Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals

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In China, WeChat, Alipay, and Didi can give expats and internationals something bigger than convenience: independence. That matters fast when daily life depends on local apps, and Keturah Kendrick’s experience in Shanghai shows how technology can reshape transportation, payments, communication, and the basic ability to navigate life abroad.

Keturah Kendrick is an international English teacher, author of No Thanks: Reflections on Freedom, and host of Unchained, Unbothered, a podcast centering Black women across the African diaspora. After growing up in New Orleans, spending 14 years in New York City, living in Rwanda, traveling across 13 African countries, and then moving to Shanghai, she experienced a major shift in her relationship with technology. In this conversation, she explains how someone who once resisted Instagram came to rely on WeChat, Alipay, Didi, translation tools, food delivery, and streaming to live more independently abroad and stay connected to home.

Original publication date: September 27, 2019

Keturah: https://www.keturahkendrick.com/

Listen for:

• How living in China changes expat internet habits
• Why WeChat is essential for expat life in China
• How Alipay and mobile payments change daily life in China
• Why Didi and translation tools help expats navigate China independently
• How expats use Chinese apps and Western social media differently
• Why Chinese social media is harder for foreigners to understand
• How online communities turn into real friendships abroad
• Why living abroad can increase connection to media from home
• How internet access becomes essential for expats and internationals

Why WeChat Matters for Expat Life in China

WeChat sat at the center of Keturah’s shift from reluctant tech user to someone who depended on digital tools every day. She used it for messaging, payments, translation, group communication, and even arranging rides when her phone initially wouldn’t download Didi. Combined with Alipay, Ele.me, Explore Shanghai, and SmartShanghai, these apps became less about “being online” and more about functioning independently in Shanghai.

How Expats Use Chinese and Western Apps Differently

Keturah used Chinese and Western platforms for different parts of her life. WeChat, Didi, Ele.me, and city apps helped her navigate Shanghai, while Facebook and Instagram kept her connected with friends, family, readers, and podcast listeners outside China. That split created two parallel digital lives: one for where she physically lived and one for the community she carried with her.

Why Living Abroad Can Increase Connection to Home

Living in China also made Keturah watch more American television than she had in the US. Shows like Pose, Queen Sugar, 90 Day Fiancé, and the Real Housewives franchises helped recreate the cultural conversations she no longer picked up naturally through coworkers, students, and friends. Streaming became another way to stay connected to home.

Keturah also challenges the idea that online relationships are automatically less real. Some of the people who found her through her podcast and book became genuine friends before they ever met in person. As she put it, “we’ve been met.”

By the end of the conversation, internet access no longer felt optional to her. She went from questioning why anyone needed Instagram to seeing internet access as essential modern infrastructure for work, communication, transportation, information, and independence abroad.

CONNECT WITH GUEST: KETURAH KENDRICK

Author: No Thanks: Reflections on Freedom
Podcast: Unchained, Unbothered
Website: https://www.keturahkendrick.com/

CONNECT WITH STEPH FUCCIO

Website: PodcastSteph.com

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

WeChat | Alipay | Didi | Ele.me | Explore Shanghai | SmartShanghai

Music by Damon Castillo, featuring “Sometime Guy.”

 🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources

🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description

🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

 Welcome to the Creatively Complicated podcast, where we dive into the messiness of our creativity. Summer and Stephanie are two Americans living abroad in two different countries: Germany and China. We met via podcasting so it made sense for us to start a podcast to talk through our creative ponderings. This podcast is NOT an advice podcast: it is more of a process through the deep, murky waters of our own creative struggles and guilty successes. 

 In this episode Summer and Steph are both on European soil. Summer is at home in Nuremberg, Germany and Steph is traveling in Lake Como, Italy. This travel sparks off a discussion about how when we travel a significant distance AND to a different enough culture, our brains can disconnect and let go. This release can (at least for these two expats) create space for creativity to flow through us and even create a brain frenzy of ideas. 

 Creative terminology/ideas to emerge from this episode:

-”visa job”: the job that you keep to have paperwork to live legally in a host country BUT is not necessarily something you’re passionate in

-”brain frenzy”: energy that is a mix of excitement, anticipation and relief when you step away from your daily life. Your body relaxes so your brain goes crazy with fun ideas.

-”podconfidence” ; owning our podcast selves instead of saying “I am just ….”

Example: I am just doing a podcast about creativity.

And finally, a request from these two expats:

When someone you know leaves to go live abroad, instead of saying:

”wherever you go, there you are”

please say

“I will miss you”.

It’s way more supportive.

Thanks.

-Summer and Steph

 LINKS

-Summer’s new mic: Samson Q2U

-Shiny new object syndrome: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288370

-Lake Como: https://www.lakecomo.is/

Lake Garda : https://www.ytravelblog.com/things-to-do-at-lake-garda-italy/

 -”Parsley and Coriander” by Antonella Moretti

-Summer’s interview with Zack on the Expat Chit Chat Podcast

-Summer’s interview with Ni

www.stephfuccio.com

Producer, Host, Editor: Stephanie Fuccio: https://www.stephfuccio.com/contact.html

questions for audio creatives newsletter: https://stephfuccio.ghost.io/

Geopats YouTube channel: under construction

This podcast was created with (affiliate links):

• Streamyard for recording, going live, and distributing FULL videos to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube: https://streamyard.com?pal=5673660346007552
• Buzzsprout for podcast hosting: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1907332
• Acon Digital's DeVerberate to reduce echo: https://a.paddle.com/v2/click/11427/147398?link=3691
• Tube Buddy to optimize YouTube: https://www.tubebuddy.com/globalpodcasteditors

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In this episode I am pleased to welcome Yunus Emre Karasakal, a Turkish expat in Shanghai, China. Yunus is a Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ) Instructor here in Shanghai as well as an Abu Dhabi World Pro Masters Champion (Brown Belt) and an IBJJF Asian Open Champion (Brown and Black Belt). Yes, for the language geeks, he gives BJJ instruction in English and Chinese and yes, we chatted about him coming on the Changing Scripts show soon, don’t worry. Yunus is the first expat I’ve talked to that spends more time on his host country’s social media platforms than the ones he used before moving abroad. The platform he uses the most is the very popular Chinese video app, Douyin, which has an outside of China app spin off called Tiktok. He brings BJJ to a funny level on this current platform. If you don’t have Douyin, don’t worry, you can still see some of his videos on Instagram.  

Original publication date: September 13, 2019

 🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources

🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description

🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

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Third culture kids don’t use the internet the same way everywhere they live, and Ting’s moves between China, the US, Singapore, and Hong Kong show how geography reshapes social media habits, online identity, privacy, language, and communication. As more of our relationships and professional lives move online, understanding how culture and location influence the platforms we use, what we share, and how we connect across borders matters more than ever.

Original publication date: August 16, 2019

What You’ll Learn About Third Culture Kids, Social Media, and Online Identity

• How living in different countries changes social media habits
• Why WeChat became essential for communication in China
• How privacy settings influence what people share online
• Why WhatsApp became important in Singapore and Hong Kong
• How bilingual people use different languages online
• Why geography influences which social media platforms people use

How Living in Different Countries Changes Online Identity

Ting was born in Hainan, grew up in San Francisco and Beijing, attended university in North Carolina, and studied in Singapore and Hong Kong. By middle school, she was already noticing that online profiles showed only selected parts of a person.

As her geography changed, so did the platforms, languages, and social expectations around her.

How Social Media Helps Maintain Friendships Across Borders

At around 14, Ting moved from San Francisco back to Beijing and entered a local Chinese school while rebuilding her Chinese. She dropped from partway through ninth grade in the US back to eighth grade and prepared for the Zhongkao high school entrance exam.

AIM became a way to stay connected with childhood friends in the US and feel less isolated after the move.

Why WeChat Became Essential for Communication in China

Ting didn’t initially understand why classmates wanted smartphones. Then WeChat groups became part of everyday social life, and not having a smartphone meant missing conversations.

Her parents saw smartphones as a distraction, so Ting eventually saved enough money to buy one herself.

How WeChat Privacy Differs From Facebook

Ting kept using WeChat wherever she lived partly because WeChat Moments felt more private than Facebook. Likes and comments are only visible to people who are also connected to the person interacting with the post.

That privacy influenced what people shared, from harmless screenshots of jokes to group-chat arguments exposed publicly.

Why WhatsApp Is Popular for International Communication

During a university exchange in Singapore, Ting encountered another communication norm: exchanging WhatsApp details when meeting someone.

She liked that WhatsApp focused on direct communication rather than giving a new acquaintance access to years of public posts and photos. It stayed important when she later studied in Hong Kong.

How Messaging Apps Support Long-Distance Friendships

Ting met her best friend during the Singapore exchange and became closer to her in Hong Kong. Her friend doesn’t use Facebook or Instagram, so WhatsApp became their main way to message and call across countries.

Different apps weren’t interchangeable. Some became closely tied to particular relationships and places.

How Local Culture Changes Online Conversations

When Ting moved from Singapore to Hong Kong, the apps people used stayed similar, but the conversations changed. She noticed much more politically heated discussion and online activism around local elections.

The technology was similar, but geography changed what people used it to discuss.

How Bilingual People Use Different Languages Online

Ting mainly uses English on Facebook and Instagram. On WeChat, she moves between English and Chinese depending on the person and what she wants to express.

With other third culture kids, she may code-switch between both languages. Often, the language she first uses with someone becomes the language she continues using with them.

Why Geography Influences Social Media Platform Use

MySpace and AIM mattered in California. WeChat became essential in China, while WhatsApp entered Ting’s life in Singapore and remained useful in Hong Kong.

Ting describes herself as “social media slow,” which makes the pattern clearer: geography and community kept deciding which technologies became relevant.

What Old Social Media Posts Reveal About Online Identity

Ting sometimes looks back at old blog and social media posts and barely recognizes the person who created them. She sees that distance as evidence of growth.

For people who move across countries and cultures, old posts can preserve earlier versions of someone whose geography, language, relationships, and ideas about privacy were all changing at the same time.

 🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources

🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description

🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

Norm's podcast, Podlovers Asia, is in English and thus gives us a view of the Asian podcasting scene and all of the many cultures that it includes, with zero linguistic effort. In this episode we start with the Asian podcasting scene and then move into his local scene in Malaysia and wrap up with his own podcasting experience and, of course, his tips for new Podcasters wanting to enter the Asian Podcasting scene. 

Norm's info:

• Twitter, https://twitter.com/NormanChella
• LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/normanchella/
• Quora, https://www.quora.com/profile/Norman-T-Chella 
• Pod Lovers Asia Website, podloversasia.com , now hosted on Whooshkaa,  https://www.whooshkaa.com/​
• Tempered Fables Podcast, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tempered-fables/id1400476035

Links: 

• Waves (Vietnam) https://waves8.com/
• Renegade Radio (Malaysia) https://vulcanpost.com/688328/renegade-radio-podcast-network-malaysia/
• The Creative Curry Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-creative-curry-podcast/id1479066033
• Macha Men Podcast, https://themachamen.podbean.com/
• Asia Podcast Summit, https://asiapodcastsummit.com/

​Breaks: 

• (16:10) Bangkok Podcast, https://www.bangkokpodcast.com/
• (16:40) Writer & Geek Podcast, https://www.writerandgeek.com/
• #PodRevDay, https://www.stephfuccio.com/podrevday-podcast-review-day.html and Podcasters Accountability Groups, https://www.stephfuccio.com/podcast-events--groups.html
• #PodRevD

🤸🏽Music from
Damon Castillo (earlier episodes): https://www.damoncastillo.com/
and
Key Frame Audio (more recent eps) :https://keyframeaudio.com/

Top 3 services that have help me while living in different countries (mostly for Americans): Affiliate links so I'll get a small commission.

🔥 Traveling Mailbox: scan/forward postal service for Americans. It's saved me time, money and headaches.
https://travelingmailbox.com/geopats/?ref=3422

🔥Chase Sapphire Credit Card: annual fee, NO currency conversion fee. Used this in many countries globally.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/19Q/MDNYO68N38

🔥 Stackry: Shop in the U.S. and have the items shipped internationally.
https://www.stackry.com/register?referral=7118738

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In this podcast episode we chat with Brendan Davis, an American expat who has lived in China for many years. Brendan is a Film and TV Writer, Producer, Director and fellow Podcaster. His podcasts are: If I Knew You Better, Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom and How China Works. Brendan somehow has kept grounded as has been involved with some pretty spectacular creative projects globally. Okay, to be honest, he is a bit crazy, good crazy, as his website, https://www.crazyinagoodway.com admits to. The kind of crazy that you want in your life and in your earbuds. 

 In this conversation Steph and Brendan chat about how his move to China changed what he did online, how he is splitting his time now that he has decided not to work IN China but will continue to keep a home base (and an Internet connection) here, and how he cultivated his crazy in a good way online persona while being a deep, thought provoking and may I say, wonderful human being.

Original publication date: June 21, 2019

 🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources

🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description

🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

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In this podcast episode we chat with Kelly Merks, a Texas expat who has lived abroad since 2011, in Japan and in the Netherlands. Her Twitter bio tells is: “A Texan full of fernweh (NOTE: “fernweh is a German word that means “ A Farsickness or Longing for Unseen Places.). Noob knitter and clay thrower. Fairy godmother of @WeAreXpats, a project of @xpatarchive: http://wearexpats.org “

​​@WeAreXpats is how Kelly and I first met online and connected over discussions of place, social medianess and expat life. For those of you not familiar with rocur accounts, they are rotating accounts where usually 1 person in that category (in this case, an expat) tweets for a week and then the account will rotate to another person after that. Kelly started this rocur account while she was a volunteer at the Expatriate Archive Center in The Hauge where she now is their Public Relations Manager. Outside of the EAC, Kelly also is raising a tiny human with her husband and somehow finds time to write about her geographic pondering in her blog, Bullet Trains & Bike Lanes.

Original publication date: May 14, 2019

 🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources

🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description

🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

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China’s internet culture reveals how powerfully money, status, and the need for connection shape what people do online. Documentary filmmaker Hao Wu explains how moving between China and the US changes his internet habits, and what China’s YY livestreaming world reveals about class, fame, connection, and the creator economy.

Original publication date: April 20, 2019

Hao Wu: https://www.haowufilm.com/

What You’ll Learn About China’s Internet and Chinese Livestreaming

• How internet use differs between China and the US
• How China’s Great Firewall shapes online behavior
• How YY livestreaming helped build China’s creator economy
• How migrant workers found community through livestreaming
• What online fame and creator burnout look like
• Why social media creates both connection and dependence

How Internet Use Differs Between China and the US

Hao moved from China to the US at age 20 in 1992, when staying connected meant sending email through Unix commands on black screens with green text.

His habits still change with geography. In China, he turns to WeChat, Toutiao, and Tencent Video. In the US, he shifts toward The New York Times, BuzzFeed, YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu.

How China’s Great Firewall Shapes Online Behavior

China’s Great Firewall explains only part of that divide. Conversations with cab drivers and childhood friends also change what he researches online.

For Hao, digital life doesn’t exist separately from everyday life. Moving countries changes the information and online spaces he needs.

How YY Livestreaming Helped Build China’s Creator Economy

Hao began filming People’s Republic of Desire in 2014, before livestreaming became mainstream in China. YY fascinated him because wealthy tuhao and poorer diaosi could occupy the same online space even though they rarely mixed that way offline.

YY connected performers, fans, patrons, agencies, and the platform through virtual gifts and revenue sharing. Big spenders gained recognition and status while streamers built careers around keeping audiences engaged.

How Chinese Livestreaming Created Community for Migrant Workers

Hao followed Yong, a migrant worker who spent his evenings watching livestreamer Big Lee. When Hao asked when he would stop, Yong said: when Big Lee stopped performing.

For devoted fans, livestreaming offered more than entertainment. It created a recurring social space built around personalities, jokes, competitions, and a performer’s success.

What It Takes to Become a Successful Livestreamer in China

Livestreaming could look like easy money, but successful hosts might improvise for one or two hours while entertaining viewers and responding in real time.

Big Lee became so drained by performing that he no longer wanted to talk after broadcasts. The connection viewers valued could leave the performer exhausted.

What Chinese Livestreaming Reveals About Class, Money, and Status

Hao doesn’t claim YY represents all of China. Instead, he describes livestreaming as an extreme reflection containing “kernels of truth.”

Money, status, aspiration, recognition, and inequality already existed offline. YY made those forces unusually visible online.

Why Social Media Creates Connection and Dependence

After two years filming People’s Republic of Desire and another year and a half editing it, Hao began questioning his own desire for likes, comments, and recognition online.

Yet social media also helped people discover, fund, and share his independent films. The same technology could create dependence while providing genuine community and support.

How Geography Shapes Online Identity Across Countries

Move Hao from the US to China and his apps, news, conversations, and questions change. The livestreamers and fans he documented show a related pattern: what people want or lack offline shapes what they seek online.

Our online identities don’t exist separately from where and how we live. They grow out of them.

 🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources

🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description

🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

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In this podcast episode we chat with long term China Expat Andy Curtain about his geographical movement from Melbourne, Australia to Shanghai, China and what effect it had on his online activities/presence. Even though he was online quite early in Australia with IRC and ICQ, he admits that most of his current online activities have been utility based, focusing on his stand up comedy promotions and community building. 

​As a fellow Content Creator (and Influencer, lol), I find it very interesting that the making of his podcast, Stuck in the Middle, helps him process his own comedic material. There is so much to say about Andy, the deep impression he has made on the stand up comedy scene in China and his own business savvy that has impacted how I think of my own creative endeavors on and offline in the short time since this interview took place. But for now I will just say thank you Andy for coming on the show and sharing your story.  

Original publication date: April 9, 2019

 🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources

🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description

🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

Bianca is a Carnivore, biohacker and Nutritional therapist with a love of travel, cats, working out and playing sports, cooking at home, drinking coffee, spending time with her niece and nephews and discussing health and well being with anyone and everyone who is willing and able.

🤸🏽Music from
Damon Castillo (earlier episodes): https://www.damoncastillo.com/
and
Key Frame Audio (more recent eps) :https://keyframeaudio.com/

Top 3 services that have help me while living in different countries (mostly for Americans): Affiliate links so I'll get a small commission.

🔥 Traveling Mailbox: scan/forward postal service for Americans. It's saved me time, money and headaches.
https://travelingmailbox.com/geopats/?ref=3422

🔥Chase Sapphire Credit Card: annual fee, NO currency conversion fee. Used this in many countries globally.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/19Q/MDNYO68N38

🔥 Stackry: Shop in the U.S. and have the items shipped internationally.
https://www.stackry.com/register?referral=7118738