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!

Related posts:

1. Sunday’s Stories – Interview With David Miller
2. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Elizabeth Briel
3. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Leighann

What is IamExpat?
IamExpat is an information guide conceived and developed by expats that live in the Netherlands. It refers to the expat community in the Netherlands and covers the needs of any expat related topic; from official issues, careers and housing, to education, lifestyle and more. Apart from the website, the concept comes together with the popular online social networks LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and an interactive Expat Forum that provides the opportunity for interaction among the members.

Where did IamExpat originate?
IamExpat was born in the Netherlands and currently resides there. With the team welcoming new members, IamExpat will soon consist of multiple cultures, being established in more countries among the world.

How did you come up with the idea?
Being expats ourselves we identified a gap in the information and services that are provided. Therefore, driven by our own experiences and motive to cover the expat needs in the Netherlands in a better way, we decided to create IamExpat. In this way, we aim to facilitate the process of establishing in the country, and give the opportunity for expats to improve their social and professional life. Consider that the Netherlands is a country where English is widely spoken, internationals however still encounter difficulties, especially with official issues e.g. taxation. Also, the opportunities for a better expat lifestyle are always limitless!

Definitely, our entrepreneurial attitude and familiarity with the internet have given a great boost in coming up with the idea, designing, developing and growing IamExpat. For us, the pleasure of sharing common ideas and beliefs, and the ability to transform a vision into a concrete reality is comparable to few things

Who would you consider to be an expat?
You can find various definitions for the word expat and/or expatriate, with all of them focusing on the fact that an expat resides in a different country from the one he/she was brought up, as well as emphasizing on the “attribute of mobility”. In that direction, we consider as expats: the international professionals that work in a country different from the one of origin, either because they were relocated by their companies or they chose to follow a career abroad, the governmental agents / representatives like diplomats and ambassadors, the international students and those that follow their family in the new country of residence.

Also, the wanderers / adventurers / travelers that move in a new country and look forward to meeting people from other cultures, experiencing a different way of life and expanding their horizons; “attributes” of most expats, but in a more romantic way..

What do you think are the needs of an expat?
One of the key elements that characterize an expat is his/her ability to adjust rapidly to a new country/environment. Taking that into account, proper housing and dealing with local authorities play a really important role, especially at the beginning i.e. newcomer into a town/country. Work permit, taxation, registration with local authorities, pension planning, international education system are the core topics an expat needs to consider once decided to relocate to a foreign country. As any other local, expats want to have all the necessary information available in order to make relocation as smooth and fast as possible.

Among other reasons, a person chooses to live in a foreign country to take advantage of a business opportunity or explore a career move if he/she is working for a multinational company. Therefore, career and the ability to switch jobs surely qualify as a major need for an expat.

Last but not least, an expat moving into a new country has the need to socialize and establish a local network. Expat organizations, websites, blogs, forums are always the starting point for an expat to start building his/her network. It’s a fact that expat people are generally quite active and social, which makes it easier to adjust to a foreign environment.

What are the difficulties that an expat encounters in the Netherlands?
Generally speaking, the Netherlands is an expat friendly country and local people have a really open-minded mentality, which makes it quite easy for an expat to adjust quickly. Nevertheless, the Dutch language can be quite a challenge to learn and to understand, but with the proper support within a couple of years one can have a pretty satisfactory level of Dutch. Surely a pain for expat people in the Netherlands is to find the ideal accommodation, as prices can differ a lot. Especially in the largest cities the market is moving really fast, so you need to be quick and efficient. Next to that, Holland is a country with one of the highest taxation systems across Europe with the taxation rate being as much as 50%. Definitely, something to consider when you sign a local contract even though we have to admit that the quality of life is equivalent to the high taxation in the Netherlands. Having said that, quality comes with a price and the cost of living is considered to be on the high side depending on the person’s choices in terms of lifestyle.

It’s probably also worth mentioning the special attributes of the Dutch weather; you can start with a lovely sunny morning and by the end of your day with a strong wind storm, making it sometimes quite difficult to plan properly. If you end up cycling under heavy rain don’t panic, just look around you and you will realize that it’s quite normal!

What are the different backgrounds in your group?
Our team consists of 4 people with various educational and professional backgrounds. All of us experienced the Dutch upper education system, while studying either on a Msc or Mphill level. The areas of our studies in Holland were Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Finance. This multi dimension was one of the factors that triggered the development and evolution of the IamExpat concept.

We are all young enthusiastic professionals that for one reason or another decided to live in Holland and explore our academic and professional ambitions. We have all worked for different kinds of companies from small-medium size to multinational ones that are active not only in Holland but have a broader market perspective.

Since September 2009 we have been focusing on our first project IamExpat, at the same time looking forward to new challenges. An important contributor on this conquest is the fact that the entrepreneurial ground remains fertile in the Netherlands, even in the crisis period.

What do you enjoy most about the Netherlands?
The Netherlands is considered  one of the most attractive countries for expatriates. The open-mindedness of the people, the multicultural identity of the population and the ability of the Dutchies to speak the English language fluently creates a friendly international environment. In addition, the strategic geographic location of the country makes traveling around the world more accessible and affordable. The pace of the daily life is very relaxing, people are easygoing and using your bike as the basic means of transport contributes to a smooth and easy integration for an expat. Furthermore, in the Netherlands you can find restaurants serving international cuisine for every taste, big outdoor markets and many international events and festivities, which are organized every year.

How has becoming an expat changed your lifestyle?
Being an expat can be very exciting for many reasons. Meeting other expats and sharing personal experiences, as well as explaining the different reasons why each of us left his/her country of origin, always results in interesting conversations. A person, who travels abroad and resides in different places , may gain valuable experiences, explore new horizons and mentalities as well as business opportunities around the world. From a recreational perspective, expats become familiar with leisure activities from other cultures and that makes their lifestyle more appealing. This international experience is nowadays something really highly regarded. Being an expat makes you more open minded and contributes to your self development. Last but not least, expats build a wide international social network, which enables them to travel more and adjust to multicultural environments easily.

Any last words…..?
Being expats has defined a new way of living and thinking for us. Residing and doing business in the Netherlands has positively influenced our personal development from a social and also business perspective.

Netherlands is an ideal location for expats, which can be explained by the fact that many Dutch people have been expats themselves, making them really open and tolerant towards expats from all over the world.

This positive expat experience in the Netherlands has given us an even greater boost to further grow our entrepreneurial endeavor and embrace even more cultures and mentalities by taking this idea outside the borders of the Netherlands.

We would like to thank Emma O’Connor for the opportunity she has given us to share our own expat story, hoping that we can inspire other expats and urge people who are skeptical about living abroad to take the step and live the expat experience.

With warm regards,

The IamExpat team

To learn more about IamExpat visit www.iamexpat.nl
Feel free to contact IamExpat at info@iamexpat.nl We are always glad to interact

Twitter: @IamExpat
LinkedIn Group: IamExpat in the Netherlands
Facebook Page: IamExpat in the Netherlands

Related posts:

1. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Sharon
2. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Leighann
3. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with The Accidental Expat

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

Related posts:

1. Christmas in Aviemore
2. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Leighann
3. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with The Accidental Expat

(I know it’s late… But i’m sure it’s still Sunday somewhere right?)

GULP… Here goes

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I am origianlly from Melbourne and after spending around 10 years travelling around Australia (the slow way) I settled back in Melbourne again to study, marry and start our family. After around 5 years the opportunity came for us to travel overseas for the first time. Not to do anything by halves we decided on our first ever trip abroad to move to Scotland. We now call Edinburgh our “Holiday Home” and Melbourne our “Far Away Home”

Where do you consider your home to be?

I definitely consider Australia my home, it’s where my heart belongs, where my family are, and my closest friends. In saying that, I feel at ease in Edinburgh and have made some lovely friends.

How many addresses have you had?

Honestly I’ve lost count…. I’ve lived all over Australia and had postal addresses in Darwin, Jindabyne, Thredbo, Perth, Carnarvon, Broome and Melbourne. I also spent a good amout of that time at ‘no fixed address’. I’ve lived in many and varied forms of accommodation too, from my tent, to a couple of caravans, various standards of ski chalet, houses verging on derelict, a tipi, a bungalow in Broome with only fly screens for windows, a sailing ship, a four wheel drive, a van, goodness, the list grows long!

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

I haven’t exactly worked my way up any corporate ladder…. sideways accross some form of scaffolding may be a better analogy. My first business was in High School, I only remebered the other day, I used to make ‘Fergie Bows’ (ok I’m giving away my age now!!) and sell them to my friends. My first ‘employment was as a cleaner, and I’ve done it various times since… it’s a great travelling job… easy to get… easy to give up. Kitchen hand, waitress, and bar person complete my hospitality repertoir.

I also used my skills to make money for travel, creating little temporary cash businesses. I know it sounds bazaar, but I’ve tied ‘hair wraps’ at markets, taken photos, fire danced and even played classical piano! (In one place I was a kitchen hand on week days and classical pianist on a Saturday Night)

I did finally get sick of not having any qualifications, and have in the last few years become a remedial therapist, and then a swimming teacher…

Currently I’m using neither of those and working as a receptionist at my local gym, I’m hoping to mix it up though as they have both swimming lessons, and a Spa…. so I’ll keep you posted!!

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

When I left the first time, I was initially running away from my unhappy self…. I was young and thought travel was the answer… Obviously it wasn’t. It did give me the space to work things out for myself though, and by then, the travel bug had set in forever. On coming to Scotland, our initial trip was booked for 5 weeks to attend a wedding, then it gradually got extended. We ended up forfeigting our tickets home to stay and experience life here.

What do you enjoy most about where you live now?

I love the people and the community we have created around ourselves. I like how different it is, It’s subtle, but there. I love the language, the history, the architecture and the proximity to the rest of Europe. (Think more travel)

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

Warm weather, the beach, and TIMTAMS (biscuits)

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

It’s hard to say, as I started travelling so young. I think I’m flexible, tolerant and fairly culturally aware because of my travels. I’ve also had to be pretty creative at times. This year in Edinburgh has been one of our most challenging, we’ve faced financial hardship in a year we thought would be all about jetsetting around Europe, and eating out at restaurants. This forced me into a state of creativity once more. My blog was born… a charity project for our nursery has been developed, and I’ve started writing some childrens books…

How has travelling and becoming an expat changed your lifestyle?

I have to say, I’ve never had a ‘fixed’ type of lifestyle, because of the temporary nature of my life. I’ve just ‘fit in’. There are certainly a few things that are very different about living in Scotland, compared with Melbourne! As I’m writing this, my friends are getting up on a hot summers day (maybe so hot that they have to turn the aircon on, and not leave the house). That just doesn’t happen here. Someone probably had a BBQ in the backyard…. here not likely… and there were probably Christmas drinks on someones balcony in the sun. It is literally indoors compared with outdoors, flip flops, compared with UGG boots.

Did you travel or move with your family?

I travelled on my own for years, meeting up with various people along the way for some fabulous adventures. At one of my longer stops I met my now Husband, and we went on some fantastic adventures together before settling in Melbourne. Four of us boarded our plane to the UK, Me aka mummy, ‘B’ aka Daddy, three year old ‘D’ and 9 month old ‘R’.

If so how has travelling/ changed your family life?

We are close, (partly because we are crammed into a 1 bedroom flat) but also because we have had to rely on each other, certainly for the first 6 months after all our family and friends went back to Australia. We have since developed a community of support (now we have baby sitters!).

Any last words…..?

I think this journey has given me personally a sense of pride and accomplishment, despite being unplanned, unprepared and accidental!

So thats me

Thank you to everyone who has already done interviews, and also to everyone ‘working on them’

If you’d like to tell your story please contact me via comments here, @emmaoconnor on twitter or email emma@theaccidentalexpats.com

Related posts:

1. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Honor
2. Sunday’s Stories – Interview With David Miller
3. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Elizabeth Briel

Where are you from and where do you live now?

Related posts:

1. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Honor
2. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with The Accidental Expat
3. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Elizabeth Briel

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/

Related posts:

1. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Honor
2. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Mike CJ
3. Sunday’s Stories – Interview With David Miller

We’re here…. But are we… Two years of so called planning and we didn’t plan for this…

Let me start at the beginning

We had to wake early, I can’t remember the exact time, it was definitely dark and definitely early. We had ordered a room service breakfast……. toast, cereal, fresh juice, yoghurt, COFFEE, best idea ever!! We ate and repacked our mountain of luggage (It’s surprising how much you have to unpack just for one night) ready for our morning flight. We catch a bus with fellow bleary eyed travellers and haul ourselves, children and luggage onto the bus, off the bus and into Stansted Airport. My concern at this point is the luggage allowance. Long hall flights generally allow more than budget flights and I’m thinking we’re gonna be handing our credit card over to pay excess!! Luckily no… so our first obstacle out of the way.

Our excitement is building as we find some fellow wedding guests and dear friends in the check in line. (Imagine big cuddles, a bit of jumping around, lots of talking.. you know)

The flight is pretty smooth. It’s my first experience with the dash for seats on a ‘no seat allocation’ flight. It’s pretty funny, and a little stressful when you need to sit in a four! As it was, we got our four seats and our friends sat accross the aisle, so a very fun flight. Those of us who weren’t directly responsible for children (everyone but me) drank spirits out of little bags (baggies) at around 9 am!

Upon landing we gather all the paraphenalia we seem to need to entertain D for the flight and head for the terminal. For some reason our passports aren’t checked, and are feeling pretty lucky as we go to collect our luggage.

Still feeling lucky as all eight of us find all our luggage with none lost or damaged.

There’s a bit of mucking around as we get money and figure out where we are, where we’re going and how to get there. We are going to a Spanish Villa 20 miles (ish) from Santiago de Compostela and the best possible (actually only) way is by Taxi.

This is all so easy… there are masses of taxis waiting for us just outside the terminlal and…… none of them will take us…

We don’t have a baby seat…..

Neither do they…

We decided against taking one as the majority of our travels were going to be in planes and trains…. NOT automobiles.

Oh no we are literally stranded at the Santiago de Compostela Airport.

While trying to decide our next move we make our first attempt at ordering Spanish food, a baguette with ham and cheese (the cheese turned out to not be cheese, but the fat on the proscuitto) which I had to replace with the jam I’d pilferred from the room service tray (yes I’m a food hoarder!).

Our tummies are taken care of… but we’re still stuck.

We walk along the massive line of taxis asking if they’ll take us….. but alas….. none want to do the ‘wrong thing’ in front of all the others.

We wait,

We think,

We discuss the idea of hiring a car…. Turns out to be far more expensive than we want to pay at the very beginning of our open ended journey (especially with the added extras like CAR SEATS…)

We have a ‘Hello’ moment,

We’re not here alone…. there are numerous friends and family descending upon Santiago de Compostela for this wedding… why don’t we call someone?

(I told you…’Hello!!’)

It was another while, but they came, and bundled me with the boys into the car, while the rest of us took a cab.

After a surreal (and rather jet lagged) drive, watching my cousin drive in the wrong side of the car and the wrong side ot the road, we wove our way along the dirt driveway surrounded by the most beautful… Eucalyptus trees? Hang on, I thought we had just travelled for 2 or 3 whole days away from Australia……?

The Day Before

The Next League

Related posts:

1. Jetlagged and Hungry
2. Anniversary

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

Related posts:

1. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Elizabeth Briel
2. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Honor
3. Sunday’s Stories – Interview with Sharon

Daniel fell asleep on the bus from Heathrow to Stansted, not so late in the afternoon.

Did not wake up through two transfers.

Sound asleep through dinner….

Then at 4am I’M HUNGRY MUMMY!!!
Ok little man…..

I drag myself out and fumble around to find the snack box we saved from the flight.

In the soft haze of the night, on his cozy bed by the window, we sit together eating cheese and crackers and watching the rabbits hop around the car park…..

I wonder what tomorow will bring?

The Previous Day

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