I have a riddle for you:

What do you call a potluck in the UK?

Answer: Weird.

Actually, the proper answer is more like ‘odd’ or ‘different’ or even to the culturally astute, ‘very American.’

In the US a potluck is something that happens quite a lot in different social gatherings where the budget is low but the desire to get together and have food is high. Everyone who attends a get together where there will be food agrees in advance to a type of dish they will bring, perhaps a meat dish, a dip, a casserole, a salad, or a dessert. Store-bought is fine, if they aren’t able/willing to cook.   more ...

Brit Gal in the USA, a fellow British expat, recently commented on Facebook – “Every now and then I still have days when it feels odd to be living in America…”. I was nodding my head in agreement before I even reached the end of her sentence. She’s been here for about seven years but whether you’ve been abroad for two months or two decades like me, you can bet on those out-of-body moments.

She explained, “I drove from Oklahoma to Amarillo (Texas) yesterday on a gloriously hot day through the Texas Panhandle, which scenery wise could really not be further from England. The roads through the canyons were effectively empty; I passed through tiny, off-the-beaten-track American towns and only passed pickup trucks! As I went through one town I spotted 2 elderly men sitting just inside a garage chatting and drinking tea surrounded by vintage stuff. I very nearly turned around and went back to photograph them it was just so Americana.   more ...

I think that one of the things that all expats probably have in common is missing something from ‘back home’. Most often people – I miss my mum, the daily Skype chat is not quite the same; sometimes places, I miss wandering around the local town, meeting friends for lunch, shopping in lovely shops; miss watching British television. And I definitely miss the food more than anything. My missing food list is endless, from blackberry crumble and real cream, lamb chops mint sauce and new potatoes, Thai, Indian and Chinese takeaways, dumplings, bisto and anything from Marks and Spencer food halls. I miss Cadbury chocolate, drinking chocolate, parsnips, English peas, cheddar cheese…..I could go on and on.   more ...

For years I’ve been advising expats, “rent before you buy.” I’m so glad I followed my own advice, because my husband and I have just become poster children for renting first.

If you’re expatriating because your company is sending you overseas, you probably don’t have a lot of choice about where you’ll live. But if you’re like a growing number of expats, you’re choosing to move, and choosing where to go. Picking a country is relatively easy – climate, cost of living, and distance from your home country are all measurable and quantifiable. But narrowing down your choices to a specific city, town, or neighborhood gets a bit harder. You really don’t know until you’ve lived someplace for a while whether it suits you. That’s why it’s smart to rent for a while.

We’ve been in Panama for just over a year. Picking the country was a fairly easy process of elimination.   more ...

I have an amazing social schedule this week, which requires no fewer than three cocktail dresses and one ball gown. Do not get me wrong--I am not a socialite. In fact, most days I identify more closely with Cinderella’s pumpkin than I do with the princess. But in Singapore, a place where the expat social scene often revolves around glamorous charity, social club, and work events, just about every woman is going to have to don a fancy frock and glass slippers every once in a while. My every once in awhile just happens to be occurring all in one week.

As much as I looked forward to the full calendar of events and being the belle of the ball, I have to tell you how stressful it was to find the perfect outfit for each occasion. If you are a curvy gal in Singapore, you will be hard pressed to find clothes that fit unless, of course, you have your very own fairy godmother. Actually, forget my Cinderella analogy altogether.   more ...

I guess it was all my fault because there was nothing really wrong with our toilet seat. It was just old, and I wanted a new one. Joe agreed. We’d had it for nine years, since we’d first built the bathroom back in 2004 when we moved to Spain.

Next time we went down the mountain, we visited our local Leroy Merlin, one of a huge chain of DIY stores. We headed straight for the bathroom section and gazed with awe at the dazzling display of toilet seats fixed to the wall. Such choice! Transparent ones, coloured ones, ones with seashells, zebra-print ones...even one that glowed in the dark.

“Just a plain one, I think,” I said at last.

Joe agreed, and we picked out a handsome, black, wooden seat and carried it to the checkout. It cost 35 euros, which seemed rather a lot, but it was a good quality seat, heavy and polished.   more ...

If there was a definition for EXPATIFY (which there's not) I'm pretty sure it would go something like this:

Acceptance of the alien nature of an environment, development of new-found tolerances, greater objectivity and appropriate coping skills.

Pretty much sums up the adjustment required when you become an expat don't you think?

When you launch yourself into expat life -- for awhile, everything seems out of kilter. For me, stepping off the plane into the neon-lit metropolis of Hong Kong was akin to plunging head first into an ocean full of hungry sharks. I was frantically treading water, doing my very best not to get swallowed up.   more ...

Attention expats: the Dubai real estate market is taking off again. Recently, in mid-April, hundreds of hopeful buyers lined up around the block at Emaar Properties’ downtown Dubai offices. Women reportedly scuffled with one another in the “ladies only” line. Some had been waiting for two days for the developer to start selling the first phase of “Mira” a 188-villa project on Reem, an extension of the Arabian Ranches community. Marketed as a desert oasis, 3 bedroom townhouses started at just under AED 1 million ($272,000) with an expected completion in 2016. The units sold out quickly, and investors are already trying to flip them.

Nicholas Maclean, Managing Director Middle East, of top global real estate firm CBRE, cautions that Dubai is “still a long way from the last peak” but is optimistic about Dubai’s long-term prospects.   more ...

In the family room, gathering up old newspapers for the recycling bin.

We tend to remember precisely where we were and what we were doing when we first hear momentous news. I was working my way through the half-read newspaper sections and outdated magazines littering the coffee table, when my husband appeared at the doorway.

‘It’s official. The Queen’s going to abdicate the throne. She announced it yesterday.’

Our eyes locked as we stared at each other, taking in the significance of the occasion.   more ...

As certain as death, taxes cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, unlike death, they come around more often than once in a lifetime. When people considering expat retirement sit down with their calculators or spreadsheets to measure the feasibility of their plan, one of the big blanks they draw regards their tax situation as residents of their newly adopted country. Nothing takes the shine off paradise quite like finding out that your escape comes with unexpected, hefty fees to a foreign government.

As complex as the U.S. income tax is, it is very possible that the tax structures in your new domicile will make U.S. taxes seem a cakewalk by comparison.   more ...