A European New Year

December 30, 2024

I’m about to ring in my seventh year as a resident in France, and I’ve so far celebrated in a variety of ways, ranging from cliché American, to cliché tourist, to cliché French. I blame the “American year” on my ninth month of pregnancy, when I wasn’t motivated to be anywhere but my bed or…

How To Celebrate Christmas In Your New Home Overseas

December 23, 2024

Merry Christmas! Wherever we find ourselves in the world, no matter how the day is celebrated locally, Christmas is a day for goodwill and good cheer… and perhaps some good rum, if you’re south of the border! Here are some of my favorite ways to celebrate Christmas in some of our favorite countries around the…

Olhão, Portugal, A Town With Soul On A Sun-Kissed Shore

December 16, 2024

If you are looking for a home blessed with Algarve sun and sea, but without the tourist hordes that converge on much of the coast in summer, consider the town of Olhão. This is not one of the Algarve’s famed seaside resorts. For its many admirers, that is part of its charm. Olhão is a…

Portugal As The Perfect Launchpad For European Adventures

December 9, 2024

When my husband and I first decided to move abroad, we contemplated many options all over the world… First, we thought of English-speaking countries. Australia came to mind. Then my husband reminded me of the many indigenous species of very large spiders and snakes, so that was off the table. Then we thought of our…

Reinventing Thanksgiving Overseas

November 25, 2024

I would argue that most things in life are better with a twist… something unusual… unexpected… unfamiliar… makes anything more interesting. For me, that’s about 90% of the allure of living overseas—nothing is ever as you expect it to be. And this has been the case with Thanksgivings throughout my life, for example. We moved…

Exploring Panama With New Eyes

November 4, 2024

Coming to Panama feels surreal these days. Between the nostalgia for our lives here pre-Paris and the evolution of the city, country, and our long-term home here, Los Islotes, plus bringing our daughters to this place we talk about all the time but they don’t know themselves… It’s a dreamlike state I feel when I’m…

Panama City 2.0

October 28, 2024

My family and I landed in Panama last night, and it felt like coming to a completely new place… The new airport terminal has been completed since I was here last (only partially operational a few years ago), and it was all so sleek and new I didn’t recognize a bit of the airport I…

What I Miss Most About Panama

October 21, 2024

At the time of writing this I’m preparing for my first return to Panama in two years… Here in Paris, it’s already quite chilly and our summer clothes have been packed away for weeks… my husband and I need both business and beach clothes… warm-weather wear that still fits our rapidly growing 4-year-old needs to…

A New, Better Way To Retire

October 14, 2024

Go to school… get a job… work hard for a few decades… retire… then die. For as long as I can remember, that’s the schedule we’ve been expected to adhere to. Some people make it look good. I have friends now retiring in their early 60s with money in the bank, good health, and lots of…

Escaping The Heat In The Mountains Of Panama

October 7, 2024

Situated in the highlands of western Panama, Tierras Altas (literally, “High Lands”) features comparable scenery to neighboring Boquete—misty hillsides dense with greenery, gardens terraced into slopes, and abundant wildflowers. Its cool-weather climate and the outdoor lifestyle it affords are also similar… But Tierras Altas is also very different to Boquete in important ways. First, it’s…