If you’re wondering how Adventures in Expat Land came to be, here’s the scoop:
What do you get when a policy/program wonk by day, writer by night packs up the family to follow the Husband overseas?
Adventures. (The fun and the interesting kind, aside from dealing with crammed closets due to lack of storage space and a ‘to-do’ list a mile long.)
In Expat Land. We may be expats in The Netherlands, but it’s also our home. For now, and for who knows how long.
Plus the freedom to complete the self-reinvention that began years ago.
And an incredibly exhilarating, challenging and occasionally maddening expat experience.
(Oh, and for the record, I’d rather not bereferred to as a ‘trailing spouse’ in expat parlance. It makes me sound like some clinging bougainvillea vine trailing off a trellis… Since labels abound and can be useful, I prefer ‘accompanying partner’.)
What’s life like overseas? In some ways it’s a lot like moving to another state or province or region back home. Starting anew: meeting new people, making friends, becoming acquainted with your community, getting involved, expanding your mind, putting down roots.
Only with a bit of a twist since you’re living in a foreign country. Like learning a new language, trying out different foods/holidays/traditions, following different laws and social norms, adjusting to a new culture.
Welkom!
So welcome (welkom, actually) as I chronicle making a new life in a new place.
I’ll share stories and insights about the mundane and the exciting, the boring and the different, the funny and the not-so-funny.
Oh, and I do love odd, so that’ll be in there, too. Usually finding the upside. Not always, but usually.
What will YOU do?
You’ll read, of course. But you’re talented so you’ll do much more. You’ll comment, share your own experiences (expat or otherwise), provide your insights or alternative views.
More than anything, I’d like this to be a conversation. That’s why comments are so important – they offer additional information or perspectives that benefit all of us: you, me, fellow readers (aka Adventurers), site visitors.
Let me know what I may have written that struck a chord, and what just plain struck out. I do insist on civility, but other than that, all I ask for is honesty. Tell me what’s on your mind. I can assure you, my intent is not residing in ‘know-it-all-ville’.
And while you’re at it, I’d love it if you tell family and friends to check out the site, too. (I’m even willing to take your enemies as well. As long as they’re civil, that is.)
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If you still need to know more about me, here it is.
Living abroad was always in the back of our minds. My husband is an adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK in expat parlance) having spent his middle and high school years in Italy and a year in England during college; I grew up dreaming about living overseas, and spent one summer during college living in Mexico studying Spanish.
We both studied international relations and made careers in related fields. We’ve always enjoyed traveling, and find it exciting to visit new places and cultures. Not the ‘check off the places’ type of traveling to say ‘we’ve been there/done that’. Really trying to get to know and experience other cultures.
We wanted our children to have the experience of living in another country, with a different language and culture. To see our own country, and indeed the world, from a different perspective.
To understand how our ‘home’ country makes us who we are, and how living elsewhere alters that. And to appreciate what is often taken for granted. So we searched for just the right opportunity to come along. And when it did, we leaped at the chance.
We decided to move to the Netherlands in 2009 when Husband took a job with an international organization. So that’s how Yours Truly (that would be me) came to be living in Den Haag (The Hague) with her husband (Husband), two teenaged children (Daughter at a local international school, Son now back in the US attending university, adding a bi-continental, multi-time zone aspect as we parent from afar), one dopey dog (Oli) and a perpetually startled cat (Ava).
Living happily ever after? You’ll just have to follow along…
Oh, I thought that might be you commenting on my blog! So happy to find yours; it looks amazing!
I look forward to perusing through it!
I was so excited to find yours, too! Until now I’ve kept my FB life separate, but not sure how long that will last. I’m enjoying a marvelously sunny day here and it really takes me back to CH. Looking forward to spending time on your site as well. Please say hello to the family.
Hello, fellow global nomad
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Thanks for commenting the newspaper article!
You’re welcome. Always appreciate when someone helps clarify what we’re doing day in, day out!
I love it when you make it clear that you don’t want to be called a ‘trailing spouse’, some sort of clinging bougainvillea (lol!!!). I agree with you 100%.
When people asked what brought me to the expat land, I always answer in such a way that doesn’t give the impression that I’m just tagging along my husband. After all, moving was a decision that was made together…
Anyone who thinks that one person (husband or wife) can ‘decide’ that it’s the thing to do and make the rest of the family do it without any emotional fallout is, as Daughter would say ‘cra cra’ (as in crazy). There are so many wonderful opportunities that come with living in different cultures, but as with ANYTHING, they come with a cost. It takes everyone’s cooperation, participation, their very best to help ensure that all come along together. We are NOT clinging vines, thank you very much!
Lovely to find your blog! I relate so much to your goals and experience, including having a son attending uni back in the U.S.
Look forward to exploring further on your blog! Cheers.
Thank you Carolyn, so glad to have found you and your site on Twitter!
I loved (love?) being an ex-pat. I lived in Sweden for 4 years, had an opportunity to cebome fluent in another language and culture, and when I came home to Canada (for what turned out to be a stupid reason) I didn’t fit in at all. I ultimately landed in the mountains of Colorado. Probably easier for me than some others as my parents are long dead and my only other relative is a brother living in Canada. It’s cool if we see each other every decade or two. Living where I am, of course, most of your communications/culture issues don’t apply, but after a year or so in Sweden they didn’t really apply either. You just buckle down, learn the language and use it. I didn’t speak english in Sweden for the last 2.5 years I was there. It’s hard, of course, but after a while it’s not. I often ponder returning to Sweden and the true ex-pat life just for the mental stimulation. To bad about the weather, though
Sweden is so beautiful and the summer sun is amazing, but you sure do pay for it the rest of the year, don’t you? Your story of going back ‘home’ only to find you don’t fit into your previous life anymore is one heard quite a bit. Repatriation is surprisingly difficult. It will be interesting to see whether you take off for foreign parts one day, or stay happily settled in Colorado. Thanks for sharing Marko.
I found your blog today – and it made my day! I’m a UN brat (now matured, sort of) who left the States when I was 10 and returned at the tender age of 45 … We lived in Honduras, the Philippines, Malaysia, Switzerland, Kenya, Lesotho and South Africa, with lots of side trips to other surrounding countries. Formal education sporadic and finished school in Lausanne. First job? Assistant to the EO of EA Professional Hunters’ Association … Also worked for the WWF HQ, the UN, a newspaper in Cape Town. Do I regret any of the experiences? Nope. One thing I do regret is that blogging wasn’t around so I could share so I’ve decided to have fun with a novel. I look forward to reading about your experiences. Thank you for such a wonderful site.
Thank you so much Judy, I’m so glad you shared your background. Husband (that’s how I refer to him on this blog) is doing his first tour with a UN org here in The Hague. In a previous life I did defense policy and in one job spent a lot of time dealing with UN HQ in NYC as well as some peacekeeping missions, etc. I’d be interested in your feelings about identity and ‘home’ that most expats/TCKs/Adult TCKs grapple with. (You can find some of the articles and posts on these subjects, and on the current literature, on the blog.) Funnier still, we moved here from Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) but I’m assuming you support the Pack
I too hate the term ‘trailing spouse’ and its clingy (and unemployed) connotation. I’m currently living in England with my husband and three very patient cats, working as a teacher and enjoying all of the strange aspects of living abroad. Anyway, I look forward to following your adventures in expat land!
Guess you aren’t bouganvillea or ivy, either Marina! Checked out your site (loved it, very cool) but noticed a cat is missing. I recently wrote about how we went from 2 cats/1 dog to 1/1 in this post A Delicate Balancing Act http://wp.me/p1iIk2-i6 Hard to lose a pet, especially when they help define ‘home’.