My latest column for Expat Focus Those dam butterflies in my stomach… they're persistent buggers! I try to catch my breath, inhaling, deeply… as our car crawls slowly in and out of lanes, jammed with thick Saturday evening traffic. We are late. Naively forgetting about the headache of weekend traffic in China, we've severely underestimated how long it will take to get to our destination, normally a 20 minute drive across town. This was going to make it harder to arrive 'inconspicuously' let alone the nagging fact, the small, subtle bunch of flowers we'd ordered for the birthday girl was China-sized, China-decorated. This means big and garish. Even less opportunity to slide in, in low key style. I breathe. Realistically, you can go years without meeting new people. If you want to. Life gets busy and more often than not, it's all too easy to be content with friends in our 'hood, our work mates, family around the corner. More often than not, it's all you need to sustain a comfortable, easy lifestyle, isn't it? Sometimes, in all honesty, you just don't want the hassle of meeting new people. Who wants to put themselves out there. What? I have to reveal to someone that I'm actually a wine quaffing, cat-loving, former trashy magazine obsessive turned pinterest-nerd?! Sometimes you just can't find new people to meet… like anywhere. Even in the supermarket! (I've tried!) For the love of God, where were all those single men that year I was on the loose (back in the day)! They were actually so few and far between, I had to put myself completely out of my happy, controlled comfort zone to meet my husband. Yes! A blind date! But this is not about my personal life....it's about those Blind Dates we all take as expats or new kids on the block. To read more click over here to Expat Focus for the full column. Proud to share this post over at Seychelle's Mama on her monthly series My Expat Family … [Read more...]
The Expat View: Why Traveling will Never be the Same.
Latest column for Expat Focus “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson As an expat, my arrival in any country (these days) brings with it, the steely eyes of a super sleuth. The minute I step off the plane, I'm giving my holiday destination the once over! Judging, comparing, making rapid assumptions from the cleanliness of airport toilets, I'm sizing up the place for its 'liveability.' You see, living the expat life, almost every city has the potential to be your future home, which makes any foreign locality fair game. Who knows when or even IF, but as an hotelier's wife, there's ALWAYS a chance this unfamiliar neighbourhood will arrive on your radar at some point in time. We jumped on a plane and went for a mini-break to Thailand last weekend, a short two hour 40 minute flight from Hong Kong. It wasn't my first time in the Land of Smiles, but I was a virgin in the big city of Bangkok. I was excited to see what the so-called City of Angels had to offer. Stepping out from the airport, raising my sunglasses, I peered out at this populous city of 8-million that stretched before me. I'd barely scratched the surface of this vibrant metropolis but I was already shaking my head. “It's not Hong Kong,” I said under my breath. “Give it a chance” my inner voice retorted, sternly.When you're looking through expat lenses, it's hard to keep that raw, open mindedness a first-time traveler might feel in a new, unexplored and exotic environment. The butterflies give way to an anxious knot in the pit of your stomach. To read more, click here >>> … [Read more...]