I recently came back from Indonesia, where for four years I could not drink tap water. Here is my reflection on yet another privilege of our rich Western world most people are not aware of. I have spent more than half of my life in countries where drinking tap water could make you seriously […]

I recently returned to Italy, my home country, while waiting for my next destination abroad. What I have found is a terrible reality in which the official narrative is based on racism, discrimination, and prejudice. I have been wondering what I, as an expat, can do to contribute to counteract all of this. “Don’t […]

Grasp a cup of tea and take your time to listen to this powerful TEDx: it worth, it is tremendously true in our society. When people ask me where I come from, I cannot just say I come from Italy: it’s just not true anymore, I also come from Saudi Arabia, from Nigeria, […]

Mariam Navaid Ottimofiore is a Pakistani born expat who grew up in Bahrain, New York City and Karachi. She has been living abroad for 17 years, with her husband and her two children. She has presently just left Dubai and moved to Ghana. I met her at the Families in Global Transition (FIGT) conference in […]

Cinzia D’Ambrosi is an expat Italian photographer who uses photography to connect, feel, understand and denounce. I talked to her especially on one of her most important project, Hate Hurts. Cinzia D’Ambrosi left her native Italy at age 18, and never went back. She has lived in Iceland, Germany, Spain, and has her current […]

Nikki Cornfield is one of the Parfitt-Pascoe Writing Residents 2018. She is a British expat, yoga and meditation teacher, currently living in Australia. She blogs at https://nikkicornfield.com/. We thank her for this great article. In July 2016 we joined two other families in Hanoi in the north of Vietnam to begin our adventure traveling […]

What Expats Can Do invites all expats to draw lessons from their experience abroad, and be a voice to help enrich the lives of individuals that do not have the opportunity to travel, and cannot witness firsthand what happens in the less fortunate areas of the world. As some of you know I lived […]

I wish I had met Lynn Kogelmann when I was in Peru, going through a difficult time as we landed with our 12 and 7 years old children. Shortly after arriving, we quickly realized the school we’d chosen for our children had nothing in the way of an integration policy. Bullying and discrimination were […]

Expats are uniquely placed to spread a culture of empathy and understanding because their lifestyle means they are more likely to routinely adapt to new cultures. In Chris’ words “they know what it means to be culturally naked upon arrival”. Some expats have found ways to make use of this and bring hope to the […]

I consider myself lucky because my husband’s work (the main reason why I have been living abroad for almost thirty years) brings me close to a wide community of people from all walks of life. Wherever I have lived, I have easily made connections with a great variety of individuals and families. Fortunately, the mission […]
