Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Life Balance, Travel, Work, Writing, tagged adventures, ATCK, blogging, creativity, cross-cultural, culture, expat, extended holidays, family, formative years, friendship, global, gratitude, high school reunion, international, international high school, Italy, rejuvenation, repatriate, Rome, TCK, travel, wanderlust, writing on July 17, 2014 | 1 Comment »
When summertime beckons, many of us find ourselves pondering the annual question: home or away? Whether it’s a long-planned holiday far afield, camping in a field (aka caravaning), day trips in the general vicinity, a picnic in a bucolic setting, or simply a barbeque in the backyard, it’s the season we want to be doing something different. So […]
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, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Travel, United States, tagged American football, away from home, bowl games, bowling, Christmas, Christmas Eve, circumstances, creativity, decorations, family, holiday season, holidays, innovation, ornaments, panache, stripped down version, togetherness, travel, US on December 31, 2012 | 8 Comments »
It’s been quite a holiday season this year, in oh so many ways. Nothing about it has been ‘normal’ or ‘same old, same old’ or even vaguely familiar. Given a whole range of circumstances, some of which will go unmentioned out of respect for others’ privacy and most well beyond our control, my family has found itself […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Repatriation, Riveting Expat Reads, Sandwich Generation, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Travel, Work, Writing, tagged Apple Gidley, blogging, continents, culture shock, cultures, expat books, expat life, Expat Life: Slice by Slice, expatriate life, expatriation, global living, globalization, languages, living abroad, living cross-culturally, living overseas, memoir, post-colonization, Repatriation, Riveting Expat Reads, TCKs, technology, Third Culture Kids, transition, travel, writing on November 29, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Time again for another Riveting Expat Read in which I shine the spotlight on a new (or new to me) book in this varied and rapidly growing niche. There has been a slow but steadily expanding upsurge in books written by and for expats/global nomads/TCKs which examine life lived cross-culturally, and we are all the richer […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Emotional Resilience, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Sandwich Generation, United States, Writing, tagged blog posts, blogging, book, cancer, children, creativity, dog, expat life, family, getting creative, illness, internet connectivity, living overseas, Oli, Panera Bread, parents, planning, plotting, posting on my blog, progress writing a book, Starbucks, surgery, travel, treatment, tumor, visiting, visiting family, wifi, writing on October 25, 2012 | 12 Comments »
It’s been almost three weeks to the day since my last post. Believe me, I know. It’s been weighing on my mind. Not in an ‘oh cr@p, I have to post something on that d@mn blog’ sort of way, because this blog has never been like that for me. It is a labor of love, […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Forced to Fly (2nd ed.) Book, Identity, Repatriation, Riveting Expat Reads, Travel, Writing, tagged Adventures in Expat Land, Apple Gidley, Bitten by Spain, creativity, culture clash, culture shock, Deborah Fletcher, emotional resilience, empathy, Expat Apple, expat life, expat transitions, Forced to Fly, Forced to Fly: An Anthology of Writing That Will Make You See the Funny Side of Living Abroad, funny stories, going abroad, humor, I Was an Expat Wife, identity, innovation, Jack Scott, Jo Parfitt, laughter, Linda A Janssen, living abroad, living overseas, Maria Foley, Niamh Ni Bhroin, Perking the Pansies, Repatriation, Riveting Expat Reads, Robin Pascoe, Summertime Publishing, The Singing Warrior, travel, wordgeyser on October 5, 2012 | 10 Comments »
It is an exciting day here in Expat Land: we’re madly flapping our wings for take-off, determined to catch the wind currents, achieve flight and soar. ‘What’s with the flight metaphors?’ you ask. ‘They’re flying left and right.’ Heh heh. Today marks the book launch of the second edition of Forced to Fly: An Anthology of Writings That Will Make […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Blogging, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Travel, Writing, tagged A Tight Wide-Open Space, Aegean Sea, author, blogging, books, creativity, culture, epic voyage, expat, Facebook, Heathen Pilgrim, HeathenPilgrim.com, Iran, journey, Kickstarter.com, Kusadasi, Matt Krause, Soapbox, travel, trek, turkey, Twitter, video, writer, writing, writing projects on September 1, 2012 | 5 Comments »
Today is September 1st and I’m sooo excited! Not because it’s the first day of September, although I must say that autumn is my favorite season and I’m very partial to this month. Just a few moments ago, Matt Krause – writer, traveler, former expat and Heathen Pilgrim – took his first steps on his long […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Sandwich Generation, Travel, United States, Writing, tagged Australia, Blog Expat, blogging, cancer, Chris Marshall, email, expat life, extended visit, Facebook, family, friends, Google+, I Was an Expat Wife, In Search of a Life Less Ordinary, internet, interview, LinkedIn, online, parents, Pause and Smile, Russell VJ Ward, sandwich generation, Skype, Spain, Telegraph, Telegraph Expat, terminal cancer, travel, Twitter, visiting back in the US, wordgeyser, writing on August 4, 2012 | 19 Comments »
By now many of you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting regularly. Or much at all, if the truth be told. I’ve effectively been under an enforced ‘internet interlude’, partially of my own making, but mainly due to connectivity issues. As I’ve shared in Bite of the Generational Sandwich, the main focus of […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, Guest Posts, Travel, United States, Writing, tagged Africa, blogging, Ethiopia, geography, gingerbread man, going 'home', guest post, kindergarteners, Kosovo, Ohio, paper cut out, photographs, postal system, postcards, Pristina, refugee children, refugees, Tracey Buckenmeyer, travel, UNHCR, United States, writing on July 14, 2012 | 7 Comments »
Recently, fellow Adventurers were introduced to Tracey Buckenmeyer in her initial guest post here, Tough Neighborhood. Tracey has made a career of helping refugees and displaced persons, working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She’s worked in many different countries, and currently is posted to Ethiopia. She’s returned to tell us a little […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Sandwich Generation, Travel, United States, tagged adolescents, babies, cancer, career, children, college, doing the best you can, economy, employment, expat life, expats, family, friends, generational sandwich, illness, jobs, parents, sandwich generation, saying goodbye, teens, travel, university, vacations, visits on July 9, 2012 | 22 Comments »
Almost three months ago I wrote about the challenges inherent in being a member of the Sandwich Generation, Expat Style. You know what I mean: being squeezed between children (of whatever age) and parents and elderly family members. Both groups may need you, albeit in very different ways. It happens to many most of us, and we […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Learning Dutch or Other Foreign Languages, Travel, United States, tagged America, different, driving, Dutch, English, expat, familiar, family, going 'home', going back, off kilter, Repatriation, sensory overload, travel, United States, university visits, visiting family on June 30, 2012 | 16 Comments »
I’ve been back in the United States for a week now, and I’m still adjusting. Daughter and I are here for an extended period visiting family, beginning to check out universities, attending a pre-college program (her) while I hole myself up to work on some writing projects, and so on. Oh, and eventually spending some […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expats A to Z, tagged colors, crosscultural, culture, diamonds, different, expat life, hues, intercultural, kaleidoscope, patterns, perspective, same, sense of wonder, shapes, travel on June 21, 2012 | 12 Comments »
Recently I introduced Expats A to Z, a new series of posts about the little things that can make a difference in how we approach some of the challenges and experiences of expat life. I’m talking about those qualities and traits that we can nurture within us to help not only survive, but thrive amid […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Travel, tagged Arabic, culture, fish, Italian, Malta, Maltese, Maltese Falcon, Mediterranean, Order of the Knights of Saint John's, Phoenicians, pre-Stonehenge ruins, Sicilian, travel, wine, World War II on June 6, 2012 | 8 Comments »
The software on my website decided to be difficult, so I wasn’t able to add all the photos of Malta that I wanted to share. For the initial set, please check out Marvelous Malta. Here are the rest, enjoy. BTW, the sun’s come out here in The Hague so obviously the pictures have worked their […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Travel, tagged Arabic, culture, fish, Italian, Malta, Maltese, Maltese Falcon, Mediterranean, Order of Knights of Saint John's, Phoenicians, pre-Stonehenge ruins, Sicilian, travel, wine, World War II on June 6, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Today has been overcast, cool with showers. Correction: make that cold. It’s June 6th and we’ve got the heat on again. There should be some law against requiring heat in the northern hemisphere after June 1st. I’m just saying. Anyway, it got me thinking of sunnier climes. Soon my thoughts turned to Malta. You may […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Exercise & Sports, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Netherlands, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Travel, United States, tagged art, athletics, countries, crosscultural, crossing cultures, culture, food, intercultural, international schools, Model UN, music, nationalities, Netherlands, softball, sports, TCKs, The Hague, Third Culture Kids, tournament, travel, United Nations on May 27, 2012 | 2 Comments »
When we think of crossing cultures, what immediately comes to mind? It might be art, music, theater, dance. Perhaps it’s religious differences or religious similarities, the minaret or the church steeple. For many it’s traveling far and wide, or immersing yourself in one place, one culture, for an extended period of time. It can be […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Expat Life, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Travel, tagged blogging, burnout, career break, Career Break Secrets, Career Break Secrets Travel Show, career change, global nomad, Jeff Jung, laid off, Random Nomads, serial wanderer, The Displaced Nation, travel, travel writing, unemployed on May 17, 2012 | 8 Comments »
I’ve been a big fan of The Displaced Nation for quite some time now. How could I not, with a tagline of ‘A Land of Plenty for the Global Voyager,’ promising advice, opinions and yarns? One of my favorite features on the site is the interview series called Random Nomads. The questions posed aren’t your average ‘where […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Dutch Life, Netherlands, Travel, tagged Amsterdam, Benelux, Dutch life, Mental Floss, Ransom Riggs, travel on June 1, 2011 | 4 Comments »
A good friend sent me Strange Geographies: Quick Facts on the Netherlands, an article recently written by Ransom Riggs on Mental Floss. Mental Floss is a funky little US site with the tagline ‘Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix’. Talk about an understatement. It’s full of facts, trivia, quizzes and brain challenges involving information that ranges from useful to offbeat […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Netherlands, Travel, tagged Dutch, travel, wanderlust on March 15, 2011 | 6 Comments »
This morning I was catching up on some of the blogs I follow, and found myself chuckling while reading Tiffany’s Clogs and Tulips. Author and blogger Tom McLaughlin (aka Borneo Tom) was guest posting, and wrote about traveling across the globe and always running into someone from the Netherlands. People, I am telling you, it is […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Expat Life, Travel, tagged Czech Republic, Prague, teenagers, travel on February 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Welkom terug van Nederland! Just back from a wonderful few days in Prague and the surrounding area of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It was cold, in the twenties (Fahrenheit) the entire time. It even snowed a couple days! But no matter. It was one of the loveliest cities I’ve ever had the privilege of […]
my read shelf:
