Travel fiction – where the ‘right place’ transforms lives

Travel fiction – where the ‘right place’ transforms lives

My Extraordinary, Mundane Transatlantic Relocation

My Extraordinary, Mundane Transatlantic Relocation

by | Jun 30, 2020 | Anglophiles, Blog Post, British, British in the USA, Exmoor, Expatriots, expats, hiraeth, Hireth, immigrants, immigration, Living abroad, relocation, repatriation, search for home, solo travel, Transatlantic, Travel

  It’s been one month since I arrived back in England after a thirty-year visit to America. If you’d asked me a year ago what vocabulary I’d be using to describe my feelings at my return home, I’d have said relief, comfort, joy. And those feelings apply. But they’re...
End of A Transatlantic Era

End of A Transatlantic Era

by | May 28, 2020 | Anglophiles, Blog Post, British, British humor, British humour, British in the USA, citizenship, Exmoor, Expatriots, expats, hiraeth, Hireth, Homesickness, immigrants, immigration, Living abroad, relocation, repatriation, search for home, solo travel, Transatlantic, Travel

This is it. My last blog from the United States of America on my last day as a resident. I envisioned a graceful exit after thirty years. A swan-like glide out of the USA and a pirouette into the glorious English countryside. I’d swish my Austen-esque skirts through...
When Was The Last Time You Did Something For The First Time?

When Was The Last Time You Did Something For The First Time?

by | Feb 21, 2020 | Anglophiles, Blog Post, British, British humor, British humour, British in the USA, citizenship, Exmoor, Expatriots, expats, hiraeth, Hireth, Homesickness, Humor, Humour, immigrants, immigration, Living abroad, relocation, search for home, Transatlantic, Travel

‘When was the last time you did something for the first time?’ John C. Maxwell I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. We spend so much of our lives repeating the same limited array of actions; the routine so ingrained we don’t even miss what we’re not doing. Oh,...
From Y2K to Brexit

From Y2K to Brexit

by | Dec 22, 2019 | Anglophiles, Blog Post, British, British humor, British humour, British in the USA, Expatriots, expats, hiraeth, Hireth, Homesickness, Humour, immigrants, immigration, Living abroad, relocation, search for home, Transatlantic, Travel

How can it possibly be twenty years since the whole Y2K thing? Remember all that ‘Your laptop will explode at midnight because it won’t be able to tell the time’ or some such nonsense? Well, nothing happened to my laptop or the oven clock. My car didn’t swerve off the...
Excuse Not to Write #46: Transatlantic Distractions and Dance Parties

Excuse Not to Write #46: Transatlantic Distractions and Dance Parties

by | Oct 22, 2019 | Anglophiles, Blog Post, British, British humor, British humour, British in the USA, Expatriots, expats, Humor, Humour, immigrants, immigration, Living abroad, relocation, search for home, Transatlantic, Travel, writer, writing

  I admit it. I’m distracted. Which doesn’t bode well for a writer. A recent trip to England, a house search while over there, a million things to contemplate about relocation across the pond, and, well, it’s all spinning in my head and any kind of writing gets...
So, A Veggie Platter Walks into A Courthouse …

So, A Veggie Platter Walks into A Courthouse …

by | Sep 26, 2019 | Anglophiles, Blog Post, British humor, British humour, British in the USA, citizenship, Expatriots, expats, hiraeth, Hireth, Homesickness, Humor, Humour, immigrants, immigration, Living abroad, relocation, search for home, Transatlantic, writer

  I assisted at a US citizenship oath ceremony last week, held at the District Courthouse in Madison, Wisconsin. By ‘assist’ I mean I crinkle cut vast quantities of veggies and lugged a cooler through courthouse security. No mean feat, actually, as the handle of the...