Category: Ashley Abroad

Today, for my American Expats series, I’m chatting with Diane, a New Jersey native who has been living in France since 2012. Here, she shares about French style, cheek kisses, and the honest ups and downs of living in France as an expat.

I’ve followed Diane since 2012, and highly recommend her blog for advice on living in France and learning French. I especially recommend her article on what we can learn from Bradly Cooper about speaking French, ahem.

Without further ado…

Diane’s background:

Bonjour! I’m Diane, an American originally from New Jersey. I moved to France in 2012 shortly after marrying my French husband, Tom. We live in the Maine-et-Loire region, outside Angers, with our dog, Dagny. I work in marketing and communications and also have a blog and YouTube channel called Oui In France. It’s a living abroad lifestyle blog where I share about my experience living in France

Ashley AbroadWhat Living in Mexico City as an Expat Is Really Like10 Excellent Books to Add to Your 2019 Reading List2019 Goals + ResolutionsWhat Living in Norway as an Expat is Really Like3 Days in Mexico City: The Perfect ItineraryWhat Living in Hamburg, Germany is Really LikeMust-have Travel Accessories That Cost Less Than $30Do Readers Grow Up to Be Travelers?What Living in Stockholm as an Expat is Really LikeCareer Advice for Lost Twenty-somethings

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https://www.ashleyabroad.com Wed, 06 Feb 2019 15:20:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1 39948944 https://www.ashleyabroad.com/2019/02/04/living-in-mexico-city/ https://www.ashleyabroad.com/2019/02/04/living-in-mexico-city/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2019 11:00:14 +0000 http://www.ashleyabroad.com/?p=29302 Hey guys! Welcome to American Expats, a new series that shows you what expat life is like in cities around the world. Next up: Laura, a freelance writer and blogger who has been living in Mexico City for two and a half

Hey guys! Welcome to American Expats, a new series that shows you what expat life is like in cities around the world. Next up: Laura, a freelance writer and blogger who has been living in Mexico City for two and a half years. Here, she talks about celebrating the Day of the Dead, learning Spanish, and where to find the best street food in the city.

Laura’s background:

I’m Laura and I’m originally from New York. My boyfriend, Luke, and I have been living abroad since we graduated college in 2010. Mexico City is home number five after living in New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and the UK.

I moved here two years ago to get serious about freelance writing (the cost of living is much lower than New York!). In that time I’ve managed to turn my blog into a full-time job and work with some amazing publications both online

Hey guys! I hope you’re having a good 2019 so far. Today I wanted to share my top reading recommendations for this year.

2018 wasn’t my best reading year (I had so much reading to do in grad school), but I still managed to finish around 25 books.

Here are the ones I couldn’t put down:

The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson. A fascinating history of the English language. Recommended for all language nerds and Bill Bryson fans.

On Writing by Stephen King. Part memoir, part writing guide. All in all a great read.

Calypso by David Sedaris. I always love David Sedaris’ short stories, and his latest collection didn’t disappoint. Funny, quirky, heartfelt.

The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante. 1,500+ pages and three years later, I’ve finally finished the Neopolitan Novels! The Story of a Lost

Hey guys! As we all know, 2019 is here. Personally, I couldn’t be happier. 2018 was a really tough year for me with lots of change and ambiguity (leaving Uganda, moving back to Michigan, starting grad school) so I’m not sad to see the back of it.

I’m feeling very hopeful about 2019, so I wanted to share my resolutions and goals.

I warn you, this year I may have the world’s most boring resolutions — is this part and parcel of being in your late twenties?

Case in point – I’m writing this while drinking my first oat milk latte (surprisingly delicious) because I’m doing dairy-free January. See what I mean?

1. Work out three times a week + meal prep every Sunday

Historically, I’ve been an all-or-nothing exerciser. I either work out six days a week or not at all. So this year, my goal is to

Hey guys! Happy New Year and welcome back to American Expats, a series that shows you what expat life is like in cities and countries around the world. Next up we have Silvia, a Norwegian-American who is living in Norway. Silvia is one of my favorite bloggers so I can’t wait to share her story here.

Here, she discusses snowy winters, road-tripping around Norway, and choosing to live in Norway long-term.

Silvia’s background:

My name is Silvia and I grew up in Massachusetts but now am living in Norway, where I work as a travel blogger at Heart My Backpack.

On the local culture: Norwegians are quite reserved and laid-back. But I’ve come to embrace being more relaxed about getting stuff done and not stressing over long silences. (There are a lot of long silences over here!)

On making friends: I met pretty much all of my friends in Norway when

I wrote this itinerary for a friend who will soon be spending 3 days in Mexico City. I thought you guys might find it useful as well, as many of you were interested in my Mexico City posts. Enjoy!

There is so much to do, see, and eat in Mexico City. The food is delicious on any budget, from street food to Michelin-starred restaurants. It has gorgeous, leafy neighborhoods, with Art Nouveau architecture and hip breweries. And you can’t visit Mexico City without seeing Teotihuacán, the sprawling Mesoamerican city just an hour outside of the capital.

Here is my itinerary for 3 days in Mexico City, the perfect place to spend a long weekend…

Day One: The Zócalo and Frida Kahlo Museum

Have an Uber pick you up at the airport – they’re safer and cheaper than standard taxis in Mexico City.

Drop your bags at the hotel. I

Hey guys! Welcome to American Expats, a series that shows you what expat life is like in cities around the world. Next up we have our first Germany-based expat — Jordan! Jordan has been living in Hamburg, Germany, for almost two years.

Here, she talks about local German beers, the hip warehouse district, and how everything is closed on Sundays.

Jordan’s background: Moin! (That’s ‘hello’ in northern German slang.) My name is Jordan and I live in Hamburg with my boyfriend. I work in advertising, helping major German companies launch their campaigns on the international market.

I ended up living in Hamburg due to my German boyfriend. We met at a ball in Heidelberg, Germany, while I was doing my Master’s. After doing long-distance for almost eight months while I was living in Scotland, we decided that I would move back to Germany as the visa process would be easier for me than

Over the years, I’ve tested a lot of travel accessories. Honestly, I love buying travel gear — it’s one of my guilty pleasures.

So I wanted to put together a post highlighting my all-time favorite travel accessories that cost less than $30.

I’ve owned all of these travel accessories for years, and recommend them highly. I can promise you that they’re all good investments that will make your travels easier.

I know packing cubes may seem unnecessary, but I promise you — they’re not. They organize your clothes, and dramatically speed up packing and unpacking. I’m obsessed with packing cubes, and try to foist them on every traveler I meet.

I only recently bought a hanging toiletry kit, and now I’m kicking myself for not buying one sooner. They organize your toiletries so well, and are a huge upgrade from the plastic bag I used in my early twenties. Plus,