Friendship Abroad

Urmi is a woman who wears many hats. But behind all her roles and achievements is a story about growing up between cultures, finding her people, and figuring out what home really means.

Urmi was born in Sicily to a Bengali immigrant family. Her father often tells her that she was the first Bengali girl born in Italy, back when the Bengali community there was still very small. Later, she moved to Canada, where she had to start over in a country where she knew absolutely no one.

In this episode of Friendship Abroad, Urmi shares stories about making friends at school and university, starting from scratch in Canada, and the people who made her feel celebrated for who she was. We also talk about the other side of friendship: losing people who struggle to be happy for your success, and learning to recognize the difference between those who genuinely support you and those who don't.

We talk about identity, belonging, and the meaning of home. Can a place become home if you don't speak the language? How important is language when it comes to building connections? And why can it take years to call someone a friend in one culture, while in another, the word comes much more easily?

We also try to figure out where the line between a friend and an acquaintance really is. Is it about how long you've known someone, how much you've shared, or simply how you feel around them?

Urmi Hossain is a self-published author, speaker, podcast host, and finance professional based in Canada. She holds the CFA and CAIA designations and advocates for women's empowerment, identity, and self-leadership. Her book, Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle, explores her experience as a third-culture woman navigating belonging and self-worth. She also hosts Stories Beyond Borders, a podcast about identity, migration, language, and the meaning of home.

This episode is full of honest reflections, funny stories, and a few difficult truths about friendship. Because finding your people isn't always easy, but sometimes the friendships we build along the way teach us just as much about ourselves as they do about other people.

Urmi is actually the first guest who reached out to me herself by email after finding my podcast online. And I love that, because you really don't have to wait for an invitation!

Want to share your story?

If you've moved to another country, struggled to find your people, experienced an unexpected friendship, or have your own thoughts about what it means to belong, I'd love to hear from you.

Send me an email to [email protected] or a message on Instagram. Your story deserves to be heard, and maybe it will be the next one we share on Friendship Abroad.

What happens when you move from a big city to a much smaller place — and suddenly realize that making friends doesn’t work the way you expected?

In this new episode of Friendship Abroad, Hanna talks to her friend Julia, a talented fashion photographer, about her experience of moving between countries and cities, building a life across two countries at the same time, and trying to create a sense of home somewhere new.

Julia shares the unexpected story of how she met her partner, as well as the less romantic side of starting over: finding your people, building new connections, and figuring out where you actually belong.

We also talk about something many expats struggle with: why is it so difficult to make friends with locals? And if you’ve just arrived in a new country, where do you even find your very first friend?

This is a conversation about immigration, relationships, loneliness, new beginnings, and all those random encounters that can completely change the direction of your life.

If you’ve ever moved somewhere new and thought, “Okay… but how do I actually make friends here?” — you’ll probably relate to this one.

If you have your own story about friendship, loneliness, connection, or finding your people abroad, I’d love to hear it.

To become a guest on Friendship Abroad, send me an email at [email protected] and tell me a little about your story.

Want to be a guest?

What if finding friends abroad has less to do with where you live and more to do with how you approach people?

In this episode of Friendship Abroad, Hanna talks to Anna — a serial expat whose journey has taken her from Canada to Vietnam and beyond. Together, they explore why mindset matters more than geography when it comes to building meaningful connections.

Anna shares why so many expats make "finding local friends" their ultimate goal — and why that strategy often leads to disappointment. We also discuss what makes friendship with locals challenging, how Dutch neighborhoods shape social life, and why making friends as adults might be easier if we borrow a few tricks from childhood.

We also talk about:

• how to maintain close relationships across countries and time zones
• staying connected with friends you've known since school
• the importance of community when starting over abroad
• practical ways to meet people and build genuine friendships

After listening to the recording, Anna felt there were a few additional thoughts that were important for understanding her story and experience:

“I understood after the recording that I sound overly positive and maybe too light on the concept of friendship, which is not the case. With the multiple moves across the world I have developed a specific attitude that might sound cynical, but it really helps me to cope with losing connections and friends. It came to me from a book of Haruki Murakami “Dance Dance Dance”: in my life there’s an entrance and an exit. People pass through my life, and I am very grateful if they choose to stay with me for a while, but I know that most of them will leave through the exit, and I accept that. That approach really helps me to cherish people and time with them, and then let go if our roads separate.Another thing I wanted to mentioned - I was very quick in saying I do not have friends in Russia left. This is not the actual situation, but the topic is too sensitive and emotional for me to go deeper into it”

During the episode, Anna also mentions the Toastmasters club: https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club

Disclaimer: My microphone volume is quite low in this episode, but the good news is that my guest sounds crystal clear! Thank you for your patience, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

If you'd like to become a guest on Friendship Abroad and share your own story of friendship, belonging, and life abroad, send me an email at [email protected]

Not every friendship is meant to last forever.

And sometimes the hardest heartbreaks in expat life are not romantic ones — but friendships that slowly disappear, change, or reveal themselves to be something different than we believed.
In this deeply personal solo episode of Friendship Abroad, Hanna shares honest and emotional stories about friends lost along the way: friendships that faded after moving abroad, connections that survived distance — and others that didn’t survive reality.
She also talks about a painful but important realization many adults experience: sometimes people we called “friends” were only part of a specific chapter of our lives.
Why do some friendships become stronger through distance, while others quietly fall apart?
Why is losing a friend rarely talked about — even though it can hurt just as much as losing a relationship?
And how do we learn to let go without becoming closed off to new connections?
This episode is vulnerable, reflective, and painfully relatable for anyone who has ever:
-outgrown old friendships
-felt abandoned after moving abroad
-struggled to reconnect after returning home
-or realized that loneliness can exist even when surrounded by people
If this episode resonates with you, Hanna would truly love to hear your story.
And if you would like to become a guest on Friendship Abroad and share your own experience of connection, loneliness, friendship, or starting over abroad, send an email to:
📩 [email protected] or DM me on Instagram

In the newest episode of Friendship Abroad, Hanna’s guest shares a powerful and unexpected story about how moving abroad for love opened the door to an entirely new country — and how, in the end, friendship became the real turning point.

What started as romance turned into something different, but a chance encounter grew into a meaningful friendship that reshaped her life and even led to new professional opportunities.

Shannon’s story shows how openness to the unknown can make integration easier, help build genuine connections with locals, and transform random meetings into life-changing relationships.

Filled with unexpected twists, honest reflections, and moments of courage, this episode is about finding your place abroad — sometimes in ways you never planned.

If you’d like to become a guest on the podcast, send an email to [email protected]

What happens when you move back home — and it no longer feels fully like home?

In this episode of Friendship Abroad, Hanna talks to her friend Anja — a Dutch singer, songwriter, and producer — about living in Asia and returning to the Netherlands after years abroad.

They explore something many people don’t expect:

how hard it can be to reconnect with old friends, rebuild your social circle, and find your place again in a country that used to feel familiar.

Is friendship with colleagues real friendship?

Can you outgrow the people you once felt closest to?

And what does it take to build meaningful connection later in life?

Anja also shares an incredibly inspiring story about friendship after 60 — proof that deep connection has no age limit.

In the episode, Anja mentions several social events she attended on her own — you’ll find the links below:

&the table: https://www.andthetbl.com/

After 5 | The IRL friendship platform for women: https://after-5.co/

Apps for making friends: Bumble BFF and Hey! VINA

Follow Anja on TikTok to discover her music and creative work:

Follow Hanna on Instagram for more insights on expat life, health, and social connection.

And if you’d like to become a guest on the podcast, reach out via email: [email protected]

Because sometimes the bravest move isn’t moving abroad —

it’s learning how to belong again.

What is it like to build friendships across cultures?

In this episode, Hanna talks with her first guest and close friend about the differences between African and European mentalities, Dutch directness, the three darkest months of the year, and what friendship looks like when distance becomes part of life.

They also share the biggest secret to making friends in a new country — something many expats completely underestimate.

During the episode, we mention the Tilburg International Club as a place where internationals (and locals) connect: https://tilburginternationalclub.com/

Follow Hanna on Instagram for more expat life and health insights.

And if you’d like to be the next guest on the podcast, you can reach out via email: [email protected]

Moving abroad is exciting — until it feels lonely.

In this first episode of Friendship Abroad, Hanna shares why this podcast exists.

After living in five countries over nine years, she realized that the hardest part of expat life is not language or culture — it’s the lack of real connection.

As a nutrition coach, Hanna saw the same pattern again and again: loneliness affects not only our emotions, but also our health, our eating habits, and our well-being.

This podcast is not about perfect stories or expert advice.

It’s about real people, real struggles, and real friendships built abroad.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected in a new country — you’re not alone.

And if you want to become a guest on this podcast and share your friendship story, write to [email protected].

This is just the beginning.

Subscribe and stay tuned.

Do you remember how easy it was to make friends when we were children?

As adults, it’s not that simple anymore.

And when you move to another country, it can feel almost impossible.

I'm Hanna, first expat nutrition coach who's going to explore together with other expats what friendship really is.