EP 2 — Navigating Life Abroad

In this solo episode, Maria unpacks five of the biggest dilemmas many expats face—identity, belonging, purpose, relationships, and the elusive idea of "home." Drawing from her journey and countless conversations with others living abroad, she invites you to reflect on what it means to build a life between cultures.

Transcript

Maria: 0:03

Hi again, and welcome back to Almost Local. I'm Maria. I'm your host here in Almost Local podcast. So what's the story behind Almost Local and what is almost local? Almost local began as an idea of, creating a community that would gather, people that were living abroad and expats who are experiencing, changes and living in new cultures, and facing challenges while living abroad. The name almost local, I think it says a lot. I suppose a way of explaining this is that we all feel want to feel like we are locals. And we try to become part of communities and cultures and new places. In a way, we feel like we are always almost there to become a local. We are not there yet. We are almost locals. So this is the concept of the name, and essentially what we are trying to, convey with this name is that we are. We are not locals. We are almost locals. And so this is what bring us together in this community, of expats all those of us who are navigating, life abroad, and all the challenges differences and new ways of living a life in a place that we are starting to call home. Or maybe you've been living, for quite a long time, but you are still facing this feeling of not being a local, but being almost a logo. A little bit about, my backstory. So I am originally from Argentina. I was born in Buenos Aires. I grew up between different places. I, lived in, another city in Argentina called Mar de Plata. I grew up in Brazil. I lived in Rio de Janerio for a couple of years while I was. A kid. So I'm also, an experienced, global, citizen as a kid. I am also, aware of all the challenges and how difficult, it is to be a kid while you are not in your. Country of origin, but how little by little you start becoming, a new, person in a new country and you start calling another country home. With, our. Nomadic parents. We lived in different places in Argentina, and then we moved to Brazil. We returned to Argentina, where I finally, went to university, studied and started my travel business, which I've been, managing with my sister, who is my, business partner. Our business, is across South America. It's a boutique travel company specializing in trips to South America. For, discerning travelers who are looking, to combine adventure with, hidden gems and a more luxurious experience. After living in Buenos Aires for, another, I don't even remember. 15 years, I don't even know. With my husband, we decided as a family with our kids to move to New Zealand, where we lived, in Oakland for about six to seven years. Our kids, did their primary school years in New Zealand. So that was a big change for us as a family, which I will be, telling, more in coming episodes, after, this period of time, which was quite long, as a family we decided to move to the Netherlands. Where we are currently living right now, in the Hague this beautiful place here is the Netherlands. And we've been here for three years. The reason why we moved, because this is a typical question, was mainly, due to my husband's, job and his profession. And we were lucky because I can actually, as a travel, business owner, I can actually work from anywhere in the world. I'm a pioneer, working remotely because I started, doing this back in 2015, which was not common as it is this days. So that's a little bit about my backstory. Right now. I am, a mother of two teenagers who are, going to, the international school here in the Hague. So it's quite a nice, adventure and experience for the whole family. So why almost local now? which is really, a question I've been also asking myself. there is no good or bad moment to start things. but, over the years while we left Argentina, I realized that I was, really into all this, Living abroad and expert experience in terms of meeting new people and understanding, the reason behind, what makes us, make this decision? Why do we decide to, leave Our homes and start a new life in a different country. this is something that really resonates with me. How we are all different from different countries, from different cultures. We are in a way so different, but at the same time we are all so similar, and we all face, The same challenges and we also face the same difficulties. And we might be also searching for similar things, new adventures, and also new friendships, this has always been something that I found, super rich and it creates a lot of connection, among the community of experts and immigrants and nomadics. so this is really the reason why I. Started almost local. I also found myself, that whenever I meet someone who is coming from another country, I'm instantly drawn to ask, many questions. And I love to understand the backgrounds and the stories behind, each, of the persons that I meet along. that is really, rich in terms of, the reasons why we are all moving and what are the things that, we are all, the different stages we are all going through. So the reason I'm starting now. It's basically because I just. realize that, we really need a space where we can have these conversations, not just to talk about, the usual challenges we face A work visa, how to find a job, how to buy a house, how to rent a house, where, to search for schools, which cities are the best cities in the world to live, et cetera. the idea would almost localize more, community where we can feel like we are just having a cup of coffee, and meeting new people and just having these casual conversations Thinking back of, the reason why we left and where we are at this moment and what we are, looking in terms of what's gonna happen next. Are we going to move again? Are the kids going to stay in a different country and we are going to, decide to move and stay? and so these conversations, this space, It's a space I wish I had, when I, initially moved. because we are really, Like enough these conversations and whenever we have the chance to, grab a coffee with a new person, we meet I love to learn and see what we can learn from each other, how we can support each other, and, at the end of the day, it's honestly a feeling. This space, is for us to have kind conversations about stories, that bring us together, about the style of life that we all chose. In a new place, in a new culture, throughout, the podcast, there will be, guests, we'll have interviews with other expats from different parts of the world. We are also going to be welcoming, guests, specialized in different, areas of what is the expat life, from education to psychologists, coaches, how to start a business abroad. So we are, happy to be starting excited. I've been talking about almost local for quite a long time, and This is the moment and we are now, ready to begin these conversations. this, initial podcasts are especially for us to, get to know each other. I love to introduce myself and to, let you know what is almost local and what's the gold, And if all that I'm saying here sounds familiar to you, please come along, join, follow us. you can subscribe to the podcast. and of course you are welcome to tell your friends anywhere in the world, even family back home who might say, okay, listen to this podcast where you might understand a bit more how life is for all of us. while we are producing the podcasts, if you'd like to be, featured, if you feel like you want to tell your story, please reach out to us through, Instagram, and also through our website. our website is, Almost local.com. I will also, be sharing this, in the next podcast, because as I was explaining in the previous episode, we have a blog and, in this blog I am sharing, Some of these experiences, the lemons we are talking about. and also we have, one of our, collaborators Andrea, who is a writer. She has just, launched her first novel and she's gonna be writing, all these stories in our blog. so that's gonna be really fun and interesting to. Read as well, if you like, to continue. getting more of these stories, from experts and, people who have been living abroad. so thank you again For joining, the podcast. as I said, what's coming, we are gonna have more episodes, and we are going to have guests, that will be sharing with us, their experiences and challenges. Thank you again for, being there. now like I said, I'm gonna have my morning coffee. this is, a way of, starting today. So thanks again and we'll be talking soon.