Crossing The Pond

When this week’s guest, Farrah Bourke, first moved to the US from Ireland in 2004. She was voted by peers as the most likely of her four friends to come back within a couple of weeks, after outlasting her friends by nearly 18 years, she returned home to Tipperary in 2023

Gary delves into Farrah’s time spent working in the hospitality industry in New York City, the experiences and challenges from her adventure and what she values more than ever now that she’s returned to Ireland.

#crossingthepondpodcast #crossingthepond #irishabroad #hospitalitymanagement #nycbartenders

Gary’s guest this week is one of his oldest friends from his time in the US . Kevin Lynott began his career as a teacher the UK before a brief stint in Australia led to his arrival in the states in 1997, initially working in the youth sports industry.

He returned back to Ireland in 2022 after a 17 year career in the public education system working at a high school teacher and coach in New Jersey.

Kevin reflects on his time working in the various roles, how the teaching landscape has changed in his many years as an educator, the impacts of his friends and connections and what it took for him to leave it all behind.

#crossingthepond #guidance #irishabroad #expats

Gary has taken his own advice this week and gone on his holidays to the UK and Ireland for a little trip to visit family and friends.

This episode is a little compilation from the first 10 episodes including stories, advice and of course, the quickfire rounds.

Hopefully it'll be a chance to reminisce on past episodes or to those who are new to the podcast, maybe it gives people a chance to go back and catch up on what they may have missed out on so far.

Gary will be back next week with an episode recorded on his travels, but in the meantime, thanks for listening.

Guests in Speaking order:

Andy Ralphs - 'Experience'

Andy Roderick - 'Connection'

Phil Trowler - 'Risk'

Ray Gallagher - 'Reflection'

Jason Grubb - 'Sacrifice'

Gavin Quirk - 'Structure'

Matt Walker - 'Professionalism'

Sue Page - 'Resilience'

Bob Gibson - 'Friendship'

Pat McCarthy - 'Ambition'

In this weeks American Summer episode Gary chats with Sal Eppolito, a New Jersey native, whose passion for soccer has allowed him to broaden his horizons and come closer in touch with his European heritage.

They explore similarities between the places he has visited and his home state of NJ and also how his travel and interactions have influenced his decisions and perspectives.

#crossingthepond #americansummer #personaljourneys #travel #culturalcomparisons

Gary's guest for this weeks 'American Summer' episode has travelled to over 200 professional soccer games in the UK and Europe. Perhaps more significantly, he has visited all 92 football league stadiums in England and Wales.

#crossingthepond #travel #soccer #soccertravel #groundhopper #passion #understanding #england #wiganathletic #lincolncityfc #tottenhamhotspurfc #westhamunited #arsenal #liverpoolfc #sunderlandafc #wrexhamfc #sheffieldunited #sheffieldwednesday #grimsbytown #scunthorpeunited #millwallfc

Maggie Devine-Inman joins Gary this week to talk about her alternate 'Crossing the Pond' experience. Maggie moved to the UK in 2012 and in 2016 co-founded Lifestyled Club, a member-only website offering support services for wives and partners of professional footballers.

She talks about her early years in the UK and how she has brought her own experiences of living away from home to drive her to be successful in helping to support families of professionals who may be experiencing similar challenges upon moving to new surroundings.

www.lifestyledclub.com