Travel changes us.
It allows us to reflect and connect in ways that our daily routine doesn’t always provide space for.
The stories here reflect meaningful experiences living the ex-pat life, blending inspiration and humor.
A few days ago, I was visited by a young, injured bat. I didn’t see the showdown, but I’m pretty sure this small, still-breathing bat lying quietly on my kitchen floor was the handiwork of my cat, Tino. No doubt, this bat had been struck and had downward spiralled to the floor. Tino…
DetailsShe clung deftly to the low stone wall, peacefully watching the dragonflies humming nearby. Scaly but sweet, the minuscule lizard cocked her head as I and other yogis entered the open-air palapa. The ocean air rolling in off the beach was warm, and we soon began to sweat as our yoga teacher led us…
DetailsFrom her pillow, she said, “I believe in the music…” And then closed her eyes, and said no more. These were the last words ever breathed by my dear friend’s mother. It’s with utter respect and permission that I repeat these words here. I often think about last moments, about the last…
DetailsGrief can churn our insides. Losing our beloved pets, our favorite humans, or our long-chased dreams, anticipated or sudden. Yet, we’re often encouraged to focus on the positive, to express gratitude for what we had while it was in our embrace. To lean into all the good feels the experience gifted us. Don’t worry, this…
DetailsThe ants numbered in the thousands, as ants tend to do. Moving like water, the tiny black creatures appeared seemingly from nothing, spilling out over the piles of dirty, dusty towels on the laundry room floor. Fall in line, they did not, as their ranks scattered and panicked, a panic which spread to me…
DetailsThough the dream snake hung limply from the tips of her fingers, its skin glowed with the vibrance of something alive. Even though we both knew it was dead. Its back was smooth turquoise, a hue spotted only in the thinnest band of the rainbow if you squint for it. The belly was a…
DetailsLooking up, their pillowed bellies balanced expertly on twigs against an endless backdrop of twinkling constellations. Roo tugged at her leash, her attention closer to Earth level than mine, as she sniffed and pulled me forward. But I kept looking up. After all these years in Nicaragua, I’d never seen Urracas sleeping. …
DetailsBlue diamonds shimmered from the ocean’s surface, so bright was the early morning sun. The warming sand soon became warming rock beneath our flip-flopped feet. Traipsing along the shallow tide pools pocketed below the cliffside, many a crab did scramble – sideways, hurried and nervous. I was nervous, too. My two companions…
DetailsI pulled up the drive to my friend’s beachfront house in my truck and killed the engine. As I opened the door and stepped out, Roo, with unrestrained excitement, leaped from the back seat and into the driver’s seat. She wriggled through my arms to help her down out of the truck, landing boisterously…
DetailsIn the mornings I wake up slowly because I want to play back my dreams one more time. My dreams are colorful every single night, pulsating with so much meaning, that I am eager to understand them. I try to register each detail and commit them to memory, to glean whatever message is…
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