A blog that caught my attention early on, Mundane Chaos -Misadventures in Southeast Asia came up with a search on my destination (Savannakhet Teacher Training College). Stephanie Crabtree wrote about her experiences there in 2012/13 with lots of amusing anecdotes, observations and experiences that I really enjoy reading (and writing!). These are the sorts of stories I like to share/hear about and can give all sorts of insights about expat life.
I responded to Stephanie’s blog and she kindly emailed back, saying she’d almost forgotten about the blog (don’t you love that they just ‘hang there’ forever?) since returning home 3 years ago. But she sent me some contact names and some helpful advice which is great!
The Culture blend thoughts on expatting, repatting, transition and life is another blog I’ve enjoyed, from an ‘expert’ expat named Jerry Jones who writes with a thoughtful, humorous and wise approach.
The ‘expat’ comes in all shapes and sizes (and income levels). I like Jerry’s ‘crawl in the hole’ advice (link below) because it pretty much rings true to my own (earlier) experiences. I don’t think you can ever become an ‘expert’ inter/cross cultural participant because everyone is looking for different things, and that not everybody gets a ‘thrill’ out of being out of their comfort zone. But … as an older and hopefully wiser participant, I hope that I can retain not only my sense of humour, but the ongoing interest in, and passion for difference.
Love to hear about more examples – I will add them as I discover them myself!
Another site with great links and photos about the wonders of Laos!
abelspace 