Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals

Send us Fan Mail

Before social media became nonstop political warfare, moving abroad often meant building creative communities online from scratch. James spent 14 years outside the UK, first in the Czech Republic and later in China, where blogs, expat forums, mixtapes, and early music podcasts helped him stay connected across cultures. Now back in England, he reflects on how dramatically online life changed between 2002 and 2016. We talk about Prague’s early expat blogging scene, podcasting before it went mainstream, China’s surprisingly open early internet years, the rise of the Great Firewall, reverse culture shock, Brexit-era social media tension, and the story behind Centuries of Sound, his podcast creating mixtapes for every year of recorded sound history.

Original publication date: July 18, 2020

 🌍 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

Many people say that working on your creative project every day is the only way to achieve success, whatever that is (well, that is an entirely other episode topic, that’s what that is). But is it realistic for us to write every day (Summer) or produce podcasting content every day (Steph)? In this episode we grapple with the scheduling aspects of our creative process: is consistency the thing that makes or breaks creative success? What we have done before, what worked before and what we might try in the future are some of the things we cover. But at the heart of it all is a disease in our creative comfort zone.

To be honest, I (Steph) have been working on my podcasts nearly every day for over two years. This consistency is fueled by 1. an annoyance of gatekeepers in other media not “letting” me publish these ideas before now and 2. a huge desire to make sense of my very messy and un(financially)successful life. But 2 years and 4 podcasts in and I am, in a word, tired. On the other side of the consistent fence is Summer. She wants some of Steph’s consistency in her own writing endeavors but is struggling with deciding what to write about. Steph wants to relax and slow down and Summer wants more writing consistency and gain creative and output momentum. So basically, the creative grass is always greener.

Rabbit Holes:

Summer: hotels in France

Steph: GTD: Get Things Done system

Helpful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCswMsONkwY&t=88s

Creative terminology/ideas to emerge from this episode:

(none in this episode)

Links:

-The Creative Curve by Allen Gannett, https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/37509591

-Bullet journals: https://www.google.com/search?q=bullet+journal&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiajbStuZ3jAhUE_GEKHbt9C0EQsAR6BAgCEAE&biw=1242&bih=582

Quotes:

“When is your inner passion not enough to keep going with it?” -Summer

“I got much more careful when it was other people’s souls that I was playing with in audio form.” -Steph

And a big thank you to Alex of Kwick Lights (https://kwick-lights.de/de) for recording our snazzy new intro/outro jingles! Thanks also to Lena of Lena On The Move (https://lenaonthemove.c

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

This is our first Podcasters roundup episode. The question was:

" What dream podcasting tool that does NOT exist do you want to exist?"

🤸🏽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

Send us Fan Mail

Podcasting in Germany can give immigrants and long-term international residents a way to reconnect with the curiosity and identity that can fade once life abroad becomes ordinary. After 12 years in Germany, Shaun Behrens found that creating an English-language podcast about expat life didn’t just connect him with listeners, it pulled him back into conversations about movement, belonging, and international life that he was starting to miss.

Shaun is originally from South Africa and had become a German citizen after more than a decade in Germany. He started Expat Life Germany partly because he missed the “expat spirit” of people willing to pack everything up and build a life somewhere new. With two children, a third on the way, and a settled life in Germany, moving again wasn’t realistic, so interviewing people still navigating international life became another way to stay connected to that part of himself.

Shaun's podcast: https://pod.link/1464633448

Listen for:

• How a long-term immigrant in Germany stayed connected to international life
• Why settling in Germany changed Shaun’s relationship with expat identity
• How an English-language podcast helped him reconnect with the “expat spirit”
• Why Germans listened to an expat podcast for an outsider’s view of Germany
• How life in Germany shaped the direction of Expat Life Germany
• Why speaking fluent German didn’t mean hosting a podcast in German felt right
• How conversations with expats and immigrants changed Shaun’s view of Germany
• Why an expat podcast started expanding into immigration, identity, and belonging
• How building an audience made Shaun reconsider the podcast’s original focus

How Immigrants Stay Connected to International Life After Settling in Germany

After 12 years in Germany, Shaun no longer considered himself an expat. He’d become a German citizen and described himself more as an immigrant, but he still missed the curiosity and movement of international life. Expat Life Germany gave him regular contact with people who were still experiencing the process of moving somewhere new.

Why Germans Listen to English-Language Podcasts About Germany

Shaun expected an English-language podcast about Germany to attract foreigners, but Germans started listening too. They told him they enjoyed hearing their country through “outsiders’ eyes.” That unexpected audience made him reconsider whether the podcast was really just about expat life.

How Expat Podcasts Expand Into Immigration, Identity, and Belonging

Shaun originally planned to interview people currently living in Germany as expats, but the stories he wanted to tell soon became broader. One upcoming guest had German grandparents who left during the Holocaust, later studied German at university, and spent several months living in Germany. Shaun began thinking less about “expat life” and more about the wider “Germany experience” created through immigration, travel, language, history, and family.

The show was also growing faster than Shaun expected. Just 13 episodes in, his Facebook group had around 40 members and his downloads were strong enough that changing the concept no longer felt invisible. He was considering a rebrand, even if it meant losing some listeners, because making a show he wanted to keep producing mattered more than protecting the original idea.

CONNECT WITH GUEST: SHAUN BEHRENS

Podcast: The Germany Experience (the new name): https://pod.link/1464633448

CONNECT WITH HOST STEPHANIE FUCCIO

https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/contact-stephanie

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Expat Life Germany | Podstock | Podcastnik | The Expat Cast | Buzzsprout | Zencastr

Music by Damon Castillo, featuring “Sometime Guy.”

Original publication date: September 30, 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

Eric started lifting weights 15 years ago and it is now an essential part of his life and the main topic of his and his girlfriend's podcast “Planet Powerlifting”. In their podcast, they hope to make powerlifting more accessible to outsiders and shed light on as many aspects of the sport as possible. Along with the basics of their podcasting life in Berlin, Germany we cover unique aspects of the podcasting scene in Germany as a whole as well. 

---------------------------------------------

Eric Hinzpeter:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planet_powerlifting 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/planetpowerlift
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Planet-Powerlifting-106093897799455
• Website: https://www.planetpowerlifting.de

​Links: ​​

• Podstock, the podcast conference in the woods, looks like they are doing a remote version in 2020: https://www.podstock.de/cfp_2020.html
• The IG famous German Powerlifter Eric talked about is  Julie Klenker, also known as “Bundesbizepsministerin,”which translates to “Federal Biceps Ministry: https://www.instagram.com/bundesbizepsministerin/
• Norm of PodLovers Asia episode on Geopats Podcasting: https://www.stephfuccio.com/geopatspodcastingshow/122-are-you-sick-of-american-podcasts-discover-the-asian-podcasting-scene-with-normal-chella-of-podlovers-asia-podcast
• Digital Kompakt example (German no spaces podcast type): https://www.digitalkompakt.de/podcast/achtsamkeit-sinn-arbeit/
• ​Music courtesy of ​Damon Castillo.The song in this episode is “California Minute" from t

🤸🏽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

Send us Fan Mail

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

Send us Fan Mail

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

Send us Fan Mail

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