Nomadic Diaries: Mastering Global Transitions

How you leave shapes how you land. Doreen explores why saying goodbye well, to people, places, pets and possessions, matters as much as any arrival, and shares simple leaving rituals that help you close the door without slamming it. Launch to Landed: The A to Z of Life Abroad is a 31-day NaPodPoMo series from Nomadic Diaries . In ten-minute episodes, Doreen Cumberford draws on fifty years of life...

The paperwork is the part of moving abroad everyone underestimates. Doreen covers why you should start visas and residency earlier than you think, which papers people forget, and why one red folder and a visit in the season you dread most can save you a world of trouble. Launch to Landed: The A to Z of Life Abroad is a 31-day NaPodPoMo series from Nomadic Diaries . In ten-minute episodes, Doreen C...

The honeymoon always ends, often in a queue at the bank. Doreen explains why the frustration that follows is normal, not failure, and shares one simple tool for getting through the hard weeks. Launch to Landed: The A to Z of Life Abroad is a 31-day NaPodPoMo series from Nomadic Diaries . In ten-minute episodes, Doreen Cumberford draws on fifty years of life across eight countries and four continen...

You will rarely feel ready to move abroad, and that’s exactly the point. Doreen looks at the gap between fear and readiness, shares stories of people who moved later in life or against the odds, and offers small acts of courage that prove to yourself what’s possible. Launch to Landed: The A to Z of Life Abroad is a 31-day NaPodPoMo series from Nomadic Diaries . In ten-minute episodes, Doreen Cumbe...

Launch to Landed: The A to Z of Life Abroad is a 31-day NaPodPoMo series from  What does “permanent” really mean when you move abroad? Doreen looks at why people go, how a chosen move differs from a company posting, and the one question to ask yourself before you commit. Nomadic Diaries . In ten-minute episodes, Doreen Cumberford draws on fifty years of life across eight countries and four contine...

Two suitcases, 31 days, one letter at a time. In this opening episode, Doreen explains why every move abroad is really two journeys, the one you can map and the one you can’t, and invites you to ask yourself where you are on the road right now.   Launch to Landed: The A to Z of Life Abroad is a 31-day NaPodPoMo series from Nomadic Diaries . In ten-minute episodes, Doreen Cumberford draws on fifty...

Fifty years. Eight countries. Two suitcases. Now 31 days. Welcome to Launch to Landed: The A to Z of Life Abroad , a NaPodPoMo series from Nomadic Diaries . Every day this November, Doreen Cumberford brings you one ten-minute episode, built around one letter. The series runs from the first “what if we moved abroad?” to the homecoming nobody warns you about. Whether you’re dreaming, packing, living...

About our Guest Simon D. spent fifteen years running his own renovation business in Hamilton, Ontario, before he and his wife swapped Canadian life for Belize in 2022, a country they first fell for on their babymoon.  Leaving his trade behind, he turned to content writing just as large language models arrived, and rather than retreat, he went all in. Today he helps founders and small businesses bu...

Don’t Transplant Your Life, Translate It: Repatriating to Poland  Lucyna Boland left Poland already asking where she could go next. Twenty years later she had lived in the United States, Germany, England, Spain and France. She had built a career in corporate learning and talent development, married a Canadian and started a family. Then, during the pandemic and while grieving her father, she felt a...

In this inspirational and deeply personal conversation, Doreen Cumberford sits down with Melissa Parks, therapist, coach and author of A Compassionate Mess: A Therapist, Her Monsters, and a Journey to Self-Acceptance  - to explore the challenges and rewards of self-compassion, the realities of cross-cultural transitions, and the myths that hold us back from thriving as global nomads and returnees....

In this deeply personal episode, Doreen Cumberford interviews Sarah Deschamps, author of I Couldn't Tell You . Sarah Deschamps shares the harrowing and ultimately hopeful story of her family’s move from Tokyo back to Minnesota, a journey marked by her daughter's complex medical challenges and the mental health struggles entwined with repatriation. This conversation illuminates the hidden...

In this insightful episode, Doreen Cumberford is joined by Saehee Chang, an intercultural trainer, engagement specialist, and founder of Korea Connect. Together, they explore the journey of navigating life across cultures as a Third Culture Kid (TCK), the challenges of repatriation, balancing success and happiness abroad, and the quest for belonging. Key Topics Covered Growing Up Global: Saehee sh...

This episode explores the layers of identity, privilege, and adaptation in expat experiences through a conversation with author Stephanie Cook. Topics range from cultural healing, maintaining authenticity, and the paradoxes of belonging, to practical and emotional strategies for global nomads and expat families. Key Discussion Points 1. The Russian Dolls of Identity Both speakers discuss how multi...

Sarah Rapp: From How to Be Global to 1 Million Humans Sarah Rapp is Director of Youth Advocacy and People at Junior Achievement Worldwide, and a nomad who has worked internationally for nearly a decade. Born in Germany, she moved abroad as an expat to Malta before building a fully nomadic life shaped by people and purpose rather than beaches. She previously hosted the podcast How to Be Global, clo...

Daniel Yalowitz  Daniel Yalowitz psychologist, professor and intercultural mentor came to talk to Nomadic Diaries about his story as a cornerstone of the intercultural field for nearly four decades. Daniel brought to this episode the generosity and warmth that have made him a mentor to so many of us who have navigated life across cultures. His favorite words all start with a C. Curiosity. Creativi...

Nina Aziz Justin  has lived in five countries, worked across forty-seven of them, and spent the better part of five decades asking the question that so many of us quietly carry: where on earth do I actually belong?  She is a serial entrepreneur, cultural chameleon, and self-described "rat in the lab" of her own life experiments, Nina has channelled all of that lived complexity into her m...

Flor Bretón García was born in Venezuela and left her homeland at 22 — which means she's now lived outside her home country longer than she lived in it. Lawyer. Educator. Cross-cultural consultant. Mother of three adult TCKs. President of FIGT. And a woman who, after receiving her 598th job rejection, sat down on a Friday night and wrote an article that stopped LinkedIn in its tracks. In this...

Adrienne Belaire grew up on Aramco compounds in Saudi Arabia from first grade through high school, a world full of sunshine, small communities, and the particular freedom of a life lived between cultures. She is a wife, mother, potter, and artist who, after navigating her own sometimes turbulent repatriation to the United States, made a quietly remarkable decision: to go back again. She returned t...

About Lisa Liang Lisa Liang,  known formally as Elizabeth, with a Z - is an intercultural storytelling coach, solo performer, and TCK who grew up across Central America, Southeast Asia, and the United States.  She has spent decades helping globally mobile people do one of the hardest things there is: turn a life lived between worlds into a story that actually lands. She works with memoir writers,...

About Pia   Pia Mailhot-Leichter is a self-described "recovering nomad" who has lived in more places than most people visit, from Manhattan to Sri Lanka, London to France, and eventually dropping anchor in Copenhagen after decades of following the nomadic pull. Born to a French-Canadian mother and a New York City father, she grew up crossing cultures before she had words for it, and spen...

About Daniela   Daniela Draugelis didn't just study cultural intelligence, she lived it before she even had a name for it. Born in Argentina to a Lithuanian immigrant family (her father fled Europe as a war refugee), she grew up speaking Lithuanian at home, celebrating cultural traditions on weekends, and navigating between worlds long before anyone called it "code-switching." Twent...

Dr. Joy Wiggins   Meet Dr. Joy Wiggins, we chatted about Raising Kids to Boardrooms she is a cultural agility expert, former professor, and single mum who packed up her life in Texas and moved to Lisbon, Portugal with her teenage daughter Ruby. She's spent decades living and working across cultures, from Germany to China to Jordan, she also now helps globally mobile women build careers and li...

What if the hardest part of moving abroad isn't finding a house, but finding yourself?  In this episode, Doreen Cumberford sits down with Vivian Chiona, founder of Expat Nest, an online counselling platform offering psychological support in nine languages to expats, repats, and global nomads worldwide. Vivian brings warmth, wisdom, and 12 years of experience helping internationally mobile peo...

What does it really take to build a life across cultures? In this episode, intercultural trainer Kathy Ellis joins Doreen for an honest conversation about the messy, beautiful reality of cross-cultural living. From her small-town Midwest roots to seven countries, multiple languages, and decades helping others navigate global transitions, Kathy brings both personal experience and professional exper...

Today on Nomadic Diaries, I sat down with Peter Levitan, former Saatchi & Saatchi executive and serial entrepreneur, to talk about navigating international assignments, adapting to new cultures, and the challenges of returning home after working abroad. Peter shared invaluable insights on building trust, learning cultural nuances, and the importance of empathy in global business.  Peter was on...