This week's episode delayed.

I had a really amazing interview I was all set to share with you this week that I did with a Californian couple living in Heidelberg, Germany. They had lived abroad in Switzerland from 2010-2013 and then repatriated with the idea of making some career strides and moving back abroad afterward. Things didn't go exactly to plan, and in late 2017, they wound up in Germany with their two US-born daughters and two cats, rather than Switzerland. But in the end, it was for the best as nearly one year in, they have discovered that they prefer German life to Swiss life after all, and they're so glad things turned out the way they did.

We talked about German salaries and making finances work there compared to the US and Switzerland; about the pull to live abroad and the reality of how living abroad changes you and ruins you for your home country; and about the very real embrace of the expat community and living far away from family.

Sadly, the audio quality on the interview was unusable! I'm really disappointed because it was a great conversation that really covered a lot of information, both practical and ideological. Would you like me to redo? If this episode really appeals to you, please let me know in the comments below.

Otherwise, I'll be back next week with an interview featuring Tina Busch, a German repat who spent 5 years with her German husband and children in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

See you then. And thank you for being here!

Episode Two: Chelsea Pyne, American Expat Au Pair in Germany

I belong to several wonderful Facebook groups for expats and repats, including Grumpy Expat, started by my friend Alison; Grumpy Repat, also started by Alison (mainly at my request;) and Two Fat Expats. It was on one of these pages that I saw some posts by Chelsea that really resonated with me and so I reached out to her via Facebook Messenger and we found we had a lot in common.

I was happy when Chelsea agreed to be on the show because her expat-repat experience was so different from mine. Chelsea had always wanted to live abroad and the first time she left the US was to move to Germany as an Au Pair at the age of 22. She went abroad young and single and found love and enrolled in German school in order to stay longer. Then, due to visa issues, she had to leave quite suddenly and before she was ready. Give it a listen to hear how Chelsea dealt with the abrupt change, regret and muddled her way through repatriation. And don't forget to subscribe and give us a positive review on iTunes.

Episode One: Kristin Trummer, American-Swiss Expat Repat

Kristin Trummer and I became pen-pal friends when I was in the worst of the repatriation blues and she read a few of my blog posts and could relate. Kristin is an American back and forth expat-repat with her Swiss husband. Living abroad has made it so she and her husband are hesitant to put down roots in either country, and anxious about their children's cultural identity growing up in one place, but being from both.

Kristin and I had a great discussion about intercultural marriage, the horrors of nostalgia, how living abroad makes it so we never really stop comparing, and the differences between expat life with no local ties and immigrant life with local in-laws. I hope you'll give it a listen and let me know what you think in the comments.

And don't forget to subscribe and give us a review on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Thank you.