Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Expats A to Z, tagged commitment, cross-cultural life, different, Expat A to Z, expat life, expatriate, expatriation, growth, learning, living across cultures, making peace, making the effort, miserable, moving on, Repatriation, seeking, understanding, unemployment, unhappy on April 25, 2014 | 7 Comments »
Time for another entry under Expats A to Z, a series of posts about the little things that can make a difference in how we approach some of the challenges and experiences of expatriate — and repatriate — life. I’m talking about those qualities and traits we can nurture within us not only to simply survive, but thrive amid constant change. You […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Work, Writing, tagged accompanying partners, business coach, business partnership, career, career choice, Career Choice and the Accompanying Partner, coaching, employment, Evelyn Simpson, expat business, expat partners, expatriate life, HR professionals, job, Louise Wiles, professional coach, report, Simpson Wiles and Associates Ltd., start a new company, ThrivingAbroad.com, transition, work, work opportunities on April 14, 2014 | 2 Comments »
It’s hard to believe that a little over a year ago I was in the final stages of completing The Emotionally Resilient Expat. This meant writing the last bits and pieces, tidying up the table of contents, drafting the acknowledgements, finalizing the references and resources section, creating an index, and responding to the edits, questions […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, Writing, tagged articles, author readings, blogging, book signings, creativity, energy, expat, fiction, fiction workshop, inspiration, interviews, memoirs, Non-fiction, novelists, novels, poets, publishers, re-entry, Re-Entry Reality, reading, rejuvenation, repatriate, Repatriation, short stories, transitions, writers, writing, writing classes, writing forum on April 6, 2014 | 6 Comments »
As mentioned in Under Construction, I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I look at everything from making a home, engaging socially, staying healthy, […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Life Balance, Repatriation, Writing, tagged #MyGlobalLife LinkUp, blogging, building a life, career, change, choice, community, connection, expat, gift, identity, loss, needs, opportunity, priorities, re-entry transition, re-imagining, redefining, reinvention, repat, Repatriation, SmallPlanetStudio, values, vulnerability, wants, writing on March 28, 2014 | 4 Comments »
Lately I’ve been doing a fair bit of writing on re-entry transition because, well, I’m several months into repatriation after four years in the Netherlands. I do so not simply because it’s what is foremost in my thoughts and daily actions, but also to understand. Writing about repatriation helps me grasp significance, identify patterns, comprehend […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Global Issues, Identity, Repatriation, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Travel, tagged 'unexpected angels', Beijing, comings and goings, connections, crisis, emergencies, expatriate life, expats, Families in Global Transition, FIGT conference, grief, helping each other, identity, intercultural transitions, Kuala Lumpur, leaving, loss, Malaysia Airlines flight #370, mobility, sanctuary, saying goodbye, turmoil on March 26, 2014 | Leave a Comment »
In the early days of missing Malaysian Airlines Flight #370, I had no intention of writing about it. The tale of how 239 people boarded an airplane in Kuala Lumpur but never made it to Beijing is a sad, troubling one. The last thing I want to do is add to the grief, frustration and […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Light Bulb Moments, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, Work, Writing, tagged business plan, business start-up, career change, consultancy, emotional resilience, excitement, expat, fear, global students, job change, repat, Repatriation, what I'm meant to do, work, writing, writing a nonfiction book on March 14, 2014 | 3 Comments »
As mentioned in Under Construction, I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I’ll share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I’ll look at everything from making a home, engaging socially, staying healthy, […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Expat Transitions & Change, Life Balance, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, Work, Writing, tagged accountability, blogging, building a life, expat, progress, Re-Entry Reality, repat, repatriate, Repatriation, starting over, work, writing on March 11, 2014 | 6 Comments »
As mentioned in Under Construction, I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I’ll share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I’ll look at everything from making a home, engaging socially, staying […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Catarina Chronicles, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Netherlands, Repatriation, tagged Albert Heijn grocery store, doppelganger, Dutch countryside, ginger cookies, here and now, icicles, icy, memories, mint tea, skating, sneeuw, snow, snow-covered trees, there and then, tram, windmills, winter, winter wonderland on February 13, 2014 | 6 Comments »
What a difference a snowfall makes. Actually, it’s our third of the winter. I’m from upstate New York so we don’t count flurries or dustings or even light coatings. If it doesn’t stay on the ground and can’t be measured in inches, sometimes feet, it doesn’t count. So with a good six+ inches of unspoiled […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Creativity, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Light Bulb Moments, tagged achieving goals, achieving results, big picture, bird's eye view, brave, Brene Brown, courageous, curious, daring greatly, dream big, effort, focus, inquisitive, life lessons, meeting challenges, minutest of details, peanut butter jar, personal growth, professional development, recycling, resilience, singleness of purpose, squirrel, Squirrel Apocalypse, stay the course, strength, tenacity, time, vampires, walking dead, work, zombies on February 6, 2014 | 3 Comments »
A couple weeks ago, I was walking past our dining room window when something caught my eye. In the front yard was a squirrel. No news flash there as we live surrounded on several sides by woods. Squirrels and deer are regular visitors, along with the occasional raccoon, spotted owl and annoying woodpecker. But this […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Expats A to Z, Identity, Repatriation, tagged adult Third Culture Kid, ATCK, change, cross-cultural, culture shock, expat, expatriate life, identity, identity congruence, leaving, loss, patience, repatriate, TCK, Third Culture Kid, thrive, transitions, who we are on January 20, 2014 | 6 Comments »
Time for another entry under Expats A to Z, a series of posts about the little things that can make a difference in how we approach some of the challenges and experiences of expatriate – and repatriate – life. I’m talking about those qualities and traits we can nurture within us not only to simply survive, but thrive amid […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Holidays, Identity, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Repatriation, Writing, tagged 2013, 2014, being in the moment, bigger picture, blogging, building a life, change, creativity, cross-cultural, culture, daily resolutions, expat, global nomad, identity, larger view, mindfulness, New Year's Resolutions, reflection, reflective interlude, repat, Repatriation, resolution, TCK, transitions, writing on January 12, 2014 | 2 Comments »
In my latest blog post, Intermezzo, I wrote of taking stock of 2013, a year which for several reasons I’m glad to see in my rear view mirror. That’s not to say that many wonderful things didn’t happen last year, they did. But there were some unexpected challenges on top of some tough moments, and […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Holidays, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Repatriation, Travel, Writing, tagged 'in the moment', 2013, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures, being present, change, Christmas, continuous intentional observation without judgment, deaths, emotional resilience, expats, expectations, family, grieving, holidays, illusion of perfection, intermezzo, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, Lisa Hall, loss, mindfulness, mourning, New Year's, reflection, Repatriation, solitude, Summertime Publishing, The Emotionally Resilient Expat: Engage, transitions, travel, turbulence, turmoil, wanderlust, writing on January 6, 2014 | 6 Comments »
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been taking it easy. Really easy. As in not doing much of anything other than what absolutely, positively needed to get done. For example, that time spent pulling together receipts, filling out reimbursement claims for our international health care provider, making photocopies of the entire stack and then standing […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Identity, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, United States, tagged all over the world, around the globe, art, change, cultures, decorating, drawings, expat life, experiences, family, growing old together, home, icons, lifetime, marriage, memories, paintings, parenthood, pictures, prints, Repatriation, sculpture, statues, travel, values on November 7, 2013 | 8 Comments »
As mentioned in Under Construction, I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I’ll share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I’ll look at everything from making a home, engaging socially, staying […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, tagged bit by bit, blogging, constructing a life, exercise, expat life, expats, family, first three months, fitness, friends, friendship, gratitude, health, making friends, meditation, physical fitness, re-entry stage, Repatriation, repats, self-care, simplification, simplify, small steps, transitions, well being, writing on October 23, 2013 | 10 Comments »
As mentioned in Under Construction, I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I’ll share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I’ll look at everything from making a home, engaging socially, staying healthy, […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Identity, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, United States, tagged arts, Chapel Hill, concerts, creativity, cross-culturals, culture, Durham, expat, expatriate life, expats, forests, global wayfarers, haven, high-tech corridor, home, identity, international business, NC, Netherlands, oasis, Raleigh, re-entry stage, Repatriation, repats, research, the Triangle, theater, transition, United States, university, writing on October 11, 2013 | 4 Comments »
As mentioned recently in Under Construction, I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I’ll share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I’ll look at everything from making a home, engaging […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, Sandwich Generation, Writing, tagged Be one with the transition, blogging, building a life, career, career changes, community, construction, creativity, culture, emotional resilience, expat, expatriate life, family, friends, health, making a home, re-entry, Repatriation, social life, spirituality, transition, transition stages, wellbeing, writing on October 4, 2013 | 8 Comments »
I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I’ll share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I’ll look at everything from making a home, engaging socially, staying healthy, and stretching […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Netherlands, Repatriation, Sandwich Generation, Travel, United States, Writing, tagged building a new life, dying, elderly parents, emotional resilience, entry, expat life, involvement, leaving, loss, Netherlands, re-involvement, Repatriation, solace, sorrow, terminal cancer, The Hague, transition, transition stages on September 28, 2013 | 2 Comments »
Glancing at the calendar this morning, I realized it’s been almost three months since leaving the Netherlands. Twelve weeks from when I strapped myself into my assigned airline seat, Daughter to my right, our pets Oli and Ava beneath us in the acclimatized pet cargo hold. Eighty nine days since I watched the plane rise […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Repatriation, tagged deciding when to leave, expat, expatriate life, grief, leaving friends, list of pros and cons, living across cultures, loss, Mattel's Magic 8 Ball, moving, Repatriation, saying goodbye, stay or go, taking leave on September 20, 2013 | 4 Comments »
Over the years, storytellers and screenwriters have been perpetuating a myth which many of us have bought into. The fallacy is that the hardest part of moving – be it across town, across country or across the world – lies in the decision itself. Hours spent wrestling with what ifs? and how abouts? followed by a sleepless night […]
Posted in Blogging, Change, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, September 11th, Writing, tagged bonds, change, colleagues, destruction, friends, healing, loss, moving, pain, people, reflection, remembrance, September 11th, terror, transitions, writing on September 11, 2013 | 2 Comments »
Behind the scenes I’ve been working on a number of posts about what’s been going on and what I’ve been up to these past weeks and months. It’s been a whirlwind of motion, a cacophony of change, some tough moments scattered among positive and uplifting ones, along with the more mundane. (Is there ever a […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Netherlands, Repatriation, Sandwich Generation, Writing, tagged blogging, book, change, cross-cultural, expat, expat life, family, Netherlands, publication, Repatriation, social media, transitions, US, writing on August 12, 2013 | 29 Comments »
Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Yours truly, sheepishly shrugging while simultaneously cringing at how pathetic this looks. When last I posted several weeks ages ago, I dropped the bombshell we were moving back to the US this summer. That news was indeed incendiary on a personal basis as we had fully expected […]
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