'She came to the welcome lunch 2 days after landing and contributed home bakes to the potluck even though she's still living in a hotel room? Oooh, she really hit the ground running!' Ok, that's an exaggerated example. Only just. But there are some of us who've been through so many moves (6, for me,… Continue reading How to Hit the Ground Running – Part One: Expat Hacks
Category: (Expat) Living
Family Life and Fitting In – A Month of Danish Living
It's a month since we arrived in Denmark and if you're following on Instagram or Facebook you know that we've already done a lot of exploring round these parts. Meanwhile we've also been getting our heads around our new life and lifestyle; although we've yet to fully settle in, we're already getting a sense of… Continue reading Family Life and Fitting In – A Month of Danish Living
Moving Stories: A Long Stay in Limboland
As I write this we're in week 14 of what I once estimated could be a 16-week transition; it's gonna take a bit longer. The transition began when our move was confirmed and my daily routine was suspended: in favour of clearing out, preparing our shipment, travel planning; dismantling our life in Congo while researching… Continue reading Moving Stories: A Long Stay in Limboland
Moving Stories: Expat Time Travel
With 'Moving Stories', I'm writing a series of posts about what's on my mind as we prepare for our next move, with hopefully some insight into the unique circumstances of moving around the world as - like the word or not - an expat. So we're here again, well and truly waist deep in the… Continue reading Moving Stories: Expat Time Travel
Your Brazzaville Escape Plan
It's easy to feel a bit stuck in our industrial small-town corner of central Africa. Direct flights out are very few, and very expensive. In our case, MT has not so far been able to take any holiday time to coincide with the school holidays. Our last relaxing family holiday feels like a long time… Continue reading Your Brazzaville Escape Plan
Trolling Myself
The end is in sight of another two-week French school holiday. A week ago I was congratulating myself on being a 'good mum': as well as daily tennis coaching, the boys had an English lesson with me scheduled every morning. There were movies and Netflix, but also lunches with friends, craft projects, and card games… Continue reading Trolling Myself
How Not to Keep a Travel Journal
Best. Wedding Present. Ever. Well, it was the one that impressed me the most that day anyway: a large shiny gift box filled with fancy goodies from Paperchase. When I opened it up it seemed like the most thoughtful and tailored collection of life-enhancing little items in the pile. The Book Journal was an obvious… Continue reading How Not to Keep a Travel Journal
Things You Never Said to my Husband
Back in September, MT* spent about 10 days on a solo holiday, enjoying a reunion with a group of friends who had travelled together back in the day. The timing wasn't great, given that I’d not quite recovered from six weeks of solo parenting in the summer holidays. But I was happy for him to… Continue reading Things You Never Said to my Husband
Haggis, Tatties and Nae Selfies
Today, 25th January, is Burns Night, which, unlike St Andrew's Day, is celebrated just as much back home in Scotland as it is by the diaspora. Especially in the west and south-west, where I grew up. The first poems I learned to recite in primary school were Burns' poems, and it was at inter-school Burns… Continue reading Haggis, Tatties and Nae Selfies
A Year of Words and Work
I kept hearing about words as 2018 kicked off. There was the usual round-up of announcements by dictionary publishers and websites, telling us their most looked-up or supposedly definitive word of 2017. These include, if you're interested, youthquake, populism, complicit, feminism, and, my personal favourite, Milkshake Duck. On the less clickbaity side of things, some… Continue reading A Year of Words and Work
