From Massachusetts to Madrid: Spanish Sabores
Erin
19 July, 2012 09:42
My name is Lauren Aloise and I am originally from a small town in Central Massachusetts, US. I have been living in different parts of Spain for the past three years, and have finally settled in Madrid with my husband.
1. Why did you move abroad?
I’d dreamed of living abroad since I was a child, always reading books about travel and adventure. I thought I could kill the wanderlust with two semesters of study abroad in college, but it was still there at graduation. So I rejected the 9-5 I’d been planning for, got my TESOL certification and applied for the Spanish government’s language assistant program. I planned to live in Spain for a year or two and then return to the US or travel to another country. But things got complicated when I met my Spanish husband-- I’m now an official Spanish resident and long-term expat!
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From California to Cameroon: C’est La Vie
Erin
12 July, 2012 09:10
I’m Krys and I’m currently living in Cameroon while working for the US Peace Corps. Though I love it here, there’s no place I love more than where I’m from, California.
1. Why did you move abroad?
My three biggest passions in life are business, travel, and public service, thus, they led me to serving with the US Peace Corps. By living as local, the travel experience becomes an unparallel cultural exchange where one can really cultivate mutual understanding. I’m pretty lucky that I get the option of living abroad.
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From the USA to the Netherlands: Adventures in Expat Land
Erin
09 July, 2012 09:29
My name is Linda, I'm a writer and American from the East Coast living in the Netherlands. I'm married to an adult Third Culture Kid and have two teens, one of whom we now parent across timezones. I write under the name Linda A Janssen not because of any pretension; it turns out Janssen is an extremely common name in Nederland so I kept my middle initial to help sort it out.
1. Why did you move abroad?
It was never a question of whether we'd move abroad but rather of when. Both my husband and I studied international relations and worked in the international arena for years. He grew up in Italy and England, and I lived in Mexico many years ago; we've always traveled extensively (dozens of countries across five continents) for work and pleasure, using the latter to introduce our children to the world and different cultures. My husband got a great opportunity to work for an international organization here in The Hague, and we jumped at the chance.
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From Melbourne to Dubai: The Hedonista
Erin
02 July, 2012 09:26
My name is Sarah, and I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I studied wine, worked in restaurants, had my own business selling wine, and then one day, my husband said – Hey, let’s move to a Muslim country! I’ve been living in Dubai for just over four years, and have managed to find plenty of happiness and activity to fill the (watering) hole.
1. Why did you move abroad?
My husband got a job paying lots of money, and I was slowly drinking all my profits. It was time for a change, and he promised I could get a maid.
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From America to England: The Salad Days
Erin
28 June, 2012 12:04
My name is Sarah – wife to Jake, mama to Maren – and I am the writer of the salad days blog. We had moved around America quite a bit but recently made our biggest move yet by moving from Tampa, Florida to Oxford, England.
1. Why did you move abroad?
My husband, Jake, is a medical doctor in residency and was offered the chance to study Applied Mathematics at the University of Oxford. We had always wanted to live overseas so we happily jumped at the chance to have a big adventure for our little family.
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From the UK to Johannesburg: Chickenruby
Erin
25 June, 2012 10:38
Hi I’m Suzanne, known by more people as ChickenRuby. 40, mother of 3 Aged 13-20, step mother to 2 aged 22 & 24, eldest profoundly disabled.
SAHM, not by choice, laws of the country.
Relocated January 2011, 3 older kids remained in the UK, couldn’t get them a visa (never considered it actually).
1. Why did you move abroad?
Back in September 2010 Hubby took a call out of the blue asking him if he fancied working in South Africa….how could we say no?
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From the UK to Portugal: Julie Dawn Fox
Erin
18 June, 2012 10:02
Hi, I’m Julie, originally from the UK but I’ve been living abroad for 10 years so I consider myself to be a serial expat. I’ve put down roots in Portugal and have been living here since 2007. I came here wanting to settle down and it wasn’t long before I had a husband, a dog and a house in the country so it’s all worked out quite well for me so far.
1. Why did you move abroad?
I developed a serious case of wanderlust during a 16-month backpacking trip in my late 20s. When I got back to the grey skies and expensive, irregular public transport services of the UK, I decided I needed to find a sunnier place to live. I hate being cold, getting up in the dark and sacrificing my days to long winter nights so I’ve never regretted leaving the UK.
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From London to São Paulo: The Book is on the Table
Erin
14 June, 2012 09:25
Hi, I'm Andy and I'm originally from London, UK where I worked as a social worker. In February 2012 I moved to São Paulo, Brazil with my wife and I'm blogging about adjusting to life here. I'm getting used to it. Gradually....
1. Why did you move abroad?
It was a move that we had planned for while. I met my wife (who is from São Paulo) when I first went travelling around South America in 2007/08 and then she moved to the UK in 2009. However, she deferred her degree to do so and I always promised that we'd come back eventually so she could finish it.
Then, in February my job finished due to government cuts in the UK and it seemed the right time to go, especially as the the Brazilian university term starts in February. It all worked out quite nicely in the end!
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From Toronto to Berlin: Cheryl Howard
Erin
11 June, 2012 09:59
1. Why did you move abroad?
I took a 9 month sabbatical from work and spent my time being lazy and travelling. After visiting Europe twice, I fell in love with the continent (not a guy) and knew I wanted to move abroad.
Within months of my second visit, I sold almost everything I owned, quit my job and left behind my family and friends in Toronto, Canada. If you want to know the entire story about why I moved to Berlin, you can read all about it on my blog.
My love for Berlin and Europe has blossomed in the year since I've been here. I'm so fully committed to my new “relationship” that I recently applied for a long term work permit to stay for another 2 whole years.
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From Mexico to Jakarta: Stumble Abroad
Erin
04 June, 2012 06:43
My name is Ana Gaby, short for Ana Gabriela. With a telenovela name like that you can probably tell I come from somewhere in Latin America. I was born and raised in Mexico but by the time I was 23 I had already lived in 5 different countries due to my studies and for work. I married another global nomad and after 4 wonderful years of marriage, 3 different countries and 2 beautiful boys we currently call The Big Durian (Jakarta, Indonesia) our home.
1. Why did you move abroad?
Love. Sound cheesy? It is, and it’s awesome. I was already living “abroad” working in Washington D.C. at an international organization while my better half was living in Frankfurt, Germany for work. After a few months of traveling back and forth across the Atlantic, he realized he couldn’t live without me 
, we got engaged, tied the knot and I became a trailing spouse after I quit my job and moved to Germany. My husband’s work has us moving every two to three years, so after two years in Frankfurt, and two in Bangkok we are expecting to stay in Jakarta until the summer of 2014. Then, who knows? We might go back to the US, or start a new adventure in a new continent.
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