Category: Expat

Travel, Love and Weddings- Planning a wedding with someone from another country

So what happens when you meet the ‘one’ when you’re on your travels?

Obvs take them home and marry them of course. And that is exactly what my sister did.

My middle sister moved to the UK a few years ago and while here she found her ‘one’.  She’s not like me we always knew her time in the U.K. would be for a few years and that she would eventually return. I, on the other hand, have dug my heels in and now drink so much tea and eat copious amounts of Yorkshire puddings that I’m practically British. But she was always going to go back and when they decided to move to Australia my brother in law made the decision to move without him even ever stepping foot on Aussie soil. They were (and still are) crazy in love.

Their love began and grew in Birmingham, they were engaged in Canberra and then the wedding planning began. Where, when, how? Two nationalities and cultures to come together in one place. Would it work? Would people travel wherever they ended up marrying? So many questions and things to consider that normal couples don’t need to think about.  My sister, however, is the super organised one of the family so we knew she would have it sorted before anyone could even ask when’s the wedding.

They married in Australia just near our hometown and had their wedding at a family friends property. We all stayed onsite in cabins and the ceremony was on the lawn with a marquee for the wedding breakfast. I wasn’t at all surprised that the wedding was in Australia but what I did like is how the celebration gave a nod to both cultures. The bridal party had both Aussies and Brits included on both sides. The night before the wedding and breakfast after we all had meals together so that everyone could get to know each other. The favours were a milo sachet and a Yorkshire gold tea bag and the games on the lawn while they were off having photos felt like a British afternoon garden party. The bouquets included my sister’s favourite native flowers and the groom and groomsmen’s suits all came from the UK.

It was a wonderful day and I’d always wondered how they decided and planned the wedding across the two countries so my sister kindly answered some questions and shared her wisdom below in case there is anyone else out there planning a wedding for two different nationalities.

How did you decide where to get married?

It was a really easy decision to get married in Australia. I’m not sure I even thought of getting married in the UK! It just made sense for it to be Australia as that’s where we are living. The main difficulty was choosing where in Australia to get married. We looked at venues near my grandparents’ house on the south coast and also my hometown. We ended up getting married in my hometown as it was easier, cheaper and my parents were there to handle some of the tedious bits of planning.

Was it a hard decision?

Nope! Well not for me! Luckily Ben is pretty easy going. I think it was easy for Ben once people said they would travel over (we had 67 adults attend the wedding and almost 20 came from overseas).

Did it affect the type of wedding that you had?

Not overly but it did impact on what we had to consider. We ended up getting married in my hometown in the middle of nowhere. There is no public transport to the town and there is no public transport to get around the town either. So everyone had to drive and to make it easy, we ended up with a venue that had enough accommodation on site for everyone to stay. It made the whole weekend like a massive family reunion/party.

What was the best part of getting married in Australia?

For me, it was having most of my family attend, including grandparents and cousins. On the other hand, Ben only had his mum, dad, step mum and step brother from his family attend. Plus we had the perfect spring day with lovely weather. Not sure we could have guaranteed that in the UK!

What was the hardest part of getting married in Australia?

Having friends and family who couldn’t attend, especially Ben’s sister and her children. However, we did travel to the UK a few months before our wedding to attend Ben’s sister’s wedding and we at least got to see all the family then. We also had a bridesmaid and groomsman who weren’t able to come over which was sad as we would have loved them to share our special day.

If you had married in England how do you think it would have been different?

It wouldn’t have an outside wedding – you just can’t risk it! I’m not sure it would have been so relaxed. We got married on a private property in the middle of nowhere and everyone could stumble to their room when they were done for the night. There was no one to complain about noise so those who wanted to could keep the party going to 2 am. We also had to provide our own alcohol so that kept costs down.

Where did you have your hen party? Stag party?

We had several! While we were in the UK in August, Ben had a week in a caravan in Wales with his best mates and I had a day out with my girlfriends at an inflatable park. Back in Australia, I had high tea and cocktails in Canberra and Ben had a night out. Plus I had a weekend in my hometown with my mum and two bridesmaids for the wedding trials.

How was it planning across the two countries?

It wasn’t too bad, as we didn’t really need to do much planning for the UK. Ben bought his suits (and the groomsmen’s) while in the UK but everything else was pretty much done in Australia. The only extra planning was organising things to do with our visitors. We spent a week before the wedding in Sydney with friends and family from the UK and after the wedding, we went to Jervis Bay and the Gold Coast. I organised the accommodation and travel which added a lot of planning.

Did you have to plan more than you expected to?

I’m often the organiser of a lot of things so I assumed I would end up planning a lot of things (including the travel above) so that wasn’t unexpected. One of the things I didn’t factor in was how to assign cabins to the wedding guests. The cabins had shared bathrooms and kitchens for 8-10 people. It was hard working out the different groups and who would be compatible to share.

How did you include your different heritages in your ceremony?

Luckily, English and Australian cultures are pretty similar (especially as my grandmother was born in England) so there wasn’t much we needed to bridge in that regard. We just worked with our celebrant to plan a ceremony that worked for us and reflected our relationship.

What (if anything) would you do differently?

It was a perfect day – I wouldn’t change a thing….except for the hair drama. Oh, and I maybe I would have finished my master’s thesis before the wedding.

Top tips to any other mixed national couples planning to get married?

I’m not sure how useful any advice I have would be for couples that have vastly different cultural backgrounds. I just think that you and your partner need to remember that it’s your day and so long as the two of you are happy, nothing else matters.

Those that are familiar with this blog or Deb’s World will be aware that our family loves to travel and I love how this has been a factor in both my sister’s weddings. From my middle sister above meeting her husband aboard and planning a cross-national wedding to my baby sister initially planning an elopement to Fiji but then deciding they wanted the immediate family with them so turned into a wedding abroad. We like to keep things interesting.  A huge thank you to my middle sister for getting involved in this post and keep your eyes peeled as my baby sister is also getting involved so a post on planning a wedding abroad will be up shortly.

As my dad keeps saying 2 down 1 to go. No pressure then!

Maybe one day you’ll get 3 out of 3 Pappa.

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Globetrotters – A Walk and a Lark

So we’ve taken a few weeks off with our Globetrotter series (sorry about that!) but we are back tonight and we have a gem of a blogger to share with you. This week it’s the lovely Josy from a Walk and a Lark.

I’ve long been a follower of Josy’s and always read her blogs wondering how her feet keep up with her with all her walking and hiking. I think mine would tell me to sit down and have a cuppa. We share that we are both expats with Josy previously liking Japan and now living in Canada and it’s great to read and relate to someone to who understands the trials and tribulations of living abroad. We also share a huge love of jumping photos and I am so glad she has sent one over to be included in this post.

This year she moved to Canada and as this has been long on bucket list I’ve been pouring through her posts to fuel even more wanderlust to get myself over there. This section on her blog has all the posts you need to know where to go, what to do and where to hike.

I really do love reading other travelers answers in this series and I think Josy’s answer to ‘Why do you think traveling is important’ is one of my all-time favourites. As traveling isn’t always important and that you can have a rewarding life even if you don’t travel. We often need to remember it’s a privilege to be able to do it and that not everyone has the means, funds or interest in traveling and that’s ok. We are all different and what’s important for one person is always going to be different to another and there are other ways to be enriched by the world. Such a refreshing reminder.

And on that note let me hand you over to Josy

Hello! I’m Josy.
I am not sure why I have always had wanderlust, but as soon as I first got a job back when I was 15, I started to save money for air tickets! I have lived in the UK, Japan and now Canada, so most of my trips have been close to those countries. My other love is walking and the outdoors so almost all of my travels include some long walks and thousands of photo opportunities.

What do you enjoy most about traveling?
This is a toss-up between food and pretty scenery! I LOVE to see the varied countryside around the world. When I lived in Japan, I picked up the habit of traveling with plans to eat a specific dish from whatever area I was traveling to. For example, Japanese people would all want to try kakinohazushi (really yummy sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves) when they visit Nara or eat Fugu (puffer fish) when they visit Ise. I love the culture of traveling to eat!

Why do you think traveling is important?
Hmmm…I don’t think it is important per se, but I do feel like I have been incredibly lucky and privileged to have been able to travel a bit. I mean, life can still be rewarding if you cannot travel, it is just the icing on the top to enrich a person’s life. I really think seeing the world and meeting people from different cultures opens my mind.

I am already a pretty cheerful person, but I also find planning my next trip helps make me really happy! It’s something to look forward to, and then something to experience and remember forever!

Where are you off to next? Or where have you just come back from?
At the moment all of my travel plans revolve around friend’s weddings. We just got back from a trip to Ireland (both North and South as the wedding crossed the border!) and my next big trip is for another good friend’s wedding in New Zealand. I am sooo excited to explore the land of the Lord of the Rings!

Having said that, as my husband and I are living abroad at the moment, every weekend feels like an exotic trip! I am having so much fun exploring the mountains near my new home!

What is your favourite photograph from your travels?


This is basically impossible for me to choose! I really like jumping photos and amazing mountains, so I guess I should pick this photo from Italy. A few minutes before the photo the whole world was white and the mountains were shrouded in mist. It is hard to describe how ridiculously happy I was when the clouds parted and this vista appeared. The sound effect that goes with this image is “squeee”

Who do you usually travel with?
Nowadays I travel with my husband, Marc. He loves to explore the world, but he is rubbish at making plans… so I normally make all the decisions, and just bring him along for the fun! He’s the one who takes my jumping photos.

If you were to give one piece of travel advice what would it be?
Taste as many local dishes as you can. It may not look like something you expect to be delicious, but you’ll never know unless you try it!

Also, if you live somewhere for a while, go back and re-try things after you have started to get used to the flavours. I wasn’t keen on maccha and azuki beans when I first arrived in Japan, but now I LOVE them both.

I also think you should attempt to learn some of the local lingo. Even if you are still pretty rubbish, people really appreciate the effort and the world is less bewildering if you can understand more about what is happening around you.

Tell us the most memorable moment you’ve had whilst traveling?
I have so many! This will probably change each time I think of an anecdote!

A few years ago my husband and I were hiking in the Atlas mountains in Morocco. There was a moment when we came over the top of a ridge to look down on the valley below and it was just magical. The colours of the mountains changed from browns to reds and yellows, in large colourful stripes. People had built their houses from the rocks in their area, so the colours of the houses changed in sync with the surrounding mountainside. I had never seen scenery like that before, and it blew me away.

The people that lived in those colourful houses were soo friendly! We walked through a village just as a group of ladies were getting ready for a wedding ceremony. They giggled when they saw me, and brought me inside to join in the celebrations by covering me in henna! My husband and our guide were not allowed in (girls only!) but they could hear our giggles before I returned with some very orange arms!

Another brilliant memory is from Mongolia. We went to stay with a family in their traditional Ger camp. They are nomadic people, following their herds as they cross the steppes. The problem is, they were a little too nomadic for our guide! We had to drive around for a few hours looking for them as they were not in the place we expected!!

Once we’d settled in, the local children came over to play with us, and my brother, George, spun one of them around. The child loved it so much that he then had to spin every single child in the camp! It was hilarious watching them collapse into dizziness and giggles. Their parents welcomed us with their “beer” and “vodka” made from fermented horses milk. It was pretty gross, but still fun to try.

Where is your favourite place that you’ve been to?
This has to be Japan! I love the gorgeous mountains, the ancient culture with all the temples and shrines, the fooooood, the festivals and the people. I studied Japanese at university, so have lived there both as a student as well as working for a Prefectural government. I have so, so many amazing memories from my years there. I could easily write this entire post just about my experiences in Japan. I also have many good friends there that I hope I’ll stay in touch with for the rest of my life.

Where was one place that didn’t live up to the hype?
Marrakesh. I thought the city was beautiful and loved the food, but I hated the way people treated tourists there. It just seemed like everyone was pushy or attempting to rip us off. I had a horrible experience with touts and it made me want to hide in our Riad and keep away from the streets. In the end, the stresses didn’t stop me exploring, but I never felt safe while we were there.

Tell us one place/experience on your bucket list?
I would love to go walking in the mountains of South Korea and eat some of their gorgeous food. I studied Korean several years ago, and although I have forgotten most of it, I can still read Hangul. I’d LOVE to explore and see if I can actually understand anything there!!

What is the one thing you wouldn’t travel without?
Walking boots (or at least comfy shoes that I can explore in!) My favourite part of visiting a new area is finding a map and planning a walk!

What can readers find on your blog?
I started my blog to document some of our pretty walks around the UK or on our travels. Since then I moved to Canada, so I’ve been documenting the amaaaazing scenery around Vancouver in British Columbia. I take far too many photos and find it difficult to cut down, so my blog is full of the vistas that have taken my breath away.

Where does your blog name come from?
My long-distance walking started with the Capital Ring through London. This is a 126km trail which goes through parks and pretty areas of London. I started planning the blog as we walked through the parks on this route. Originally I thought about calling the blog “a walk in the park”, but then when my husband suggested “a walk and a lark,” I liked the sound of that better.

Do you have a favourite blog post? What is it and why?
This changes all the time! At the moment I love my post about the Honen matsuri (penis festival) just because it’s fun to share a funny side of Japan that less people know about! I also adored writing about our fantastique walking holiday in Italy. I tried to fit it all into one post, but had so many photos to share that it expanded into a whole mini-series of posts!

To find more from Josy check her out here

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An Aussie living in the UK. Not quite the cliche you would expect

The Wandering Darlings- how I ended up in the ukAn Aussie living in the UK. Pretty cliched really, however, the story of what got me here isn’t your run of the mill gap year tale.

I’ve now spent a 3rd of my life living in England and to be honest I’m really not sure when or if I’ll be heading back to my island home anytime soon. Over the years I could have racked up some pretty good frequent flyer miles but alas foresight wasn’t my strong suit. I’ve flown backwards and forwards from Australia to England almost 20 times.

Most Aussie’s will venture to the UK as part of a gap year before Uni or for a year out after Uni to enjoy the last of their freedom before a working career prevails. It’s the perfect base to explore Europe, live in London, try and meet the Royal Family and wind up some poms about the cricket. Usually, the time living in the UK lasts for 2 year which is the common visa length, however, some just end up embracing the grey dreary weather and the way of life and stick around for a bit longer. This is me.

The most common question I have been asked (and still get asked) is ‘Why are you here when you could be in Australia’ and it’s a fair question Australia is paradise but the real answer is-  I was always meant to end up here.

So I promised above that mine isn’t your run of the mill moving abroad story so hold onto your hats here it comes…

When I was young (much younger) my parents took part in an international teacher’s exchange which meant that they swapped jobs, cars, houses and lives with a family in England. They went to our small town in the Snowy Mountains in NSW and we came to their home in Somerset in the South West of England for a whole year and here is the kicker- this is where I now live- in that very same village. Some 25 years later.

I was 10 years old and my life’s path was in motion and I had no idea.

My sisters and I went to school, we made friends, we got to live in a two-storey house, we even got cute English accents. We loved our life in this foreign country.

My parents also made friends and when it was time for us to move back to Australia we all kept in touch. As it was the 90s this was mostly through being pen pals! We had some of these friends come out to stay with us and the relationships remained as strong as ever. One set of my parent’s friends had a daughter my age who was my best friend so it was great that when they came to visit our friendship remained and still does.

We then, when I was 16 ventured back to the Northern Hemisphere as a family and went back to our little village home. We all caught up with our friends and also made new friends. I had my first pub and clubbing experience. I was sucked into the British life then and there and wanted so much to stay and live in England. My friends back home in Australia even knew after this trip that I would always end up back in England.

While I was in my final year at school my best friend from England came to stay with my family for 3 months and then when it was time for her to head back I packed my bags with her and started my gap year back in the village. I worked in the local pub, made an even wider set of friends and fell for a few boys (standard). I embraced my English life wholeheartedly. I didn’t have any Aussie friends or family around and weirdly felt at home.

Sadly by being on a gap year before uni meant that I had to go back home AGAIN. I didn’t want to at all and I remember my parents telling me that when they picked me up I was miserable and just complained about how bright and sunny Australia was (silly girl- I totally wouldn’t do now).

For my 21st birthday, I went back again for a two week holiday. I just couldn’t stay away. Then when the time came for me to finish my degree, there I was back at the airport with my blue suitcase ready to move to England till I was done living there. That day just hasn’t come yet.

I am still friends with those I went to school with, I have other friends who I call my school friends but never actually went to school with them, I’ve made friends who are now considered my family, I have history in the village and can remember when the florist was actually where the old swimming pool was, I play ladies football for the village and actually feel like a local. When people would tell me how brave I was to move abroad  I always thought I wasn’t actually that brave or adventurous as I  was just moving to my second home. Which is actually a pretty awesome feeling to have. One of my favourite quotes at the moment is.

‘You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place’  Miriam Adeney

I often wonder if my parents didn’t do their exchange would I have still ended up here. Would my life have been on this path anyway or would I have never made it to England? I do find it funny that I’ve basically moved to the other side of the world to live in a village so very similar to where I grew up and all I wanted to do growing up was to move out of our small town to a big city.

Life is a funny old thing and you never know with the decisions you make where they will eventually lead you. I’m just pretty damn lucky my parents took the gamble and brought me here to my home away from home all those years ago.

Do you have an interesting tale of why you ended up living abroad but would love to hear your stories if you are a fellow expat so do leave them in the comments below or get in touch?

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The Wandering Darlings- how I ended up in the uk

Travel Loving Parents

My parents have recently retired which, when they are still in their very early 60s/late 50s is really bloody early. I had like 5 mins worrying about what they would do with this new found freedom of the daily grind then I realised they are going to be even busier now than ever before.

You see my parents don’t sit still.

They get involved, they travel, they give back to the community, they find new places, they see different sides to places they already know, they challenge themselves.

I spoke to them last weekend and mum reeled off a list of everything they have planned till Christmas and every month they have something exciting planned in. New places, new experiences and new adventures and that on top of everything they have already done this year I just don’t know how they ever had time to work before.

Being the offspring of such inspiring, caring, empowering, sometimes cringy, overly energetic, life loving parents I wanted to write them a little letter…

The Wandering Darlings
The parents

A letter to my travel loving parents,

As I sit here in my lounge room on the other side of the world from you I think about how I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. Not because you created me (ew that’s a bit weird) but because you brought my sisters and me up to be adventurous, fearless, inquisitive life loving women and more importantly you brought me to this little village that I now call home all those years ago. You set my path in motion over 20 years ago and none of us would have ever expected the decisions you made then to have had such an impact now.

You took us overseas before we even knew there was another side of the world and although you had to wait till your 30s to see outside of Australia we got to see it before we even hit our teens. We now know to do this you needed to sell the house, that the opportunity to do it happened at a really unideal time and that you were both scared about having to leave your families behind with little to no way to contact them with three temperamental little girls. The world was a different place then and it was either too expensive or the technology hadn’t been invented to keep in touch like it is now.

In doing what you did then and what you continue to do now, you taught us so many lessons. Seeing as you both are teachers seemed kinda adapt. Lessons such as an awareness of other cultures and religions, how to get to the airport way too early, how to not tackle roundabouts when driving on the opposite side of the road, how to be respectful of others beliefs, random acts of kindness especially when travelling speak volumes, how to be polite when eating new local cuisines, how trying to speak a different language with a thick Aussie accent is extremely hilarious and how to enjoy and relish the moment of being somewhere new.

 

They love a rail trail!

I want to thank you for bringing exchange students into our lives. From our ‘sister Sophie’ when we were much younger to our ‘brother Hannes’ who helped fill the void for you when we all left home. We learnt about the world and other countries from having them in our life. We not only had them become (and still are) part of our family but we also became a part of theirs. I love how you are actively involved in rotary exchanges to help give other young adults the chance to explore a different culture and way of life. The way you help others is so inspiring and I only hope I can do something similar if I’m fortunate enough to have children.

 

Thank you for being involved in community projects and especially The Tumba2Kokoda Project that takes students in our small town on one of the most exciting adventures of their lives. The months of training, fundraising and organisation that you commit in itself is enough but then to do the trek along the Kokoda trail 7 times with the students must be one of the most rewarding things you do.

For always having a camera on hand to capture our moments and filling the spare room with more photo albums you could ever imagine. My obsession with photos started from you Dad! As much as we joke and laugh that you’ll make a ‘blurb book’ when you get back from a trip we know the value of having those photo books and love the stories they’ll continue to tell years from now. Mum, you have always been my biggest blogging fan you helped me, critiqued my posts, liked my photos, fixed my spelling and guided me on my own corner of the internet.

Thank you for being the type of parents that my friends make comments like ‘ can’t your parents just have a relaxing holiday’, ‘your parents go to amazing places’ It gives me something to aspire to. You don’t sit still you keep going and keep pushing to see more of the world.

Thank you for the long drives to Grandma and Grandpas every summer holidays, the long camping trip around Europe when all we wanted to do was stay at home with our friends. We learnt the joys of ‘boot picnics’, how to make friends and communicate with other children when we didn’t speak the same languages and that you don’t need to always get on a plane to have an adventure.

For making friends wherever you go and then actually keeping in touch with them. You did this long before Facebook and email were around to make it easier.

For having the type of holidays that push you outside of your comfort zone. Hiking in Nepal, exploring India, cycling through Croatia, solo travelling to England. You’ve shown us that you’re never too old or too scared to give something a go.

Thank you for not stopping my sisters and me when we got on all those many planes taking us away from you to let us continue our next steps in the world. I now it was and is still hard but thank you for being the parents that know you raised us to make the right decisions, to learn from our mistakes and to know who we are and that it’s ok to be whoever we want to be.

Thank you for now not crying until I’ve gone through the departure gate when we say our farewells. It’s funny how saying goodbye never gets any easier even though we have done it more times than I can count. The horrible goodbyes make the G’days so much sweeter.

For helping at times to fund our travels but also saying no and making us work 3 jobs to make the money ourselves. We know to have and enjoy something we need to earn it. Travelling isn’t an expectation or right it’s a privilege and that is a lesson I will always be thankful that you taught us.

I am who I am because of you and I am where I am because of you. For sacrifices, you made years ago and sacrifices you still make now and for that, I will always be so very grateful.

You are the best role models a little traveller and young (well kinda still young) woman could have.

‘At rejse er at leve’

Much love,
Your favourite daughter


My mum is also a blogger and you can find her at www.debs-world.com she blogs about lifestyle, fitness, family and her and dads travels and you’ll find some hilarious stories over on her blog. So do check it out if you want to read more about these wonderful humans.

Welcome to Life in the UK

So you are making the big journey across the seas to the UK.  Be it moving or just spending some time exploring you need to ensure you get involved in the British way of life. Get chatting to some locals, watch British tv, go to places off the tourist trails, learn the lingo and try out some of the British cuisine. If you are staying in London,  do make sure you get out and see some other areas. Go rural, get to the coast and just don’t stay in Shepherds Bush with all the other Aussies. The UK has a brilliant culture and heritage and the best way to experience this is just throwing yourself in head first.

As it’s a funny old place and I’ve put together a few pointers for you to get you prepared for your time in the United Kingdom. Things I wish I had known before I moved to the UK include – 

They drink. A lot! Aussies often get a reputation for being big drinkers and to some degree, we probably are however the Brits seem to do just do it more often. There is always a reason to go to the pub. The weather, new baby, new job, lost job, a new partner, break up, celebrations and commiserations. There is a huge pub culture in the UK and you know what they do pubs really well. There are cute ones, quaint one, historic ones, real ale ones, cider ones, gastro ones that serve insanely good food and trendy ones. If you ever find yourself in a village there will always be a pub welcoming you with open arms. I live in a small village and we have 6!! Another thing I always find weird but is considered perfectly normal is when two people go to the pub for a pint of coke. If you’re not having an alcoholic beverage I just don’t get it. That just wouldn’t happen in Aus.  I also for ages couldn’t work out when someone asked for a ‘half of larger’ what the half of the drink would entail. A ‘half’ however is a glass size. #muppet

Although we both speak English there is still a language barrier.  A couple of my favourites that have caused a few giggles are the following

Muffler= exhaust

Whippersnipper = strimmer

Zuchini= courgette

Capsicum = Pepper

Lollies- sweets  (lollies in England is an ice lolly or lollipop)

Band aid- plaster

Doona- duvet

Singlet top- vest

Overalls- dungarees

Rather than just having towns and cities in the UK they have cities, towns, villages and hamlets. Towns are considered a town if it has a town hall and city is a city if it has a cathedral. A village can be bigger than a town but if it doesn’t have a town hall then it’s still a village and a hamlet is just a really small village. The mind boggles.

Soaps are huge over here- Emmerdale, EastEnders, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks. I’ve dabbled in a few but have stuck with Emmerdale. What can I say I’m a country girl. They have their own national comedy duo Ant and Dec which are kinda like the UK version of Hamish and Andy. Although Hamish and Andy are funnier. And younger.  Piers Morgan in the morning is no comparison to Koshy or Karl. There are far too many reality shows- Love Island, Made in Chelsea and The Only Way is Essex you really don’t need to watch them but be warned they will be all over the magazines and newspapers and the locals will be obsessed with them.

There are SO many old buildings. Which is great as there really isn’t that many in Australia so getting to explore them is pretty awesome. The National Trust and English Heritage have memberships and there is always several properties within a few hours of each other. It’s a great way to learn more about the history of an area.

You can tell where someone is from the moment they open their mouth. Coming from Australia where it’s such a vast country you couldn’t tell if someone was from Sydney or the back of Bourke but in England, two people that live an hour away from each other could have a different accent. I still don’t understand how it works. My personal fav is a Somerset or Yorkshire accent.

In England driving more than 2.5 hours to a destination requires an overnight stop. There is no way people would drive 2 to 3 hours somewhere to then return that same day. Considering Australia is several times bigger than England driving long distances is in our blood. The roads in the UK are also really narrow. In many places especially the country there will be some parts of the road that have ‘passing places’. If you plan to drive do make sure you’ve read up on the road rules

Barefoot is perfectly normal down under. England not so much. They also think you’re weird if you wear flip flops all year round.

The weather is always a good conversation starter. If I’m lost for something to say I will ALWAYS bring up the weather. Even if you’ve not checked the weather bring up rain and it will usually cover it.

A cup of tea will fix anything. No matter what time of the day or night. Brits love their tea and to be fair there is nothing better a cup of English Breakfast. What you do need to do though is read up on the colours and strength of teas. Builders brew is a common term for a cuppa and this basically means a dash of milk. If you are making a cuppa for someone always ask what strength they want their tea.

‘Alright’ is considered a greeting. My dad will alway answer it like a question which he thinks is funny every single time. If someone says ‘Alright’ to you just reply ‘yeah, alright?’

There is still a class system. Not everywhere and not everyone cares but it’s there. Your postcode, up bringing, social status all come into play at one time or another. Just ignore it.

Bank holidays are just public holidays.

Fridges are half the size of Australian fridges and often houses will have the washing machine in the kitchen. Yes, the kitchen!

Their postcodes are completely different to Aussie ones. A postcode here can pin point your exact street and then you just have to pick the house number. It’s really good for sat navs and finding your way around.

Vegemite will always be better than marmite. Penguins don’t compare to Tim tams and Nik Naks have nothing on twisties. Try them all but you’ll soon understand. 

And finally for the love of God whoever you speak to do not call your thongs, thongs. They are flip flops and you will get some seriously weird looks.

I’m sure I have missed many other tips but this should be enough to get you on the right track. If you have any pointers I’ve missed do put them in the comments below with your blog link and I’ll update this post with your suggestions.

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Back to the future- How social media and technology has changed for expats and travellers in 2017

When I left Australia in 2006 there was no Facebook. Yes NO FACEBOOK! No, Twitter, No Instagram, no Pinterest, no snapchat. Well, they may have been in existence in the US but it was early days. I don’t even think smartphones were a thing. Pretty sure we were all still rocking the flip phones.

Gosh, I sound really old.

I remember New Years Eve 2006 my friends were talking about this new website which was coming to England and It was set to be better than Myspace. That you could upload photos to, find friends (but better than friends reunited which let’s be honest wouldn’t be hard) and to send messages to friends over the internet with no charge. There wasn’t even an app it was just a website.  I also remember when I first signed up and no one I knew in Australia was on it. I remember wondering if it would even catch on.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently just how different living away from my family was only 11 years ago to how it is now. Which in itself has had drastic changes. Then I was thinking about when my parents moved our family to England in 1992 and just how different and hard it was for them. The world has changed a lot in 25 years!

In 2017 the Harris sisters meeting up in an airport would have been a Facebook status update but in 2007 it was just emailed to the parents. Oh we were so fresh faced

For me, in 2006 I probably spoke to my parents on the phone (always on a landline!) once a month as it was extremely expensive to call. I would have emailed a few times a month but would be completely out of the loop as to what was going on at home with the family or with friends. I wouldn’t see pictures of my family as again picture messages were very expensive and it was just a bit difficult to get photos from a camera to a computer to then email. Even sending an email I would need to go to the library to use the internet there.  I always felt quite disconnected with the goings on at home and it made it really tough emotionally. I always would get jealous of my friends who would go home to see their parents at the weekend and I wanted Australia to be just that little bit closer so I could pop home for a weekend break.

In 1992 my parents must have felt like they were on the other side of the universe rather than on the other side of the world. The contact with their parents, friends and family was few and far between.  International phone calls cost the same as a small car, there was no Skype, cameras still primarily used film, mobile phones were still bricks and could only keep 10 text messages at a time and you were charged by the number of letters. Areograms were written and received often, postcards of all the places we went were sent back and took like a month to get there. Nothing was instant. To get information on either side of the globe took time and for that year they were only able to get snippets from back home. For all the amazing experiences they had they couldn’t really share them with their parents or if they were missing home they just had to suck it up and wait till they were back on Aussie soil. They wouldn’t have even been able to see their own parents faces for a whole year!

Grainy family photo due to having to scan it in from a printed picture. The challenges of 1992. They obviously didn’t have razors in 1992 by the state of dads beard

Fast Forward 25 years and now  I can face time and speak to my parents face to face and even better I can  feel like I’ve been home (especially when my parents walk me around the house or perch the iPad up at the breakfast table like I’m there in the flesh), I have a group chat group  with my parents and sisters and with my besties so we can share the goings on in our lives as it happens. I can be on the other side of the world and still feel like I’m only an hour down the road from them.  I couldn’t tell you the last time I wrote a letter or postcard home but I could tell you where in Tasmania my mum has just been, through her Instagram and blog or i could tell you what my sister did after she finished work today. I can keep up with their fitness through runkeeper, I can see what my sister is planning for her wedding from her Pinterest board and I can know town gossip at the same time if not before my mum knows. It really has made those thousands of miles in between us seem so much smaller.

It’s not only changed keeping in touch with home but it’s also hugely changed how I view travel. I can now go on a website and find the best flights for my travels and not rely on a travel agent. I can stay in someone’s home on Airbnb rather than a hotel room. If I am going somewhere new I can look on Instagram to see what it looks like or the best places to visit. I can get a guide of what to see in any given country from Pinterest. We can read reviews on trip advisors or learn from other people through their blogs about their experiences and the good, bad and the ugly parts of destinations. We can get annoyed at the Begpackers on social media asking people to pay for their ‘journey of self-discovery’ , we can tag ourselves into places on facebook to show just how fabulous and awesome our travels are. I mean can you imagine how only 10 years ago we couldn’t upload the standard ‘my Monday is better than yours’ status update accompanied with a picture of a beach or beautiful view. The horror! We get an endless supply of wanderlust worthy travel photos on Instagram and that those hidden gems of destinations are just not as hidden as they once were.  It’s opened up the world both for the good and the bad.

I’ve read about how social media can make people actually more lonely than if they were interacting with ‘real’ in the flesh people. One website even said this was higher in expats as they are in a new place, still making friends and getting used to adjustment and changes in their life. I can see how this could be true especially if you don’t know ANYONE or if there is a language barrier but I’ve never felt like that. If anything it’s given me a greater connection with home which has allowed me to interact more in my day to day life as I’m  not sat around missing home. I used to get massive FOMO as I never really knew what was happening at home whereas, with technology and social media the way it now it feels like I’m closer to home, I can get involved in family activities by face timing, social media or just a simple WhatsApp message. I’ve met and maintained new relationships and I’ve had friends in similar situation help me through the tough parts of living abroad as they have done it themselves. So whilst I agree the rise of social media and new technology does have its negatives and downfalls I’d much rather have it as it is now than what it was like in 1992 or even 2006.

I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like in another 10 years. I’m hoping for teleportation pods but we’ll see…..

Have you noticed how social media and technology has changed for you either travelling or living abroad? Would love to hear your thoughts!

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