Barry O’Leary has been an expat in Seville for nearly ten years. When he’s not teaching English, he describes how he sees life in Spain on his blog A Novel Spain. He has also lived and taught English in Brazil, Ecuador, Australia and Thailand and travelled around the world in the meantime. His non-fiction travel literature book, Teaching English in a Foreign Land, about his adventures as a TEFL teacher, has sold over 2,500 copies.
Are you wondering whether you’ll be an expat for the rest of your life? Until about a year or so ago I was, but now I’m sure I will be. After living in Sevilla for nine years it’s been a constant battle in my mind whether or not to make that permanent plunge and be … Read more
I made it through the first year and my hair still hasn’t gone grey. My son was one last week, it’s amazing how the year has flown by, but at the same time I’ve learnt loads being an expat Dad. A lot of what I was worried about before the birth was true: we had … Read more
Do you ever wonder whether you would be better off back in your home country? I guess it’s only natural that we do. In previous blogs I’ve talked about how I often compare my life here to my home country. I’ve just returned from a month in England and had a great time catching up … Read more
A bold question. I’m not trying to imply that by becoming an expat you’ve turned into a bank robber, a fraudster, or even a money launderer. Maybe you have; plenty of people live abroad and move over to the dark side. I’m asking more about the everyday habits that you wouldn’t have dreamt of doing … Read more
Is it normal for expats to continuously compare everything to their home country? If so, does it ever stop? I’ve been an expat in Seville, Spain for nine years and still find myself wondering whether certain things would happen differently back in England. It’s funny, but even though I’ve lived in Ecuador, Brazil, Australia and … Read more