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Of dogs and expats

Freya dog - from shelter dog to world traveler
Freya dog – from shelter dog to world traveler

Our expat adventures have been dominated by discussions about dogs.

When we made the decision to begin this craziness, one of the hardest decisions was whether to take our dog, Mackinaw. At the time, she was a lady of a certain age, with a heart condition and dodgy hips. We had just begun to think about what life might be like after she’d gone. Moving to a country where the winter temperature was far below what any of us was used to and a shortage of dog friendly housing and landlords posed a real dilemma for us.

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Soul sisters

Soul sistersI love Kirsty Rice. I’ve never met her but her blog – 4 kids, 20 suitcases and a beagle – was an absolute lifeline when I found myself in Norway wondering what on earth to make of this strange new life.

One of the things that Kirsty sometimes touches upon in her writing is expat friendships. Recently she posted something on her ‘4 Kids, 20 Suitcases and a Beagle’ Facebook page that struck a chord with me. She was wondering about the thing we gain and lose by moving around the world so much.  Continue reading “Soul sisters”

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In the moment

Freya downward dog

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get serious about yoga.

Yoga was something I discovered by accident. A Danish friend in Norway was training as a teacher and offered some free classes. I wanted to support her and thought I’d give it a try. I loved the way it made me feel – calmer, stronger and incidentally, slightly taller. I may have some hang ups about my height…. Continue reading “In the moment”

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What next?

It’s funny how things come full circle.  In the last few weeks, two emails about university graduations have landed in my inbox. One was reminding me that I graduated 25 years ago and the other informed me that I had completed my B.Sc. in Psychology.

I started the psychology degree in Norway. I had been working as a freelance consultant for organisations that I loved but the commute from Stavanger to Belfast is not exactly an easy one and I was beginning to feel less relevant and more remote from my clients’ needs. I realised that I could (within reason, the law of the land and my own moral compass) do whatever I wanted to do. I also realised that I was maybe a little bit bored when there wasn’t a lot of work to be done.

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