When you're living the 'enviable' expat life, it is for the most part, just that. But looming amongst the five star shindigs, endless shopping extravaganzas and cultural enlightenment is the little unavoidable fact: you never quite know when it's all going to end; when the phone's going to ring with the next 'tour of duty'. Last week, we got one of those calls… We'd been half-expecting it (if there is such a thing as half?) let's just say it wasn't a complete shock to the system. I didn't run around the house yelling "We've been punked!" but to be honest, my heart did a triple somersault with a twist and leapt right out of my chest. We've had many conversations about the next step. When we'll be ready, where we think we'd like to go, where we think we'll get to go. (For the record, the planets rarely align when it comes to the answers.) This wasn't a 'do or die' battle, we could say no and (hopefully) live to tell the tale, but when it's all said and done, we like to think of ourselves as brave soldiers always up for a new adventure. (I'm sure soldiers don't call their missions 'adventures') but you get the picture? "Bring. It. On!" we chanted with all the nervous enthusiasm we could possibly muster. Click here to continue over at Expat Focus>> to find out just how this proposed move to China's furnace went down! Let's just say, we learned a lot! … [Read more...]
Homeland…
Being an expat is the easy part, being good at it - not so 'all in your stride' straightforward. I've just arrived back in Hong Kong, bleary-eyed from an overnight flight with a two year old (say no more) and feeling a little bit, well, empty. It's been six months since I was home, the longest period since my 'stint' as an expat began. So far I've been lucky enough to get home on a pretty regular basis, but two and a half years into this mad Asian adventure, saying 'goodbye' doesn't get any easier. It's the quiet drive to the airport, everyone lost in their own world. Here we go again - brace yourself, don't cry - smile, make light-hearted banter, pretend you'll be back in no time and they'll be none the wiser you've even gone, lost in translation somewhere over the Orient. To read more...head to Expat Focus … [Read more...]
Living the dream….Expat Life
My latest piece as a columnist for Expat Focus Sawadika! Checking in from the land of smiley, happy faces…. One of the undeniably pleasant perks of being an expat in Asia, coupled with having a husband in hotels, is the opportunity to fly to idyllic destinations like Phuket in just a few short hours and revel in 5-star luxury. I get it… I'm lucky! Very! I will even go so far as to use the word 'spoilt,' as I sit here trying (in a lazy, half-hearted kind of way) to wrestle my sleepy gaze from our villa's private plunge pool that is beckoning me to immerse myself in its crystal clear oasis. Yep!… livin' the dream! To read more....click here and go to Expat Focus … [Read more...]
….all the tea in China
Two years ago today, my life did what you might call a 180 degree turn! At 38 years old I went from being a News Reader with national 24 hour news channel Sky News Australia, where I'd worked happily (mostly) for the best part of a decade, to being an unemployed housewife, smack bang in the middle of one of the world's most populated cities. Until then I had been living in a fairly comfortable apartment in Sydney's not so shabby Neutral Bay with my not so shabby hotelier husband. My close-knit family was just a hop, skip and a jump up the road in Queensland and the tight-knit sisterhood of friendships built on a lifetime of shared experiences, all within 'wine-quaffing' distance. So what happened? … [Read more...]