Expat Focus

Costa Rica is well-known as a haven for expat retirees, but what's it like to move to this tropical paradise in Central America if you're at not at that stage of life yet? American Samantha moved to Costa Rica more than six years ago, for love. And she's come a long way since first arriving with little knowledge of the country - needing to learn Spanish, find a job, make friends, understand how th...

In the latest episode of the Expat Focus podcast we're talking about the way Brexit has altered the lives of EU citizens - including Brits - who have chosen to live in other member states.   Elena  Remigi is one of them. As an Italian living in the UK, the years since the 2016 Brexit vote have been filled with uncertainty over whether she'll be able to stay - or is even still welcome - in the coun...

Welcome to another episode of the Expat Focus podcast. Today on the show we're talking about a country where the expat population is slowly but steadily on the rise: Estonia. My guest is Alina Akk from expatinestonia.com . She's Romanian, and this is her third year living and working in Estonia. Alina's going to give us the lowdown on three essentials: finding somewhere to live, learning Estonian,...

Welcome to another episode of the Expat Focus podcast. Our guest this week is Steve Spriggs - the Head of Education at William Clarence Education . They advise and consult with families from around the world on British schools and universities. So which schools are right for your children, factoring in not just their interests and your needs as a family... but also where you all might be in five y...

Moving abroad often means losing that 'insider' status that you held in your home country. The advantage of just 'knowing' how a system or local industry works, where to find the tools or resources you need to get something done.   Remco  recognised this, and that his public workshop in Amsterdam could act as an entrance, not just for locals needing somewhere to knock up a coffee table or use spec...

Welcome to another episode of the Expat Focus Podcast, I'm your host Carlie, and my guest today is a UK expat, based in beautiful South West France, where he runs a guest house along with his partner.  Their home is called Maison Mûrier , and on their website, Phill and Kev call it their 'little bit of heaven' in the French countryside.   Looking at the stunning photos, their acre-and-a-half prope...

Visas can be an unwelcome, overwhelming necessity when you fall in love with someone from another country. This was the case for Australian Emma O'Neill-Sandham and her English partner Rich, when they decided they wanted to move from the UK to continue their life together back in Australia.   Emma wrote about the intricate and intrusive process of applying for an Australian Partner Visa in a magaz...

If you're a member of one of the Expat Focus forums or Facebook groups, or in any international community group for that matter, you've likely seen a discussion around the term 'expat' and how it's used.   What makes one group of people 'expats', and another group 'foreigners', or 'immigrants'? Why does the terminology matter, and how does it shape our views of different groups of people who move...

We're diving into the Danish healthcare system today with a returning guest – expat blogger and expert,  Melanie  Haynes of Dejlige Days .    She gave us some great insights into the Danish way of life in our first chat – so be sure to take a listen to our ' Life in Denmark ' episode.    This time,  Melanie  is going to go through everything you need to know about signing up with a doctor in Denma...

Is your dream to live, or continue living, in France? It is possible as a non-EU citizen, without needing to get married or become a student to make it happen.   American Allison Lounes lives in France. She runs the website Paris Unraveled , and she helps people to navigate French administration - like visa applications - in a way that's much less stressful than going it alone.   Allison's going t...

Bec Holmes moved to a village in the Austrian mountains, where she fell in love with a Dutchman and relocated to the Netherlands. After a few years, marriage happened, and then she became pregnant. The first pregnancy is daunting for any woman, but add a foreign country and language into the mix, and there are a lot of unknowns. Bec has navigated pregnancy in the Netherlands twice now, and she has...

Did you know that the country you choose to divorce in can directly impact what assets you're left with? Or that being an unmarried expat couple is a legal issue in some countries? Do you know how the laws of the country you're living in apply to your children, if you're having custody issues?   Our guest in this episode of the Expat Focus podcast is  Alexandra  Tribe - a lawyer, and the owner of...

If you're a Brit in Europe, or a European citizen living in the UK, the issue of Brexit will be high on your radar. At the time of recording this, there are just six months to go until the UK leaves the European Union, and there's still no deal. European leaders at a summit in Salzburg just shot down the UK Prime Minister's latest plan, so everyone's gone back to the drawing board. There have been...

When it comes to taking your career to Luxembourg – where do you begin? What are the main industries for expat workers in the country and, what sort of salaries can you expect? Do you need to speak one of the key languages, or can you get by with English? You're going to learn all about the Luxembourg job market in this episode. Our guest is  Amy Amann , a local coach, trainer and consultant. So k...

Going it alone as self employed and setting up your own business is always a big step – and it's an even bigger one to take, when you're doing it in a foreign country.    British expat  Michelle  Purse Sweeney did it in Germany 9 years ago, starting  her own marketing business,  and in this episode she shares her 5 key tips to help make your German business journey, a little bit easier.

When you move abroad, there are inevitably things you find out that you wish someone had told you about earlier.    In this episode we're joined by James Cave from  Portugalist , who is here to help if you're considering a move to Portugal.   

When it came time to think about retiring, Ben Zabulis and his partner Hillary quickly realised that the typical European expat retiree destinations, like Spain, weren't quite right for them.   Instead, they sold up in the UK and moved to Hong Kong; a place that had captured their hearts years before.   Ben's a regular columnist for Expat Focus, and he joins us in this episode to talk about how he...

In this episode we're focusing on tax issues for South African expats. Did you know they're on track to break their own emigration record this year?   And the biggest mistake expats can make, according to today's guest, is thinking they're not a big enough 'fish' for the South African Revenue Office to bother coming after. You won't just disappear off their radar once you leave the country.   Atto...

In this week's podcast, Expat Focus talks to John Siskar about his experience of teaching in Germany. Having moved from being a kindergarten teacher all the way through to secondary school, John has a wealth of experience to share!  What can you expect as a foreign teacher working in Germany? And what do you do when your school goes bankrupt? American expat John Siskar wasn't planning to dive into...

Tony   Elliott 's job as an interest rate trader has seen him live in the some of the most exciting cities in the world. Meantime, as a dad, he's busy raising seven kids - in two countries.   So what's expat life like when you've got a big family in different locations, and a job that means you need to move around, often at short notice? Listen to our latest episode to find out. 

What was your biggest struggle when you moved to your new country? For  Melanie  Aronson, an American in Sweden, it was overcoming this unexpectedly deep sense of loneliness. She felt it so strongly, she decided to make a  friend-finding app called Panion  to help others who were feeling the same way she was. Keep listening to hear all about Panion, and  Melanie 's experiences in Sweden.

Remote working has definitely hit the mainstream … and around the world, more and more people are taking the opportunity to be 'temporary locals.' Combining their jobs with longer-term travel, staying in one country for a month, or a few months at a time. Longer than the typical annual holiday allowance. But how do longer stints abroad – when you're working – impact your tax situation? Today on th...

What does it take to own and run a B&B in the Italian countryside? American Ashley Bartner can tell you all about it – and she's going to, today on the Expat Focus Podcast.    10 years ago, she and her husband Jason left the hustle and bustle of New York for a big old farmhouse in the beautiful  Marche  region of Italy. They've turned it into a very successful organic farm, inn and cooking school...

What's your motivation for moving abroad?  British expat  Melanie  Haynes was ready for an adventure, and it led her and her husband to move to Denmark.  More than  eight years later , they're still there, living in the capital of Copenhagen.  And  Melanie 's blog  dejligedays  has become a go-to for many English-speaking expats in the city; she shares her discoveries, recommendations and gives ne...

For a lot of us when we move abroad, the last thing we really want to think about is our tax situation; getting paperwork in order, remembering reporting dates and deadlines for a country we're no longer living in.   It might not be exciting, but it's necessary, and our guest in this episode is going to run through some common scenarios for UK expats.   OLIVER  HESLOP is the owner of GETS –  Globa...