Holding the Fort Abroad

How to keep emotional connection when far apart, how to repair a disagreement when distance or duty interrupts and how to build shared life when not living under the same roof. Al and Autumn Ray share their story and what they learned along the way. Al served 27 years in the U.S. Air Force which meant many seasons apart due to deployments. He completed his career as Professor of Aerospace Studies...

Episode Takeaways: What happens for children when a parent regularly leaves home for work? Could parental absence create experiences that a child experiences as traumatic—and, if so, what can parents do to protect their children and build resilience? Perhaps you are worried about leaving your toddler for an extended period of time. Maybe they cry when you leave, seem distraught, or struggle when y...

Key Takeaways How do cross cultural couples navigate time apart? How does growing up with different family and society expectations impact a couple’s relationship? As Pesa and Whitney Shayo share their cross cultural marriage story and how they learned to understand each other, much of what they share can be extremely valuable for couples who spend time apart. Learn emotional connection This is on...

This episode brings three observations that are really three future directions for this podcast and my work: 1. Frameworks Are Relevant Across Contexts 2. The Travelling Parent and Home-Based Parent Experience Time Apart Differently 3. The Role of Organisational Support. For those who listen regularly, please note that for the next 6 months, I will be posting 1x/month until December 2026 instead o...

Episode takeaways Frequent Business Travel, International Business Travel often comes with the job, with higher responsibilities often comes need to travel, eg regional manager Do you know a mom who travels for work? Are you a mom who travels for work? Maximise the Benefits When mothers travel, families often become more adaptable: fathers take on more caregiving responsibilities, children develop...

Episode takeaways Frequent Business Travel, International Business Travel often comes with the job, with higher responsibilities often comes need to travel, eg regional manager You may be leaving home for 3 weeks here or there, or 3 weeks a year. 90+/ year or 200+/year If you are a frequent business traveller or have been one and have a story to tell, please contact me at rhoda@amulticulturallife....

Episode takeaways: Sue Schoormans , author of "Sink Then Swim" - shares practical insights and heartfelt stories about her search for work after relocating abroad, what led to her and her husband’s decision to do a long-distance relationship and some surprising results of that decision. This episode is packed with insights from her lived experience. Career Realities Abroad: Discover practical insi...

Synopsis: Illness, grief, ageing parents, dangerous situations and mental health struggles are part of life and will eventually touch most couples — including those living apart because of work. In some professions, such as humanitarian work, foreign service, military or high-travel careers, these pressures are not exceptional but part and parcel of the lifestyle itself. This episode explores some...

Episode takeaways: Holding the Fort Abroad — real stories, practical tools, emotional support Series description A podcast series for the partner managing life at home while their spouse/partner travels for work. Based on my Holding the Fort Abroad book. If you are the one away or anyone supporting families where one parent works away, this episode is a must listen to understand what a holding the...

Episode takeaways: Series description: This is Part 2 of a podcast series for the partner managing life at home while their spouse/partner travels for work. Based on my Holding the Fort Abroad book. If you are the one away or anyone supporting families where one parent works away, this episode is a must listen to understand what a holding the fort parent is going through. If you are carrying the p...

This episode is Part 1 of a new series based on my book 'Holding the Fort Abroad' (HTFA). It is mainly for the partner managing life at home while their spouse/partner travels for work. If you are the one away or anyone supporting families where one parent works away, this episode is a must listen to understand what a holding the fort parent is going through. . When one parent travels for work, th...

Episode Takeaways: Flor Garcia has experience of frequent business travel in family life, and now that her children have grown up she explains to us how she and her husband adapted frequent business travel with children who have flown the nest! Flor works across cultures and helps organisational leaders deliver sustainable, cost effective solutions for global teams. She is also the President of Fa...

Synopsis: Practical strategies for families when one parent works away. Part 1 is on the importance of naming your family structure to reduce stress and avoids future regret. Part 2 highlights the power of using language that reinforces family experience and teamwork. Part 3 looks at the triangulation relationship between At Home Parent, Travelling Parent and Child and how that helps reinforce bon...

Synopsis: Practical strategies for families when one parent works away. Part 1 is on the importance of naming your family structure to reduce stress and avoids future regret. This episode (Part 2/3) highlights the power of using language that reinforces family experience and teamwork. Keywords: travelling parents, connected family life, parent away from home, long-distance family The first of a 3-...

Synopsis: Practical strategies for families when one parent works away, and how naming your family structure reduces stress and avoids future regret. Keywords: travelling parents, connected family life, parent away from home, long-distance family The first of a 3-episode series: Episode 89 Recognise it for what it is Episode 90 Reframe as WE Episode 91 Re-enforce The Bond Across the Distance Episo...

Synopsis: Andrea Schmitt shares what it felt like to be the spouse of someone working the hotel industry and who travelled a lot. Listen to what helped her keep the family connected, and what she wishes more families understood about growing up and loving across international moves and frequent travel. Andrea is a clinical psychologist and she coaches expat teen girls, helping them make sense of i...

Another episode from the Top Five most listened episodes. This conversation is with Margaret Ghielmetti. Margaret knows what it is like to be home alone when she thought she was moving abroad with her husband and not moving abroad waiting for her husband to come home. She talks about her journey from thinking she would be fine to the reality she encountered to finally being open about needing help...

Synopsis: Clinical psychologist Dr. Veronique Elefant-Yanni guides us on how to (re)build emotional intimacy for couples separated by frequent business travel or international assignments. Drawing on her 25 years of experience and her innovative 3D Human Therapy, she explains why sharing day-to-day experiences—even trivial ones—is essential. The conversation covers the invisible pressures of expat...

For the next few months, I will be publishing one new episode every first Monday of the month. The second monthly episode will be a replay of the most popular episodes. My interview with Vivian Chiona is a top FIVE. Vivian is the founder of Expat Nest, online counselling service for internationals. She is a registered psychologist with Master’s degrees in both Child & Adolescent Psychology and...

Episode takeaways: Define Your “Why” — Together: Susana Ortega highlights the importance of being crystal clear on your personal, familial, and professional reasons behind such big life decisions. It’s not enough to move because it’s required; when your “why” is aligned and discussed as a family, it becomes a pillar of resilience during times apart. Set Clear Timeframes & Reevaluate as Needed:...

Synopsis: Today’s episode is for anyone experiencing relationship strain due to frequent work travel or international assignments. My guest, Ian Orton, counsellor and founder of People Care Matters, has spent 35 years supporting professionals who work far from home and the families affected by these separations. We discuss how travel impacts connection, how distance can slowly create emotional dri...

Synopsis: “Building an attachment culture, which is what I'm talking about, is a way to just make kids feel more connected more often. That doesn't depend on just you being with them. When you have this culture built around them, they feel more connected more often.” If you’ve ever worried about how frequent travel or long work assignments away from home affect your connection with your children,...

Synopsis: Ever wondered how your childhood wounds impact your relationships? Today my guest is Bryan Power. He is the founder of make your relationship fail and a certified integrated attachment theory coach. We look at integrated attachment theory together, what it is, how it can be useful for our relationships, and specifically then looking at how it works where there is geographical separation....

Synopsis: In this episode, I sit down with Anna Skorobogatowa, a powerhouse diplomatic spouse, mentor, and founder of Not Just a Spouse. Anna shares honest stories about juggling career aspirations, raising three kids, and handling life’s curveballs - including sudden evacuations and living apart as a family. We explore the unseen resilience it takes to support a family across borders, navigate pa...

Synopsis: “ My conclusion is that at the end of the day, what matters is the strategies that couples use to navigate the stress. And this is sort of then what mediates between the stressors and the couple's satisfaction. ” In this episode, Julia Paulsson Jandl and I talk about the findings of her research in the aid and development sector: the challenges couples face and the strategies that they u...