Expat Focus

Posted on December 7, 2011 by thesmartexpat

I was delighted to be asked by Expat Focus to join their group of expert columnists. As their Expat Coaching for Partners columnist, I’ll be writing about the issues that affect the lives of accompanying partners. My first column, about dealing with some of the seasonal challenges that are particular to expat families, is online [...]

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Survey Update

Posted on December 4, 2011 by thesmartexpat

What a phenomenal response we’ve had to our Career Choice and the Accompanying Partner survey!  So far, almost 200 accompanying partners have responded to the survey – an amazing start and almost half way to our goal of 400 responses.  Of course Louise and I have had amazing support from some influential people which has [...]

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To work or not to work?

Posted on November 14, 2011 by thesmartexpat

Photo: istockphoto.com My own career took me from London to New York on my first expat assignment in 1989. Fast forward nine years and my soon-to-be husband and I managed (after a 15 month separation and a with the help of a sympathetic boss) to move to Hong Kong and keep both of our careers [...]

Filed under: Accompanying Partners, Career, Fulfillment, The Expat Experience | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Turning Points

Posted on November 1, 2011 by thesmartexpat

Remember those moments.  The moments in life where everything changes.  There might be an epiphany; the course of your life is inexorably changed and everything that comes after is driven by a sense of clarity and purpose that didn’t previously exist.  Or there might be some insignificant event; one which alters your perspective which in [...]

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Climb Every Mountain

Posted on October 20, 2011 by thesmartexpat

Life in a new country challeges each individual in different ways.  Some people experience difficulty adapting to the new culture while others adapt seamlessly.  While some find languages a breeze and are chatting like locals in no time at all, others live in a fog of incomprehension for months or even years.  Still more are [...]

Filed under: Accompanying Partners, Career, Expat Culture, Settling In, The Expat Experience | 9 Comments »

Comfort Zone – Part II

Posted on October 12, 2011 by thesmartexpat

In March, I wrote about moving overseas and what makes those of us who do so step so far out of our comfort zones. As many of you who have moved overseas this summer have probably discovered, the decision to move to a new country is just the first of many times in your expat life [...]

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The Girl Effect – What can you do?

Posted on October 4, 2011 by thesmartexpat

Mea Culpa!!  I have committed the cardinal sin of blogging and have not posted content in quite some time.  So I have to thank Tara Sophia Mohr whose Girl Effect Blogging Campaign has blown away my summer inertia and inspired me to start writing again. Having started, I am committing to a more regular schedule (once [...]

Filed under: Accompanying Partners, Career, Fulfillment, Philanthropy, The Expat Experience, The Girl Effect | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Still an Accompanying Partner

Posted on May 16, 2011 by thesmartexpat

At the FIGT conference,   Jo Parfitt raised a call to find a replacement for “trailing spouse” and the term STARS (Spouses Travelling and Relocating Sucessfully) was born.   Linda at Adventures in Expatland wrote a wonderful and entertaining article “Expat Bouganvillea: Tale of the Trailing Spouse” acknowledging that although STARS  is better than “Trailing Spouse”, she won’t be [...]

Filed under: Accompanying Partners, Career, Coaching, Settling In, The Expat Experience | 9 Comments »

Comfort Zone – Part 1

Posted on March 14, 2011 by thesmartexpat

A while back, HSBC’s Expat Explorer posed  the question on Twitter, “Are expat’s born or made?”  and it started me thinking about what it is that gives us the impetus to move overseas.  The question came back to me today in a conversation with a client.  Similar to my own experience, she moved overseas at [...]

Filed under: Accompanying Partners, Coaching, The Expat Experience | 11 Comments »

Because we ARE Special!

Posted on January 21, 2011 by thesmartexpat

Its a new year and I haven’t written for a while so what better way to start the year than to get back on my soapbox! I sparked some discussion way back in March with my article about the (in my opinion) heinous term “trailing spouse” and the fire has been smouldering a away on [...]

Filed under: Accompanying Partners, Career, Coaching, The Expat Experience | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

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