Top Phone Tips for Expats
As more Americans act on their expat dreams, many are discovering a common challenge faced by expats around the globe – how to keep an active US phone number. There are many reasons expats would want to hold onto their existing American phone number while living overseas. Luckily, expats today have an abundance of options…
4 Ways Expats Can Feel More at Home
There are numerous reasons why people move abroad. Some people opt to become expats because they found a job, while others move because of a relationship, i.e., a boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, or husband. You may be looking forward to the move, excited about a new country, new foods, and culture to sample-until you get there…
College in Europe vs America: 9 Ways They’re Different
Recently, I consulted with an American family planning a move to Spain. Specifically, we were discussing education options for their oldest daughter. She would be in 10th grade on arrival. Their main concern? How an international move during high school would impact her chances of going to college in Europe. College in Europe? The families…
Moving Our Family Overseas: Two Years of Expat Life in Spain
Moving our family overseas was something my husband and I had always talked about. Like, from when I was pregnant with our older child. Yet that vision lingered in the background for most of our kids’ childhoods. Finally, the time had come. Our sons were 8 and 12. Act now on our dream of moving…
Moving to Spain as an American Family – 7 Tips for a Smooth Transition
Moving to Spain as an American family will be one of the most formative experiences of your children’s lives. (And yours too!) And yet, your move abroad will present many hoops to jump through. Hoops unique to moving to Spain as an American family. Hoops that many EU expats might get to avoid. First off,…
How to Move Abroad as a Family: 7 Tips For Choosing a School
In the summer of 2015, my husband I pressed go on our long held dream to move our family to Spain for a year. We had no personal connections anywhere in Spain. No idea where specifically in Spain we should live. And we were, generally speaking, almost entirely clueless about the entire process, from immigration…
Living Abroad for a Year as a Family: How We Moved to Spain
My husband and I had always dreamed of living abroad for a year as a family. In fact, we’d talked about it before our first child was even born. And yet, this notion to move our kids to a foreign country had never really coalesced beyond the idea stage. Notably, we hadn’t even thought about…
How To Move to Spain from the US as a Family – Our Expat Story
Making the the decision to move to Spain for a year was easy. My husband and I had spoken of living in a foreign country with our children when I was pregnant with our first child. Yet our sons were 7 and 12 the first time we got them to Europe. That’s when it hit…
Expat Education: An Expat’s Guide to Choosing a School Overseas
Considering an overseas move with children? Grab a copy of Expat Education: An Expat’s Guide to Choosing a School Overseas by Carole Hallett Mobbs. Wherever you’re at on your expat journey, this book will help you understand the many education related concerns of moving your child to a foreign country. Expat Education — The Kinds…
Our 10 Biggest Mistakes Moving to Spain – And What We’d Do Differently Next Time
Our biggest mistakes moving to Spain from the US as a family. I’d never moved kids to Spain before. In fact, I’d never moved to or lived in any foreign country before. Truly, I thought I’d researched everything. Far more went wrong than right. These are our 10 biggest mistakes moving our family to Spain…
Your Child’s Move Abroad: 5 Factors Affecting How They Cope
Just as with adults, children moving abroad experience a sense of loss and period of adjustment. Loosely termed culture shock, each child or teen’s adaptation process will be unique to them. Understanding the variables that play a role in your child’s transition after moving abroad can help you set your family up for success.
First Day of School in Spain – A Family Expat Story
I thought dropping off my kids for their first day of kindergarten was scary. It was nothing compared to parenting them through their first day as American expats going to school in Spain. The curriculum at the Colegio San Francisco de Paula in Seville is completely bilingual. Half the core classes are taught in English,…
Why Move Abroad — Our Family Expat Story
Hi, I’m Jackie Baxa. Welcome to Family Move Abroad — Inspiration and Information to Move Your Family to a Foreign Country. My husband, Dave, and I had always dreamed of living in a foreign country with our children while they were still children. In August 2016, our sons then ages 9 and 13, we stepped…
20 Culture Shock Symptoms Every Expat Should Know
Culture shock affects every expat at some point. Even if your move abroad is purely out of desire. Preparedness is key. Recognizing the emotional, social and physical symptoms of culture shock — along with tools to cope — will ease your transition and set you up for success in your new foreign home. Emotional Symptoms…
Our Epic Journey to Get a Spanish Non Lucrative Visa
The Spanish Non Lucrative Residence Visa I knew it was possible for Americans to legally live in Spain for a year. I just didn’t know that the visa we needed was called the Spanish non lucrative residence visa. It took me over a month to figure that out. It would take several more to figure…
How to Cope with Culture Shock – An Expert’s Guide
Moving to a foreign country may be one of the greatest adventures you ever pursue. Yet the excitement and planning of your international adventure can mask a much darker side of your move abroad — the emotional toll of culture shock. What is culture shock and why does it occur? Culture shock refers to the…
10 Files Every Expat Should Save to a Cloud Drive
Be ready for the unexpected. My top 10 files every expat family save to a cloud drive.