Season 3, Episode 1. We kick off season 3 with expat YouTuber Aspen, from AspenAbroad, in which we get a little deeper into Aspen's decision to move to Europe after growing up in Hawaii - and how she settled on Munich, Germany, as her new home. Released just in time to celebrate Aspen's 5th Gedeutschtag (Alles gute zum Gedeutschtag, Aspen!), we take a stroll down memory lane to look at the traumas and challenges that inspired Aspen to leave the US, followed by a discussion of how she's feeling n...
Aug 15, 2019•38 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Season 2, Episode 25. Welcome to the Season 2 finale episode! To celebrate 50 episodes, 10,000 downloads, and 1 year of podcasting, we've called up a good friend to answer listener questions and quandaries in a brand new format called Ask the Expat. We give our best go at answering questions sent to us from expats all over. For a full list of questions and resources mentioned in the episode, click here . We'll be back with season 3 soon. Keep your eyes on social media and stay subscribed to get ...
Jul 11, 2019•42 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Season 2, Episode 24. For many, one of the toughest things about living abroad is being far away from friends and family. It can feel like you're missing out on all the important moments, big and small - and sometimes, that's true. But sometimes, it's possible to move heaven and earth to be there, in person, for a big event. When that does happen, the moment becomes that much more important because of how far out of your way you went to be there. Showing up in those moments is, as Sundae explain...
Jul 04, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Season 2, Episode 23. Gyo moved from southern California to Nuremberg, Germany 9 months ago to close the distance on her relationship. Although she's always struggled with anxiety, Gyo has found ways to continue challenging herself as she adjusts to the new culture. Gyo and Nicole chat about the stresses of language learning, friend making, wellness and nutrition, and home building in Germany. Above all, the two share the belief that it is vital to celebrate your little wins along the way, like ...
Jun 27, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Season 2, Episode 22. Many people move abroad for love, but what happens when that relationship doesn't work out? Germany wasn't anywhere on Jessica's radar when she started dating her German girlfriend. But eventually, she moved to her girlfriend's hometown of Erfurt, Germany. Jessica immersed herself in the German language and culture. Two years into life in Erfurt, the relationship ended, but Jessica stayed. Even when she later moved away to England, her heart stayed in Germany. FIND JESSICA ...
Jun 20, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Season 2, Episode 21. Tatjana is a Berliner who chose a profession in tourism in order to enable her to live all over the world - which she has, with stints in The Netherlands, England, The United Arab Emirates, and India. Tatjana discusses what stereotypes and misconceptions she has encountered in her various experiences as an expat, including both ones that have been directed towards her as an expat and ones that have been directed toward the country she calls home. She also shares how she's i...
Jun 13, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Season 2, Episode 20. Today's guest is celebrating three decades of life abroad! Born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, Mark Baker's studies in journalism and Eastern European international relations took him to Vienna, Austria in the late 1980s. Little did he know that the Iron Curtain would fall just as he was settling in, changing his life - and the world - forever. Mark's writing career took him to Prague, Czech Republic, and now, he's an accomplished travel writer. Mark's got years of hard-ea...
Jun 06, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Season 2, Episode 19. Riana spoke to us when she had one month left in Canada before she, her partner, and their dog moved to Prague. As a Canadian under the age of 30, Riana was able to take advantage of the Youth Mobility Visa , which allows Canadians to life and work in 35 countries for one year. She talks us through how she decided that life abroad in Prague was the right choice for her. Riana shares what kind of preparation she's been able to do pre-move abroad, as well as what it's been li...
May 30, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Season 2, Episode 18. Have you ever had a macaroon moment? As a kid, Ara dreamed of eating a macaroon in Paris while gazing out on the Eifel Tower. But growing up in her hometown in Mexico, any kind of experience abroad seemed like an impossibly far away notion. Then: life and love happened, and before she knew it, there she was - eating a macaroon in Paris while gazing out on the Eifel Tower. For Ara, that's what life abroad is all about. Although her weekdays are filled with working from home ...
May 23, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Season 2, Episode 17. Four years is Sixtina's magical number. After growing up in Germany, she moved to the Netherlands for 4 years, followed by Ireland for 4 years. She's also lived in the United States, Mexico, and Spain. Mere days before she left Ireland to embark on her dream-turned-reality world trip, Sixtina told us what it's been like working for a big international company, learning just how German she is, and - of course! - that good ol' Irish pub culture. RESOURCES Expat Focus's guide ...
May 16, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Season 2, Episode 16. Guess who this week's guests are? My parents! I power my Brene Brown and get vulnerable by asking my parents how they feel about my choice to live abroad. When my dad was a young adult and moved into an apartment 20 minutes from his childhood home, his mom was outraged he'd move so far away. My mom's extended family numbers around 40 people - of whom, only a handful live more than a 2 hour drive away. So what do they REALLY think about the fact that their daughter lives tho...
May 09, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Season 2, Episode 15. You last heard from friend of the show, Ashley, when she was pregnant with her son , and now she's back to share what it's like with her young son. Ashley is now 7 months into motherhood, and she shares with us what it's been like adjusting to her new role. What was it like for her to give birth in Germany? How has she handled being an ocean apart from her family in the US? And how is she planning on keeping her American identity alive with her son? Ashley's go-to book reco...
May 02, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Season 2, Episode 14. Initially, moving abroad is insanely exciting. New scenery! New people! New language! New groceries! New new new! Wow wow wow! And thennnnn reality comes crashing down, in the form of paperwork, financial pressure, a language barrier, or social isolation. While some part of you might still be excited about the newness, another part of you starts to wonder how the heck this will all work out. Was this whole move the right choice? This week's guest is fresh out of that challe...
Apr 25, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Season 2, Episode 13. Expats don't always stay expats forever. We sit down with Aurora, a Mexican-American living in Germany, to hear what made her decide to move back to the States. Aurora will move back to the US this summer, but where exactly will she move? Cue: A Very Well Built Excel Spreadsheet! DUNCAN & AURORA'S DECISION MAKING SPREADSHEET Aurora and Duncan's formula as a Google Spreadsheet is here Listen to Duncan talk about voting rights CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatc...
Apr 18, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Season 2, Episode 12. When Nic moved to Germany from England to be with his girlfriend, he committed himself mentally to the move. It would have taken something really huge and dramatic to make him consider moving back. But how does he manage keeping in touch with family, especially negotiating visits? And how does he still show up for his partner's family? We use the topic of family as a launching point for a fun conversation about British Christmas, cultural judgement, and way more. FIND NIC T...
Apr 11, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Season 2, Episode 11. In this episode, we learn what it's been like for our guest, Jeremy, to be unemployed in Germany. Jeremy moved here for a two- to three-year work contract that recently ended. He tells us how he's been navigating the immigration and unemployment offices. Plus, we discuss how the social support he's been given in Germany has altered his approach to the job hunt in general. CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast Twitter @theexpatcast...
Apr 04, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Season 2, Episode 10. When you moved abroad, did you find yourself suddenly caring an awful lot about dumb things from your home culture you never bothered with before? Likkkeeeee, I don't know, say, ABC's The Bachelor? In fact, getting way too into the latest season of The Bachelor is what inspired this week's episode. It got us thinking about all the weird things we find ourselves interested in, especially those things we previously wanted nothing to do with, like football, touristy clothing, ...
Mar 28, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Season 2, Episode 9. Gordon is half-German, half-American and grew up moving back and forth between both countries. He never stayed anywhere longer than 2 years since he was a little kid. Now, as an adult who is putting down roots of his own, Gordon shares with us how his bi-cultural identity as well has his frequent moving shaped him as a person. He tells us the good, the bad, and the ugly about being that weird German kid whenever he was in America and being that weird American kid whenever he...
Mar 21, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Season 2, Episode 8. Today's guest turned an existential crisis in Boston into a thriving non-profit in Nicaragua. How the heck did that happen? Welcome to the fascinating life of Berly. Now living in Freiburg, Germany while she completes her Masters degree in Global Studies, Berly has traveled the globe and lived in a variety of countries. Through her personal experience as well as her experience in her non-profit, Berly has learned that the most important thing is community. It was only after ...
Mar 14, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Season 2, Episode 7. Iceland skyrocketed to the top of the Must Visit list of many eager travelers over the last 5 years, but what's it like to actually live there? We chat with American expat Alex Illes about how she ended up with Iceland, how she managed to move her cats with her, and what it's taken to make life there work. CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast Twitter @theexpatcast...
Mar 07, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Season 2, Episode 6. When one moves abroad, a lot gets left behind. Most importantly: people. Managing relationships with loved ones back home can be one of the hardest parts of the expat life. So today, two expats with totally different experiences sit down to chat about how they’ve managed. FIND SUMMER Blog at Eat Something Go Somewhere Twitter @Summer Outside Instagram @Summer Outside CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast Twitter @theexpatcast...
Feb 28, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Season 2, Episode 5. By coincidence, Chad and Jared signed up for the same college study abroad program in Vienna, Austria. Although they knew each other from around campus back in Michigan, it wasn't until they were tossed together into an unfamiliar place that they became close friends. Now, 7 years later, Chad lives in the Czech Republic and Jared lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they keep their long-distance friendship alive as co-hosts of the Untranslatable Podcast , where they disc...
Feb 21, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Season 2, Episode 4. It's Valentine's Day! We're celebrating with an episode about long-distance love. Host Nicole dated her boyfriend Gordon for 2 years, while she lived in Chicago and he lived in southern Germany. Guest Meg dated her boyfriend Lucas for 3.5 years, while she lived in Philadelphia and he lived in Zurich. The gals are old friends from theater camp who bonded over their long-distance relationships with German men, thus prompting a long-distance friendship. Now, the women are livin...
Feb 14, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Season 2, Episode 3. Your host Nicole is, as Leslie Knope so eloquently put it, a "punk ass book jockey" aka a librarian. Now having experienced librarianship in a handful of libraries across America and Germany, she's got a unique perspective on how different communities' reading habits look. Plus, she's a huge book worm herself! (Duh, you get rejected from library school if you aren't) (Just kidding) (But am I?) So it was great fun to have fellow expat book worm Steph Fuccio on the podcast to ...
Feb 07, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Season 2, Episode 2. Does your identity as an introvert or an extrovert impact your experience as an expat? Can America be understood as a more extroverted culture and Germany a more introverted one? And if so, what does that mean for foreigners? This episode, we sit down with Joe, a fellow American in Germany, to discuss how his extroverted, outgoing friendliness has impacted his long-term happiness in Germany. Now in his seventh year living in Germany, Joe is slowly started to experience frust...
Jan 31, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Season 2, Episode 1. It's 2019! Is one of your goals for the new year to learn German? Super, then buckle up and brace yourself for some German-learning resources, tips, & venting. Of course, to learn German, or any language, a course is a great idea. But if you can't take a class due to money, access, or whatever, no fear. Our discussion focuses on free methods that are available to everyone. We explain why Tandem partnerships are so effective, advocate for labeling everything in your room/...
Jan 24, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 28
We're BAAAAACK. Almost. Starting in one week, on January 25, The Expat Cast will be back in your feeds every Thursday. We'll be bringing you new interviews with expats all over the globe, with a special focus on expats in or from Germany and the German-speaking world. You can look forward to more laughs, more resources, more commiseration, and more verbal eye rolling at whatever cultural difference I find annoying that day. Prost to Season 2! CONNECT theexpatcast.com Instagram @theexpatcast Twit...
Jan 17, 2019•4 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Season 1, Episode 25. "The things that I'm worried about now are more future tense." Floridian Kris enrolled in the US Army in part because he was eager to travel, and he was happy to find himself stationed in Germany between missions. After two years of getting to know the German culture, Kris decided to learn the language, too, and shortly after his time in the military ended, Kris decided to call Germany his home forever. He shares with us how he came to that decision and what it is about Ger...
Dec 20, 2018•38 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Season 1, Episode 24. Some people move abroad for a big, fancy job with an incredible relocation package. But many of us move abroad on our own, for love or in pursuit of a better life or whatever it may be. And for the DIY expats, there's no relocation package. There's sometimes even no job lined up and only limited savings. Jenny and Nicole both moved abroad for love, on tight, tight budgets. They share the life hacks they've learned, like where to get the cheapest but yummiest groceries, what...
Dec 13, 2018•37 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Season 1, Episode 23. When host Nicole was preparing to move to Germany, one of the websites she frequented was Live Work Germany. It seems like they've got a resource guide for every bump in the road of moving to Germany, from registering your address to navigating a foreign qualification recognition process - all up-to-date, all in English. As a librarian who loves a good resource, Nicole has long been a huge fan. So it was an honor to sit down with the man behind it all, James! James moved to...
Dec 06, 2018•36 min•Season 1Ep. 24
