We all come across challenges and expats are certainly no exception to this. But when things get tricky we start to feel that well-known guilt building up inside and shortly thereafter we feel the need to apologise. For lots of things. Especially to the people we love and miss a lot.The interesting thing is that … Read more
If you are moving to the US, at some point in the early part of the year you might get a knock on your door and a cute little uniformed girl will ask if you want to buy girl scout cookies. “But what are they?” One might ask? Well, you have to try to find … Read more
People usually expect “offshore” tax-havens to be wonderfully exotic places. But in reality, they’re not. Linda and I have lived in three different ones during our marriage – Bahamas 1967-70, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) 1972-75, and Cayman 1978 to date – mostly in apartments no different from those we lived in in Canada and Spain.Nassau … Read more
Twelfth Night – time for John and me to take down the Christmas decorations. Not so our friend Christopher in California. His Christmas tree will remain on display until the spring. In his Christmas greeting he says: “Instead of pulling out the artificial Christmas tree from the basement and erecting it in the living room … Read more
The continuing adventures of June Finnigan, her Man, and Farty Barty the cat. November Reflections Benvenuti to all my Loyal and New Followers. November in Tuscany can no longer be described as the beginning of winter. The countryside stubbornly hangs on to late summer and early autumn and does so even into December.Our little bit … Read more
Rumors reached me earlier this year that the “big, fat, American passport” would be no more. I love reaching for my passport and feeling the heft of extra pages, filled with stamps and VISA stickers, tabbed with post-it flags to guide customs agents to empty pages. I wait for the sound: thhhk; fhump; thhhk; fhump.Sometimes … Read more
Trailing spouses… I am not sure who came up with this term, but I don’t like him or her already. Years ago it was “trailing wives”, but my 21st century brain won’t let me say those words out loud. It pains me to think of the term ‘trailing wife’ or spouse. Why, you might ask?Before … Read more
One of the things I have loved most about living overseas again is meeting such a huge range of people from all over the world. When you move somewhere, you expect to meet people from the host country – in my case, South Africa. But what you sometimes forget about is how enriched your life … Read more
I have a new Expat Focus editor, and before I embark on my monthly effusion I’d like to thank her predecessor Carole Hill for our happy collaboration. Enjoy your retirement, Carole. The season of Christmas markets, concerts and Réveillon blowouts is upon us. I shan’t mention any of them this December, because my regulars have … Read more
I read every article on local geography I could get my hands on before my first visit. Being in close proximity to a number of Aussies brought me a wealth of additional information. The only difficulty was sorting fact from fiction. One couple provided in-depth information on the pros and cons of the inner and … Read more