Nextbiteoflife Podcast

['July 20, 2019
Marrakech Podcast:
 
A Marrakech visit is an absolutely delightful way to spend your vacation!\xa0 \xa0Since this would have turned into a small novel if l decided to just write about it,\xa0 l added an accompanying podcast so as to squeeze in as much information as possible. Our journey started out a little rough when l realized upon getting to the airport that l had forgotten my luggage at home :-(. I only had my purse and toothbrush on me!
A trip to the souk fixed that upon arrival though. Marrakesh deserves your visit. Here are the reasons why l think more and more people are discovering a part of Africa that has long been a playground for the extremely rich and very famous people like The Beatles in their prime, The Rolling Stones, and Winston Churchill.

Reasons to visit Marrakesh:

* Majorelle Gardens
* Medina
* Cheap flights
* Ben Yousser Madrasa school
* Agdal Gardens
* Koutoubia Mosque
* Bahia Palace
* Favourable currency exchange making for a cheap holiday in Morocco
* Menara Gardens
* Saadian Tombs
* Hamaam Experience

Cheap flights to Marrakech: A great reason to visit Marrakech
There are lots of airlines offering cheap flights to Marrakech. These airlines include big companies like KLM and Iberia. Right along with them are no frills airlines like Vueling and Ryanair. Since we lived in Seville, our flight was less than $50 RT per ticket and we flew Seville to Marrakech on Ryanair. The journey time was just under an hour which was absolutely fantastic. To find great flights to Marrakech, I suggest using a website like Skyscanner to find the best routes and prices.
 
History of Marrakesh:
Turbulent history-\xa0 Marrakech went through so many power struggles and captures in it’s over a thousand-year history. It still managed to rise from the literal ashes and stands as a true testament in the face of adversity.\xa0 It was ruled at various times by the Almoravids, the Marinids and the Saadians. It ultimately became a French Protectorate and home to stars like Maurice Chevalier, Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker. Marrakesh became independent in 1956.
The new city (Ville Nouvell), now called Gueliz was formed by the French diplomats, and planner Henri Post was commissioned to design it in 1914 on the outskirts of the Medina walls. Marrakesh became a “hippie Mecca” in the 60’s and a lot of the rock stars and fashion designers made homes there. Moroccans launched a grand plan to rid themselves of the long-haired westerners and their drug culture, clearing them out by the mid 70’s. French expats then moved in and began renovating the old town. It became a UNESCO heritage in 1982. Gueliz is where you would find all the modern conveniences of life, like banks, ATM, mall, theater etc. I prefer the old town.
Connection to South Spain (Andalusia) and Seville in particular. The Koutoubian mosque minaret is actually a twin of the one at the Giralda. Same thing for the one at the Hassan Tower in Rabat. Since the Giralda was used as a model for\xa0 so many other church towers, like Moscow’s Red Square ones\xa0 for instance, you could say it’s influence is indeed far-flung.
Arabic is the official language, with French being the second language. It makes sense therefore that most of the tourists are French people. A lot speak English as well, especially the younger ones, so don’t let that stop you.
Protect your trip with the best\xa0Travel Insurance.
\xa0Where to stay in Marrakech:
Our fantastic Riyadh Farhan experience, right in the middle of the Medina. Don’t even think of staying anywhere else :-)
 
 
 
Find fantastically priced Kemkem 38:19 Podcast with Expats Episode 5 – Nicole in Omanhttps://nextbiteoflife.com/podcast-expats-episode-5/ Fri, 24 Jun 2016 07:34:22 +0000 https://nextbiteoflife.com/?p=6110 https://nextbiteoflife.com/podcast-expats-episode-5/#comments https://nextbiteoflife.com/podcast-expats-episode-5/feed/ 26 The latest Podcast with Expats episode features Nicole Brewer, a very dynamic woman constantly on the go. Nicole is an expat currently living in Oman, and has been there for the past 3 years. Prior to that, she was living in South Korea. She is an English teacher by profession during the day, and a burgeoning entrepreneur the rest of the time. This episode discusses life and expat living in the Arabian Peninsula.

Podcast with Expats Episode 5 with Nicole in Oman:
Nicole is one busy woman and l was so glad she found time to talk to me about her expat life. I have been a big fan of hers for a bit. She runs one of the bigger Facebook groups called iluv2globetrot along with her business partner Renee. It is a group full of seasoned as well as wannabe travelers. A gathering place to discover and ask questions about travel, be it for work purposes or just vacation. Nicole and iluv2globetrot have been featured in National Geographic, Huffington Post and other news outlets.
On this podcast, we talk about:

* Where the heck Oman is ;-)
* What prompted her decision to become an expat
* How she ended up in Oman
* Job credentials
* Her life now compared to her life in the U.S prior
* Cost of living in her new country ( I want that sort of arrangement…sweet!)
* Her current salary and how much of it she saves
* The employment visa and the length of time it took to obtain
* Her iluv2globetrot plans as a viable side to main hustle
* Her never diminishing wanderlust
* Plans for the future
* Her advice for anyone contemplating doing the same

It’s always cool to speak to someone who has clarity about their lives. Her story could have easily been just another statistic after things went sour. Instead, she pulled herself out of the funk and made lemonade from her lemons. Very commendable.
You can find past podcast\xa0 episodes on this page. Thanks for listening, and as always, we welcome comments here and ratings on iTunes.
You can find Nicole on social media:
iluv2globetrot website
iluv2globetrot on Facebook
Pinnable:

Thank you Nicole for joining me on Podcast with Expats Episode 5. It was a real pleasure. I wish you continued success with all your future endeavours. I will be cheering from the sidelines :-)
Do you have any plans on becoming a future expat? Does the thought of living in a foreign country excite or frighten you? If you want to be an expat, what steps are you taking towards that goal that you can share with the rest of us?
 
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[last-updated]

The latest Podcast with Expats episode features Nicole Brewer, a very dynamic woman constantly on the go. Nicole is an expat currently living in Oman, and has been there for the past 3 years. Prior to that, she was living in South Korea. She is an English teacher by profession during the day, and a burgeoning entrepreneur the rest of the time. This episode discusses life and expat living in the Arabian Peninsula.

Podcast with Expats Episode 5 with Nicole in Oman:

Nicole is one busy woman and l was so glad she found time to talk to me about her expat life. I have been a big fan of hers for a bit. She runs one of the bigger Facebook groups called iluv2globetrot along with her business partner Renee. It is a group full of seasoned as well as wannabe travelers. A gathering place to discover and ask questions about travel, be it for work purposes or just vacation. Nicole and iluv2globetrot have been featured in National Geographic, Huffington Post and other news outlets.

On this podcast, we talk about:

* Where the heck Oman is ;-)

* What prompted her decision to become an expat

* How she ended up in Oman

* Job credentials

* Her life now compared to her life in the U.S prior

* Cost of living in her new country ( I want that sort of arrangement…sweet!)

* Her current salary and how much of it she saves

* The employment visa and the length of time it took to obtain

* Her iluv2globetrot plans as a viable side to main hustle

* Her never diminishing wanderlust

* Plans for the future

* Her advice for anyone contemplating doing the same

It’s always cool to speak to someone who has clarity about their lives. Her story could have easily been just another statistic after things went sour. Instead, she pulled herself out of the funk and made lemonade from her lemons. Very commendable.

You can find past podcast  episodes on this page. Thanks for listening, and as always, we welcome comments here and ratings on iTunes.

You can find Nicole on social media:

iluv2globetrot website

iluv2globetrot on Facebook

Pinnable:

Thank you Nicole for joining me on Podcast with Expats Episode 5. It was a real pleasure. I wish you continued success with all your future endeavours. I will be cheering from the sidelines :-)

Do you have any plans on becoming a future expat? Does the thought of living in a foreign country excite or frighten you? If you want to be an expat, what steps are you taking towards that goal that you can share with the rest of us?

 

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Podcast with Expats 4 – This episode is with Allison Jones. She is a budding entrepreneur who is currently finishing her Master’s  program in Marriage Counseling while still living overseas. Allison is currently in Japan with her basketball playing husband in the suburbs of Tokyo. They have been there for almost 6 months after spending the previous year in Italy, close to Milan where he played in the Italian league. Allison herself was featured in an infamous episode  on MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16th” birthday series. Years later, thanks to re-runs, she is still being recognized from the show and her determination to empower young women arose from a letter she received from a teenage girl.

In the podcast, we discuss her current life in Japan. Their experience makes you realize that there are a multitude number of ways to make your dreams of overseas living and travel come through. Allison takes us through:
 

* life as a basketball player’s wife
* game days with the husband
* her current goals
* Life as an expat in Japan
* Getaway trips
* Cost of living

Once we realized that we were on our way to Japan, l reached out to Allison to see if we could meet up, knowing very well that she might be on a trip (one of the advantages of being super close to wonderful destinations :-) ). As it happened, she had gone on a trip with her mom but was back shortly before we arrived. We ended up having dinner with her and her lovely husband, along with my niece at a fantastic Yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant that was one of their favorites. We bonded over delicious meat!!! Haha! :-)

Thank you Allison for being part of Podcast with Expats 4. Make sure to check out her travels at:
her lifestyle and fashion blog .
You can  find her on Facebook  .
Her Instagram portfolio is here.
Allison has found a way to combine her love for travel, education and fashion style. That is truly an achievement for such a young lady. We wish her continued success with her business, as well as his career.
Pinnable:

Any plans in your future for a travel or lifestyle change? Please share with us. As always, we appreciate it.

Podcast with Expats 3, the series continues with an interview with Frank Thomae. Frank and his wife Lissette are Canadians who took up the nomadic life two years ago. The first year was sort of a trial run to see if they would enjoy doing this full time. A wise decision if you ask me, as things are not always what you picture, so it pays to be cautious. They have been slow traveling across Europe. In their case, they stay in each place for one to two months at a time, using AirBnB rental accommodations. Frank discusses how they travel while Lissette still works for the same company on the road.

Podcast with Expats 3 – Frank
In the podcast episode, our various topics include:

* How long it took from travel plans to execution
* His prior work
* Life as nomads
* How they decide on where to go next
* How the budget is adjusted
* Lissette’s job and how she was able to keep working for the same company
* The life now compared to how it was
* Average budget for their rentals as they travel
* A day in their lives
* How they stay within the E.U rules of travel
* The favorite destination so far

This was a fun interview. I have known Frank and Lissette online for over a year and it was nice to connect. It felt like l was conversing with an old friend. That is one of the things l love most about this blog and travel. It has connected us with so many different people. People that we would ordinarily not have met in our prior life in the fast pace, rat race world. Taking time to smell the roses has made us appreciate life as well as relish the friendships that have come our way. I know when we eventually get to meet in real life, we will like them just as much.
You can find out what Frank and Lissette are up on their blog bbqboy. Their Facebook page is here . Feel free to follow their tweeter feed or check out their interesting youtube channel. To find out the origin of their blog name, l guess you just have to head on over to their” About” page on the blog :-) . A little too spicy for my podcast ;-) .
Thank you for joining me for this Podcast with Expats 3 episode, Frank. I always like hearing your take on life and travel. If you enjoy the podcast, we would appreciate a rating on itunes. This really does put it out there for future travelers and expats who are eager for information. Hearing first hand from people who are actively pursuing their dreams is always empowering.
Pin it for later:

What say ye people? Are you ready for life on the road? Is it on your wish list or are you perfectly happy sitting at home and exploring your backyard instead? Nothing wrong with that at all. We can’t all be nomads, but we would love to hear from you.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Podcast with Expats 2 is all about Anita and Richard in Portugal. The married couple left the U.S over four years ago for a life of travel. They divested themselves of their worldly goods, including their home in Texas. The first few years were spent in Mexico and Latin America. They have now settled into the Algarve region of Portugal. Join us as they talk about their new life in beautiful Lagos.

Podcast with Expats 2 – Anita & Richard in Portugal
Some of the topics that we talk about on the episode include:

* Origin of their website name
* What ultimately led to their decision to travel
* Professions they had during their working years
* Why they chose Portugal
* Life in the Algarve
* The type of visa they have and the length of time to obtain it
* Cost of living and everyday expenses
* Food and the quality
* Language difference and  adjusting to the culture

They also offer their advice as to things to keep in mind if you are planning the same kind of adventure, that is a life of travel. It was really nice to get the perspective of real life experience in the region as that is one of the places that we have contemplated moving to ourselves. It’s obvious from the pictures how beautiful that region of Portugal is and l am sure it made for an easy decision. Portugal continues to be, along with Spain a destination for expats from all over the world. The weather and the warmth of the people is often spoken about by everyone.
The musings of Anita and Richard in Portugal can be found on their website no particular place to go. You can also find them on twitter at this handle. There are lots of stories of their travels over the years to places like Morocco, Panama and Belize among others. Be sure to check out their site for their engaging posts. They are living life on their own terms.
Thank you so much for joining me on the Podcast with Expats 2 episode, Anita and Richard. It was really fun talking to you. Looking forward to reading more of your stories and  further adventures  on the blog. As usual, we appreciate your listening to the podcasts and would love for you to leave a rating on itunes. That helps assure that more people get to listen to the podcasts and can make informed decisions about travel :-) .
Pin it for later:

Does Portugal sound great to you as a destination? Would you ever consider chucking it all in and making a new life outside of your comfort zone?