Dear Expats

Episode 10: Immigration Before & Afters – Rating Career, Self-Esteem and Daily Lives

This time we continue experimenting with the new format and challenge the notion of immigration being a way of improving one’s live quality by giving a score to different aspects of our life. Tune in to hear our before/after marks for: - social life; - career perspectives; - mental health and freedom; - daily routine; - feeling of home. And share your before/after scores in the comments or via email, so we can do a part two! Write us at hello@dear-expats.com Our website dear-expats.com

Episode 9: Money in Immigration – How We Save, Spend and Stress

This time we try a new format, and instead of your letters we read the ones from our bank — aka go through our account statements to see, how our relationship with money changed in immigration. Tune in to learn about: - How much do you have to spend on groceries and transportation in Amsterdam - How our top spending categories changed - Taxes and another unexpected expenses we had - Do we manage to save in immigration - And what do we feel about? As usual, we are glad to hear back from you and learn your stories and most unexpected spendings you’ve had since moving abroad! Our website: https://www.dear-expats.com/ Write us at hello@dear-expats.com

Episode 8: Nails, Countryhouse & Other Abandoned Essentials

This turned out to be a rather slavic episode. But don’t worry if you are from other culture – as usual we cover the topics well recognisable by any immigrant, such as: - Having to spend more on essentials and struggling to find services you are used to; - Unexpected ways of finding friends when you’ve just moved; - Acquiring new personality when you move and hesitating to accept it. Write us you letters at hello@dear-expats.com Our website: https://www.dear-expats.com/

Episode 7: New Countries, Old Cravings & Holidays That Don’t Feel Like Yours

Jumping from country to country sounds exciting – until you realize you’re always starting over. In this episode, we talk about what it’s like to constantly move, miss the taste of your favorite products and celebrate holidays that don’t really feel like yours. How do you find comfort when the food, people, and even calendars feel foreign? And how do you build a life when your suitcase is always half-packed? Join Polina and Julia for an honest talk about homesickness, migration fatigue, and finding your rhythm in a world that keeps changing. Write us at hello@dear-expats.com And don't forget we have a website: https://www.dear-expats.com/ [https://www.dear-expats.com/]

Episode 6: Downshifting, Foreign Words & Falling for Barcelona

What if the “better life” you built abroad starts to feel like hard mode?  Today’s topics: - moving to Barcelona without speaking the language (and crying in the rain about it) - rediscovering lightness in Asia after five heavy European years - why working in English sometimes feels like writing with someone else’s hands. When is it time to slow down? Can you reinvent your expat life without burning it all down? And why do the sea and a cheap flight sometimes matter more than ambition? Polina and Julia are here – with stories, questions and no perfect answers. Do not forget to write us at hello@dear-expats.com Our website: https://www.dear-expats.com/