Water is cascading down from the ceramic-tiled roof of my apartment. Under the gray summer sky, even the terracotta orange of the tiles are muted. And the rain, with its plump droplets and thunking onto the sand-colored stones below my window, has a whirr about it. A gentle humming that hums along with my heart.Continue reading “On a Normal Life”
Category Archives: Expat Life
Two Years of Home
December 15, 2015. I remind myself regularly of this date. When I’m up at night, my brain whirrs as I count the days, weeks, months and now years since I turned my back on expat life. It seems like no time has passed at all, and yet all the time in the world has passed. DecemberContinue reading “Two Years of Home”
True Story: I’m a Recovering Expat
Editor’s Note: This should have been published on Dec. 15, 2016. I was hella sick so never published it on the actual one-year anniversary of surrendering my status as an expatriate. Better late than never, right? Hi. My name is Diana. I used to be an expat. For almost four years, it was how IContinue reading “True Story: I’m a Recovering Expat”
What Being an Expat Taught Me About Life
The photos flood my Facebook feed. They’ve been doing it for ages now, thanks to all the different ways memories are shared. Typically, I look at them, let my mind linger and then move on. But, there’s something different about the photos and moments popping up now: they’re no longer tangible. Let me explain.
It’s a Beautiful Life
It’s a mild evening in Las Vegas. Hot, by winter standards if you don’t have desert (or jungle) blood. The sun has already begun its descent behind the rugged, snow-covered peak of Mt. Charleston to the west of the city. The mountains on the east, the ones covered in trees, are a deep purple. SunriseContinue reading “It’s a Beautiful Life”
Why I Said “Adios” to Being an Expat
“You made me promise you two things,” Kyla begins as we sit in her car after my 24-hour trip from Madrid to Las Vegas. One of my closest friends in the world for almost a decade, she’s always been the one I ask to remind of previous statements I have made about life. “Yeah …”Continue reading “Why I Said “Adios” to Being an Expat”
Because Sometimes You Don’t Realize It’s Love Until It’s Gone
My heart races as the cab driver pulls up to the International Terminal at Madrid. I’ve been here before, but this time, it’s different. This time, I’m not hopping on a short flight to London, or heading to the States to procure my Spanish Visa. This time, I’m going back to Thailand. The longest placeContinue reading “Because Sometimes You Don’t Realize It’s Love Until It’s Gone”
Six Years Later: How Blogging Changed My Life
Six years ago, on a warm October night, I lay in my bed in a century-old house, tossing and turning. Work, my 30th birthday trip to Croatia and my cloudy future in Atlanta all jockeyed for space in my mind. Yet, the only thing which kept repeating were the words “fumbling, stumbling, mumbling …” asContinue reading “Six Years Later: How Blogging Changed My Life”
When Your Travel Plans Turn into Murphy’s Law
“If anything can go wrong — it will.” The best laid plans. Today, we’re time traveling to late January of this year. I’m in Madrid and I decide that it shall be my new home. “It’s really easy to get a student visa here,” my friend explains to me. Seeing as Spain was always topsContinue reading “When Your Travel Plans Turn into Murphy’s Law”
9 Things to Know About Expat Life
Today marks three years of life as an expat. If you asked me three years ago, when I arrived wide-eyed to Chiang Mai if I ever would have imagined being in Spain today, I would have likely looked at you and laughed … because really? That notion, then, seemed absurd. And yet … here IContinue reading “9 Things to Know About Expat Life”
D Travels 'Round 