It's Tea Time Somewhere

At the time of recording this episode, we had not released a podcast episode or posted ANYTHING on Taking Route for a solid nine months. Denise, Melissa, and Alicia certainly didn't intend to go dark for so long, but we just so happened to all go through pretty intense seasons of life all at the same time. So, for this episode, we thought it might be a good idea to catch up with you guys and discu...

A quick Google search of "culture stress" will inform you there are phases to this phenomenon. One source summarizes it with the following four phases: fun, flight, fight, and fit. It's important for you to know that EVERYONE experiences cultural stress to some degree while living in a foreign context. Knowing this fact and being aware of the phases of culture stress will help you recognize it mor...

Are you thinking about moving to another country and wondering if you're cut out for the expat life? If so, you'll want to listen to this episode ASAP! If you're a current expat, you'll still want to listen because who among us has not continued to question if we're cut out for this life? 😅🥴🤪 In this episode, we'll discuss reasons NOT to move to another country—while also acknowledging how none...

In this episode, we're celebrating the latest release of Liturgies and Laments for the Sojourner: Volume One , co-authored by Heather Fallis, Tamika Rybinski, and our very own Alicia Boyce. This book is the perfect companion for anyone who finds themselves living the life of a foreigner. It's also a great resource for friends and family to reference when they want to pray more specifically for the...

Most of us are probably familiar with the book, "Where There Is No Doctor." It's a medical manual available in more than 85 languages and provides practical, easily understood information on how to diagnose, treat, and prevent common injuries and illnesses. Of course, nowadays, folks are more likely to consult Google, WebMD, or send a quick WhatsApp message to their doctor friend to gather necessa...

In this episode, we're doing our second round of "ask us anything." We didn't have time to cover all the questions, but we do discuss boundaries, hosting guests, our expat marriages, advice for our first year selves, emotional/mental health, and the most interesting gifts we received from our host culture friends. We also give some rapid-fire answers to questions about books, music, recipes and wh...

We thought it might be time to do another Christmas episode since our last one was in the Year of Our Lord 2020. This time, we're taking a look at the story of the birth of Jesus from Mary's perspective. At first glance, we might not feel like we can relate to MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS THE MESSIAH. But we know she was a sojourner—an expat, if you will. So for this episode of It's Tea Time Somewhere, D...

We don't claim to be experts in this department, by any means, but we do have some experience with raising TCKs. You can treat this episode like a buffet line—take what you like, pass on the things you don't. As Melissa said in this episode, "You're smart parents. I'm sure you can figure out which ones to do and which ones to don't." Ultimately, we hope you feel encouraged after listening to this...

It's been awhile since we've gathered for some tea time chatter, so we thought we'd spend an entire episode sharing stories from our life lately. For starters, we'll be talking about ghost fish, roach infestations, and dengue. But we'll also be talking about tattoos, hermit crabs, and what to do when life hands you a fish in a bag. Pour yourself a warm beverage because we've got a lot of catching...

What is rest? What does it look like—especially for those of us whose personal lives blend right into our work/ministry lives? How can we tell if we're just exhausted or if we've tipped over into burnout or depression? These are a few of the questions we discuss in this second segment of "do's and don'ts." Don't forget to check out our show notes for this episode for additional resources when it c...

We're doing a little series of "dos and don'ts" for the next few episodes. And we're starting off with home assignments (aka: furlough, home leave, going back for a visit, etc.) Returning to your passport country holds wonderful opportunities to connect with family, friends, and our home culture. It also has a lot of stressful elements. On this episode, Alicia, Melissa, and Denise talk about going...

We're usually quick to notice where we fall short and often forget to celebrate the progress. In this episode, we'll be sharing stories about milestones we've reached in our own expat life—and we invite you to do the same! It's a great habit to acknowledge and celebrate the progress we've made. And speaking of celebrating, we recently reached a milestone for our podcast that you all played a huge...

Conflict will arise from time to time in any friendship—even the best of them— and how we manage these inevitable disagreements with our friends can play a big part in the health of the relationship. In expat life, friendships are really important to invest in so we can find community with others who understand our life. During this tea time chat, Alicia, Denise, and Melissa discuss a recent confl...

You've already done the BIG-sell-all-your-things move. But now it's time to move again—maybe it's across town or across the country. You don't have to sell all.the.things again, but you do have to get it all from Point A to Point B.  In this episode of "It's Tea Time Somewhere," we'll be sharing how many times we've each moved, stories from previous moving experiences, our typical process for pack...

This episode is all about vacations! We talk about our vacation rhythms (back when, you know, we could actually go somewhere…), how we make them happen, or why they don't happen.  We also discuss the guilt that many cross-cultural workers feel about taking a vacation. Rest is so necessary, in any kind of work, and we want you to feel the freedom to go create beautiful memories with your family. So...

In this episode, we're talking about "summer break" and whether or not we're actually having a break from school. We discussed how the 2020-2021 school year went for each of our families, how the school year ended (or has it?) and what we've learned from the Lord about ourselves and about our children in this last year. We also chat about a new word that the youths are saying (well, it was new bac...

This is the Beauty Episode! In this episode we talked about the evolution of our style and beauty throughout the years; from all the way back in the awkward days when we first started trying to look pretty, till now. We discussed how to stay true to your style and "feel like you" when moving to a new country and how sweat drains our motivation to put on makeup. And since you asked (or even if you...

Today we're chatting Rachel Pieh Jones (who has previously joined us here on the podcast). For those of you who don't already know Rachel, she writes about life at the crossroads of faith and culture. Rachel just released her latest book, Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus . She shares stories that recount the personal encounters and growing friendships which gradually dismantled h...

Welcome to the Preggisode! But don't run away! This conversation is packed full of laughs that you'll enjoy even if pregnancy is far from your mind. In this episode we talked about allll the pregnancy things. We've had a lot of kids overseas, a combination of 10 pregnancies. So, there are many paths to walk down our memory lanes.   Being pregnant and having babies far away from our passport countr...

In this episode, we're doing our first round of "ask us anything." We had so many questions from listeners there was no way to answer all, but we do discuss our friendship, how to maintain long-distance friendships and family relationships, meeting neighbors with limited language, and embarrassing moments (well, we only had time to share ONE moment this time because Melissa's story took us by surp...

At long last, Alicia is back! She's recovered from her whirlwind trip back to Indonesia, and her return inspired today's episode about moving overseas for the first time. In this episode, we discussed how we prepared when we first moved overseas, how we handled (and still handle) those wretched goodbyes, and what helped us when we landed in a new culture.   This discussion will hopefully be a prac...

Where are all our housekeeping fans? {crickets, crickets}   Okay, so house cleaning and home management might not top our list of fun pastimes, but they are a necessary part of this overseas life. Whether you keep a sparkling clean house, or you fall into the "God bless this mess" camp, this episode is for you. Our friend, Sharon, joined us to talk all about our home management personalities, hous...

When you moved overseas did you have a plan for how long you would stay? Did you imagine you'd be there for a long time, or are you considering staying longer than you originally planned? In this episode we had a conversation with Kim, our friend in Ukraine, about living overseas for the long haul. We talked about our initial plans when we moved overseas, persevering through times of doubt and har...

Our discussion this week is all about TCK friendships. This topic can be a tough one, but it's oh so important for the health and happiness of our kiddos in their life overseas. In this episode we break down the discussion into the Early Years, the Middle Years (aka "The Hay Day of School Age Kids"), and then on into the Tween and Teen Years. We talk about things we have done to help our kids deve...

We're chatting about new beginnings (NOT new goals). As expats, we don't have to wait for a new year to roll around to experience new beginnings. Whether it's a new location, new language, new schooling choice, or new housing situation every time you return to your passport country — it can bring a roller coaster of feelings. We'll be chatting about our most recent 'new beginnings', what we learne...