Living in uncertain times

 

Unsplash / Pixabay

Less than three years ago, I contacted a couple of expat friends to see if she would like to meet me in London in a few months’ time – they were in Europe and I was in Texas. Within days, plans had been made and flights had been booked. It seemed our only worry was finding a suitably luxurious place to stay on a less than 5 star budget.

Fast forward to a few months ago and when I asked a similar question, the answer came back to say that it was tricky to commit when you don’t know whether your husband will have a job by then. Over the last year, this kind of conversations has become the norm for many expat as global recession, the price of oil and political change and uncertainty have led to job loss for many. Even more are living with ongoing anxiety about their future employment.

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Becoming a writer

books

A couple of weeks ago, I applied for a very special writing residency program for expat writers. To be honest, despite encouragement from someone who had previously participated in the program and Himself, I thought I was a long shot.

In a sense I’ve been a writer for hire my whole adult life. I wrote my first press release for a real live, paying consultancy client sometime around my 17th birthday. I spent pretty much every working day from college graduation until our move to Norway writing in some form or another.

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Who are you? Identity and the expat

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Living the expat life should be all about seizing opportunities during whatever length of time you happen to have in a location.

At least that’s been my philosophy and its served me pretty well so far – it explains the two weeks in Spain with one of my oldest and best friends; my agreement to go paddle boarding this weekend and more than a few days of spectacular hiking in Norway. Try it now; you may not have the chance again!

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