1. Current address:
Stavanger, Norway  

2. Previous address(es):
Melbourne, Australia; Perth, Australia; Paris, France; United States (where I’m from – various cities)  

3. I landed here because…
My husband was hired by a company in their Stavanger offices. We really wanted to live somewhere in Europe for our next stint so we jumped at the chance to come to Norway.

4. The best part of living abroad is…
Every day is new and exciting, even if you’re just going down to the local shops. 

5. The most difficult part of living abroad is…
Being so far away from friends and loved ones.   

6. Before living here (abroad), I never realized…  
How much I actually prefer cooler weather to the heat. After five or six Australian summers I’ve decided I don’t want to live anywhere that hot again – at least not for awhile.  

7. An addition to my day to day vocabulary is…
‘Takk,’ which means ‘thank you’ in Norwegian.  

8. Three words to describe my host country are…
Introverted, beautiful, carefree  

9. If I could live anywhere (hometown excluded) I’d choose…
New York City – I lived there several years ago and loved it – many of my friends and relatives live there. We’ve been hatching plans to move back for the last few years.  

10. A traveler or expat (famous or not) I admire is…  
Friedensreich Hundertwasser – I encountered his work in two different countries last year and got to learn more about him in Vienna. He was an artist, architect and environmentalist who travelled and lived all over the world. I admire him because he never let go of his vision despite quite a bit of opposition.

Thanks, Andrea! Looking forward to hearing more about your experiences in Norway on your blog.

xo, jill

10. A treavel or expat (famous or not) I admire is…
Call me a dork, but one of my favorite things to do is observe people and their habits (I was a psych major) and when I was in school I was enthralled by my anthropology class and people who went to primitive cultures, living along side and learning about them from the inside. I might even say reading and learning about Margaret Mead and her life studying people in Samoa and other cultures inspired me to live in other cultures and learn more. I am an academic at heart and even though I can’t afford to go back to school right now, that doesn’t mean I am not learning. 

Thanks, Elizabeth! I hope you’re having fun and nothing’s too “sweaty, spicy, or scandalous” for you!

xo, jill

I recently realized that although I’ve answered my own 10 Questions as an example for others, I’ve never posted it here. I figured that now would be a good time to share it…you know, before my three years living in Abu Dhabi become ancient history.Keep in mind I wrote this just over a year ago…

Here’s my 10 Questions:

1. Current address:
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

2. Previous address(es):
Washington State, USA 

3. I landed here because…
jobs for new teachers were becoming all too scarce in my area. When my district announced a plan to lay off 144 teachers, I decided to stop waiting around for a position that might never come. I began looking for jobs in other parts of the world. A friend found an opportunity in Abu Dhabi and even though I didn’t know much about the place, I decided to take a chance. 

4. The best part of living abroad is…
meeting new friends from all over and getting a better perspective on the world and my home country. It also opens up so many new travel opportunities. I never thought a trip to Oman would be as simple as a two hour drive. 

5. The most difficult part of living abroad is…
struggling to express yourself in delicate situations. For example, when working out issues with parents or administrators who speak minimal English when you speak zero Arabic. 

6. Before living here (abroad), I never realized…
that driving on the shoulder at high speeds with your baby on your lap was perfectly normal. 

7. An addition to my day to day vocabulary is…
”inshallah”, meaning “if God wills it”, a term used anytime the future tense is even hinted at.

8. Three words to describe my host country are…
new, faux, generous 

9. If I could live anywhere (hometown excluded) I’d choose…
a sunny little valley that I hope to discover this summer in Slovenia. [and I did…just outside Bled]

10. A traveler or expat I admire is…
Freya Stark. In the late 1920s and early 1930s she taught her self Arabic and Farsi and set out to explore parts of Arabia and Iran that were little known to the West. 

And so there you have my 10 Questions!

xo, jill 

1. Current address:
Seoul, South Korea

2. Previous address(es):
Toronto, Canada  

3. I landed here because…
I was looking for adventure and accepting a teaching position halfway around the world seemed like it would tick that box! So far I have not been disappointed.

4. The best part of living abroad is…
Stumbling upon the unexpected. I love spending the weekends wandering aimlessly and seeing what strange opportunities the city presents me with. Crooked back alleys laden with graffiti, bright paper lanterns to ring in Buddha’s birthday, live performers dancing on the street, observing worship at a Buddhist temple. I am amazed by it all.  

5. The most difficult part of living abroad is…
Finding a stick of Dove deodorant! I am kind of particular about that brand and had to search high and low to find a single stick! I finally found one in a foreign goods store in a town that has an American military base, but I had to dish out a whopping $8 for it. 

6. Before living here (abroad), I never realized…
How ridiculously expensive fresh produce could be. Watermelons for almost $20. And don’t get me started on the small fortune I paid for a handful of brown apples…  

7. An addition to my day to day vocabulary is…
‘Mandu guk juseyo!’ which translates to ‘I want dumpling soup!’ I went through a phase where I was eating that for lunch and dinner; it is that good!

8. Three words to describe my host country are…
Punctual, studious, well-groomed. 

9. If I could live anywhere (hometown excluded) I’d choose…
Somewhere with tropical weather, warm-hearted people, delicious street food and natural beauty. There are a few contenders out there! 

10. A traveler or expat (famous or not) I admire is…
I’m going to go ahead and choose the trio behind the popular show ‘Departures’. Scott, Luke and Andre became a phenomenon by inspiring people to get off their butts and explore the fascinating world we live in; and they provided some great entertainment and brilliant cinematography while doing so.

Thanks, Audrey! And if anyone wants to throw a stick of Dove deodorant her way, I’m sure she’d be forever grateful!

xo, jill

Kristina is an expat who currently lives in Australia. She updates her blog, Le Fabuleux Destin, with beautiful photos of her weekend adventures.I asked Kristina 10 Questions:

Magalie and her husband are on the tail end of theirtwo-year honeymoon. Want to know what it’s like to be a nomadic citizen of the world?Here’s Magalie’s 10 Questions:

1. Current address:
I am travelling the world with my husband on what we have dubbed the “Two Year Honeymoon”. It’s quite the big undertaking! We are currently in Panama, country #33. This will be the last country of our trip.

2. Previous address(es):
Before setting out for our big adventure, we lived in Vancouver, Canada. It’s quite the amazing place, and after travelling for so long I quite miss it. My family (and where all of our stuff is- all 10 boxes of it) is in and around Montreal, Canada.

3. I landed here because…
My husband and I met while travelling. It was 2006, we were both on solo vacations and found ourselves in the same dorm room in Sydney, Australia. Travelling has always been a shared passion of ours and is quite addictive: as such, as soon as our first big trips ended we started to plan the next one. We wanted to see the world once more before settling down and starting a family. We didn’t want to have any regrets.

4. The best part of living abroad is…
The freedom! Although we aren’t actually living anywhere specific except out of suitcases, the flexibility of it all is amazing. We can pretty much come and go as we want and see and do what we feel is important to us. We make our own schedules and answer only to ourselves. We get up when we want, eat when we want, go to bed when we want… the ability to be as lazy or as productive as we wish is really, really lovely. Then there is the food, the cheap beer, the great wines, beautiful beaches, stunning mountain ranges…

5. The most difficult part of living abroad is…
Living out of a suitcase and constantly moving around can really make you miss stability. As much as freedom is exciting and priceless, sometimes I really miss having my own place. I miss my bed, a good pillow. I miss having a closet full of clothes and right now I really miss hot showers. Or a bath! It’s also hard to go around and see so many lovely things and not being able to buy any souvenirs. Is it worth the sacrifice though? Totally.

6. Before living here (abroad), I never realized…
How easily I could live with so little. Even on my first big trip (7 months, 11 countries) I didn’t realize how easily I could adapt with only having 4 t-shirts, 2 pairs of pants and a few pairs of underwear. Obviously that’s not the entire content of my bag, but all I have is what I can carry on my back. Yes, sometimes the consumer in me struggles with not having more (see previous question), but often I am totally at ease with it. We have also realized how quickly we adapt to new places, new cultures, and how quickly we can feel cozy and comfortable in tiny spaces. Most of the world lives with a lot less stuff that what most of us have in North America, and there really is something to that. We don’t need so much “stuff” in our lives to be happy.

7. An addition to my day to day vocabulary is…
Because we move around so much, we usually pick up a few words and forget them as soon as we leave the country. Yet, my husband will still say “jalan jalan” (walking) to transportation touts everywhere even though we aren’t in Indonesia anymore and we canít talk about 7-Eleven (the convenience store) without pronouncing it the Japanese way: “seben-ereben”.

8. Three words to describe my host country are…
Panama: beach-tastic, ceviche, historic.

9. If I could live anywhere (hometown excluded) I’d choose…
Singapore. I’ve been there twice and hands-down Singapore is my dream city. It’s in Asia, which I love, and it’s the perfect distance from everywhere else in Asia, so it makes for a great hub city. I love the mix of cultures (Malay, Indian, Chinese and everyone else) and how well everyone seems to get along. English seems to be the unifying language. The food is incredible, tasty and cheap – it’s quite the passion for the locals. I love the architecture, how colonial buildings mix with tall skyscrapers and smoky Chinese temples and colourful Hindu temples. I could go on and on… I just love it! We visited Singapore in the early days of our trip and I was so happy that I managed to make my hubby fall in love with Singapore too.

10. A traveler or expat (famous or not) I admire is…
I would have to say Tara and Tyler from Going Slowly. We met them on our trip while we were in Cambodia, and they have been an inspiration to us. They cycled through Europe and Asia for two years and documented every single day of their journey. They had so much drive and discipline! I admire how much they interacted with the locals and never seemed to shy away from getting in real close when taking pictures. They are back home now, but are starting a new journey, much like we will be soon as well, towards land ownership and greener living.

Thanks, Magalie! I know all of you noticed her gorgeous photographs. Go see more at her blog, Magalie Travels.

xo, jill