EP 3 — Almost Local - My little "expat" workbook

Join Maria as she introduces Almost Local Episode #3, featuring her delightful "expat" workbook!

Transcript

Maria Barciela: 0:01

Hey, I'm Maria. Welcome back to Almost Local. Today I have something different and special to share with you. I am, really happy to share a little workbook I created. It is is, called Five Dilemmas Every Expat Faces and How to Own Them. This workbook was done from my own experience as an expat I've been. Navigating life abroad for almost 10 years. I really hope you love it, and that this becomes a nice resource for you to, write down your thoughts and do some journaling and understand, what you're going through while navigating this messy life abroad. So this little workbook is free. It's, personal and is the most honest thing that I've done and put out there so far. Let me walk you through, what these five dilemmas are because the truth is life abroad isn't just brunch and beautiful Instagram photos, life abroad. If you've been living as an expat, you know that it's also about identity crisis, homesickness, guilt, confusion, and. The feeling of, everyone thinking that you are living the dream while. You might be, feeling stuck. if this all sounds familiar to you, let me walk you through, the five dilemmas that I included in this little workbook. And like I said, the workbook is a very simple, small, tool, resource that it's available on the website for you to download, for free. If you wanna go to our web, almost local.com, you can download at any time. You can also reach out to me, on Instagram. I'm happy to share this little workbook anytime. Which are these five dilemmas? The first dilemma is who even am I here? Who even am I here? This is about, when everything, is set up in your life, your roles, your daily routine, your rhythm, and suddenly this all changes and shifts, when you move to a different place. And you start wondering, what have I become? When I first moved to the Netherlands, People had told me that everyone here, spoke English, and the truth is that is, a hundred percent truth. Everyone speaks English. However, the most, simple things like for me, going to the supermarket and just being in an aisle and not really, understanding. Any of the labels and trying to talk to people. this small talk was really, and it's still, difficult because people speak Dutch here. So for me that was, the starting of some sort of identity crisis. Who am I here? I can't even make small talk. Dilemma number two is I miss my people. And at the same time, I feel guilty. So when you start, missing your friends back home, but at the same time you start having this feeling of missing out on things that are happening. That is something we all go through. I even have to be honest, I have avoided video calls with friends because I felt I was. Missing a lot of things that were happening and that I wasn't part of that life anymore. And also feeling guilty because I was the one who had made the decision to leave. dilemma number three is I've lost momentum. This could be related to your career, to my purpose in life. losing momentum when we moved to New Zealand, I started, reorganizing and reshaping my life. I was, working from home, also going to a co-working space. I made new, colleagues on the travel industry. As I own a boutique travel agency called, across South America. So for me, starting from scratch and building this new life abroad, was, quite challenging. And then when we moved again. To the Netherlands where I'm actually living, I lost momentum. So this is why I included this dilemma, this little workbook, this feeling of losing this whole life. You have, really struggle to rebuild. It's quite a big challenge and, quite a big struggle. So that's why I also, included as part of the workbook. Number four, I don't know where I belong. Anymore. So this is, the constant struggle of being between places. home is not back there. Home is not here. You start wondering, where do I actually belong? And the concept of home starts to change. Home starts to become, more a feeling rather than a place. Home is not a country, a city, a house. Home is something. Different, it's a different concept. Number four, I don't know where I belong anymore. It's really interesting as we start, moving to different countries or cities, and we start realizing this is, more of a feeling rather than a place. Dilemma number five. Everyone thinks I'm living the dream, but I feel stuck. You've got the visa, you've got the job. You have the beautiful place you are renting. But deep. Inside you feel, something is missing, you are stuck or something is not really working okay. you start wondering if you've made the right decision. I can't tell you how many times I've been told you are so lucky. For living abroad, you are always going from one place to the other. But the truth is, I have felt sometimes stuck. I have felt unsure. I have, moments of doubt of not being sure whether we had made the right decision of moving. That's also the reason why I included this dilemma in the workbook because this is part of, how we all feel when we live abroad. Or at least these dilemmas, these five dilemmas and any other. Challenges you might be facing. These dilemmas are not problems to be fixed. They are invitations to reflect on your journey. And that's the reason I created this little journaling workbook, to help you, record these thoughts and experiences, and explore, these answers, right? I do believe that there are not right answers if you have, the experience of like me of living for several Years abroad. I'm sure that your answers now would be very different from any reflections or answers you might have had five years ago or 10 years ago. Like I said, this little workbook is available on the website for you to download any time. It is, a free resource that I've created from my heart, my own experience. I would love to hear back from you if you have the time to, reflect and share your story with me, you can do that. Anytime via, Instagram, at almost local, and also, keep listening to the podcast on the next episodes, we'll start digging deeper into these dilemmas we will be. Having some fellow expats who are, here to, share their own stories and tell, about their struggles and also their wins. Not just things that went wrong, but also what are those things that worked and share, how was life navigating abroad? Honestly, you are not alone. We will be, listening to these lovely stories keep, listening, and join for. The fourth episode, that we will be releasing soon. I would love for you to, listen again, to review the podcast. Just tell me what your thoughts are, how you navigate life abroad, what, your experiences are. I would love to learn more about your experience. You are also welcome to send me a message if you'd like to be included in one of these, interviews with fellow experts. Thanks again for listening. Now I'm off to my second morning coffee and I will be, meeting with you soon. Cheers and take good care.