Expatability Chat

Send a text Moving overseas with teens - again! As my most downloaded podcast episode last season was about moving abroad with teenagers, I thought it was a good time to bring in an expert! So, this is an absolute mega-episode, where I have brought in the wonderful Emma Cochrane, Teen Confidence Coach. The wisdom and insight she has about this age group of children is astounding. Even if you don&a...

Send a text How to cope with feeling homesick as an expat Moving abroad is an exciting adventure filled with new opportunities, cultures, and experiences. An incredibly rich experience, offering opportunities to immerse yourself in a different culture, perhaps learn a new language and make new friends.    However, expat life is not without its challenges and there are bound to be a few bumps along...

Send a text Expats and emotional overwhelm: when everything just gets too much. It’s all just TOO MUCH! Emotional overwhelm that catches us at times regardless of where you are on your expat journey, whether this is your first move, or your 21st . Emotional overwhelm can hit anyone, at any time, in any place, and wherever you are in your expat journey. It can also be particularly strong at the sta...

Send us Fan Mail So, you want to move abroad? You're dreaming of retiring overseas? You've had enough of this country's weather/cost of living/government [ delete as appropriate ]. You want to live somewhere else. But how do you make it happen? And where is the best place for expats, anyway? In this episode I will take you through all kinds of ideas and delve in to the 'Where&a...

Send a text “I had to leave my baby in Dubai and return to the UK” No, this isn’t me being dramatic: this is the TRUTH for far too many expat parents. 😭  If you move overseas with your child, then spilt up with your partner, you may not be allowed to return home with your child. Immigration laws may also forbid you from staying in that country. You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. There...

Send a text In this episode I dip my toes in to the world that is learning a new language. With a few quick tips on language learning for both you and your children. Even if you’re moving for just a couple of years or so, you’ll get so much more out of your stay if you can speak the lingo.  I’ll share 5 reasons why an expat should learn the local language, however long you’ll be living in that cou...

Send a text How to prepare to receive your shipment – all the items that you packed into a lorry for container shipping. Or, to be more accurate, Preparing for the day all your shipped items get delivered. Because the actual unpacking takes way longer than a day…  How to organise yourself before the lorry arrives so your unpacking day can go as smoothly as possible. What you need to have and do be...

Send a text From Malawi Expat to Mannequin Lady! This episode is a little different from all my others, as for the very first time, I have a guest on my show! This won’t be a regular thing, by the way, which makes it even more special. So, please meet the lovely Roz Edwards! Roz lived in Malawi for 10 years before repatriating, quite suddenly, to the UK back in 2004 with her two sons and four card...

Send a text How to build an active and fulfilling social life for yourself overseas. When you live abroad an important element of your life is your social circle; your network, your support system. AKA Friends! “So, no one told you life was gonna be this way” Sometimes we can feel so lonely overseas that it causes big problems such as depression, wanting to go home and more.  In fact, a lack of a...

Send a text Did you move abroad for love? Long distance love stories for Valentine’s Day! Falling in love with someone while travelling or living in another country can be a magical experience. The thrill of adventure combined with the excitement of a new relationship can create memories that last a lifetime, and a relationship built on a mutual adventurous spirit. People move overseas for many, m...

Send a text How to cope with the comedown when you’ve moved overseas. Not long after you’ve arrived in your new country, there comes a time when it suddenly hits you – ‘Oh, is that it? Now what?’ You feel quite down and flat and wonder if you’ve made a terrible mistake. We all know that moving overseas is really exciting. It heralds great change, perhaps the hope of a better future and a better li...

Send a text Expect the Unexpected Culture Shock Expats and the Holiday Season These three topic were planned for separate episodes, but life events meant it made sense to see if I could fit them all into one episode, just in time for the Holidays! I think I succeeded 🤪  I wanted to talk about how strange and different, and sometimes upsetting these special holidays can be for expats living away f...

Send a text Expat Guilt. The one topic guaranteed to fire some people up, the one topic that’s tormenting many of my readers, my groups, my tribe. The topic that gets the most attention, the most comments, the most bitterness, the most sadness and causes every shade of angst you can possibly imagine. Expat guilt can ruin your life overseas as you’re so busy thinking of others that you can’t truly...

Send a text The very worst part of expat life. The Dreaded Phone Call telling you of the death of a loved one back home. And yes, this episode was prompted, and triggered, by the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 2nd, as it came less than a week after the funeral of our own family member. That Dreaded Phone Call triggers a whole heap of thoughts and emotions, that pile on quicker than your bra...

Send a text Talking about reverse culture shock; the peculiar, alienating feeling you get when you move back home after living the expat life.  And I do realise that I’ve not actually spoken about normal culture shock on this podcast yet (that’s a topic for the future!) but I wanted to get this one in now after the visiting home episode last month. Because a form of reverse culture shock can hit y...

Send a text Visiting your home country, maybe for the first time since you moved overseas, and how to plan it so you don’t have a nervous breakdown or fall out with everyone! For many expats this is the first opportunity you’ve had to visit your home country since the world turned upside down: since it shut down due to the COVID pandemic. Now the world is rebooting and you’re planning a visit to y...

Send a text Starting season 2 of the Expatability Chat Podcast with an episode all about me!  Giving you a little insight into me, my life and what I do. Plus an explanation of what Expatability is, what that word actually means. Yes, I should have explained all that when I first started my expat podcast back in 2020 but I forgot! I also explain why I use the word ‘expat’ when it still upsets a lo...

Send a text How to help your expat teen cope with moving A teenager is a young person in a transitional life phase – and you’re adding another transitional life phase on top of all this with the move abroad! This can be 'interesting'! Adolescence can be tricky at the best of times. However, if a teen is moved from their comfort zone and close friends without a lot of preparation and disc...

Send a text For very young children, moving house can be very hard indeed. They have become accustomed to their home, their room, their friends and their routines and to leave all this can throw them into confusion. Try to see life from a child’s-eye view. Without the benefit of years of life experience, with some extra imagination and knowing YOUR child’s foibles. The world of a child is unexpect...

Send a text Moving abroad with children; what to expect, how to prepare them and how to support them. When I started writing ExpatChild.com back in 2012 there wasn’t much information on moving overseas with kids. As I wanted a kind of guidebook to relocating with children, I decided to write one myself! This episode will be the start of a kind of series about this very topic: how to help your chil...

Send a text Live and Thrive in These Uncertain Times Dealing with uncertainty: how to regain a sense of control when everything feels so up in the air.  Not only are we dealing with ‘unprecedented’ times, we are also dealing with a huge amount of uncertainty on a daily basis.  Uncertainty about the future is normal; we cannot see what is likely to happen in our lives. These days, however, we are a...

Send a text Packing Day! It’s the final countdown. Don’t worry, I’m not singing anywhere in this episode! Starting from about 3 weeks before Packing Day with advice, hints and tips on what needs doing now. Including a few items to make sure you get now. Then some experienced tips on how to make Packing Day run smoothly for both you and your packing crew. Plus how to cope with the big day itself. O...

Send a text Sorting out Your Paperwork and What to Note During Your In-Home Survey Two distinct but connected topics as your path towards Packing Day is one way; and it’s coming up soon. You may be a supremely organised person who deals promptly and efficiently with all your paperwork as soon as you have some. Or you may be like me; stuffing it randomly into a drawer to file another day… most like...

Send a text Decluttering Before a Move Overseas Or just decluttering... you don't need to be moving home to have an occasional clear out of excess 'stuff'. Decluttering is actually stage one of your preparation to move overseas! Start as soon as you know you’re moving abroad. Whether that’s two years in advance or two months. Getting started is often the hardest part.  With tips, tr...

Send a text Happy New Year! Well done on making it to 2021 – possibly the most anticipated and longed for year in history. A brief look back at 2020 and a couple of things I learned about myself.  Also, an introduction to something I call The Expat Blues, which can hit many of us – expat or not, to be frank, around this time of year. A melancholia about the end of the holiday season. I’ll give you...