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Today's guest is Brigitta, a Hungarian with some Canadian roots, who's married to an American. And not just any American, but a member of the US Army.

We talk about what it's like to deal with the many moves and ups and downs of army life, how to make and maintain friendships when your life is so transient, and how to cope with the sacrifices you need to make sometimes.

I was really impressed by Brigitta's warm personality, positive attitude and obvious love for her husband and the life they've created.

If you're an Army spouse in need of some encouragement or just a chat – get in touch with Brigitta! She's happy to connect, and can be found on Facebook where she runs her own business as a Virtual Assistant.

And as threatened in my intro, here's the Ko-Fi link in case you want to "buy me a coffee"! 

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My guest today is Corinna, a fellow German in the US. Corinna currently lives in Cape Cod with her American husband and two children, although they hadn't planned to live there, and might still up sticks and relocate.

Corinna's story resonated with me on so many levels - being married to someone not from your home country, trying to make it work in one country, but missing another, relocating and doubting your decisions... but you just keep going. And Corinna and Ben's love story is a truly mesmerizing one!

Corinna also has some great tips for traveling with children, and how to stay sane and survive as a couple when you experience so many different situations together.

As you will hear in this interview, this woman is a fighter - I mean, who founds two businesses while traveling with kids, no long-term plan and no home to return to?!

I'm so excited to share this love story with you. If you want to find out more about Corinna and her travels, go to her Instagram.
And of course, check out Corinna's businesses:
Ryde and Roam, children's vintage wear
The Caep, phone accessories

If you're a German expat or someone who speaks German, here's another podcast for you, Muttersprache-Podcast, hosted by Monique Menesi. Check it out!

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My guest today is Marie,  a fellow European bringing up kids in the United States.
Born in France, Marie lives in Michigan with her American husband and two children. 

We talk about what it's like to try and maintain your mother tongue as the minority language in your household and country, and how to create the need to use "your" language, while accepting that your kids are growing up in another country and culture.
She even founded her own French school with other expats in order to support her kids' learning.

Other topics - of course - are the weird and wonderful differences in French and American culinary cultures, the difference between peaches and coconuts, and how we can create beauty by mixing cultures. 

If you want to find out more about Marie, check out her blog, French Bias, where she talks about bringing up multilingual kids, expat life in the US from a French perspective, and lots and lots of information about food and food culture, as well as language learning resources. 

And if you feel the urge, feel free to buy me a coffee!  

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My guest today is Dana, an American in Munich, Germany. Dana is a seasoned YouTuber, and her channel, Wanted Adventure, is an absolute favourite of mine.

She is also the author of a really funny and insightful book about learning German, You Go Me On The Cookie!, which we talk about at length. It's only published in German at the moment, and is a wonderful reminder for us German native speakers that our language is full of wonder and contradictions. 

Other topics of conversation include (of course) the love story that brought her to Munich, weird and wonderful birthday and cake traditions, the many degrees of bubbly water, and German windows.

Other than on YouTube, you can also find Dana on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  She also has a Patreon page, plus a super cute gift shop - take a look!  ​Her book, You Go Me On The Cookie! is widely available – how about a little support for your local book shop?

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My guest today is Cath, who was a guest on my show over a year ago, and it was so good to be able to continue our conversation. It's not easy to have a flowing conversation and then try to fit it into an hour-long episode, so I was more than pleased to delve into all the things we didn't have time for last time.

Our conversation meandered from the whirlwind beginnings of Cath's love story, to dealing with redundancy, coming out and leaving her home country to move half way around the world, same-sex marriage, and how to deal with neurodiversity within a relationship, realizing you didn't actually read the small print when you moved into your new partner's life and home.

To find out more about Cath, visit her website, Drawn to a Story, and make sure you check out her wonderful book, Living Elsewhere, – it's a fantastic gift for someone living or planning to live the expat life. 

And as if being an illustrator and running her own business wasn't enough already, Cath is also a practicing shamanic healer!

Cath can also be found on Instagram and Facebook, where she runs regular "Talk-Back Tuesday" and "Barefoot Friday" live groups, addressing topics such as gender identity, racism, prejudice and so much more! 

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Today I'm talking to Brenda, a "Nebraskan farm girl turned global adventurer" about her life in Tanzania, where she lives with her Tanzanian husband and their twins and various extended family members, running a safari business, Tanzania Choice Safaris.

Brenda is a wonderful storyteller and talks openly about her journey from being an introverted Western woman to embracing life in a completely different, patriarchal society, how her new culture has shaped her views on her own country, and what advice she would give other women in similar situations. 

Brenda also has a  blog, The Joy of Life is Love, which she (and I too!) hopes to revive, and if you are interested in seeing the family in action, you can find them on Amazon Prime on House Hunters International, Season 78, Episode 2 (2015): A Family Safari in Tanzania. 

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My guest today is the wonderful Sundae Schneider-Bean, author, podcaster, and intercultural coach and strategist, whose mission is to help global individuals achieve their international and personal goals.

Having been a member of Sundae's coaching program, I loved hearing her story - from meeting her Swiss husband on a backpacking trip, to moving to Switzerland, experiencing a terrorist coup in Burkina Faso and then relocating to South Africa, with a few solo parenting stints, identity crises and challenges thrown in along the way.

We discuss what it means to differentiate between cultural and personal differences within a relationship, the importance of equality when it comes to decision making, how to give  yourself space to adjust and sometimes grieve, and so much more.

If you're interested in finding out more about Sundae and her work, make sure you listen to her podcast Expat Happy Hour, or visit her website!
And here's a link to her Love Letter Every International Couple Needs to Read.

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Welcome to my new season! For the next few weeks and months, my focus will be on cross-cultural relationships, and I'm kicking off this new approach with a wonderful guest:  Carol El Hawary from Scotland, who lives in Cairo with her Egyptian husband.

I still maintain this should be a movie script: a holiday romance in a country her aunt had strong connections with turned Carol's life upside down and led her to create her dream business.

We talk about all the challenges a Western woman faces in an extremely male-dominated society, the heartache of almost losing a friend over the new relationship, how climate influences character, and how amazing it is to be able to influence a culture from within (with a good dose of fierce Scottish willpower!).

Check out Carol's new travel service, Literary Tours Egypt, to find some wonderful inspiration!

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Today's guest is one of my favourite expat podcasters: Nicole Palazzo from The Expat Cast – "the podcast where expats share stories about fitting in, standing out, and every mishap on their journey to feeling at home abroad". 

We talk about the dark moments of expat life, how we discover things about ourselves we didn't know, and what happens when your primary reason to leave your home country is no longer the reason to stay in your new place.
 
We discuss what it means to be introverted expats, and how we need to work really hard to overcome this, or, as Nicole puts it, try to "overthink things less", and start to embrace our expat outsider status.

You can follow Nicole on Instagram, check out her website with all the links, or find her podcast on all the usual platforms. Make sure you check out Nicole's conversation with Rachel from Meet the Germans, who is also a previous guest on this podcast!

As promised in the introduction, here's the link to Matthew and Camila McConaughey's YouTube channel, with information on the benefit concert and their Just Keep Livin Foundation. Don't forget: 21st March!

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It's just me today, celebrating my podcast's first anniversary and over 2,000 downloads, as well as making a little announcement.
Thank you so much for being such fantastic listeners!
Don't forget to spread the word, and please subscribe!
You can also find me on my website, on Instagram, or join my Facebook group.
See you next time!