I´ve met some wonderful people through this blog. Top of the list, Valentine. A Cali girl, she’s thrown herself into expat life since she moved here last year. When she’s not cruising around with her kids on a double decker bus tour, mountain biking down the Andes or hiking in the hills, she works as Community Liaison Officer at the US…
What’s the easiest way to learn Spanish? What’s the fastest way to learn a foreign language in general? Learn like a five year old. We arrived in Santiago de Chile about a year ago. My five year old son, Sebastian now speaks almost fluently and understands about 90% of Spanish (unless we’re talking about cartoons or cake, then it’s 100%).…
How do you stay safe while blogging? Even if you’re new to the blogging game, even if you have only a handful of followers, it’s important to be cautious about what and how you post. I don’t want to scare you with tales of stalking, identity theft, trolls or generally dodgy internet folk, but it’s best to be safe rather…
I’ve just overhauled the menu structure of my blog. It’s taken me days and I’m so annoyed I didn’t get it right from the start. But it’s been worth it. My site looks cleaner, it’s easier for me to use and my traffic has jumped by a quarter. If you’re new to the blogging game, save yourself the stress and…
Say bonjour to Charlotte, founder of Little Voyageurs. Charlotte is a reporter by trade. Her work has taken her across the globe, from challenging environments such as Syria and Yemen to the sunshine capital of Miami, and having two kids hasn’t slowed her down. The French national decided to put her love of travel with kids to use and founded…
How to write a blog? This is a question I get asked lots. From general queries, like can you make money as a blogger to very specific, techie questions like what are the best plugins and widgits? I’m by no means an authority on blogging; in fact I only started a year ago, but having worked in editing, copy writing…
Happy (belated) New Year Expaters! What a year it’s been. 2018 was certainly an eventful year for me. We moved to Chile, starting our new lives in its beautiful bustling capital, Santiago. I got pregnant and suffered pretty much every day of those nine months. Whoever invented the term ‘morning sickness’ is wrong – it’s all day, all night sickness.…
Expaters, have you ever felt lonely? Chances are you have. Loneliness is a big issue and countries around the world are waking up to the fact. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of Britain’s Royal College of GPs, has warned that loneliness can be as bad for our health as chronic diseases. The UK government recently announced that it is putting £11.5m…
Do you know about the most stupid Christmas tradition for kids? If you’re living in South America or Spain, I reckon you do. Let me enlighten you… Spanish O’Clock The first time I actually experienced it was in Spain. We were staying at a hotel with my Spanish in-laws and staff asked if our one year old would like to see…
Expaters, did you buy your kid’s teacher a present this year? What did you give? I scanned the web for teacher gifts and look what I found in The Independent, a major British newspaper: ‘A candle might be a bit of a teacher present cliché, but make it a luxury number with Jo Malone and you can’t go far wrong’. …
