Transplants by Laura Peruchi - Conversations With Women Thriving Abroad

In this solo episode, I’m sharing some recent experiences and reflections around the way we talk to ourselves — especially when we’re overthinking, doubting ourselves, or being much harsher on ourselves than we would ever be with someone we love. I also talk about quitting, failure, and the fear of feeling embarrassed when something doesn’t go the way we hoped. Since self-discovery, confidence, co...

Urmi Hossain carries at least three identities as an immigrant woman: she introduces herself as Italian by birth, Bengali by blood, and Canadian by law. From that line alone, you can already imagine how much of her life has been shaped by living in between worlds. Born and raised in a small town in Italy to Bangladeshi parents, Urmi grew up navigating a strict upbringing, different cultures — one...

Maria Sakr has always occupied that “in-between” place that a lot of transplants know so well. She was raised in Dubai by her Lebanese parents, surrounded by a Lebanese community, fascinated by books thanks to her mother, and introduced to the art of photography through her father, who documented the Lebanese Civil War with his own camera. Then, when it was time to go to college, she experienced a...

While living in rural Massachusetts, Lauren Aloise would travel the world in her imagination by exploring travel magazines. Her trips to New York City to visit family were another opportunity to see how differently people could live. That curiosity led Lauren to do a summer program in Sicily, Italy, when she was 17. While many of her friends were spending their money on cars, she decided to spend...

Leah Alexander is an American artist based in Paris. But it took her a long time and some serious life decisions to the point she could call herself that. Art had been part of Leah’s life since she was a kid - but she never really knew that it could be a career, so she did what a lot of us do: she chose a “safe” path and, for 15 years, she built a successful career - and, during that period that s...

Jasmine Wu had never traveled outside Asia when she decided to take a gap year. She was not even planning to travel during that period - the idea was just chill. Until an invite from a friend to go to Disneyland changed everything. Jasmine ended up exploring different places in the U.S. and in Europe and that journey changed the way she saw the world and herself. Suddenly, the life she knew starte...

Kay Fabella moved to Spain in 2010 with a one-way ticket, a student visa, and plans to stay for just one year. The main goal was to heal from burnout and reset her nervous system — but sixteen years later, she’s still there. And the story behind that decision is much deeper than finding her partner and falling in love with another country. She shares what it was like growing up Filipina-American i...

I guess one of my favorite parts of doing this podcast is searching for guests. Usually, I do that online — Substack is my favorite platform for that — and I also rely on recommendations from friends and listeners. But with my guest today, the process was totally different. I “discovered” Florencia Cariddi some months ago while attending a beautiful storytelling event hosted by New Women New Yorke...

Moving abroad was supposed to be the beginning of Tayo Oriowo’s dream life. Instead, after leaving Nigeria for Australia at 21, she found herself navigating financial hardship, culture shock, survival jobs, and the pressure of trying to “make it” abroad while quietly struggling behind the scenes. But, in her own words, she is not a quitter — and she wasn’t going to give up for lack of trying. In t...

Samantha Nazareth was a gastroenterologist based in New York City, with a stable career, tons of media appearances, and a 10-year relationship. What else could she want when she had what many would call a perfect life? Well, she wanted something else — or, at least, she didn’t want what she had anymore. So one day, she decided to leave and look for an answer. What started as a six-week break in Pu...

What happens when a life looks good on paper… but doesn’t feel quite right? In this episode, I talk to Mary Vass, an Australian who grew up in Perth, one of the most remote cities in the world. Although the place was a safe and comfortable bubble, early on, she knew she wanted more. What really struck me about Mary’s story is that she has never been afraid of trying — and letting go. Along the way...

Claudia Valdiviezo’s story doesn’t follow a straight line. She was born in Peru and moved to the U.S. when she was just 4 years old. When Claudia was 11, her parents made the decision to move back to Peru, and that’s when she really knew what adapting means and had to navigate identity in a way that goes far beyond speaking Spanish. Eventually, she thrived and, for a moment, she thought she would...

Elise Maclin was living a good life in Chicago, in the US, when a random encounter switched something in her mind and her plans for the future. She met a Brazilian - and no, this is not a love story - and hearing him speaking about life back in Rio de Janeiro just hit her differently. Some people would call it destiny, others would call it craziness, but after that chat, Elise decided she would mo...

Monica Morales was encouraged to dream bigger from an early age. Growing up in Colombia, she heard from her parents that there were better opportunities abroad — and they made sure she was prepared for them. She learned English and was inspired by family members who had already left the country to pursue a life internationally. When the time came, Monica decided that studying abroad would be her p...

In this solo episode, I reflect on my recent trip back to Brazil, and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it. The familiarity, the distance, the memories that resurface, and the strange in-between feeling of belonging to two places… I reflect on my point of view and experience on how environments shape our mindset, why going back doesn’t feel like a vacation, and how places can hold both c...

Négar Chahkhalili’s life has been shaped by movement, resilience, and the art of adapting across cultures. She was born in Tehran and left Iran at just six years old, during the 1979 revolution. What followed was a life lived across continents and cultures. She grew up with her grandparents in the south of France and moved to the U.S. to study and build a career. Eventually, she met her husband, w...

Gabriella Zarowsky’s first move abroad was over a decade ago, when she and her then-husband left Brazil to pursue graduate degrees in New York City. They both shared the dream of living abroad, and they were no longer feeling safe living in Rio de Janeiro. Studying abroad was the most feasible choice for them. While he pursued an MBA, Gabriella earned her master’s degree at FIT. They built a whole...

Asia Dawn had waited for a ring for years - so, when her long relationship ended, she was left heartbroken and suddenly questioning her entire life, including her job and the place she called home back in California, in the U.S. Suddenly, she got reconnected with an old dream: living abroad. After the divorce, with nothing really strong keeping her attached to her home country, she saw an opportun...

Lisa Baisl grew up in a small town near Munich, in Germany — a place she eventually moved to in order to attend law school, something that seemed like the obvious choice to follow a traditional path. She didn’t even know what it meant to go through law school, what it took to become a lawyer, or even how long it was going to take. And her time as a student was hard — really hard. The whole competi...

In the famous book The Artist’s Way , the author Julia Cameron suggests reframing failure by asking not “Why me?” but “What’s next?” And when I think about Trish Estuart’s story, it feels like a living answer to that question. Trish grew up in Cebu, in the Philippines, and started working at a young age. Yes, all her basic needs were covered, but she constantly felt deprived financially. While wor...

AnnSophie Salomez had what many would call a perfect life in Belgium: steady jobs, a renovated house, pets, stability. It was the Belgium dream, as she describes. But although life looked perfect on paper, a quiet question kept coming back while she was living her life between traffic jams and long workdays: there must be more to life than this. So, she and her husband got reconnected with old dre...

Consuelo Cantisani grew up in a tiny village in southern Italy, and she knew early on that she wanted to study languages, perhaps inspired by the trips she would take with her father, who traveled constantly for work. When she was around 14 years old, she left home to move to another town in Italy to study English. Later on, at 19, Consuelo moved to London, where she spent a decade studying, worki...

Cate de Leon had a very clear goal when she decided to move from Manila, in the Philippines, to Madrid, in Spain. She wanted to ditch the corporate ladder and skip vertical growth to search for self-actualization and horizontal growth. Before moving abroad by herself – to a city she had never been to before – Cate had what many would call a “successful” career: columnist, managing editor, communit...

When Emanuela Buccafurri left her tiny village in southern Italy for an exchange program in Lyon, France, she thought she would stay for just six months. But when the opportunity to stay longer and continue her studies was presented to her, she took a leap of faith, stayed in France. And twenty years later, she hasn’t gone back to Italy. Quite the opposite: driven by curiosity, she also explored w...

Immigration has been part of Soldana’s life since forever. It’s part of her roots: her grandmother left the Philippines to pursue a better life in the United States, a decision that deeply shaped Soldana’s story. Like many people growing up in the U.S., she was raised as a multicultural kid, surrounded by both Filipino and American influences. Maybe that’s why Soldana has been drawn to life abroad...