One of biggest occupants of my pandemic pause is Jetztpat, a fully-fledged company I co-founded with two fellow expats. We support foreigners living in Germany with navigating their way through the bureaucracy—from visas to taxes and everything in between. Go check us out!
All articles filed in Expat Life
The Pandemic Pause is Over!
I’m not sure anyone noticed this blog went quiet over the last two years—but I did. Like most people, I was stuck inside my (thankfully two-bedroom) flat, rebooking travel, studying Covid restrictions, debating the ethics of international travel… and still trying to get those most out of life during the pandemic pause. We were lucky…
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6 Important Ways You Can Make a Difference from Abroad
Between Coronavirus, racial injustice, protests, and the lack of clear leadership from the current administration, I think the last few weeks have left many Americans wondering how to make a difference from abroad. As my own answer to that question, I created an initiative—Stimulate Change. It calls on Americans abroad to donate their U.S. government…
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An Open Letter to American Expats
This is a travel blog. But it’s also a blog for expats—specifically (since it’s my own area of expertise), American expats. I don’t know about you, but over the past several weeks, I’ve been struggling with my identity as an American, the feeling of being (physically) distanced from issues I care about, and the helplessness…
Read MoreTrace the Roots: A Talk on Intercultural Communication
Back in January I presented Trace the Roots, a Creative Mornings talk exploring the benefits and challenges of working across cultures. How do you plan meetings in New York? Pitch ideas in Berlin? Pay for client dinners in Japan? I’ve learned quite a few lessons living abroad—but the most valuable was that different cultures have…
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30+ Essential Apps for Living in Germany
Will apps make living in Germany easier? In a change-averse country full of red tape, it can be hard to think so. Coming from San Francisco, I really missed the intuitive app culture when I arrived in Hamburg. I mean, Germany barely lets you pay by debit card, let alone by bitcoin. It took four…
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Up and Gone: 2019’s Year in Travel
While 2018 was packed with adventure, 2019 felt much more leisurely. There were work trips, pleasure trips, surprise trips. Beach trips and city trips. But most were short getaways, or trips back home to California. 2019 brought a lot of instability and curveballs—including one cancelled trip and one bout of severe travel sickness…but it reminded…
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November 9: A Turning Point in Germany History
Until this week, I couldn’t have told you why November 9 is a kay date in German development. But it marks a turning point in German history not once, but twice. Kristallnacht, or Night of the Broken Glass, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, both monumental turning points in German history, happened not just…
Read MoreThe Berlin Wall: Then and Now
November 9, 2019, marks the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Thirty years since a wall divided the city; when the fall came, Berliners said this day was more important than “Christmas and New Year’s combined.” To mark the occasion, the Berliner MorgenPost put together a series of interactive sliders that spotlight places along the wall, comparing how they look now to how they looked then. Check them out here:
https://interaktiv.morgenpost.de/berliner-mauer-damals-heute/
Culture Shock: German Dancehall Music
When you think about German music, I bet a few different beats come to mind. The oom-pa-pa of the polka. The oons-oons-oons of Berlin techno. The heavy metal clashing of Rammstein, or a childlike, ethereal voice counting red balloons. What I bet you don’t hear is the melodic riffs of Caribbean dancehall music. And that’s…
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Up and Gone 