The Accidental Expats » Stories

Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Honor

Emma — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:23:17 +0000

Introducing Honor Dargan, an English expat in Tokyo and author of TokyoTopia.com a website with one philosophy ‘Tokyo Made Simple’. I’ll leave the story to her… It’s a good one

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I’m originally from the north of England. I was born in Durham (the home of the Pink Panther) but we moved to Yorkshire when I was 8 where I grew up and went to university. After graduation I moved to Nottingham for a couple of years before making the biggest leap of my life and relocating to Tokyo, Japan. Originally I came here for one year but somehow, with one year in Singapore from 2006 – 2007, I’m still here 9 years later!

Where do you consider your home to be?

This is a tough question. My roots will always be in England as that’s where my family is and where I spent all my formative years. England is undoubtedly an integral part of me. Still, if you ask me where home is at the end of a hard day or when returning from a vacation, it’s definitely Tokyo for now. I think I’ve changed during my time away from England and wherever I am now turns into my home. I don’t feel particularly tied to one place. More it’s a case of I’ll make my home wherever I happen to be. Perhaps the Tokyo lifestyle is partly responsible for this as apartments are tiny and I’ve moved several times so there is no one fixed abode.

How many addresses have you had?

Blimey! Hang on a minute. I need to work this out. In England I’ve lived in 8 different places. 1 in Durham, 5 around the Yorkshire area, and 2 in Nottingham. Then there’s the one address I had in Singapore. Finally there have been 6 different addresses in Tokyo. So the grand total is 15 different addresses.

Can you tell me about the different jobs or careers you’ve had?

When I first left school I figured I’d study law as it seemed like a sensible option and one with good future prospects. I really had no idea at this stage what I wanted to do in life. After one year though I found this just wasn’t for me. After passing my first year exams I decided to quit and find a job while I worked out my next steps.

Over the next 4 years or so I worked in a variety of sales roles including car sales and then as a manager for Clinique. Finally I realized that I love working with people and seemed to have a knack for teaching. My personal beliefs about education are strong so I decided to study to become a primary school teacher. While I studied I worked part time in a call center as a floor supervisor at weekends and in the evenings so I could pay for my tuition.

I guess perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned about myself throughout my life is that I don’t like to be managed. Although I loved teaching I didn’t like the system and the trail of paperwork that took me away from this main objective. I moved on to work with the unemployed in the UK and teach some basic skills but was frustrated with the way every job tried to box me in and limit me to certain roles. I like my independence and am pretty strong minded – for good or bad!

This is when I decided to take a break and a spend a year overseas. I wanted to test myself and my capabilities to see if I could manage. I stayed within the field of education and, as the first year was a year out from regular life, worked for a conversation (or eikaiwa) school. It was fun and a great way to experience Japan and its culture without having the stresses of a mainstream job. Once I decided I wanted to stay beyond the first year though, I had to rethink my goals. I worked with returnee children and international school children for a number of years before moving into my current position which is teaching cross cultural skills to corporate employees.

My personal goal, however, is still to break the traditions of having a ‘job.’ I want to work for myself and am steadily developing my own website, TokyoTopia.com. I love Tokyo and want to encourage others to experience this city and Japan for themselves. That’s how I got started writing and developing my own online presence.

I’m now working on my second site which is not yet live but will be up sometime in 2010. I really want to make 2010 the year that I push to become truly independent of the ’salary’ machine. Developing my own income streams has been one of the most freeing feelings I’ve experienced!

Can you describe the process behind deciding to move to Tokyo

Honestly? There wasn’t much of a process to this. I found myself a job before I left with a company called GEOS who happened to be advertising in England at the time. I went for training in Edinburgh and then received my position details about 1 month before I left the UK. My flight was booked and my bags were packed and that was it. I took only the essential items with me so one suitcase and one piece of carry on luggage was my limit. My apartment was arranged by GEOS so I didn’t need to worry about anything like that. I started work the day after landing so there was little time to feel homesick or to worry about the soundness of my decision.

What do you enjoy most about living there?

Again a tough question. There are many things I enjoy about living here. I think the most important one though is the sense of freedom I have here. I can be whoever I want to be and, as long as I am respectful of local culture and rules, I can do just about anything I like.

Is there anything you miss about ‘back home’? If so what is it?

Yorkshire pudding and roast beef!

How has travelling/ becoming an expat changed you as a person?

Like I said earlier, I think I’m a far more confident person these days. I can make myself feel at home just about anywhere and know that, whatever happens, I can pick myself up and dust myself off to start again if necessary. Life and the changes it brings are not so scary anymore and change is an exciting thing I look forward to.

How has your lifestyle changed?

I’ve got used to living in an apartment the size of my old bedroom back home! No kidding. I used to be a hoarder and would never throw anything away. Now I’m the first to say, “Do we really need that?” If we haven’t used something for more than 6 months my instinct is to get rid of it. It’s obviously not something we need and it’s taking up valuable space!

Did you move with your family?

No I moved with me, myself, and I : ) Now that part was scary.

Any last words…..?
If you’re reading this and would like to try living overseas somewhere but feel afraid to make the first move… go for it. If it ends up that you don’t like where you go the worst that can happen is that you return to your original life. Make sure to leave doors open when you leave and gain the support of those around you and you have that safety cushion in case you need it. If you never try though you’ll never know and that, I think, would be a real shame.

TokyoTopia.com is an excellent resource for anyone interested in visiting Tokyo. Might I add, It’s also a fantastic example of how a travel/ destination webite should look.
Pay her a visit at TokyoTopia.com or follow her on Twitter.

Oh and in the words of Honor herself ‘Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu’ – Happy New Year!

Sunday’s Stories – On Holidays for Christmas

Emma — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:47:27 +0000

As I have been busy over the last week Christmas shopping, christmas wrapping, starting a new job, getting the family ready for our trip North to Aviemore (estimated temp -9), I figured that everyone else is similarly busy, so have decided to give the series a ‘holiday’ for the Festive Season.

Tomorrow we board the train at Hay Market station for a 3 hour journey through the beautiful Snow covered Scottish Country side to Aviemore. (Stay tuned for some photos). We should arrive in time for lunch and have it on good authority that our holiday appartment (because they got the dates wrong and thought we arrived today) is already warm (thank goodness). Even though it’s only a mile, they’ve recommended a taxi, as it’s too cold to walk!! I’m glad we invested in some thermals today.

Looks like our wish for a white Christmas is going to come true!!

Some of the early Sunday’s Stories are;

Interview with MikeCJ

Interview with Leighann

The Intrigue of Anonymity

Or you may enjoy my Autumn Gallery,

Or why not take a look around at some older posts
The Party at the Palace
The Museum of Childhood

Sunday’s Stories – Interview With David Miller

Emma — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:43:36 +0000

David Miller [b. 1972] is an American writer and the senior editor of Matador, the largest independent travel magazine online. In 2009 he’s published everything from poetry to flash fiction to a chapter in Fodor’s Patagonia (Random House). A longtime kayaker, surfer, and snowboarder, he and his family split the year between various places in the US and Argentina, and have settled Patagonia in 2009. You can follow him at http://twitter.com/dahveed_miller

Where are you from and where do you live now?

Born in San Francisco but grew up in Marietta, Georgia. Later went to school in Athens GA. In Nov 2009 I moved to El Bolsón in Patagonia, Argentina. It’s worth noting that my wife and daughter are both Argentine

Where do you consider your home to be?

I still have emotional attachments to where I grew up, not so much Marietta, but more the rivers between Athens and North Georgia (The Chattooga), where so many ‘glory days’ went down. I feel like specific places here will always feel to a certain extent like my ‘home-terrain’ but on a much more on-the-ground level, which is really the only level that matters, home is here right now, Patagonia.

How many addresses have you had?

Not counting college or travel times where I’ve received mail general delivery, I’ve had 10 addresses in the US and 2 (now a third) in Argentina.

Can you tell me about the different jobs/careers you’ve had?

From back when I was a sophomore in college through the next 10 years I was an educator. I specialized in outdoor and experiential education, teaching kids how to paddle, leading wilderness adventures, etc. During this period there were also some extended travel times where I basically worked just to pay for the next long surf trip or snowboard season, and so therein I also had these crazy gigs doing everything from being a valet (San Francisco) to a parking lot attendant (Tahoe), to a commercial construction worker (Orange County)

In 2003 I went through this transition where I really wanted to start writing as a professional. I ended up winning some writing contests, and was able to work as a freelancer and regular contributor to a couple of different newspapers and alternative weeklies over the next few years. This led to me writing for Matador, and eventually being asked to edit in 2007. Since then I’ve done just a bit of freelancing and have contributed to last year’s Fodor’s Patagonia, but more or less I’m just busting ass like the rest of the team at Matador.

Can you describe the process behind deciding to travel/ become an expat?

As far as traveling, for me it’s never a rational process. I’m not even the biggest fan of “traveling,” per se, it’s really a form of suffering. I just like exploring new terrain (and the culture, cuisine, music, language that reflects it), especially in the Americas. For the most part I’ve never had enough money to travel in any other way besides total dirt-bagging along coastal areas in Latin America where it’s uber cheap and I can camp out and surf.

I never thought of “becoming an expat” in those explicit terms and still don’t; for me I think of it as just moving to Argentina. This was definitely a conscious and rational decision though, something that my wife and I felt like was a good plan for raising our family.We recognized certain elements of this place when we visited for the first time in 2005. Although there’s a great little town and a slowly developing tourist infrastructure, it has a very strong agrarian economy (it’s the center of fine fruit production in all of Argentina). This means that the place itself, what makes it unique, its land usage and the underlying economic system is all much more sustainable than other places in Argentina (or the US for that matter).

We also recognized an unusually well-educated population exists here, a result of waves of middle class urbanites who came from Buenos Aires during the 70’s. finally, we recognized that this is a place where we could raise our daughter very freely and in a culture where we both feel very at ease.

So all of this said, it was a very rational, thought-at process as far as deciding to move here, but it’s worth noting that the original visit here seemed just like a total random flow. Still, we felt so strongly about the place that when we first saw it in 2005 we bought a small plot of land here with the intention of coming back one day and building a cabin. That’s our goal over the next year.

What do you enjoy most about Patagonia?

I love how you’re in a little town but looking around at the huge mountains on all sides, you never forget that you’re also in this massive river valley, literally “the big pocket.” A couple hour’s hike in any direction from wherever you are will take you into total wilderness. But at ground level, I just love how the people treat each other down here. There’s a sweetness to it, and even though it is a kind of rural area, there’s still totally what you’d call vida de la calle–street life. Nobody’s tucked away in neighborhoods; everything happens out in the open, on the street. People in love, people broken hearted, babies, adolescents, old folks–everyone moving downstream all mixed together. It’s just out in the open here.

Is there anything you miss about ‘back home’? If so what is it?

Petty consumer shite comes to mind: types of things like organic bread and peanut butter and whatnot. So what? You learn to

make the food yourself. It is a bit annoying though how expensive any kind of tools or gear is here. No Home DePot. You literally have to bring all of this with you or you pay 3 times as much for something that’s only half as good.

I haven’t been down here long enough to miss my family that much yet, but I know I will.

How has travelling/ becoming and expat changed you as a person?

It’s mainly just a matter of gaining a bigger perspective on place, people, relationships. I just feel fortunate.

How has travelling changed your lifestyle?

I’ve gotten good at looking for boxes, and developed a skillset (writing, editing, social media) that enable me to work from anywhere.

Did you move with your family?

Yes. We flew together to Santiago, then I bussed it down here to Patagonia, while they visited family in Buenos Aires.

How has travelling/ changed your family life?

Traveling can be stressful with a family (especially flying) but the joys are so much greater. My daughter is the best traveler I know. She adapts and stays stoked wherever she goes.

Any last words…..?

I’d just like to say thank you for the opportunity to speak at your blog. Living in different continents may seem strange and unnatural sometimes, but then I like to remember that we’re all just traveling around the sun.

Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Elizabeth Briel

Emma — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:59:18 +0000

Elizabeth is an ‘artist and travel writer with an Asian focus’. Her illustrations can be found in the childrens book ‘H is for Hong Kong‘ and her photography in ‘Lost&Found Hong Kong’, a collaborative work of beautiful images from 5 peoples lives in Hong Kong.
Currently based between Sydney and Asia, Elizabeth’s most recent project is another book, this time about her personal search for the ‘perfect paper’, through Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
She has also founded a community gallery in Hong Kong and designed and run a charity project for children in Cambodia.

Read her stories and experience her original art work at http://elizabethbriel.com/blog/

Where are you from and where do you live now?

Most of us have some connection with our birthplace, but while my passport says: “Born in California, USA” I have only vague memories of living there. My US driver’s license says “Minnesota” but it just expired, and I haven’t lived there in ten years. Currently I share a flat with my partner in west Sydney, and we have cockatoos and fellow immigrants for neighbors.

Where do you consider your home to be?

Home is wherever I’ve rested my luggage for awhile. Over the past few years it’s been my art studio in Hong Kong or this one in Lijiang, China: http://elizabethbriel.com/blog/http:/elizabethbriel.com/mobile-art-studio-version-2/,

hotel rooms or beach bungalows in Southeast Asia like this one http://elizabethbriel.com/blog/http:/elizabethbriel.com/sand-in-my-laptop/,

Why?

It could well be an existential discomfort: I have never quite felt at home anywhere, or within any society, so have never defined myself by the place in which I lived. Globalization and contemporary ease of communication impacts every level of our lives, and for some of us that includes our location.

How many addresses have you had?

It’s impossible to remember. My parents are Catholic educators, and our ever-growing family moved around a lot when I was young: from California to France to Kansas to many different houses in the ultra-Protestant American state of Minnesota, a landlocked flat terrain with long winters. Dotted with rivers and lakes and small towns, wild rice and mosquitoes. Our family’s transience taught me self-reliance. Gave me a desire for a broader set of experiences than the assumptions with which I was raised. I always knew there had to be more to life than what I saw in the streets every day.

What jobs/careers have you had throughout your travels? Can you tell me about them?

First I travelled to get more hands-on art training and experiences in the art world, for example my sculpture apprenticeship in Tuscany with Jerome Cox at the Art and Culture Center in Vicchio, and working with professional artists for the first Liverpool Biennial Fringe. These gave me vastly different perspectives on what is simplistically referred to as the Art World.

To fund those short-term experiences, I worked in the US: on art projects with a designer; painting huge props for museums and events; at an art store selling 2,000 kinds of paper from around the world – an experience which eventually led to the book I’m currently writing about the papermakers of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

I then made the transition from student to teacher. In Asia I’ve had a series of home bases from which I’ve worked and travelled for a year or two. While in Cambodia I taught photography to children with the Angkor Photo Festival; worked as a radio DJ at the now-defunct LOVE fm, a local English language station; and did some travel writing for print and online publications. During my time in Busan and Seoul, Korea I taught English through Art classes, a program I designed. In Hong Kong I gave painting and art workshops at an art center and from my studio, and freelanced as a scenic painter at the magnificently kitsch Macau Venetian.

Now I am a full-time artist and writer. This is the dream, right? It’s what I envisioned every time I opened a book as a child, before reality said it was impossible. I ignored reality and just kept writing and making images. In this age of specialization, most people feel it’s impossible to do both art and writing professionally. I disagree. Now I’m able to do amazing projects with my publisher and independent creatives that I’ve met. But the dream has its price, because up to half the time I’m not painting and writing. It’s the admin and the research and the deadlines and details that keep the work coming in and getting out of the studio on time.

There’s also a little voice that says, ”This could be your last project if you don’t sell ‘X’ copies!”. There’s no such thing as tenure or security in this business, now more than ever before. It’s exhilarating and terrifying, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Can you describe the process behind deciding to travel? (was there an enlightened moment, or a more ‘organic’ process?)

Organic sums it up. Doubtless some find my desire for change pathological, but it keeps me engaged with the world and some of its more interesting places.

What do you enjoy most about your life in Asia and Australia?

I’ve been able to take advantage of the Northern/Southern seasonal diversity. For example, over a two year period I’ll experience three summers and just part of one winter. In essence, the real appeal for me is the contrast between these two regions, which keeps me on my toes.

Asia offers: Dynamic economies and the inherent tensions and opportunities within rapidly changing cultures. Challenging experiences, from the social to the culinary. Huge possibility for career and personal growth. Ease of travel between cities with dramatically different cultures and costs of living.

Australia offers: Along with spectacularly clean skies and amazing landscapes, Sydney is blessed with plenty of sunshine that keeps my spirits & motivation high. It’s been a peaceful place to complete my overseas projects. And overall, Australia’s got the freshest food I’ve tried outside California & Italy.

What have your biggest challenges been?

Allow me a navel-gazing moment. The most difficult challenges come from myself, as the biggest stumbling blocks always do. Doubt, fear, negativity, it’s all there, all the time, and I’ve learned to just ignore those internal critics and get on with things. Most of the time. The external critics every artist has are a comparative piece of cake.

Is there anything you miss about the United States? If so what is it?

Overall, no, I don’t miss anything about life there. Family and friends, yes, but online contact is in some ways a substitute. Those of us from first-world countries are lucky to own a passport that allows us hassle-free visas to so many places around the world, but I find that the priorities of my birth country are not necessarily my own. Instead I seek to savor a few of the many experiences that the world offers in different locations.

How has a life of travel changed you as a person?

The other day my book editor said I’m living a “life without borders”. She knows all about that – she’s an Alaskan-born woman who’s lived in Bangkok for many years now. A nomadic life has forced me to sharpen my priorities, be selective in my companions, and minimize distractions from my dreams.

How has travelling changed your lifestyle?

One dramatic change I made was to shift my primary artform from encaustic painting to hand-printed photography. I shed my cumbersome paints and was able to move my home base much more easily. Now, however, I am painting again – this time on paper, which is still an easy-to-transport medium – bigger and better versions of the Calendar Girls series I started two years ago: http://elizabethbriel.com/gallery/calendar-girls.php

Do you travel with family? If so how has travel changed family life?

My partner likes to take his holidays wherever I’m working, and has been a great companion for the past 6 years, even though we’ve often lived in different places.

Sometimes family comes to visit me when I’m living somewhere they’re interested to explore. My parents have both come to see me in Asia, and I look forward to showing my sisters around Thailand next year. Travelling in a culture that’s not our own can offer freedom from past experiences.]

Any last words…..?

My studio practice has expanded over the past couple of years, so as an alternative to frequent moves, I have been on the lookout for two studios, axes from which I can travel, one in the West, one in Asia. I’m currently in the process of buying a studio in Sicily, and am still looking at several options for long-term studios in Asia.

I appreciate your thought-provoking questions Emma, and the opportunity to tell my story.

http://elizabethbriel.com/blog/

Sunday’s Stories – The Intrigue of Anonymity

Emma — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:58:59 +0000

This is the third in the Sundays Stories Series.
This author has requested all personal detials be kept anonymous. You can read more about their expat musings as an American in the UK at http://notfromaroundhere.wordpress.com

Where are you from and where do you live now?

From originally–Minneapolis, Minnesota. From most recently, prior
to moving here–Washington DC-ish area. I consider that ‘home’ now
more-so than Minneapolis. Currently living in England, not in central
London but an easy train-ride from it.

Where do you consider your home to be?

Where ever I am *not* at the moment! When I’m in the UK and I say
‘home’ I mean the states, and when I’m back in the US visiting and I
say ‘home’ I mean the UK!

How many addresses have you had?

Ever? That could take quite a while. We moved a lot as kids, and
I’ve moved a lot as an adult. If I try to restrict it to the last
decade, it’s 2 in the UK, 1 in Virginia, 5 in Minnesota. If you go
back a second decade it adds another 3, all in Michigan. Further back
than that it’s hard to count.

Can you tell me about the different careers you have had?

I’m working my first real “grown-up” job in the UK; in the US I was a
graduate student and then a glorified post-doc before I moved here. I
moved here for a dream job that has mostly turned out to be pretty
darned good. Of course, I am asked all the time if I am going to stay
over here forever, and in reality I have no idea!

Can you describe the process behind deciding to move to the UK?

I had never been out of North America before 2004, and I moved to
Europe in 2006. Things sort of accelerated once I took the first move
to travel abroad. I was on my third trip to Europe and England when
I interviewed for my current job. When it came to the decision, I did
not even sleep on it–I interviewed for, and was offered the job I
have now and accepted it on the spot that same week. (And yes, that
may be the craziest thing I’ve ever done…) That was more than 3
years ago.

What do you enjoy most about living in the UK?

Travel, travel, and more travel. I can fly anywhere from London, it’s
the most hub-like city I’ve ever lived in. The opportunities to see
the world are the best ever. And it’s not just Europe, since living
here I’ve been to Singapore twice and Australia twice. Next big trip:
Heading to China for almost two weeks in April. Admittedly, because I
am single, I have job-subsidized housing, so my income has a larger
travel budget than that of someone with a more normal life! If I had
to rent housing at full UK prices, I think I would probably not be as
happy abroad or as well-travelled!

Is there anything you miss about ‘back home’? If so what is it?

Lots of little things, places to shop, things to eat. The bigger
thing I notice still is that I miss the casual friendliness of
American people, which I have not found as much in Britain, especially
compared with Minnesota. I miss people talking to you even if they
don’t know you.

How has the move changed you as a person?

I realize now that it was a pretty bold move to go overseas alone. It
never even occurred to me that this was the case, since my younger
sister had already done it. It wasn’t until I settled in the UK and
realized that most expats were NOT alone that I started to get that
things were a bit different for me. And now that I’ve done this bold
thing by moving overseas alone, I’m more likely to do other bold
things that I never thought I would have done. I think that goes
particularly for doing things alone. So really I like how this
experience has changed me.

How has your lifestyle changed?

I can get along with a mobile phone, laptop, passport, credit card,
and nothing else. I don’t really need ’stuff’ to be happy. I mean, I
have stuff, but I live out of a suitcase lots of the time since I
travel a lot for work and also for visits back home. So it does not
worry me that my luggage might get lost, or that things get soiled, as
long as I’m safe, my loved ones are safe and I have access to the
basic necessities of life, I’m good. So at the moment I’m on a
simplifying binge, trying to get rid of stuff that I don’t need,
trying to make my flat more minimalist and admit how much of the stuff
that I own is actually just lying around being useless and taking up
space.

Did you move with your family?

Nope, don’t have one. Divorced, childfree, happy.

Any last words…..?

I think moving abroad should be a requirement for everyone. Certainly
it would be a useful requirement for a college degree. Now I can’t
believe I waited so long to travel much and I hope that my message
gets through to others that it’s definitely worth the hassle to take
the leap and live in a different culture.

http://notfromaroundhere.wordpress.com

Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Leighann

Emma — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:28:25 +0000

Leighann is a 28 year wife and mother of one,

homeschooler, WWOOFer, blogger, and world traveler. You can read more

about her crazy life at http://www.thenewsbase.com plus lots of stuff

about gardening, cooking and books. She never planned to travel the

world, but sometimes life throws us curves and she’s still learning to

roll with the punches. Someone must have given her the old Chinese

curse: “May your life be interesting”.

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I was born in St. Louis, Missouri in the USA, but I moved to Arkansas

when I was 8, and that’s my real roots. I will always be a Southern

girl, wherever I live. A lot of people misunderstand the South.

There is a lot of poverty, prejudice, and poor education. But the

South is also about being close to your family and friends, living off

the land, and being a rebel: not letting people tell you what to do,

making your own way. Right now, we are living in rural France, which

in many ways reminds me of Arkansas.

Where do you consider your home to be?

Home. That word is so full of meaning. It can mean the place you

live, the place you’re from, the place your family is, where you feel

the most comfortable, where you feel you belong. It conjures up

thoughts of warm hugs, Mom, and comfort food. It’s a nostalgic,

romantic word, especially for me. I’m quick to call a new place

“home”, even if we’re someplace for a week I say “let’s go home” when

we’re out shopping or something. But I don’t mean that deeper sense

of home. I guess in a way I’m still searching, although the Gulf

Islands in Canada feels like where I most belong. That may seem like

I’m contradicting my last answer about Arkansas being my roots. But

Arkansas is what I came out of. I love it, but I don’t have the same

political and religious beliefs that I grew up with, and in most of

Arkansas that makes you stick out like a sore thumb. Many people

would not accept me there. There are a lot of close-minded people,

and I don’t have time for that in my life.

How many addresses have you had?

Let’s see… not counting all the times I moved around within the US

(about 5 times, mostly within Arkansas), we’ve lived in Belize,

Germany, Canada, and now France. So that’s four different countries,

and counting. France is nice, but it’s not where we will stay

forever. The hardest thing about moving is that all the junk you

collect over the years, whether it’s sentimental, or just junk, builds

up. You try to sell it, but you end up just giving it away. And we

have things stashed all over the world, hoping we’ll be able to go

back and retrieve it at some point. When you fly, there’s only so

much you can take. And it’s hard to fit a lifetime into 6 suitcases.

Can you tell me about the different jobs/careers you’ve had?

I got married when I was 18, and I only did a semester of college

before I got pregnant. I was suposed to take a semester off, and then

go back, but it was so overwhelming, and I was helping my husband

start a business. We told ourselves we didn’t need to finish college.

We were already successful. And that’s worked out OK for the most

part, but I wish sometimes that one or the other of us had finished.

It makes thinks a lot easier for international paperwork, and of

course opens up career opportunities. I’ve worked for Taco Bell,

McDonald’s, Microplane as a factory worker, and Wal-mart. I have also

been an insurance agent for Aflac and a telemarketer for the Heritage

company. Most of these jobs were to help us out when our on-line

interests were struggling (we sold dial-up Internet access and web

hosting for a while, dabbled in the paid to click industry, sold stuff

on eBay). Then, when we moved to Canada, we discovered WWOOFing -

Willing Workers (or World Wide Opportunities) On Organic Farms

(http://www.wwoof.ca is the Canadian site, but there are WWOOF

organizations around the world.). It started out as a way to get free

rent, but we learned a lot about organic food and why it is so

important. WWOOFing really helps farms to stay organic and

sustainable. I wish we had discovered it years ago.

Can you describe the process behind deciding to travel?

It’s sort of a long story. And it’s hard for me to tell. We have

been judged so often, and lost friends and family over it. You see, I

married a German man. We were madly in love and wanted to stay

together. So we got married, both of us thinking marriage = quick

citizenship. Nothing could be further from the truth. We filed our

paperwork, and waited for the government to respond, assuming

everything was ok. We pretty much forgot about it, knowing that we

had done what we were supposed to do. We had our son in March 2001,

and we had our business to keep us busy. Things were actually going

quite well for us. Then September 11 happened. It didn’t seem to

affect us directly. We didn’t know anyone affected. But unknown to

us, the immigration system changed completely. Under the Bush

administration, the border patrol was given more checkpoints and

several organizations were joined together to make “Homeland Security”

My husband went to Texas to take pictures of property we owned there

to sell. On his way back home he was stopped at a checkpoint. He

told the agent the truth – he was married to a legal US citizen, had a

US citizen kid. He had filed his paperwork, but never got anything

back. He didn’t carry his passport with him because gosh, it had been

several years, and he considered himself almost American by now. They

found his file on the computer, but said too bad, you did everything

you were supposed to do, but we have to take you in anyway just to be

sure. They kept my husband locked up for almost a month. We finally

were able to get him out, but he had to go to hearings every month in

Memphis, a 4 hour drive away! It finally became too much for him. He

decided to leave the country. Not to Germany, which he hated, but to

Belize, a Central American country we had read a lot about. Beautiful

place with easy immigration. He left and told me he understood if I

didn’t come along. He was there about a month by himself, getting our

house ready (we had bought a house there over the Internet a year or

two ago as an investment- for $7000 US!), and he sent a letter to

Homeland Security/INS, telling them he had left the country, and they

could all be happy now. My son and I joined him and we ended up

living there for a year. There were some political disagreements (the

prime minister of Belize basically invested all the Social Security

money into a new phone company, which went bankrupt!) and the

historically peaceful Belizeans began rebelling. No one was killed,

but rocks were literally being thrown at cabinet members, threats and

bad feelings were in the air, and we were afraid of a full-on

revolution. We were at the point where we could try to go home, or we

could stay and pay for residency (we couldn’t afford both). We chose

to go home. I had a 3 year old. It turns out there was no

revolution. Belize voted Musa in again the next election. But we

weren’t sure.

During this time, and immigration lawyer told us we would be able to

come back to the US, with Dan coming in as a tourist, and just refile

our paperwork. We wouldn’t have any problems, and could start with a

clean slate. That’s what we decided to do.

We came back into the US with no problems. We assumed that meant

everything was OK and we could carry on. The plan was for him to go

to Canada or Mexico every 6 months to stay legal. But with our

finances, and living so far from the border, this wasn’t possible.

Still, we figured we were technically legal, and if we laid low we’d

be ok. However, that illusion was shattered when about 5 ICE -

Immigration and Customs Enforcement – cars and a local small town cop

showed up in our yard, and arrested him. It was a moment we had

dreaded, but didn’t think would really happen. It didn’t make any

sense, and still doesn’t. Once again they kept him locked up like a

criminal – a month and a half, but this time it was more serious. INS

claims they didn’t get his letter about leaving. According to their

records, he failed to show up at his last hearing, and was still in

the country as an overstay. It was a second offense, so there was no

hearing. He was being deported.

Thus started the second wave of ex-patriotism for us. He was sent

“home” to Germany, which he hadn’t been to in about 10 years. And he

was told he couldn’t come back to the US for 10 years. So we’re in

exile at the moment. But we’re still workin on the paperwork…there

are ways to get forgiven and return sooner. It’s the biggest mess

ever! I can’t believe that the US tears about families like that, and

forces Americans to leave the country. Especially when we tried to go

the legal route. We filed our paperwork, we married for love, we did

our best to follow the law. And this is the thanks we get for it. At

the same time, I see people who are living illegally in the US, with

no claim at all. And it just burns me up. The worst is when someone

calls my husband an “illegal”. Like my parents. They just didn’t

understand. They said if the government wanted to lock him up, he

must be a criminal, an illegal.

There is an upside to all of this, however. First of all, we get to

travel! We have been places I never dreamed of, and we have met

people that we would have never know. Since my husband is an EU

citizen, we have access to EU countries with no problems, which is a

big relief. We don’t like Germany, it is too restrictive.

Homeschooling is illegal, and there is too much bureaucracy. So we

chose France, which seems like a good fit. We’re not sure where the

road will take us next, but we’re enjoying the ride.

What do you enjoy most about where you live now?

France is a great country. I love that there is so much space.

Germany was too crowded, all the houses up in the town together, and

the countryside given over to wheat fields. France seems a lot

easier-going with things: fishing is not so restricted, homeschooling

is legal, you are encouraged to park on sidewalks. And the French

are rebels. They just don’t give a darn. Which reminds me of

Arkansas. Food here is amazing, and booze is dirt cheap. We’re

learning a lot of French, and I love new languages and cultures.

Is there anything you miss about ‘back home? If so what is it?

Yes. From Arkansas: Cheetos. Haha. 24-7 Wal-marts (or any other

24-7 stores. They roll the sidewalks up here at 7). Cheap peanut

butter (I’m so sick and tired of Nutella, and hazelnuts in everything,

I could scream!). Garage sales (although we do have a rather decent

second-hand store here called Emmaus).

From Canada: The delicious apples we got so used to last year, being

near the sea, the free stores (like second-hand stores, but everything

is free!), the amazing people on the Gulf Islands

From Belize: cheap fresh fruit, great, loud music, tacos from my Cayo

taco vendor, Marie Sharp’s habanero sauce on everything, hearing

Creole

From Germany: 99 cent German oomph bread. The chewy, substantial bread

Germans use for their open-faced breakfast and dinner sandwiches.

And good liverwurst.

How has traveling/ becoming an expat changed you as a person?

It has really broadened my horizons. I used to have a lot of black and

white in my life. A lot of pre-conceived notions. When you learn for

yourself how people in other countries live, it tears those walls

down. I’ve become much more adaptable. In Belize we had an outhouse

and an outdoor shower, only cold water, and no washing machine. For a

while we didn’t even have a refrigerator! I learned to wash clothes by

hand and I learned to appreciate all the great things we have in

developed countries: washing machines, dish washers, hot water, indoor

plumbing, electricity. We take all this for granted, but so many

don’t have them!

In Canada we learned about WWOOFing, organic food, vegetarianism,

recycling, and a lot of other “green” things that we had never really

caught on to. They’ve always seemed like a way for companies to make

a lot of money. But we see them as very important now.

Unfortunately, our situation is a bit different now, so we’re not able

to live up to all things we learned, but we’re trying. I also learned

to love gardening in Canada!

How has traveling changed your lifestyle?

We have had to learn not to accumulate so much. Well, we’re learning.

It still adds up, but we have to really cut down. We feel we’re

living a very temporary existence. Tomorrow everything could change,

and we would have to start over someplace else. If so, what are we

going to take in our 6 suitcases? How can we get rid of or sell our

excess stuff? We’ve also quit having pets. They’re just too much

trouble to take along.

I also learned to appreciate true friends more. I had a bunch of loser

friends in Arkansas that I thought cared about me, but they were just

fair weather friends. I used to be very trusting of most people, and

I became paranoid, anti-social, and closed off for a while. I can’t

reveal my true self without revealing my travels and the reason for

them, and I hate being judged. My real friends have stuck with me

through thick and thin, and are always there when I need help. That

is absolutely priceless. When your own parents turn your back on you,

it helps to know that someone is still out there, backing you up, even

if that person is in another country. I’ve also learned to never put

friends before family. Most of our friends now are family friends,

people who are older than us and have traveled.

Everywhere we go, I pick up a few recipes and food ideas. Which

inevitably leads to cravings for things when we leave a country.

Some, like beans and cornbread, are relatively easy to duplicate. But

a fresh soursop or dragonfruit from Belize is almost impossible to

find elsewhere and rarely ripe. We’re building up likings for creme

de cassis (current liqueur), chestnuts and real French nougat which

I’m afraid will be hard to duplicate in another country.

Did you travel with your family?

Yes. I have had to go separately from my husband a couple times

because of immigration issues, but we always end up together.

How has traveling changed your family life?

Being separated is so hard, especially when it is not what we choose.

It ends up bringing us so much closer together. We’ve been through so

much together, and we all know there is nothing more important than

family. Many people envy us for our travels, many people judge us for

our past, but not many can really understand us. We are around each

other 24-7, especially now that we’re living in the downstairs of an

old gîte. Our beds are in the living room all together, and we work

together, do homeschool, etc. Sometimes it gets on my nerves, but I

love being close to my family and not getting all caught up in the

drama of the outside world.

How does your little one adjust to the changes?

He is always excited to meet new kids, especially if they’re in/from a

different country. He has his own little friends all over the world,

and some fantastic memories that will be with him forever. He’s never

been scared of anything, but he’s always so ready to jump into a new

friendship and talk to people. It’s hard for him to move, but every

time we do, I tell him, “Remember last time, when you were so sad to

leave (insert kid’s name) and then we went to (insert country name)

and you met (new kid’s name). Now if we hadn’t gone through that hard

time of missing someone, you would have never met your new friend!

Wouldn’t that be sad?”

I’m so glad that he can be exposed to so many cultures and kinds of

people. There is so much prejudice in Arkansas, but he has figured

out on his own that people are people anywhere in the world. Some are

good, some are bad, some are stupid, some made good friends. You

never know what you’ll find.

I’m very interested to see where he decides to settle down some day.

Or if he does settle. He enjoys traveling as much as I do.

Any last words…..?

I think everyone (in the States, at least) should be required to take

a year or longer trip to another country. There’s no better way to

broaden your horizons and discover who you are. The world would be a

much better place if we took the time to try to understand each other.

Thanks for this interview!

Thank You for taking the time Leighann, you have an interesting and touching story. Our reasons for traveling can be so varied, yet what we ‘get out of it’ is so rich.

Read More about Leighann at TheNewsBase.com

Tell Your Story

Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Mike CJ

Emma — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:45:24 +0000

This was my first guest post in what has become an ongoing series of ‘Sunday’s Stories’ about people’s lives taking unexpected turns, and ending up in inspired places.

My very first guest is Mike CJ, of Mikeslife.org, a professional blogger and author, with a passion for helping beginner bloggers get ‘up and running’ with their own blogs.

Since this interview was first published Mike has published yet another book called Beyond Blogging. A long term collaboration with Nathan Hangen, Beyond Blogging delves into the lives of 15 top bloggers from around the world.

Mike is also a fellow expat, having moved from the UK to The Canary Islands. He gives us a brief look into how one holiday changed his life forever.

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I was born in Hong Kong, lived there until I was 12 (but went to boarding school in UK from age and then moved to UK when my Dad retired. I started off in Dorset, then gradually moved north with my job and ended up in Cheshire before we emigrated to Lanzarote in The Canary Islands nine years ago.

Where do you consider your home to be?

Home is Lanzarote for sure, but Madrid is now our second home and we spend a lot of time there.

How many addresses have you had?

21! That’s scary!

What jobs or careers have you had? Can you tell me a bit about them?

After serving in The Royal Air Force, I worked for the Motor Industry. Initially with Toyota, then Ford Motor Company and finally Volkswagen Group in Europe. When we moved to Lanzarote, we started a real estate business which grew and grew. We sold off the operational side of that business last year, and I now concentrate on my career as a blogger and author.

Can you describe the decision process behind your move to Lanzarote?

Not very scientific! My wife Julie and I had both had jobs in UK which required a lot of travelling and were pretty high pressure. We realised that neither of us were really enjoying the lifestyle and that our kids were not getting the best from us. We came on holiday to Lanzarote and instantly fell in love with the island and agreed we wanted to live here. We put the house on the market with a “If it sells, it’s meant to happen” attitude and it sold in three days! We were back her living within three months of the holiday.

What do you enjoy most about the Island?

So many things. The weather here is amazing, we love the watersports, it’s a great environment for our kids who have grown up healthy, strong, confident and bi lingual. But above all, it’s the social side – family and friends are so much more important than money or possessions.

Is there anything you miss about ‘back home’? If so what is it?

I can honestly say there isn’t really anything. It used to be Marmite, but I can get that here now!

How has becoming an expat changed you as a person?

My values have changed completely. Once upon a time I wouldn’t be seen dead in anything but Hugo Boss or a super flash car. I’m happiest in shorts and flip flops, riding my scooter these days. Being able to speak Spanish is great as well, and means travelling on the mainland or in most of South America is a whole new experience.

How has your lifestyle changed?

The lifestyle here is much more family focused. In UK we used to socialise in the pub with our friends, and occasionally see their kids on an outing. Here we tend to socialise in each other’s houses and the kids are always along as well. So I’ve enjoyed getting to know our friend’s kids and watch them grow into adults.

Did you travel with your family?

Yes we came here with Josh, who was 12 at the time, Lucy who was 8 and Tia our Old English Sheepdog, who is now very old, but still with us.

How has the move affected your family life?

Totally, completely and utterly. We’re a much closer family than we were before we moved here. Lucy is totally Canarian and will probably go to university here in Spain. Josh has now moved out and is travelling himself in northern Europe.

Any last words…..?

Over the years, both personally and through our business, we’ve helped a lot of people move to Lanzarote. Some fail and some succeed. The most common cause of failure is when people move abroad thinking it will solve problems they have back home, in their relationships, with money etc. It doesn’t and the truth is any problems are exacerbated by the stress of a move. But as long as those things are sound it can be a great decision. Go with your heart though, if it feels totally right do it, if not wait until you find the place that is right for you.

I would like to say thankyou to Mike for taking the time do this interview.

You can find out more about Mikes journey to Lanzarote with his family in his book, Living in Lanzarote.

Or see his work with beginner bloggers at Mikeslife.org

If you’e interested in finding out more about the Island of Lanzarote itself Mike and his wife Jules also write Lanzarote Information which is a comprehensive guide for visitors and residents alike.

Oh and don’t forget to check out Beyond Blogging

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You may also enjoy:

Some Photos from Spain

The Party at the Palace

A visit from a friend