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tales of a serial expat

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The Comedown: Tales from an Ex-Expat

April 29, 2016 by Rika 9 Comments

Find any expat blog where the expat has returned to their country of origin, and you'll find the same stories over and over.It's weird being here. My friends here don't understand my experience. This, that and the other thing here now drive me crazy. I miss my expat home and friends there. (So if this post is tl;dr for you, just look at those four lines and that's basically it.)To recap, I'm back in Canada for a few months getting ready to move to Japan in July as an assistant language ...

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Filed Under: Canada, Expat Living, Home, Life, Living Abroad Tagged With: Musings

Ten Truths About Being 30 & Living Abroad Solo

August 24, 2015 by Rika 16 Comments

We're gonna get straight into the nitty-gritty here folks. I turned 30 this year after three years of living the expat life solo, and I've learned a thing or two (or 10). Sometimes it fucking sucks and sometimes it rocks my socks. So I made a list for you, because I'm a nice person. Or because I'm a bit snarky sometimes. Who knows.me turning 30 abroad solo credit: jackson photographyHere are five shitty truths about being 30 and living abroad solo:1) You will check Facebook daily, ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Figuring It Out, Home, Life, Real Talk Tagged With: Funny, Hilarious, Musings, Things to Know Before You Go

On Being A Chameleon

October 6, 2014 by Rika 17 Comments

I've been back on Roatan for a week now (a very busy week! more about this later!) and absence really does make the heart grow fonder. While I am already missing good sushi and fast internet, I am relishing every walk I take down the street that takes me 20 extra minutes because I have so many people to say hi to. Being back underwater has been immensely helpful in getting my stress levels in regular parameters, and I've been lucky to be diving with a shop this week that is...wait for it... AIR ...

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Filed Under: Figuring It Out, Home, Life, Moving, Real Talk Tagged With: Musings

How Taking a Walk at Night Was a Revelation

September 15, 2014 by Rika 21 Comments

The other night I felt like taking a walk.I used to walk everywhere before I moved to Roatan. When I lived in Vancouver, one of the biggest cities in Canada, I regularly walked to/from work downtown to the neighborhood I lived in (Kitsilano). I walked home drunk by myself from downtown after going to the bar with friends. I walked to concerts, dinner dates and shopping. I never had a problem in 5 years of living there, and I never felt unsafe.When I first moved to Roatan it was a ...

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Filed Under: Canada, Expat Living, Home, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Real Talk Tagged With: Culture Shock, Musings, Things to Know Before You Go

What the Hell Happened?

May 6, 2014 by Rika 24 Comments

"What the hell happened? Where are you?"I have heard this a bit over the last few weeks. After I went off on a tired and teary rant about how I just wasn't having any fun here anymore, I sort of disappeared, as I tend to do any time I get overwhelmed. I just shut down and watch Netflix or read books all night and check in on Facebook sometimes, and that's about it. I had a lot of long conversations with family, friends and even strangers about what my next move was going to ...

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Filed Under: Blogging, Home, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Money, Work Tagged With: Fingers Crossed, Housesitting, Lady Luck, News, Time Off

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

March 28, 2014 by Rika 46 Comments

First off, you all are super cool for helping me cross the 100,000 view threshold this week! When I started this blog two years ago, I never thought it would be seen 100,000 times. Internet high fives for everyone!As I hinted to in the last roundup post, I am currently trying to make a decision about whether or not I am going to stay on Roatan. This is something that's been on my mind for the last few months, and I think something that every expat struggles with at some point. When do you ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Figuring It Out, Home, Island Living, Life, Roatan Tagged With: Lady Luck, Milestone, News, Readers, Tough Times

Hi from Canada, eh?

August 22, 2013 by Rika 9 Comments

Bad news = my Canadian accent is back with a vengeance.I'm on day 14 of 25 of my great Canadian summer holiday. I'm still hanging out with my family in the vast prairie of Saskatchewan, where the sky is never-ending, the nights are chilly and the mosquitoes are giving Roatan's a run for their money.I only had 10 days here in Saskatchewan and I spent 3 of them in the neighboring province of Alberta at my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, and another 2 to the 'big ...

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Filed Under: Awesome, Canada, Friends, Home, Life Tagged With: Busy, Family, Food

So, Vancouver. We meet again. (On returning home a year later.)

August 9, 2013 by Rika 20 Comments

Well, I'm in Vancouver. This has been the weirdest day. As soon as I flew out of Roatan this afternoon and arrived in Houston, I got completely overwhelmed and almost had a panic attack in the airport. There were SO MANY PEOPLE. And SO MANY STORES. And everything was SO CLEAN. And everything was moving SO FAST. And why is everything SO LOUD?? I can't believe how used to island life I had gotten. Culture shock!!Waiting in line for immigration was incredible for me... everyone around me was ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Home, Life, Vancouver BC Tagged With: Culture Shock

I am not a tree. (On changing my house, and other things.)

July 8, 2013 by Rika 22 Comments

If you don't like where you are,change it.You are not a tree.I read the above quote on my friend Amanda's blog and first I laughed. Then the absolute simplicity and truth of it exploded my brain. Think about it, and then really think about it. Unless you're actually a tree (in which case, kudos for getting online and being literate and all that), you have no reason that you cannot change it. Maybe you have reasons you won't change it, or don't change it. But don't ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Figuring It Out, Home, Life, Moving, Saving, Work Tagged With: Busy, Housesitting, Milestone

How Being an Expat Has Changed Me (or, I Never Knew I Could Drink This Much)

May 7, 2013 by Rika 17 Comments

I'm almost coming up on a year in living on Roatan. Moving to this tiny island in the Caribbean has made me a different person. Slowly but surely, Roatan has pushed me, pulled me, stretched me and gotten under my skin and I'm changing. I think it's amazing how transplanting yourself into a foreign country can make you see yourself so differently.Since becoming an expat here...I've learned to cling less to others and rely on myself.People come and go, and come and go here. It's a ...

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Filed Under: Figuring It Out, Happiness, Home, Life, Living Abroad, Real Talk, Traveling, West End Life Tagged With: Musings, Readers

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i’m rika!

hiya! i'm a canadian paralegal-turned-scuba diving instructor-turned EFL teacher-turned digital nomad. i left my cubicle in 2012 and haven't looked back since. i'm a serial expat, but right now i'm back in canada on hiatus for a while. welcome to the place where i say things.

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