Over on my blog, The American Resident, I recently asked readers what’s the the most difficult thing about living overseas? The most difficult thing will vary from person to person but certain groups may share similar difficulties.
One of the most difficult things for me has been raising my daughter thousands of miles away from my family–missing both the support and the shared history that would be a part of shaping her development.
One of the ways I’ve been able to cope with this is by finding other expat parents around the world and share stories with them and learn strategies from them. Through blogs and forums I’ve learned that I’m not the only one who feels like this! If you’d like to share what you feel is the most difficult thing for you living overseas, please stop by and leave a comment–and check out what others had to say!
On the theme of meeting other expat parents online around the world, I thought this month I’d bring together a load of blogs I haven’t featured here yet and give you a great selection to chose from–stop by and say hello, connect, share with them and learn from them!
There are all sorts of blogs here, something for everyone. If you want to build your own expat network, this is a great place to start. And if you’re new here, check out my past BritMums Expat Roundups for more great expat parent blogs.
Rather than highlighting specific posts or specific about pages as I’ve done in the past, these are links to the blogs in general (in no particular order). I’ve copied their words from their about pages so they can introduce themselves to you. Happy Reading!
Oh, and if you’d like to introduce yourself to us, or if you have an expat post you’d like to share, please do!! There’s a linky at the bottom for you to fill in.
1. Mummy in Provence
I’m Ameena Falchetto – AKA MummyinProvence, first time mummy to BabyinProvence (BiP) who is an April 2010 baby. We live in the South of France but I’m not French. I don’t really know where I am from! I’m half English and half Egyptian, I was born in Dubai and I’ve lived all over the world. I guess I am a real Third Culture Kid (TCK) so I’m not sure what that makes BiP!
I’m an expat at heart, a recovering Marketing Manager from a multi-national in Dubai and a serial entrepreneur currently a Marketing Consultant.
When I got pregnant my French wasn’t great so I started to read, a lot. I’ve never been one to follow things blindly so when it came to my most important project to date (my daughter) I felt it was important to research and question. A few months after BiP was born the I started this blog. I enjoy sharing tips on what we are doing especially as I have found my journey to be quite isolating with the language barrier and the huge cultural differences in France.
If I had a dollar for every person who remarked “Oh! That’s not very French!” when I talk about breastfeeding past 3 months, Elimination Communication (talk to us on twitter #ECchat) and Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) I’d be a rich Mummy!
2. Life with our Lads
An English woman living in Ohio with an English hubby, two young boys and two dogs.
3. Jojoebi Designs
My name is Jo and I go by the nickname jojoebi, that is jo-jo-ebi (eh-bee). I have an educational background in Electronic Imaging and Media Communications but after graduating I decided to pack my bags and travel the world. Which I did, teaching English to pay my way. After a two year stint in the wilderness of Northern Japan, a local boy stole my heart, and I was unable to leave the country without it so we settled down together in Saitama (just outside of Tokyo). A few years later, after a slightly crazy wedding ceremony at Angkor Wat (which involved 5 priests, 9 nuns, Khmer dancers and an elephant ride up a mountain) baby Ebi appeared (now known as Ebi-kun) and after hearing myself saying “I go to shopping” and other grammatically incorrect English sentences I decided it was time to give up the teaching game and return to my passion of designing. When Ebi-kun was still a baby I became interested in the Montessori system of education and so many of the items I design and make are influenced by Montessori, along with my passion for travel and all things kawaii that make Japan such a wonderful place to live.
4. Coffee and Vanilla
Coffee & Vanilla is a blog dedicated mostly to European & Caribbean cuisine but also crafts, travel, photography, multiracial hair products, bentos, Syrian hamsters and any other aspect of our family life. My name is Margot (Gocha) and I was born in Warsaw, Poland, my better half came from Roseau on beautiful island of Dominica. Currently together with our children: Ella (2), Marissa (7) , D’wayne (17) & our hamster Toffy — we live in North London, UK.
From time to time I’m posting lunchboxes that I pack daily for my daughter and recipes that we use in our home. It can be something Dominican, Polish, British, mix of all that or something from totally different part of the World. I post as well quite a lot of crafts we do with kids and recently also some crochet creations… my newest addiction (!)
5. Across the Pond
The life of a Canadian mummy abroad. I am a Canadian expat stay-at-home mother of two young boys living in Scotland. My blog is about our daily life and travel.
6. Brainstorm
I am a British expat living close to Washington DC. Together with my husband Jonny, we have three sons aged 19,17 and 11. I began my career as a teacher in London with a special interest in diagnosing and remediating mathematical difficulties. I worked in school administration and created and managed an educational support services department in an International School in Hong Kong. I also have a certificate in counselling skills and have worked as a volunteer coordinator for a Hospice in Maryland. I began writing posts in October 2011, when Jonny, a Head of School was hospitalized in terrible pain with a facial nerve condition called trigeminal neuralgia. I documented our roller coaster journey through Jonny’s illness, brain surgery and recovery on a site called Lotsa Helping Hands. I finally understand the medical system and blog about life as an expat wife and mom on my blog which replaced the updates about my husband’s health.
7. Paris Hues
A foreign bird nesting in PARIS. A different stance on art, food, fashion, music, interviews & lots of creative projects all inspired by Paris and France.
8. Britishette
On January 1st 2012, I moved from Paris to London with hubby and baby. Sharing my fun experiences discovering the British way of life in the Borough of Islington!
9. Awesomeville
Expat life, new baby, nerdom, and plenty of photography. I live for good books paired with great cups of coffee, spending time with my husband and daughter, taking photos, going on adventures, pints at the pub with friends, and occasionally playing video games much too late into the evening.
10. Comin’ Home Soon
I’m Louise. Mother. 31. Blah. Twin. Lover of all things Cheese. Partial to a certain Ginger Boy. We have a funny little life as expats, I say expats but I don’t even know if that’s what we are…my husband is a professional volleyball player, so we move around a lot depending on what team signs him. Does that make us expats? Anyway, our life is fun most of the time, tough part of it but all in all its pretty eventful. My most favourite place to live is Amsterdam. For all the reasons you don’t think of when you think of Amsterdam.
I’m an aspiring writer, or ‘wannabe’ if you like, I love to put what’s in my head down on “paper”, then onto here for you all to enjoy. So, kick back, grab a glass and stay a wee while!! Check out some of my poetry here, let me know what you think.
11. Laughing Doves
I am a British mummy to four small children and wife to a busy husband. Laughing Doves is a memoir of our time in Ghana. The ups, the downs, the laughter, the fun, the frustrations, the observations and the good, the bad and the ugly.
12. Scottish Girl in Zurich
This is about my life in Zurich, all the places I visit, what I get up to with my son and anything I think is good to blog about.
13. A bit of Lux
Luxembourg: its small. It’s landlocked. it’s not boring. A seasoned expat settles in to a new life in the Grand Duchy.
14. How to escape
My name is Rachel, I’m originally from Northeast England and I live in Bali, near Ubud village with my wonderful husband Made and our two children, Maya and Kiran.
In 2008 I quit my job, sold everything I owned and set off on a solo trip starting in India. Bali was supposed to be my last stop in Asia before flying on to Australia and then New Zealand. In February 2009 I landed on Bali in the middle of a tropical storm and hated it. I spent my first few days in Kuta and thought it was so awful compared to the other amazing places I’d been, I nearly changed my flights to go to Australia early. Luckily instead I decided to catch a bus to Ubud where I met my future husband a couple of days later. We got married in November 2009, Maya was born in October 2010, followed by Kiran in January 2012. Obviously we don’t believe in wasting time! Currently we live with Made’s family in a traditional Balinese compound in a little village just outside Ubud.
I started this blog as a way for my friends and family to keep up with our life out here. If you’ve found your way here, welcome! I hope you find it interesting 
15. Bringing up Brits
I am an American expat mother living in England. I’ve been here since 1999, am married to a British man and have 3 children, all born in the UK. I moved here under the assumption that I would only live in London and only for two years max. Well, I have never lived in London and England is my home now and for the forseeable future!
I have been very fortunate to have a wonderful family – three children aged 10, 8 and 2. They are very British children in that they speak with an accent (which is now increasingly Southern) and mock my American accent and other ‘Americanisms’.
I have a career here as a designer and have my own design company. I have also published a book called Bringing Up Brits: Expat parents raising cross-cultural kids in Britain. Raising and parenting your children in a different country to the one in which you grew up can be difficult, challenging and often lonely and confusing. This book speaks to those parents and discusses issues such as cultural differences, customs and traditions, identity, British systems and language barriers. At the same time, this book offers an interesting and valuable insight into British culture from several different perspectives.
16. Midlife Single Mum
They call us single mothers by choice. However, it’s more by default than choice. Faced with the prospect of never being a mother and that being unacceptable to me, I went ahead with the help of IVF. So I’m sharing this amazing journey for my DD to read in the future and also hoping it will be of help to others facing similar choices.
17. UK Desperate housewife USA
Hola dearest readers, I’m your UK desperate housewife in the USA and this is my blog. It’s all about me, how I feel about moving to the USA and what life is like out there. It’s a little bit adventure, little bit stream of consciousness, little bit Bill Bryson. I hope it captures the tone of it all with a bit of observational humour thrown in.
Am a dreamer….? Yes! Would I like to go on Good Morning America every Friday for an update on my week in the merry old Land of Big Macs? Yes! Would I like to write a column for the Washington Post / Marie Claire? Yes, yes! Will I have time to write my children’s books and finish that damn novel? Who knows, but they will be up here too soon for your delectation.
I hope you feel inspired to leave some comments and general niceties about my blog, any questions, things you want me to find out about America etc. Do it – let’s be interactive! How modern!
18. Magnum Lady’s Blog
This blog is just my rantings and ramblings…I waffle on about everything and anything 
Lately it seems to be turning into a tourist blog. So if you are interested in reading about things to do in Sligo and surrounding areas you’ve come to the right place.
I’m Val, happily married to Andy for 22 years, we have two lovely teenagers, Jono and Lucy. We have a lovely Jack Russell dog, who was a rescue dog. We live in Ireland, although I was born in the UK. We’ve been here for 21 years. I love the scenery, we have the best of all worlds in Sligo: beaches, mountains, forests….it’s a stunning place.
Jono has Asperger’s syndrome, sometimes I write about it, other times I don’t. He’s a lovely boy and I wouldn’t have him any other way. We had a bit of a battle to get him spinal surgery that he needed, he had the surgery and it’s made a huge difference to him.
I love taking photos, its an obsession really. I’m hooked on flickr and pixie. I’m also on twitter. I love listening to music and going to concerts. My dream job would be a concert photographer or something to do with tourism.
19. Working Berliner Mum
Originally from the UK, I moved to Berlin, Germany towards the end of 2007, after working in the city briefly and falling head over hills in love with the vibrancy, the nightlife, the alternative scene and the Berliner’s love of beach bars.
Falling pregnant (a term that bewilders me yet seems applicable when the pregnancy is unplanned as mine was) changed things and I now see Berlin through different eyes and love it just as much having have discovered quite how much the city has to offer to families as well. I’m not saying it’s all been happiness and light since I moved over, it has certainly been a long and bumpy road (believe it or not I lived on 10 Euros a month, eating 1 meal and day of dried pasta for a couple of months) but it has been worth it.
The German language and I are becoming slowly friends and I am finding my place in this city. During my pregnancy and all those evenings spent alone rubbing my swollen belly and wondering what the future would hold for me gave me time to come up with a business idea to pursue. I now run my own Vintage Inspired Online Jewellery Shop ‘Miss Bea wants‘ and it has opened a whole new set of doors for me in life.
My blog follows my experiences as a single mum, bringing up a child in Berlin and tackling the daily challenges and highs of finding a new path. Welcome along for the ride.
20. Geneva Family Diaries
Geneva Family Diaries is a blog and website for expat families living in the Geneva region (Geneva, neighbouring France and Nyon, Canton Vaud). We blog about our family adventures in this amazing corner of Switzerland & we strive to tell you about the best child-friendly places, restaurants and events that you can enjoy with your little ones. We hope you will also share your expat stories and tips with us.
About Michelle Garrett
Michelle Garrett is the author of The American Resident, where she blogs about making a life overseas, raising a blended family, herding cats, chasing chickens and attempting the Good Life in Essex. Michelle is a freelance writer and BritMums editor.
Michelle, thank you so much for including me in this list. At the holiday season (even though we are doing Hanuka here instead of Christmas) I am especially feeling the miles between us and family and well, home. Yes even after 25 years in Israel, England is still home. But so is Jerusalem. And therein lies a big dilemma. Where exactly is home? I’ll enjoy reading some of these other entries as well. Season’s greetings xxx
Great selection, some I haven’t even heard of, and a few old favourites! Will be popping over to say hello!
Lots of familiar faces but a few new ones there to check out – thanks for sorting my Christmas reading!
Excellent round up of ex pats – it’s nice to see I’m not alone! (I’m another Canadian ex pat raising children and living in Scotland)
Thanks so much for including my blog here!