How to be Local

Every four years, the World Cup comes around and suddenly football becomes more than just football. It becomes childhood memories, family traditions, national pride, screaming at the TV, preparing food, wearing your country’s colors, and somehow everyone becomes a coach for a few weeks. In this episode, we talk about what it feels like to experience the World Cup while living abroad. Vicky shares...

In this episode of How To Be Local, we talk about one of the most confusing parts of moving abroad: dealing with guilt and FOMO when you are far away from the people you love, even when you know you made the right decision for yourself. Moving abroad can bring so much freedom, growth, love and new opportunities, but it also means missing birthdays, holidays, family milestones and all the little ev...

In this episode of How To Be Local , we talk about some of the questions that might come up when you're deciding whether to move abroad and how to find the answer within yourself. Why do you want to move abroad? Are you building a life that excites you, or are you hoping a new country will fix problems that already exist? We also talk about the realities that come with immigration: building a...

What happens when the biggest change of your life isn't your location, but it's you? In this episode, we talk about the identity shifts that can happen when you leave everything familiar behind. From questioning old beliefs and outgrowing friendships to struggling with uncertainty and discovering new sides of yourself, living abroad can sometimes feel like you're caught between two ver...

In this episode of How To Be Local , Vicky and Nanda finally hand the microphone over to Diego, Vicky’s Brazilian boyfriend, to hear the other side of their intercultural love story. After two episodes of talking about intercultural relationships from the women’s perspective, Diego joins the conversation to share what it was really like falling in love with a German, navigating cultural difference...

In this episode we're joined by our first-ever guest, Johnny, to hear the other side of the story. After hearing Nanda's perspective in previous episodes, it's time to find out what it was like for a Canadian with Ukrainian roots to fall in love with a Brazilian woman and eventually build a life together. We talk about how they met unexpectedly through work, navigating a relationship during the pa...

In this episode, we’re talking about the reality of intercultural relationships and all the little differences that come with loving someone from another culture. From communication styles, love languages and public affection to time management, habits at home and the question every woman seems to ask at some point: “Is this a cultural difference… or are men just the same everywhere?” We also talk...

Making friends as an adult is hard already but making them abroad? That is a whole different level. In this week's episode we are talking about why it feels so difficult to find your people when you are starting from zero in a new country, what we both went through in our loneliest moments, and the difference between being alone and actually feeling lonely. We are also sharing our experiences...

Moving abroad can feel exciting, freeing, and like the beginning of the life you always dreamed about. But what people rarely talk about is how emotionally exhausting it can also become once the honeymoon phase wears off. In this episode of How to Be Local , we have a very honest conversation about the reality of being an immigrant, culture shock, identity changes, loneliness, and the emotional we...

Sometimes you can be living the life you always wanted… and still feel completely exhausted. And then the guilt kicks in. Because you chose this. You worked for this. So why does it feel so heavy? Living abroad can look like a dream from the outside — beach days, new experiences, freedom. But behind that, there’s a constant mental load no one really talks about. Visas, language barriers, building...

Have you ever been completely fluent in a language and still felt like something was getting lost between your brain and your mouth? In this episode we get into one of the most relatable but rarely talked about parts of living abroad: what happens to you when you have to live your life in a language that isn't yours. We talk about feeling like a smaller, quieter, less funny version of ourselve...

Can long distance actually work? The short answer is yes. The honest answer is: only if you both show up for it. In this episode, we get real about what it actually takes to survive a long distance relationship as expats and intercultural couples. One of us spent one year and six months apart from her now husband during the pandemic, building an entire relationship through phone calls and late nig...

Welcome to How to Be Local , the podcast for anyone who's ever packed up their life and moved to a country that wasn't theirs. In our very first episode, hosts Fernanda and Vicky share their stories: a Brazilian who moved to Canada for love, and a German that came to Brazil for… well, a surf trip that changed everything. They get real about what Instagram doesn't show you: the loneliness, the frie...