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Keep Connected! Expats and Nomads Blog Around the World
Blogging helps expats, nomads, and travelers share their stories — and keep friends and family in the loop.
We don’t write blogs purely for ourselves — we write them to be read. For people who live far from family and friends, blogs serve twin readerships: they give the intrepid traveler a simultaneous way to chronicle travels for a broad audience and update those back at home.
We love following the worldly adventures of these four expats and nomads, and we’re sure their friends appreciate the virtual lifeline, too!
Wish I Were Here
Writer J.D. Riso is a self-identified dromomaniac — a person with an uncontrollable desire to wander. Wish I Were Here is her record of a lifetime of global peregrinations, told in in musings and photos.
Her blog isn’t a real-time travelogue, which makes it all the more fascinating. You might find yourself reading about the legacy of Communism in Bratislava, Slovakia; the urban renaissance of Skopje, Macedonia; violence against women in Papua New Guinea; an unexpected epiphany in Narita, Japan; or an unwanted travelmate in Costa Rica. Wherever the destination, J.D.’s keen eye, unflinching honesty, and rhythmic reflections create a strong sense of place, heightened by her well-chosen photos.
Like the look of J.D.’s blog? She uses the Hemingway Rewritten theme with a whimsical custom header.
Travels with Tricia
Tricia is a communications professional and citizen diplomat — a traveler engaged in cultural exchanges, not just tourism.
Her most recent posts take us on a stroll through Genoa, Nevada; a tour of the Enzo Ferrari museum in Modena, Italy; and an afternoon at the beautiful monastery in Ettal, Germany. Past posts let us tag along on trips to Marrakech, Morocco; Toronto, Canada; Luang Prabang, Laos; and dozens more destinations.
For those who finish one of her posts inspired to pack a bag and get on the road, each one ends with planning pointers: maps, logistical information for any locations mentioned in the post, recommended lodgings and restaurants, and other helpful local links.
Are Tricia’s bold photos and clean layout just what you’ve been looking for? You’ll find them in the Photographer theme.
American Life. The Italian Way.
Maura Malfatto Elia moved from Italy to the United States thirty years ago, but still has her Italian accent. She offers thoughtful commentary on both her home and adopted countries at American Life. The Italian Way.
Maura reflects on the differences between the educational systems in the two countries, looks at the Italian influence on the US in a post about Montessori Schools, and talks with other Italians about the experience of being an expat in the US. Her blog is just getting started, but her posts and perspective already have us intrigued.
Maura’s high-impact home page comes courtesy of the new free theme Cubic.
Experimental Expats
Rob and Diane of Experimental Expats are technically expats-to-be. They’re about to turn the last page on the American and Canadian chapters of their lives and start a new one — in Malaysia.
So far, Experimental Expats has followed Rob and Diane as they’ve prepared to retire, sold their California house, and filed the paperwork needed to become Malaysian residents. In six more weeks, the site will transition to their expat adventure, as they finally touch down in their new Malaysian home.
Experimental Expats has clean menus, a custom header, and a flexible two-column layout — it must be the Twenty Twelve theme!
Want to do a little more armchair traveling? Here are a few more great blogs to fuel your wanderlust:
- Oh God, My Wife Is German follows the (often unintentionally) hilarious life of an American expat adjusting to a German wife and German life.
- Kate Goes Global follows Spanish-born Katharina as she moves from Spain to Switzerland to the UK, and racks up thousands of other travel miles.
- TinyExpats proves that a nomadic life isn’t just for twenty-something singles — this blogger, her spouse, and their two daughters are now in Pardubice, Czech Republic, following stints in Hamburg, Germany; Shanghai, China; and Moscow, Russia.
- Om the Road is true evidence of our increasingly boundary-less world — it’s written by an Australian and Hungarian who first met in Peru and now live in Indonesia.
- April 15, 2015
- Community
WordPress.com News 
Really interesting.
Oh GOd, my wife is German is really funny
Steve
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Blogging was my first ticket to freedom indeed. ❤
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https://toffeefee.wordpress.com/
is also worth being read – it is about a German who moved to Norfolk.
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Thanks for the recommendation!
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Fabulous! I’m an expat living in the Maldives. Love connecting with blogs of other expats!
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Michelle, have a look at my blog Borderline on ianbcross.WordPress.com about being a doctor in Swaziland, Zambia and the Thai Burma border. Ian
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Like so many of you, I aim to create a new look at the places we hear about in the news and history books. To find the beauty within each space around the world. I have a lot of space to cover!
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This was a great for me to discover some new bloggers to follow. As PR communications major, I actually really enjoyed reading a few posts from Travels with Tricia. I also spent a summer in Italy so reading American Life. The Italian Way. was a great read as well. I’ll definitely be following these bloggers and catching up on some missed posts! Thanks for the helpful tips to find these bloggers.
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Hi Awesome WordPress Editors
Thanks for making my 50th birthday the best yet. As the primary contributor of the Experimental Expats, I thought something seemed a bit odd with such a big surge in traffic today. Not really knowing why, someone commented that I’d been featured in a WP editor’s article. Woo-hoo!! that’s like the Holy Grail to a new blogger.
So I wanted to express my gratitude for the kind words and appreciation of my content, format and stories.Writing is about the only thing in life I feel I’m good at and it comes relatively easy to me. I love sharing stories as opposed to just facts and pictures and hope our blog helps, inspires and entertains as many folks as possible. Thanks again !!
Best
Rob and Diane
The Experimental Expats (almost)
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I’m looking forward to reading more as the big move gets closer and closer!
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I would say thanks to this great world of WordPress! There are so many interesting writers!!!! Ciao a tutti!
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wow, some excellent suggestions, I was already following most of these, but have discovered a couple of new ones. Hopefully one day I will make the list!
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Great suggestions! As an expat I already follow three of these!
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Ex-pat in Brazil here! Blogging about life teaching and adjusting abroad. Love the other recs!
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This is a wonderful resource, thank you! I’ve expatted twice- once to Normandy and the other to Germany (I’m American). I long to do it again and this time I feel Canada calling me. There is a certain wanderlust that I just can’t quite quell…and it’s amazing to me that many people don’t feel it. I will love to connect with these kindred souls you’ve listed above. Again, thank you! 🙂 ~KaiCarra
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Love it! I’m a nomad in Asia currently and I love love love reading other people’s travel experiences — so validating and inspiring!
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Thanks for linking to our blog! We were wondering where all these new follows and site visits were coming from – and then I followed through to here. Wow. 🙂 This has definitely inspired us to write and share more stories from our life here in Bali. Thanks again.
Hugs,
Brad + Mesi from Om the Road
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You’re very welcome! I’m excited to read more from you 🙂
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Hi Michelle and WP staff – thank you so much for including my blog on this list. Your description of it is so thoughtful. I’m very honored to be among such company. Warmest wishes – JD
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Our pleasure; thanks for writing such a great blog!
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Blogging will be a wonderful way to express myself and wind down at the end of the day.
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Please sign me up as your Roma correspondent.
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Some nice leads here! I’m from the UK, living in Denmark for eight years. I blog about the long term expat experience and am still waiting to enter the acceptance phase :p
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Thanks for these great suggestions, it’s fabulous to connect with like-minded writers in the expat field.
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Thanks wordpress for bringing the world through these selfless and extremely talented expats and nomads, to my palm.
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What a great article, I can’t wait to get stuck in to some of those blogs! I blogged about expat life just this week… I recently moved to New Zealand from the UK.
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cool post!! especially for those who love to wander and travel around the world through other’s stories and pictures! happy to see that there are many people with the same perspective spread worldwide! 🙂
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I moved the US about 7 months ago and it inspires me to read some of these blogs from expats! Always connecting and sharing with the world…
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Great suggestions….we’re soon-to-be-expats so I better get reading!
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Thanks for these features. Expat living Mali, headed to Somaliland soon – appreciating these connections to our international “tribe” of nomads!
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