Guatemala is the largest country in Central America by both population and area. Like many other countries in the region, it has experienced its fair share of conflict and instability over the year and it's a society marked by income inequality and the problems that brings. As a result of this, many Guatemalans look for a better life abroad, and most seek the so-called "American Dream". Very few though end up in Australia.

Julio certainly didn't come from poorer side if Guatemalan society, but he also bought into the American dream after going to study economic at college in Utah and spending some time in California.

In the meantime he struck up an online friendship with an Australian girl, Paige. At a certain point the relationship got serious and they had the dilemma as to where to settle more permanently. The first choice was a middle ground in the Bay Area in California, but an ugly twist of fate on the Mexico-California border broke this dream.

Although they tried living in Guatemala for a while, it wasn't a sustainable option and finally they made the move to Sydney, which Julio immediately fell in love with and thought he would be there for life.

But, like many others, Sydney's housing prices proved an insurmountable barrier, and while looking outside Sydney, the idea of moving to Tasmania came up. A visit to the state convinced them and they bought a house and moved to Blackman's Bay in 2025.

Guatemala is also a country of great natural beauty, famous for its many volcanoes and Julio recalls fondly family hikes - something that has made Tasmania feel more like home. In this episode, he contrasts the differences between Guatemala and Australia, but also the very different feeling he has had as an outsider in the USA compared with Australia.

Zambia is a largeish country in central southern African, perhaps best known for sharing the iconic landmark of Victoria Falls with it's southern neighbour, Zimbabwe. Although it's not a country that comes up on our radar much in Tasmania, according to the 2021 Census, there were over one hundred Zambians living in Tasmania. Not many perhaps, but also not insignificant.

Renella has lived in Tasmania since 2003, and around the same time, much of her close family also moved here, but all have now left for other parts of the country or world.

She grew up in small town in the south of Zambia amongst family from her mum's Zambian family, and her Dad's Malaysian Chinese family and inherited traditions from both, including both cuisines. Renella has fond memories of her childhood and the range outdoor activities available, and part of what made her love Tasmania was this similar outdoor lifestyle that she had known in Zambia.

Renella moved to Sydney when she was 18 to study Accounting, as she could live with an aunt there. After graduating, at the recommendation of her sister, she moved to Hobart, and later other members of the family came to join her. She had not planned to stay long term, but a chance meeting at a party lead to an important relationship.

Although her main job is as an accountant, since being in Tasmania, Renella has also rediscovered her love of food in operating a couple of small food businesses.

The song featured in this episode is called "Mao", By Amayenge, a popular music group from Choma in the 1970s. The music style is called calindula, a style distinctive to Zambia

Costa Rica is one of the smaller countries of Central America, both in population and in size. It's also historically been much more stable and secure than many of its neighbours and its efforts to preserve and protect its natural environment has made it a biodiversity hot spot. As a result, Costa Ricans haven't emigrated at the same rate as some other peoples in Latin America. Hence, it is a bit of a surprise to find a Costa Rican living in Burnie, in northwest Tasmania.

Natalia grew up near the capital of San Jose, and had always imagined that she would travel. However, the way it happened was totally unexpected.

When she was 19, she started learning English from a young Australian man. A connection developed quickly and it was not long before she was on her first ever plane journey to start a new life in Hobart.

Her first 18 months in Tasmania were incredibly challenging. An unexpected pregnancy, little English and no driver's license, it was not surprising that she felt isolated and homesick. Discovering a supportive community of Latin Americans in northwest Tasmania, she convinced her husband they should move there, but it was then tragedy struck, with the sudden loss of her husband.

At 21 and pregnant with her second child, Natalia had considered returning to Costa Rica, but the support of the community she had found and her personal faith helped her to stay resilient. Almost 20 years later she has managed to build a good life in Burnie, having remarried, raised 4 kids and recently getting what she considers her dream job providing support for children in out of home care.

As of late 2025, the number of New Zealanders living in Australia was estimated to be around 700,000 - a huge number for such a small country, reflecting the close relationship between our two countries. In Tasmania, it's estimated there are about 5000 New Zealanders living here, making them one of the top 5 migrant groups.

It's assumed often that New Zealanders are very similar to us and don't have many challenges to settle in here, but the true picture is more complex.

One thing that distinguishes New Zealand from Australia is the influence of Maori culture, something which until fairly recently was repressed. Olive grew up in a small farming community near Gisborne, a small city on the east side of the North Island. Her mother and grandmother were strong influences during her younger years and gave her a connection with Maori culture and her grandmother, in particular, practised traditional Maori healing.

Losing her mother and grandmother at the age of 16 was a deeply traumatic event for Olive and for a while she fell into some unhealthy coping mechanisms. Most of her family also migrated to Melbourne and, pregnant with her first child, she joined them to be near family support.

It was around ten years ago that Olive met a Tasmanian man, who she later married, and was part of the reason that brought her to Tasmania. The other was a slightly more spiritual reason, which you will her about in the podcast.

You will also hear how during the COVID pandemic and the lockdown in Melbourne lead to Olive reconnecting with the Maori language and culture through online communities, something she now also shares within her local community in Tasmania.

El Salvador is a small Central American nation that has suffered from a multitude of hardships over many decades, include civil wars, a brutal military dictatorship, crippling poverty and violent crime. This has led to a large exodus of the population escaping, through both legal and illegal channels, to countries like the USA, Canada, Mexico and Australia. In fact Australia is home to the third-largest population of Salvadoreans outside the country itself.

Roque came with his family to settle in northern Tasmania in the early 90s as a result of the civil war that lasted from 1981 to 1992. Australia accepted some 10,000 Salvadoreans during this time as a part of its Humanitarian Resettlement program, and Tasmania received several hundred of those.

Roque chose Australia over USA or other countries because he wanted to be as far away from El Salvador and its problems as he could, but with no English when he came, settling in near the small city of Devonport was quite a challenge at the beginning.

However, as Roque says, he met some angels in Tasmania, almost by chance, who helped him with work and even build a house, and ultimately let him put down roots in Latrobe.

Cuba is a country that really stands out amongst Latin American nations because of the revolution in 1959. Since then they have lived under the rule of a Communist dictatorship and for most of that time also under severe sanctions from the United States, both of which have create severe hardship for the people of Cuba, both in material terms and also in terms of the lack of civic freedoms. This has resulted in large numbers of Cubans leaving the country over the years to seek a better life in countries such as the USA, Canada, Spain or other parts of Latin America. Not a lot come to Australia, because it is very difficult both practically and financially.

Alfredo is perhaps then a bit of a pioneer, who arrived in Hobart in July 2025 from Ecuador, where he spent 12 years previously. His first goal was to improve his English, but his main goal is to find a safe place for his family to settle. Like many migrating from South America, safety and security were major considerations.

But despite the hardships that drove him away from Cuba, Alfredo remembers his childhood fondly, as he grew up in a place that was safe and security and where there was a strong sense of community around and people helped each other out. It was only later in life that he started to question the ideology that he had drummed into him religiously from a young age, as the reality that he experienced no longer seemed to match the government line.

Alfredo is also a writer, having self-published books on dentistry, he's also written books for children and is working on a fantasy novel as well. On top of this, he has started teaching kickboxing in Hobart as well, and that reflects a theme that kept coming up in our interview that Alfredo values service to others.

Trinidad and Tobago is one of the larger nations of what is often known in the West Indies. It's known for its tropical beaches, its coral reefs, its steel drums and the Caribbean's biggest carnival celebration. In Australia, it is also associated with world-class cricketers like Brian Lara.

Rodney grew up in a couple of small close-knit communities on the north coast of Trinidad and has great memories of his childhood there.

Life took a darker turn for him later in life though, and family circumstances meant that he was better off going to live with his mother in New York at the age of 15. His experiences in Trinidad and seeing the growing influence of the illegal drug trade, influenced Rodney's decision to study a degree in Criminal Justice in New York.

However, it was during his degree that he made an online gamer friend from Tasmania, and cutting a long story short, he came to Tasmania to live in 2018. After the stress and tension of life in New York, Tasmania felt like a return to home and the more close-knit of community he had grown up with in Trinidad.

It can be easy to forget that English is not the only indigenous language of Britain, and indeed Welsh, still spoken by around 600,000, has its roots far deeper in the history of ancient Britain. Wales is a land of mythical folk tales, rolling hills, magnificent choral singing traditions, passion for rugby and so much more. Though perhaps clichees, although these contribute to a distinctive Welsh identity, which can still be seen in faraway places like Tasmania, which has long received Welsh migrants ( and convicts).

Huw is one of the more recent arrivals from Wales having come to settle in 2021. His partner had arrived in early 2020 to take up a position at the University of Tasmania. Due to a succession of misfortunes and tribulations, such as a global pandemic, Huw couldn't make it until much later.

Huw grew up in a very rural area of north-west Wales and was brought up in a Welsh-speaking household, and indeed, English wasn't introduced into his schooling until he was 7 years of age. As we discuss in this episode, language, especially having more than one, can have a big impact on shaping how one sees the world and Welsh is no exception.

Growing up on a farm where everyone had to pitch in, meant Huw developed a strong sense of community, something which he has found resonance with in Tasmania also.

In December, I started a collaboration with Hobart photographer Andrew Wilson and with the help of a grant from the City of Hobart, to photograph portraits of as many of the participants of 177 Nations of Tasmania as we could.

We started in December by doing a couple of trial photo sessions with five of our participants, and in this video they recount a bit of their experience of the photo shoot.

We will be doing further photo shoots at the Henry Jones Art Hotel from February 3 to March 7 and displaying the photos on the walls of the Packing Room Gallery.

Ingrid hails from the tiny island nation of Saint Lucia, a lush Caribbean island known for its volcanic peaks, vibrant Creole culture, and status as the only country named after a woman. With a population of around 180,000, Saint Lucia blends African, French, and British influences, and though its official language is English, many speak Saint Lucian Creole.

Ingrid trained as a physician in Cuba on a Saint Lucian government scholarship, worked in pediatrics, and later took on various public health roles across the Caribbean. She made a big move  to study  Master’s degree in Adelaide, where she met herpartner—but it was the appeal of small-city life that drew her to Hobart for her Ph.D.

Now based at the Menzies Institute, she’s deep into health economics research and has found a second home in Tasmania—one that, surprisingly, shares much with her island roots.