This Expat Life

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Two and a half years ago, Anne Verhoeven posted a reel from London. She was 39, stuck, and ready to leave - even though she didn't have a visa, a plan, or a single guarantee that any of it would work out. I found her, I reached out, and she came on the show last year (twice actually because we loved talking about love, trust and moves!).

She was still in the middle of it all: the long distance, the waiting, the faith required to hold on when nothing was certain yet.

This is the third episode. And this time, she's calling in from her home in California, with updates that show the Universe really does deliver.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it actually felt like to trust the process for nine months while a visa - and a relationship - hung in the balance
• Why the right relationship feels nothing like what she'd been used to, and how she knew
• The thing she'd been blocking herself from wanting for years, and what finally shifted
• Her exciting updates
• What she'd tell anyone who's sitting where she was two years ago

Anne is proof that when you finally decide - really decide - things start moving. 

And if you’re ready for that kind of moving as well, you’ll want to be inside my program The Co-Pilot.

Links & resources:

✈️ Ready to stop letting “Should I stay or should I go?” influence your sleep, joy and peace of mind? In The Co-Pilot I help you finally make the decisions you’ve been avoiding, confidently. Schedule a free call here to see if it’s the right step for you now.

🙌 Get a free taster of how I guide you to clarity for your next chapter here.

📚 I’ve listed my favorite books! Find them here.

👩‍💻 Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn

Julia Panchkowry didn't plan on Thailand. She was a trained actress turned primary school teacher when a friend suggested she try an interview in Bangkok, and two weeks after getting the job she was packing. A decade later, after a banana bread side project turned into a bakery and then a restaurant, she came back to London, now as a business coach and a very exciting new project in the making.

Uhm.. Talking about reinvention?!

I met Julia at my event in London last year and knew my listeners needed to hear her story. Because if you’re like most of my clients, you’ve shown courage in the past by moving abroad and possibly changing careers, but slowly a subtle fear has come up that has stopped you from pivoting again, even though you’ve been dreaming about a change for years.

Julia is proof that you can reinvent yourself as often as you like, and that you don't have to wait until you feel ready. For whoever needs a boost of confidence for a new direction (or inspiration of what you could do), this episode is for you!

Links & resources:

✈️ Ready to stop letting “Should I stay or should I go?” influence your sleep, joy and peace of mind? In The Co-Pilot I help you finally make the decisions you’ve been avoiding, confidently. Schedule a free call here to see if it’s the right step for you now.

🙌 Get a free taster of how I guide you to clarity for your next chapter here.

📚 I’ve listed my favorite books! Find them here.

👩‍💻 Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn

Sign up for the free LIVE session that I'm hosting on the 30th! Let's get your priorities for Q4 clear so that you can end 2026 on a high. Something I've never offered publicly before and it's for FREE. Save your spot here (limited spots available).

If there’s one thing that’s essential when you’re moving abroad that is not about logistics, it’s this: being intentional about this new chapter of your life. 

For years, writer Kathleen O'Donnell has built an international life shaped by curiosity, uncertainty, and a willingness to choose a different path than the one she grew up around. But like many of us living abroad, her journey hasn't always been straightforward. Behind every move, every residency application, and every milestone came moments of self-doubt, comparison, and learning to trust her own definition of a life well lived.

In this episode of This Expat Life, Kathleen shares what a decade abroad has taught her, from a one-year travel break that turned permanent to settling in Athens without the marriage, kids, house, or car that so often mark "adulthood" back home.

This one's for anyone questioning a milestone they're "supposed" to want. 

And you can find Kathleen on Substack - this is the article that made me reach out to her.

Links & resources:

✈️ Ready to stop letting “Should I stay or should I go?” influence your sleep, joy and peace of mind? In The Co-Pilot I help you finally make the decisions you’ve been avoiding, confidently. Schedule a free call here to see if it’s the right step for you now.

🙌 Get a free taster of how I guide you to clarity for your next chapter here.

📚 I’ve listed my favorite books! Find them here.

👩‍💻 Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn

Two weeks before moving to Mexico, I’m deep in the pre-move chaos & overwhelm. If you’ve moved abroad (or back home again), you know what I’m talking about!

In this episode I share my simple but effective way for dealing with the chaos, one that you can apply yourself to any busy season of your life.

Links & resources:

📞 Ready to stop letting “Should I stay or should I go?” influence your sleep, joy and peace of mind? In The Co-Pilot I help you finally make the decisions you’ve been avoiding, confidently. Schedule a free call here.

🙌 Get a free taster of how I guide you to clarity for your next chapter here.

📚 And I’ve listed my favorite books! Find them here.

If you’ve been a listener of the show and heard me talk about working together, perhaps you were thinking: “But I don’t need help with the expat things in my life”. Yes - AND... I would still tell you to hire a coach.

In this episode I tell you why I believe every expat should work with a coach - well, the expats that are serious about their expat life and view it as an opportunity for reinvention and their personal growth.

👉 Ready to hire me?

There are two options:

✅ Shift personal patterns so that your relationships, career, personal power, wellbeing and joy can skyrocket wherever you go - in my 1:1 Coaching Journey. Read about my coaching and fill out the form here: https://www.amandamaximecoaching.com/coaching. I’ll reach out to you after that.

✅ Are you at crossroads? Knowing you don't want to stay there forever but not sure what's next? The Co-Pilot is your next step. Book a free call with me here: https://calendly.com/amandamaxime/the-co-pilot-figure-out-your-expat-crossroads.

👉 Want a taster of working with me?

Get my NEW, free creation: The Roundabout Exit. For expats who have been stuck in decision limbo for more than 6 months and are tired of overthinking. 

Not a pdf with prompts that are open doors, but three different ways for you to start lifting the fog. Built in the same way that I coach, delivered to your inbox over multiple days.

Get it here for free: https://www.amandamaximecoaching.com/roundabout-exit

Links & Resources:

📸 Connect on Instagram: @amandamaxime

🕵️‍♀️ Connect on LinkedIn

📰 Subscribe to my weekly Air Mail

👩‍💻 Visit my website

“Make your big decisions more with your intuition” but what if you don’t know what your intuition is saying?! 

I got this question in different variations in the last weeks so I’m dedicating an episode to it.

Because when you are a global citizen moving around, you have a ton of decisions to make, constantly. And if you can rely on a strong intuition, this will help you make better and faster decisions.

👉 Been stuck in expat decision limbo? Get my NEW free journey The Roundabout Exit here: https://www.amandamaximecoaching.com/roundabout-exit

Links & Resources:

📸 Connect on Instagram: @amandamaxime

📞 Book a free call to talk about The Co-Pilot

 💌 Share your reflections: [email protected]

 🌐 Explore more: amandamaximecoaching.com

What if you’re increasingly feeling like an outsider with your old friends from back home? 

This is not an episode where I give you practical tips on how to stay in touch - instead we’re looking at the undertow that might be happening in the dynamic between you and the group. And I give you 3 tips on how to deal with that, coming from my 1:1 coaching of the last few weeks.

Liked the tips and implemented them? Let me know! Send me an email ([email protected]) or DM on IG or LinkedIn. 

Grab your pen and journal! 

This isn’t a regular episode where you get to listen, but one where I’m prompting you to reflect.

The episodes where I ask you two sets of questions at the end of the year are always popular, and since I very much enjoyed my own mid-year review, I’m now bringing back this type of episode for the summer.

If you had big goals for 2026, or wanted to change your habits, an area of your life or your entire life, this episode will help you see how far you’ve come, what you need to acknowledge and what you can let go of - as well as looking ahead to the final months of the year, how you can create the space for your desired results and what you need to change in order to get there.

If you love goal setting or just a good self-reflection session, you’re going to love this episode.

And would you like support to move out of expat decision limbo? Schedule a free call for The Co-Pilot here.

Why is it that so many expats start to wonder about their life choices in summer? 

I’m bringing back a popular episode from two years ago in which I give my perspective - plus tips on what to do with it, of course.

And would you like support to move out of expat decision limbo, decide on what's next and start your next chapter? Book a free call to hear more about The Co-Pilot here.