At home, abroad.

You know you're an expat when...


And it's not just ex-pats.  Us in LDRs (long distance relationships); who work away on contract or those-oh-so-lucky-ones- MHFJ's  (multiple-homes-frequent-jetsetters) will feel some synergy here too.


There are many more funny and well-thought out expat posts than this, but on this grey, cold, summers-end day when our minds and conversation turn to sunnier climes, here's what springs to mind...





You know you're an expat when..

• You see a familiar face on the street and struggle to remember which country you last saw it in...
• You know what time it is Right Now in three or more time-zones...
• Your cravings never get the better of you... because they don't make that in the country you're now in!  (gettin' personal...  from the middle east I crave moutabel and paper-soft pita bread, real tabbouli, & omm ali... From the caribbean; "Doubles"- that's channa in a chickpea flour pancake; the world's best crab cakes, and carib beer... From Australia, mangoes the colour of sunset and ginger gummy bears... which expat food do you miss the most?)

• Your expatriated home phone still has on speed-dial  restaurants and pizza delivery you may never eat from again...
• When you get a lovely email message to pass on to your most treasured female friends, your list spans the globe...

this post was prompted by a bathroom cabinet clear out and finding the same brand of sunscreen with different price labels:  from Blue Bayou pharmacy, 14 .... Trinidad & Tobago dollars?  US dollars? Pounds sterling?
from (no name) QR41 (qatar riyal)
from Pattisons The Corso, $8.95 (aussie dollars)...
blessings on your journey!


Are you a frequent traveller with far-spanning Wings?
Do you often feel expat in your own home?


If you're in the mood, please share your favourite foods and funny feelings about being "at home, abroad", below!

What won't you leave behind? (Feng Shui for Moving Home)

It makes me laugh! To see what precious things have survived a few years in storage to bring home!

What can’t you leave behind when you move countries?


Here’s some of mine…

Heirloom china, a wedding present from my auntie- isn’t this the most perfect cup for a relaxing brew...










Makes me feel like tea and biscuits.



















Clever auntie! She has given us three cups and saucers, three side plates and two bowls, perfect set up for a tea party
Or a spot of tasseomancy...





























This old-time juicer must have been quite a work of art!


















I think of my great-grandmother bringing these things all the way to Australia from Ireland on the ship as part of her glory box. Now 100 years later, I wrap them carefully too, to take them back from Australia to our home in the Irish sea. Amazing!









Things a little less historic…


I have loved this rooster since 1999 when I found it in a charity store near Manly. Feng Shui says a rooster in your kitchen will protect your home from fire. And this one's so cheeky!



















Shadow-box, bought in New York, which is a lovely way to create a vision board. Inside it right now is a picture of Husby as a little boy, and a tag from the St Helena Olive Oil company from a trip to Napa. Hmmm.. what is this attracting?





















Finally- and we don’t know quite how to ship them, really... hand luggage?

The 4 Frangipanis- to activate abundance and prosperity, which have been hanging crookedly above my bed here and working their magic on the South East wall.












More in a few days when I’m all packed up!

xxx