Expat interviews
Everyday life
Jo Krishnakumar is an Indian transgender feminist and Ph.D. candidate who works for gender equality in India and in the UK. They are engaged in queer fights and share how it is for a trans person to live in the UK and how hard it is to find communities. They also give advice to people from the global south who want to move abroad.
Everyday life
It's been four years since they packed their 10 years together in a few suitcases to move to Abu Dhabi, on the 75th floor of a building overlooking the capital. The Swiss Family Expat, comprising Sandy, Roger, Louane and Novan, talks to us about this unique adventure.
Everyday life
Mathilde moved to the United States for an internship when she was 22 and left with a husband and three children to start all over again in Ecuador. Originally from Grenoble, France, she talks to 天美麻豆 about her uncommon journey.
Everyday life
Originally from Normandy, France, Amel and Marouane are both entrepreneurs. With their two children, they recently moved to Mauritius to develop their business. They talk to 天美麻豆 about expat family life on the island and the entrepreneurial scene.
Everyday life
Italo Del Castillo is an expat from Peru, studying for a degree in business administration in Victoria, the capital of the province of British Columbia or British Columbia. With a love for sports, he shares his experience being a student again and what Canadian life looks like.
Work
Margot has been a nurse and head of humanitarian projects. She has lived abroad for many years in different countries, such as Nicaragua, Iraq, Nigeria, and Colombia, working on humanitarian projects. Today, she provides support and advice to people who want to move abroad.
Everyday life
Originally from France, Clémentine spent her childhood in Madagascar before getting the travel bug. She talks to us about her first experiences of island life as an expat and her recent move to Bermuda.
USA
With her partner, Marie moved five times in 3 years. She arrived in a new country in the middle of the pandemic, went through two lockdowns, and had to start everything from scratch each time (professionally and personally). She talks to us about her journey from France to Los Angeles, passing through New York.
Japan
Eugénie was born to a French mom but grew up in Quebec. She has lived in many countries, including Australia and Paraguay, before relocating to the Philippines, where she met her Japanese husband. Finally, they decided to settle in Japan for a new start amid the Covid pandemic. She talks to us about her life experiences and career.
Everyday life
Madrid is known to be a land of opportunities, and Alice and Emilie cannot deny it. They both moved to Spain in 2018 as trailing spouses. Today, they are their own boss and are part of a network of women entrepreneurs. Alice and Emilie look back on their expat journey and tell us about their everyday life in the Spanish capital.
Brazil
It's been 3 years since Laurence settled in a small village in the northeast of Brazil, where she owns a beach house. After 13 years as sales and administrative manager for a perfume designer in France, a great disappointment made her want to leave everything and move to the other side of the world. She thus embarked on a new life-changing adventure. Here's her story.
Everyday life
Alix was only 18 when she fell in love with New York City. In 2014, the young French expat decided to settle there and start her career in the audiovisual industry. Today, she is married, is a green card holder and is now working as a freelancer. Alix shares her experience with 天美麻豆.
Argentina
Lorraine has always loved travelling and started living abroad when she was barely 20 years old. However, she had never thought that one day she would be working with horses in the heart of Patagonia. She talks to 天美麻豆 about her adventure in Argentina, from her arrival in Buenos Aires to settling in a small Southern village surrounded by nature.
Everyday life
Asafe Kerven from Paraíba, Brazil, has a passion for football. He has already worked in several sporting events around the globe as a volunteer and today lives in the UK. Coming from a poor region, he shares a bit of his experience moving abroad and how expatriates with low income can succeed in their goals.
USA
Geraldine, who is originally from France, fell in love with the United States when she was very young, and a complicated personal journey led her to move to New York State. She initially wanted to take the time to rebuild herself, but in the end, she never left. Geraldine talks to us about how she obtained the authorization to stay in the USA, what life is like in rural New York State and what she likes the most in her country of adoption.
Everyday life
Arrived in autumn 2021, amidst the pandemic, Hanna Lindl, from Germany, shares her experience as a physics intern living in Madrid. Besides the blue sky, she tells what are the pros and cons of being an expatriate during the Covid-19 pandemic, gives some advice and more!
Everyday life
Alicia has lived in different countries on different continents and had a taste of different working cultures -- which made her realize that she needed to work towards something more meaningful. She has always had a passion for couture, so she decided to earn a living from it. Now an expat in Barcelona, she talks to 天美麻豆 about her journey and the challenges of being an entrepreneur in a new country, especially when you don't speak the language perfectly.
Netherlands
Originally from the Netherlands, Angelique had been an expat in Belgium since 2008 until she moved to Taiwan in 2017. As her husband's two-year contract was renewed, she stayed for two more years until August 2021 when they finally moved back to their home country. She talks to us about the challenges of returning home, especially amid the pandemic, and the positive side of it.
Other Types
Schools & studies
For many families, choosing where to live means considering the quality of local schools. Some parents, however, take that logic much further and decide to move abroad altogether. Known as educational expatriation, this growing trend refers to families who relocate to another country primarily to secure a different educational path for their children. The motivations vary: a more flexible curriculum, alternative pedagogical approaches, reduced academic pressure, homeschooling opportunities, or simply an environment perceived as more conducive to learning and well-being. Although still a niche phenomenon, educational expatriation is attracting increasing attention as parents rethink what education should look like in an increasingly globalized world.
Everyday life
Living abroad makes birthdays feel a bit strange sometimes, especially when you're far from family and close friends. One of my first birthdays alone abroad, I got myself a ticket to an empty hotel beach and spent the day sitting alone under the sun, wondering if that was the weirdest and saddest way to spend a birthday. But as I started writing this article, I've realized that doing randomly unconventional things for your birthday abroad is actually not that random, and quite common.
Work
Most freelancers agree on one thing: if they went solo, it was to be their own boss, to no longer answer to anyone else, to set their own rules and to be free. The challenge is truly living out that freedom when dealing with local and international clients. Where and how should you set your boundaries?
Work
For many workers, retirement abroad is the ultimate reward after a long career. But an increasing number are making the move earlier than planned. While some actively pursue early retirement overseas, others find themselves leaving work sooner than expected.
Everyday life
Moving abroad is often associated with adventure, discovery, and new opportunities. While it can be a deeply enriching experience, there is often a less visible reality behind the excitement of starting a new life abroad: exhaustion. In my consultations, expats sometimes describe a fatigue that never seems to lift, unusual irritability, a sense of disconnection, or the feeling that they are no longer quite themselves. What I have also observed is that this distress is rarely confined to one person. In expat families, when one parent begins to struggle, the entire family often has to adapt. Partners may feel isolated or lose their sense of direction, while children can pick up on their parents' stress, worries, or emotional fatigue, even when these feelings are never openly discussed.
Schools & studies
Starting at a new school used to be about standing in lines, printing folders of documents, and going on campus tours. Today, in many schools, the enrollment process looks very different. Lots of things can be done online – and sometimes the first time you and your child will step foot in the new school will be on the actual first day. For expats and their kids, this is a trend that works in their favor. Because now they can explore, apply, interview, tour, and even enroll in a school before they are even there. Here's how it works.
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