Holding the Fort Abroad

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...

Synopsis: This episode is more of a personal episode as our family has been through a huge transition this year. I was also contemplating that it was a complex transition with more than one change going on over this summer. I share an update but also what I found most helpful.  Application of the 5 Pillar Framework during Transitions Personal Well-being: tracking sleep, 30 minutes ‘brain rese...

This is a quick announcement to let any new listeners know that I traditionally do not publish new episodes in August. It gives me a chance to pause a bit and it also gives you the opportunity to listen to previous episodes, especially if you can only listen to one every so often.  You can search the episodes by topic on my website rhodabangerter.com/podcast for example mums who travel or tra...

Synopsis: Men and emotions, a topic that often goes unspoken. This conversation offers insights and practical advice for men struggling to navigate their feelings—especially against the backdrop of expat life and being away from family for work. We discuss loneliness, anger, anxiety, guilt. Whether you’re a man living abroad, a partner supporting one, or simply interested in emotional wellness acr...

Synopsis: As the spouse of a World bank executive for over 30 years, Daniela Draugelis has experienced firsthand the unique challenges and growth that come with raising a family while navigating extended work travel, often more than 100 days a year. Daniela is an intercultural trainer, a certified professional coach and cultural intelligence facilitator with over 20 years of experience living and...

Synopsis: Today my guest is Pascale. She and her husband are living in different countries and working in different countries and she's going to share a little bit what it's been like for her, what they've put in place and just how it works for them to encourage listeners, anyone who's living and working in different countries.  We always decide together which assignment is best for the famil...