The Adventure of Living Abroad
Living abroad always involves some kind of culture shock. No matter if you are moving to a country with the same language or you have moved for the 5th time: moving always involves giving up our well-known safe space and start the wonderful journey to something unknown. Find all the blog posts I have written on the topic of moving and living abroad connected to other cultures and lifestyles. If you are living abroad and want to share your life with us please feel free to send me an email to info@sharethelove.blog to be featured.
1 Year later – expat families in the midst of a global pandemic
One year ago, I interviewed families who were going through their very first weeks of the global pandemic. How are they doing 1 year later? Are they finally reunited? Have they returned home early? Also lots of additional resources for support in this new blog post.
Pregnancy Troubles as the Expat
I want to stress an important topic that most of expat partners are confronted with at some time or the other: Is expatriation a great time to become pregnant? How does motherhood change your expat experience? What if you can’ get pregnant? What if you just opened the chapter of the infertility chapter? This blog provides different perspectives on this topic, aiming to give you comfort and support.
How to Deal with Homesickness as an Expat
If you were looking forward to working and living abroad, homesickness as an expat can come as a surprise, but it is not uncommon. If you have only recently moved abroad to work, it can make settling in to a new country much more difficult. For many expats, homesickness is even thought to be a contributory factor in their decision to repatriate. Thankfully, Allianz Care has developed several steps you can take to help deal with any feelings of homesickness you may be experiencing without making the drastic decision to return home:
The 5 phases of culture shock and how to go through smoothly
Culture shock is what you can expect when moving to another country. It does not matter if you move to a place similar to your own culture or you are changing continents. No matter the distance, you will still experience a cultural shock and the different phases it comes with.
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Learn from strong women
Last week I was in the lucky position to attend the International Women’s Day Lightning Talks in Chicago. I was impressed by the panel consisting of strong entrepreneurial women. Those female leaders with a background in tech, culture, social media, and politics have been real role models for the audience. It was great to see that it was an honest and well-reflected approach to strengthen women’s’ mindset. No overuse of buzzwords, female paroles or how unfair everything is but straightforward insights into their daily business life and their advice for the mostly female audience.
How to stay in contact with loved ones during an Expat assignment
Staying in touch can be hard when living abroad. I reveal my top communication tips to feel closer to friends and family back home. Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Monday thought: Experiencing the worst-case scenario – surgery abroad
Since I am back from Christmas in Germany it was a rollercoaster journey with my health. I went to countless doctor’s appointments…each time assured that everything will be fine and each time I had to go back to just being told that it went worse. You start to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario: Getting surgery in a foreign country with a foreign health system.
In this blog post, I will give insights into how it feels to be that vulnerable abroad and I give some advice from my experience.
Interview with James from www.liveworkgermany.com
I recently started interviewing successful expats around the globe. I want to start this new series with James, a Brit living in Germany. Next to working as an Expat in the corporate world he also started his own business. For those of you, who are thinking about starting something abroad this chat can be an inspiring interview.
DISCOVER LOGAN SQUARE
Easy to reach with the blue line, the Logan Square neighborhood is home to a diverse population including Latinos, Poles, and African-Americans. While housing prices in nearby Wicker Park are rising more and more artists moved to Logan Square shaping it to an increasingly hip area.
LinkedIn for Expats: Pimp your digital business card
Learn how to pimp your LinkedIn profile when living abroad and seeking new business contacts and/or work. Part 1 introduces you to the pitfalls of the header area and offers advice on how to stand out. Download the free checklist.
The Expat-Relationship. A real test!
An expat assignment is a tough time as it throws both partners into cold water but due to work in different “buckets”. Read about my personal experience and how to communicate with your partner.
My personal “Feels-like-home” spots in Chicago
I am a huge fan of diving into a new culture and exploring new tastes, customs and ways how to do things. However, from time to time I enjoy feeling at home at a foreign place to feel energized again. In this blog post I will show you my Chicago gems for European spirit.
The Expat-preneur: A real deal?
Over the last week, I read a couple of academic papers about expatriation. Many papers are dealing with the effect of expatriation on the relationship and the influence of the Expat Partner on the success of the assignment.
One paper, in particular, caught my attention: “The expat-preneur: conceptualizing a growing international career phenomenon” by M. Vance, Y. McNulty, Y. Paik and J. D’Mello.
All the gear you need for your backpacking adventure
If you are new to backpacking all the potential gear to buy can be a bit overwhelming. I did my own research before starting my first solo travel. Most items have been really helpful, some are not to miss and others are an unnecessary luxury. In this blog post, I will give you an overview of the key essential items for a convenient experience when traveling alone or with friends and family. I would definitely take all these items with me on my next adventure!
10 first impressions of a German woman living in Chicago
After setting foot in the US to live here for the next few years I took the time to write down my first impressions of the city itself and also some American customs that attracted my attention. As a result, I am now showing you my top 10 of remarkable things about the US and Chicago.
5 big communication differences between Americans and Germans
Living in the US as a German gives me the opportunity to observe many small differences throughout my day. In the following, I have written down 5 big communication-related habits that are very distinct in each country.
What to do when feeling grumpy abroad
Have you felt grumpy in your new surrounding as an Expat? While in everyone’s life there are good and bad days, some triggers are more intense due to the new foreign surrounding.
What am I? The struggle of defining myself as an Expat Wife
In this blog post I will explain the emotional journey of an Expat Wife and the deep, mind-changing learning I drew out of that experience. My motivation behind this post and the blog itself is more than ever: Empower women who were bold enough to quit their job and joined their husband on their joint adventure abroad.
Self-marketing overseas: The overwhelming American business culture and how to cope with it
So what are the core differences in our private and business culture? How vital is self-marketing in the American business culture? And how can I as an Expat adopt to my new surrounding in order to be perceived as a valuable and competent business partner?
Expat Statistics: How many are we?
Interested in some Expat Statistics? Recently I started wondering how many Expats and Expat Wives are currently living abroad.
Detroit –Apocalyptic vibe meets raw urban lifestyle
Detroit – Apocalyptic vibe meets raw urban lifestyle Have you been to Detroit? I realized Thanksgiving is a huge thing here and maybe similar to
Oh, Sweet Expat Life – the Beauty and the Beast
After 8 months in my new Expat Life I would like to take the opportunity to summarize the good, the bad and the ugly. As an Expat Wife I guess I have some insights for you.
The Expat Partner’s Blues: My Top 7 Proven Tricks
Out of my experience, I have put together a small guide of 7 proven tricks. These are your tools to overcome the Expat Wife’s blues. They all work for me and I hope you find them useful when you are in a similar situation.
Solo Travel: How to pick your next destination?
SOLO TRAVEL: HOW TO PICK YOUR NEXT DESTINATION? Dreaming about solo travel? When you think about where to go there are so many options it
Why everyone should travel alone at least once
Solotravel? Are you crazy? That was the reaction of my family. This did not stop me and I am so thankful for that. I was
What Next? The struggle of defining yourself as an Expat Wife
What Next? The struggle of defining yourself as an Expat Wife Moving abroad is a big step. Moving abroad for the love of your life
Your Motivation Chart: Why are you doing this?
Manifest your motivation for quitting your job and moving abroad to become an Expat Ever heard about a motivation chart? In this blog post I