The Expat Life

My good friend Beth and I are so excited to bring you our newest project called–Expat Sisterhood: Flourish!

 Beth and I have partnered on LOTS of different projects over the past 8 years of friendship, but this one by far has me over-the-moon excited. Our project was met with some hurdles right off the bat, mostly all technical hurdles and I don’t do technical. That’s what we get for trying to be hip and broadcast our videos via Periscope. Unfortunately, every single time we tried, there was some sort of issue. So after videoing this over 3 times, we decided to go with the good ol’ fashion way of broadcasting our video chats–YouTube!

Though all of us have different challenges and hurdles to overcome and our walks of life may differ, the fact that we have felt the pain of leaving pieces of our heart in different places throughout the world–bonds us.  For all of us expats, global nomads, missionaries we find common ground here as we’ve uprooted and packed our bags to a foreign country; we know the pain that comes with end-of-the-school year good byes; we sympathize with others when they say the P words–parasites and paperwork; we are all too familiar with the raw emotions of not living near family and dear friends and the depths of falling in the pit of loneliness in the midst of a new culture, language and country. We have also experienced the beauty of celebrating the difference, and looking beyond skin color, education and accents. Our taste buds have experienced the ecstasy of spices and flavors that others only dream of.  Oh and our eyes, our eyes have seen picturesque and breathtaking views that are straight out of National Geographic magazines. It’s the little things that bond us.

Beth and I are expats ourselves and we know first hand the see the desperate need for connection, encouragement and just walking alongside of each other in the midst of it all. Hopefully, in our video chats you’ll find yourself laughing, nodding in accordance and walking away with the hope that we can flourish where we are!

We kicked off our chats with a hot topic in the expat, global nomad, missionary community–Home. Read below what Beth shares about our first video chat and then click on the video link.

“’How long until you felt like this was home?’” It’s a question that cycles through the ex-pat community every time a new batch of foreigners arrives and starts looking to put down roots. The answer to that query is as diverse as the people traveling abroad, but there are definitely steps you can take to speed up your process of settling in.

With eighteen years between us of living the ex-pat life, we want to share some of the tips that have helped us most in the journey of making wherever you are your home.

In this video, we give five tips for healthy adjustment into a new culture:

• Get Mobile
• Embrace, Don’t Replace
• Perspective of Curiosity
• Give Room for Grief
• Feather your Nest

Here’s the video!

Come back on Mondays for our Expat chats! Or you can follow along via your favorite social network so you don’t miss any of the fun: Pinterest  Facebook or Twitter and our readers preferred way via email.

Maybe we’ll try Periscope again in the future and that will give us an opportunity to do a live video chat and dialogue with you all, but I won’t make any promises. Also, share with us your ideas and experiences in the comments!