You are currently browsing articles tagged expat.
Mea culpa – it’s been too long since my last post here. My excuse is it’s been a frenetic time, with lots of professional and personal changes going on – and all for the better, I hasten to add. Still, I’m making it a New Year’s Resolution … Must Blog More!
One of the big developments is the upcoming publication by Lean Marketing Press of my book on the pros and cons of moving abroad. We’re still finalising some details, but it should be out in print in the next few weeks.
Tags: book, expat, expert, Marketing, Moving Abroad, publisher, publishing
A special treat today – I’m joined by fellow expat author Mike Harling, whose wonderfully-funny Postcards From Across the Pond is a must-read for anyone dreaming of a life abroad, wherever you are and wherever you may be going. Mike is finishing up his virtual tour promoting the book, so without further ado I’ll hand over. Mike …
Mike Harling - author of Postcards From Across the Pond
Tags: Abroad, adventure, Australia, author, book, Britain, Canada, England, expat, Foreign, globe, life, location, Paul, Pond, publisher, Spain, Tenerife, tour, world
It’s been a while since I’ve done any blogging for Expat Living 101. In truth, like so many other expatriates I’ve been hit hard by the financial crisis over the last year – a double whammy of soaring interest payments on our mortgage, and plummeting currency rates when converting my foreign earnings into euros. As a result I’ve had to work twice as hard just to standstill. Not what you want at the best of times, but especially when the sun is beckoning outside!
But now I’m starting up again with a new zeal … for I have just signed a contract with Lean Marketing Press to publish a print version of my book on the pros and cons of living overseas: “Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The Truth About Moving Abroad And Whether It’s Right For You.”
Tags: Abroad, book, country, currency, euro, expat, expatriates, financial, Foreign, living, moving, overseas, publish, sun, work
After months of anticipation Barack Obama has at last been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.
It is not exaggerating to say this is a day of hope, not just for millions of American citizens, but for the billions of citizens of the Earth as a whole.
The weight of expectation is enormous – too big probably, as if single-handedly and in just a few years he can solve all the deep and desperate problems facing America, and by extension much of the rest of the world. But hopefully his term(s) of office will bring real improvements nevertheless: to the global economy, to the environment, to war-ravaged Iraq and Afghanistan, to the problems of the Middle East, to relations between the Islamic world and the West.
Tags: America, citizen, Earth, economy, environment, expat, Islam, Middle East, Obama, president, United States, war, West, world
As if you needed any reminding, it’s Thanksgiving in the States today.
It’s a celebration that I always viewed with a degree of envy as a boy growing up in England, something else to look forward to in those interminable months between the end of summer and the fever of Christmas. And what a great tradition – lots of hearty food shared with the family, and then licence to spend the rest of the day lazing in front of the television.
So although it felt almost like a betrayal to my nationality to be doing so, when I moved to New York at the turn of the millennium I determined to take part in the festivities. We braved the freezing temperatures with the thousands of other people to watch the inflatables bob down Central Park West, and then returned to our apartment to cook up a passing resemblance to the traditional feast that would be laid on millions of tables across the States.
Unfortunately my wife had come down with flu the night before, so it wasn’t the liveliest occasion. But just being off work and sampling the experience in the flesh was good enough.
So I can see why for the millions of expat Americans around the world this is a day when homesickness is at its keenest. It is, after all, a peculiarly American holiday that is meant to be shared with your nearest and dearest.
Still, while it’s a day to miss home, it’s also a day for gratitude for all the things you do have, right here and right now, wherever that happens to be.
And so in some small way I too have been trying to appropriate this tradition by remembering those things for which I can truly be grateful: my wife and daughters, my health and theirs, the love of family and friends, having a roof over my head and food to eat, having the opportunity to live in Spain and experience first hand and in detail a different culture, with all its joys and frustrations.
Plenty to give thanks for I feel.
Tags: American, England, expat, family, festivities, holiday, homesickness, New York, Spain, States, Thanksgiving, tradition
Recent Comments