveled at how they did it. Left their familiar hometowns, packed up and shipped out – either because they had to or because they chose to. And of course every episode ended with happy smiling faces of parents and kids all settled in and thriving in their new foreign country. “Yea, right!” we would laugh. It can’t be that…
Must Reads if You’ve Ever Dreamt About Moving Abroad…
I’ve always been a bit of a “personal development” junkie. My parents are entrepreneurs and from an early age instilled a “go for your dreams” mentality in me. Real Tony Robbins stuff that I kind of live for! In my 20s, I read books like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I like to think these authors gave me the confidence to try new things and the drive to keep growing. After two years of living abroad in Spain, I realize the important role these books and many others played in…
4 Reasons Expat Kids May Be Unhappy (Are Yours?)
Did your expat kids start off on the right track in their new foreign life but after the first few months and once the initial excitement wore off, they had some setbacks? Or what if, from the get-go, your kids just weren’t excited about the move? And even six months later or more, they still haven’t embraced the idea of this new life. First off, it’s OKAY! Do they truly hate their new life and new country? Most likely, NO. The emotional ups and downs all expat kids experience are completely normal. But as most parents do, we feel a responsibility to solve…
4 Realities of Everyday Expat Life
The reality of everyday expat life as a family (with three young children) isn’t always easy peasy, despite what others might think! “So, how’s your three year vacation going?!” someone once jokingly asked regarding our relocation to Barcelona. We laughed right along and agreed that with the sun and palm trees, the very laid back attitude of Spanish culture and the ease of weekend jaunts to virtually anywhere in Europe, it can absolutely feel like a vacation! At times. We truly love living here, it’s been the experience of a lifetime! But anything worth it in life brings about sacrifices and in our…
6 Hopes for My Expat Children
When we decided to take the leap and move from the U.S. to Spain, my head started spinning. So many questions, even more worries – and tons of hopes! I prayed my expat children would meet others from all over the world, try new and interesting foods, pick up a foreign language and grow more independent as a result of their new “expat” status. Looking back after two years abroad, what we got was so much more! This journey is a part of the canvas of our family forever. As my children grow up and this incredible chapter becomes a distant memory, I want…
