Expat Focus Columnists

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Australia, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, UK, USA

Tom Zachystal

Expat Pensions and Investment Tom is a Registered Investment Advisor, Chartered Financial Analyst, and Certified Financial Planner™ professional who specializes in expat financial planning.

Micaela Crespo

Expat Mums Micaela Crespo started her expat adventures at the age of 17. During her expat journey she obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering, she became a project manager, started blogging, got married and had two children. She believes all expat mums have the potential of carrying out their dreams! She created Expat Lifehacks to help expat mothers who feel overwhelmed and lost develop the confidence and strategies they need to feel fully supported and thrive. She regularly creates resources for expat mums and you can find her on Facebook

Clara Wiggins

Expat Partner Survival Born in Cuba to British diplomat parents, Clara Wiggins has travelled all her life and lived in 11 different countries. She has used her experience of living overseas to write The Expat Partner’s Survival Guide – learn more at expatpartnersurvival.com

Judi Lembke

Expat Life Judi Lembke is a writer and editor. Her work spans the spectrum from light humour to corporate film and pretty much everything in between. Most of her adult life has been spent as an expat, with stints in London, Sydney and currently Stockholm.

Megan Fitzgerald

Expat Careers Megan Fitzgerald is a highly experienced expat and international career coach, personal branding specialist and expert guide to the world of international careers.

Rita Golstein-Galperin

Expat Careers Rita Golstein-Galperin is a Career Makeover Strategist® for expat women and the founder of Expat Renaissance . A serial expat, she is now a multicultural mom in Paris (France) and a lover of all chocolate. A former lawyer and political economist, Rita is now focused on sparking new dreams among fellow expat women. She is an author, entrepreneur, and a career and business coach for expats. Join the expat revolution

Sally Hilton

Expat Psychology Sally Hilton is a UK qualified integrative psychotherapist with 10 years’ experience of working with clients on issues including anxiety, depression and relationship problems. Sally works with clients from all over the world via her online practice at www.sallyhiltontherapyonline.com. Sally is an expat currently residing in the Dominican Republic.

Kathleen Peddicord

Live and Invest Overseas Author Kathleen Peddicord is editor and publisher of Live and Invest Overseas. She has covered the international beat for nearly 30 years and is considered the world’s foremost authority on overseas living and retirement. She is the author of two books, including How To Buy Real Estate Overseas. More info at www.liveandinvestoverseas.com.

Dhyan Summers

Expat Coaching Dhyan Summers is a licensed psychotherapist in California and Oregon, USA, and is the Director of Expat Counseling and Coaching Services, providing online counseling, therapy, marriage counseling and coaching to expats worldwide. She has 35 years of experience as a therapist and has lived in Paris, Costa Rica, and most recently India for 14 years. For a free 30-minute introductory session, visit www.expatcounselingandcoaching.com

Evelyn Simpson

Expat Coaching Evelyn Simpson is a personal development coach who works with the accompanying partners of expats helping them to transition to expat life and to find happiness and fulfilment in their lives overseas. Evelyn has spent almost all of her adult life living as an expat on 3 continents and in 5 countries. She has worked as an expat, been an accompanying partner and has founded her own portable business, The Smart Expat, while overseas. Evelyn and her Australian husband have two children who have yet to live in either of their passport countries. You can learn more about Evelyn and her work at thesmartexpat.com where she blogs regularly about expat life..

Bec Baxter

Business and Life Writer Bec writes a blog for Huffington Post and also writes and edits commercial proposals and business articles. She has an anomalous and unusual position as both wife of an expat in Jamaica and hater of travelling. Follow Bec on Twitter @bec_baxter or visit her website at www.becbaxter.com and talk to her at hello@becbaxter.com.


Australia

Jennifer Burge

Expat Life As a certified IT project manager, Jennifer Burge has traveled to over 40 countries. Currently, she lives in Brisbane, Australia and works as a full-time travel memoirist and public speaker on the challenges and rewards of international living.

Emmy Petersson

Expat Life Blogger, speaker and relocation expert, Emmy Petersson is passionate about helping everyone to a balanced and happy relocation, regardless where in the world they are moving to and who is coming with them.

Sami Veloso

Expat Australia Sami was born in Mozambique and lived in South Africa, Germany, and Portugal before moving to Australia. She has worked in Hospitality, Banking, had her own picture framing business, taught ESL and is now a GP clinic Practice Manager.


Canada

Aisha Isabel Ashraf

An Accidental Expat in Canada Aisha Isabel Ashraf is a freelance writer and author of the popular blog Expatlog, where she can be found humorously dissecting the peculiarities of Canadian life.


Cayman Islands

Gordon Barlow

Life in the Cayman Islands Gordon Barlow has lived in Cayman since 1978 and blogs regularly on life there, writing from the point of view of a resident and citizen.


China

Nicole Webb

Expat Life in Hong Kong and China Nicole was a Journalist and News Reader with Sky News Australia before moving to Hong Kong with her husband. Four years into this mad but momentous journey, she has has just embarked on the next expat posting to Xi’an, China.


Costa Rica

Casey Bahr

Expat Life in Costa Rica Casey Bahr writes part-time on a variety of topics, including his family’s move and their ongoing adventures in Costa Rica, chronicled in his blog, A Dull Roar

Shannon Enete

Expat Costa Rica Shannon is an international resident from San Diego, currently residing in Costa Rica. Her first career of 10 years was spent serving San Diego & Kansas City as a paramedic. After a back injury her life drastically changed, and an international door was opened. As an avid traveler, Shannon had visited over 27 countries by the age of 30. She quickly chose Costa Rica as her first destination proclaiming, “My whole body comes alive when I am there.” In addition to writing, Shannon owns Enete Enterprises LLC, a video and print publication company that specializes in travel guidebooks and the creation of marketing videos for the tourism, hospitality, and real estate sectors. To learn more about Costa Rica, and how to become an expat see BecominganExpat.com.


Denmark

Erik Hamre

Life in Denmark Erik is an independent consultant currently living in Copenhagen. He writes about adapting to the quirks and unique culture of Denmark and Scandinavia. Get in touch on www.erikhamre.dk


Dominican Republic

Lindsay de Feliz

Life in the Dominican Republic Formerly Marketing Director of various financial companies in the City of London, Lindsay de Feliz now lives and writes in the Dominican Republic.


France

Rosemary Border Rabson

Expat France Together with husband John, Rosemary Border Rabson emigrated to the Morvan in rural Burgundy in 2005. Rosy’s chief preoccupation is Charity Cottage, a holiday cottage which she runs in aid of Combat Stress.

Stephanie Dagg

Expat France I’m Stephanie Dagg, author, editor, fishery owner, alpaca and llama farmer – oh yes, and mum and wife too. We live in the rural heart of France in Creuse, an area famous for its hazlenut cake and extremely elderly population. We’re truly Europeans having lived in England and Ireland before coming here. I blog about our daily life as expats with all its pleasures and perplexities, fun and frustrations at bloginfrance.com. You’ll also find my many and mostly free ebooks on my Smashwords page.

Kim Defforge

Expat France Kim Defforge is the author of Solitary Desire: One Woman’s Journey to France and Kids Riviera – Sun & Fun Travel Focus.


Germany

Flavia Holman

Expat Germany Flavia is originally from Brazil and currently lives in Germany. Through her life and moving around the world, Flavia has worked in hospitality, technology and relocation, but now she is starting on a new journey accompanying her husband in his new job. Flavia mostly writes about what it takes to be an expat and how to ease the transition while moving with kids. You can follow Flavia’s adventures on her blog and Instagram

Cary L-D

The Eternal Expat Cary lives in her third home country, Germany, with her Irish husband and little boy. Their little family is a true MischMasch, part Austrian, American, Irish, with some British flavour thrown in. Cary blogs at MyMischMasch

Courtney Martin

An American Expat in Germany Courtney is an American expat living abroad in Germany and working as a freelance writer while pursuing her Masters degree. She also blogs at Courtney the Ami.

Jim Geren

Expat Life in Germany Jim is an American Expat living in Germany. He is an independent signage consultant, artist, and novice writer. Originally from the state of Vermont, he now lives in Bad Merghentheim.

Laurel Robbins

Expat Life in Germany Laurel Robbins is a freelance writer and the founding editor of the popular travel blog Monkeys, Mountains and Maultaschen where she writes about exploring Europe and beyond for outdoor adventures, off-beat locations, local cuisine and monkeys! You can also follow her European adventures on Twitter.


Hong Kong

Ben Zabulis

Expat Life in Hong Kong Ben worked throughout the UK before an adventurous disposition led him to Nigeria, India, Japan and finally Hong Kong.

Nicole Webb

Expat Life in Hong Kong and China Nicole was a Journalist and News Reader with Sky News Australia before moving to Hong Kong with her husband. Four years into this mad but momentous journey, she has has just embarked on the next expat posting to Xi’an, China.


Italy

Armando Cristofori

Expat Italy My hobby and my life are dedicated to my passions: to be a researcher, author, and educator, focusing on ‘real’ Italian culinary experiences, while searching for that perfect plate or glass of wine (even something stronger), where innovation meets tradition. I do this while living the happy and often crazy nomadic life of an international consultant, focused on ‘Experiential Communication’ and ‘Small Groups, Experiential, Hyper Localised Tourism’, where the romance of yesteryear meets the kitchen of tomorrow. I also enjoy being a ‘Conduit’ between Italian exporters and importers from around the world, seeking the best of Italian culinary culture. It is definitely not for everyone, but I love it. I coordinate the Italian Dining Summit and IDS Academy pages on Facebook, and I also coordinate focus MasterMind Groups, which you can find by searching for “IDS -“ on Facebook.

Ivanka Di Felice

Expat Italy Born in Toronto, Canada, Ivanka Di Felice is a writer now living in Tuscany who will assure you that it’s far less pretentious than it sounds! In her quest for happiness, she followed Nora Ephron’s advice: “Secret to life, marry an Italian.”

June Finnigan

An Expat View from Tuscany, Italy June Finnigan is an English expat who lives with her man in a lovely old monastery farmhouse overlooking the Chianti Hills, in Tuscany. She is a published Author and her novels, ‘My Father, The Assassin’, ‘The Bolivian Connection’ and ‘The Italian Connection’ are available on Amazon. She is also the lead singer of ‘The Rock Chick Band’ in Tuscany. June also shares more information about life in Italy through her blog


Ireland

K. Leslie Delk

Expat Ireland After 25 years as a capital defense attorney in the US, Leslie went on to work with adults with Serious Mental Illness and adults with Developmental Disabilities. Feeling the need for more adventure, she moved to South Korea where she taught English for five years. At present, she lives in Ireland.


Mexico

Chuck Bolotin

Expat Mexico Chuck Bolotin is with Best Places in the World to Retire, which has more than 9,500 answers to the most often asked questions about moving abroad, more than 350 expat stories, and a questionnaire called Location Advisor. Recently, Best Places published several research studies about life abroad and a book about Chuck’s road trip — Our Year on the Road & Living in Mexico– Adventure, Challenges, Triumphs, Lessons Learned, all available for free download

Ted Campbell

Expat Mexico Ted Campbell writes about travel, music, culture, food, and mountain biking. He lives in Mexico and writes a blog called No Hay Bronca.


Netherlands

Linda A. Janssen

Expat Netherlands A writer and American ‘expatriwait’ recently repatriated from the Netherlands with her adult Third Culture Kid husband and children, Linda pens articles on expat/repat life, blogs at Adventures in Expat Land, and plots the next foray overseas. She is also author of ‘The Emotionally Resilient Expat: Engage, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures’ (Summertime Publishing) which is available on Amazon. You can follow Linda’s adventures on Twitter where she tweets as @in_expatland.


New Zealand

Jennifer Tucker

Expat New Zealand Jenny is an American from Indiana living abroad in Auckland, New Zealand. An ER nurse, she spends her spare time with her husband and infant son and enjoys photography, travel and writing about her experiences as an expat. You can read more of her thoughts and opinions at practicallyperfectblog.com.


Nigeria

Diane Lemieux

Expat Nigeria Diane Lemieux was born in Quebec and began travelling at the age of three. She has lived in 10 countries on 5 continents and has 10 years experience in international development and 15 years as a freelance author and journalist.


Panama

Dennis Smith

Expat Panama Dennis Smith is a journalist, copywriter & editor, business planning consultant and expat living consultant & speaker. He is also the author of “Panama City, Panama- Come Play in the Miami of Latin America”. He lives in Panama.

Stephanie Angulo

Expat Panama Stephanie Angulo became an American expat in Panama at 30. She didn’t go to Panama to retire. She writes about her experiences starting a restaurant, exploring her new country, traveling, and assimilating into Panamanian culture at Xpat Escape. You can also follow her journey on Twitter.

Susanna Perkins

Expat Panama Susanna always wanted to experience life in another culture – she just never imagined it would become the “sensible” option. Believing that when life hands you lemons you learn to juggle, she found herself with an entire crate full of citrus following the financial meltdown in the US. She started tossing fruit around and ended up, with her husband and three small dogs, in Las Tablas, Panama. With a more-or-less reliable internet connection she works as a freelance writer and shares her expat insights and experiences on her website Future Expats Forum and teaches non-technical people about WordPress at WordPress Building Blocks.


Portugal

Piglet in Portugal

Expat Life in Portugal Piglet in Portugal is the author of the well known blog of the same name, a semi-humorous account of everyday life and travel as an expat in Portugal.

Dr Allana Da Graca

Life in Portugal Dr Allana Da Graca is the founder of Turning on the Lights Global Institute, Inc., helping adult learners reach their goals. She is the author of a self-help book called Tomorrow Can’t Wait and teaches communication courses at Walden University.

Christine Morgan

Expat Portugal Christine lives half way up a hill overlooking the historic town of Guimarães the birthplace of Portugal. Although Christine has lived in Portugal for most of her life she is still a Brit at heart. Until recently Christine ran a trading office working with top high street fashion names like John Lewis, Henry Holland and Ted Baker (where she also managed the production in Portugal for a number years). She now works at the British Council teaching part time, works freelance as a translator and, in between, writes. To connect with Christine via Twitter and Linked in and find links to her e book and other written work visit her “about me”.


Singapore

Alka Chandiramani

Expat Singapore Alka Chandiramani is a multi-lingual HR practitioner with over 20+ years of HR and legal experience. She has been the Manager of the Career Resource Centre for Expatriates (CRCE) in Singapore since 2003 and also runs her own consultancy firm.

Justin Harper

Expat Life in Singapore Justin Harper is a former Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph business journalist who relocated to Singapore in 2010 with his wife and two sons.


South Africa

Marla Sink Druzgal

An American Expat in South Africa Marla is a freelance writer and global explorer. She creates travel adventures for herself following in the footsteps of her favorite authors. An American expat, she currently lives in Pretoria where she blogs her adventures on TravelingMarla.com


Spain

Barry O’Leary

Expat Spain Barry has been an expat in Seville for nearly 10 years and when he’s not teaching English, he blogs at A Novel Spain. His non-fiction travel literature book, Teaching English in a Foreign Land, sold over 2,500 copies.

Victoria Twead

Two Old Fools in Spain Victoria moved to Spain in 2004 and wrote her first book, ‘Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools’, which became an Amazon Bestseller in 2011.

Sheila Sullivan

Expat Spain Sheila is a freelance translator, editor, writer, and serial blogger who has been in Madrid long enough to consider herself a permanent Madrileña. She blogs about Madrid’s busy expat life for Cheap in Madrid. Follow her expat musings on Twitter where she tweets as @Sheila_Sull.


Sweden

Daniel Reed

Expat Sweden Daniel works with Digital Marketing in the Tech Scene, is a UK Expat, and Wanna-be Pilot. Since 2014, he has been living in Stockholm, Sweden, and settling into the society and culture. He writes guides and advice for new expats in Sweden at Everything Sweden


Switzerland

Sarah Ryrie

Expat Life in Switzerland Sarah is a mother, wife and freelance writer who also happens to blog about family life and their expat adventures in Switzerland.


Thailand

James King

Expat Thailand James King is a writer, blogger and photo-artist. Born in England, he travelled widely before emigrating to South Africa and then moving to Thailand where he built and sold one house, renovated another, and now blogs at jamoroki.com

Anne O’Connell

Expat Thailand A published author and freelance writer, Anne O’Connell, has been an expat since 1993 when she and her husband escaped the cold of Toronto, Canada and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They enjoyed the sun and sand for 14 years, while she worked in the PR field, and then decided it was time for a new adventure. Heading for even more sun and sand, they moved to Dubai in late 2007 and then on to Thailand in 2011. Visit her website at anne-oconnell.com or read her blog.


UAE

Zvezdana Rashkovich

Expat Dubai Zvezdana Rashkovich was born in ex-Yugoslavia. At the age of seven she started her lifelong nomadic journey across Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Qatar, Dubai and the United States. A fluent Arabic speaker, she has worked as a medical and legal interpreter for refugees in the United States and owing to her eclectic experiences developed an intense enthusiasm for multiculturalism. Zvezdana currently lives in Dubai with her Sudanese husband and four children. She is the author of ‘Dubai Wives’ and is working on a memoir, ‘Africa in the way I dance’. Zvezdana blogs at Sleepless in Dubai where she shares her experiences as an expat, mom and writer.


UK

Jess Faraday

A Writer In Scotland Jess Faraday is a writer, teacher, and martial artist living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Read more about her and her work at www.jessfaraday.com

Michelle Garrett

An American Expat in Britain Michelle Garrett is an American expat making a life in Britain for over 20 years. Yes, she’s still homesick for the States and yes, she’d be homesick for Britain if she moved back there!

Kalyn

Expat Life in the UK Kalyn is a Communications professional who moved to the rainy UK after growing up in Orlando, Florida. She writes about her experiences (and her failed attempts to find the sun) on her blog, Girl Gone London


USA

Toni Hargis

Life as a Brit in the USA Toni Summers Hargis is the author of “Rules, Britannia; An Insider’s Guide to Life in the United Kingdom”, (St. Martin’s Press) and blogs as Expat Mum

Claire Bolden McGill

Expat America Claire McGill is a British expat who enjoys writing about American bits and bobs. She says: “I’ve lived in Columbia, Maryland for nearly two years and I like to write about all the things that confuse, amuse and bemuse me about being in the USA”.

Derek Knight

Expat Brit in America Derek was raised on the UK’s South Coast, and has lived in London, Edinburgh and the East Anglia region of England. He is now an author and blogger, resident in St Louis, Missouri. Follow Derek’s adventures on his blog and Facebook page