Bali

We recently went on a much anticipated trip to Bali. It was a combined 40th birthday celebration and friends reunion. Gathering together some of our oldest (no pun intended) and dearest friends for a good old fashioned tropical holiday. It took 2 years of planning to get everyone in line from New Zealand, Australia and…

It’s a Women’s World

Being a woman, a farang woman, in Thailand has been an interesting ride. When we first visited Bangkok, to find a house and school I was bombarded. By the busy, bustling, hot and smelly city. By the shear size and baffling number of neighbourhoods. But what also struck me was the enormous number of billboards…

The Treehouse Effect

There is a new obsession taking over our home. Our son has recently become determined to have a treehouse. How do you say no to your six year old dreaming about what feels like a fundamental childhood experience? Whilst offering so much with the expat lifestyle there is no denying that there are aspects of…

Ultimate Expat

Without wanting to pontificate too much when I was writing about my expat experiences I got a lot of responses from friends around the world. And yes it did take that long for it to dawn on me that I have a number of friends that call themselves expats. And most of them, unlike me,…

The Old Harbour Walk

One of my favourite walks so far was along the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya river. This is the older part of Bangkok and was the original city before it was shifted across the river. This is one of the oldest communities and a mix of temples, Chinese Shrines, mosques and churches. Old Chinese…

The downside…

Living in Bangkok has had its ups and downs, as does any change in lifestyle. Mostly it’s been a lot of ups and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the ride. However, right now I’m experiencing a definite downside. It’s the end of the school year (we run to the Northern Hemisphere calendar for those antipodeans), and as…

A view of New Zealand

Following on from my post yesterday here is a great 7 minute video of a visitor to New Zealand and his impressions. Pretty ‘sweet as’ although shame he didn’t get much further than Waitomo ;o)

Home is where the heart is…

In my first post I talked a little about how much ‘home’ means and can become especially important when living abroad. Now time to talk a little about our adopted ‘home’. As much as New Zealand is home, and always will be. To be a successful expat it becomes all the more apparent to adopt…

There’s no place like home…

Delving into my life as an expat I think it’s best to start with where we have come from. We’ve been expats for eighteen months now. Living in the hot, humid and sometimes VERY wet Bangkok. Overall we LOVE this crazy city, but what it does highlight is what we miss and love about our…