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4 big lessons from 4 long years in Germany
Four years living in Germany. We made it. I don’t know how but we made it. An adventure that began with curiosity and impulsive decision-making after one too many glasses of red wine, and ended up as a journey of self-discovery, learning and LOTS of revelations. “So then Steffi, what…
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Expat Diaries: where is home now?
I felt the cabin pressure change in an instant. The wheels dropped out. With a slight bump, we landed. “Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the cabin crew and myself, I’d like to welcome you to Great Britain. The local time here is 9:30 pm. The temperature is 14 degrees.…
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It’s good to talk – mental health as an expat with Ettie Jayne from The Alignment Alchemist
Let’s talk about mental health as an expat, shall we? At the beginning of the May on the Move challenge, I knew I wanted to incorporate some collaborations. I’d wanted to do some for a while and this presented the perfect opportunity. You might have already seen my interview with…
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Saudade: feeling nostalgic for a life I’ve lost.
I won’t lie, I had to Google what Saudade meant. It’s a Portuguese word and according to the millennial’s big book of knowledge, Wikipedia: Wow. Okay. Where do I start? In January 2020, I almost flew back to Britain and left Germany behind indefinitely. After six months of trying so…
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Building an awesome online community as an introvert
How do you build an online community as an introverted expat? Simple answer: you just gotta put yourself out there, baby! As part of this month’s #mayonthemove2021 challenge, hosted by the wonderful Catriona from The Frustrated Nester and Margarita from Diverse in the City, I decided to open up the…
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How Germany changed me: I will never wear heels again
I am not a fan of fashion. That is to say, I am not good at fashion. Never have been. But I have seen The Devil Wears Prada enough times to understand that I still very much buy into fashion as a concept and therefore I must, on some level,…
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Expat Diaries: (not) Driving Home for Christmas
Earlier on in the year, I booked the last 3 weeks of the year off work. Firstly, because I needed to use my holidays up. Secondly, I was still cautiously optimistic that the second wave of the pandemic would be better and we would get our chance to travel back…
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Expat Diaries: the joy in between / the next good day
It seems pretty apt that this is my choice of post this week. Germany has entered “Lockdown Light” from today – similar to Bud Light or Coors Light. Beer, but not really BEER. You can go outside, but not really for anything good. Funny, because public consumption of alcohol has…
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Expat Diaries: the last Good day
This week’s blog post is inspired by the wonderful ItsRadishTime. After she posted her video about the last Good day (y’know, before *it* happened), I decided it would be a good idea to look back and write about my last Good day in my diary. So what you have before…
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Expat Diaries: one year in Germany.
It has been one year since I packed my life into 3 suitcases, said goodbye to my friends and family, gave up a comfortable salaried job, and headed to mainland Europe with absolutely no idea how I was going to make a living. It is the single biggest risk I…