I am an Australian expat who wears multiple hats: mother, trailing spouse, marketer and blogger. Our family have done the 'ultimate' travel trip: living for eight years as expats in New Jersey, USA. Although we had to relocate back to Australia, I have documented our adventures and relocation trials in this blog, and continue to write about these memories, until there's no more to tell!
EXPAT LIFE: If you haven’t had the exquisite joy of visiting a DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) in the USA yet, then you haven’t really lived. As an expat, I would definitely classify the DMV as an adventure travel experience – expat thrill seeking at its most dangerous. Just mention ‘going to the DMV’ and you […] Continue reading → 
LIFE IN NEW JERSEY: Moving to a new location is always a huge task. Enrolling your children in school in your new home town is just part of the logistical challenge that relocating families face. If you are moving to New Jersey however, you should know each public school district makes its own rules about […] Continue reading → 
RELOCATION: Moving to another country nearly always requires a number of documents. No matter where you are moving to, there will always be specific important documents needed for immigration, employment, school enrolment plus others. The USA is certainly no different. If anything, moving here will possibly require more paperwork than you could even anticipate. For a […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: My teenage son has just turned 15. This is a major milestone in his life. Sure, you could think it’s because he would be starting Year 10 at school if he was in Australia or for several other reasons. But these are not the real reasons why turning 15 is a milestone. This […] Continue reading → 
LIFE IN NEW JERSEY: Spoiler alert! Expat whinging (Australian for whining) straight ahead. WARNING: Stop reading now to avoid. Yes, it’s been a while but I am about to throw an expat-style dummy-spit about my adopted home country. Going to the hairdressers here has never been easy. It’s not that there’s a lack of […] Continue reading → 
LIFE IN NEW JERSEY: Coming from Australia, I have always looked forward to winter in New Jersey because the thought of snow was a huge novelty. The famous little jingle, ’let it snow, let it snow, let it snow’ starts to ring in my head as soon as the weather gets really cold in […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: How different is the USA to Australia? Well I’d say very different, culturally. But considering we were both colonies of Great Britain only two hundred years or so ago and settled by the same people (Brits originally), you would think that when it came to everyday systems, we’d be pretty similar. Surprisingly, that’s […] Continue reading → 
RELOCATION: Thinking of renting in New Jersey? For many expats this can be a very good strategy. The main benefit being that as newcomers, they can get a comfortable familiarity with choosing where they want to live, before investing a large sum of money in purchasing either a house or apartment. Although quite a number of […] Continue reading → 
LIFE IN NEW JERSEY: OK. You’re an expat and you’ve been here two months already. You have an International Driver License (IDL) but do you need a New Jersey Driver License too? Well according to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJ MVC), the answer is yes! When to get a New Jersey Driver […] Continue reading → 
EXPAT LIFE: Being an expat must give you early Alzheimer’s. I’m just waiting for the study results to show up one day proving me correct. No, it’s not the stress of moving to the USA that I’m talking about (although that does contribute I’m sure). It is the constant need to check and recheck your spelling when […] Continue reading →