• 27 Lessons from a 5 Year Expat

    Five years an expat! A milestone, perhaps. The sapphire anniversary. A longer commitment than any job, city, or relationship has ever gotten out of me. And yet it feels…. Normal. Perhaps that’s what I should have expected,…

  • Please, DON’T Teach English to Travel

    US and British citizens, this is mostly for you. I know that you’re bored at home, you’re looking for adventure, and you’re trying to figure out how to use the skills you already have to ditch your…

  • Kyiv Expat Life: April 2020 Round Up

    Canceled plans. That was the theme of April in Kyiv. No more IATEFL Ukraine, where I was going to get listed on the same program as Scott Thornbury. Goodbye to that long-awaited visit to Minsk. So much…

  • Moving Back to Kyiv. Again.

    I know they say be careful what you wish for, but it wasn’t like I wished to be back here. I just made a joke, that’s all.  It wasn’t even a particularly good one. About a year…

  • Kyiv Cocktail Delivery in 2020

    I miss going out for a drink. I miss watching cocktails get made and pretending like I know anything at all about drinks. I miss my bartenders. With the COVID quarantine, bars in Kyiv have been shut…

  • Kyiv Expat Life: March 2020 Round Up

    March came at us fast – and not easily. At the beginning of the month, I felt like I was finally getting back into the swing of things, emerging from Ukrainian winter hibernation, exploring the city on…

  • Kyiv Expat Life: February 2020 Round Up

    Just by looking at this blog, someone could assume my life only involves epic train trips, road tripping through Eastern Europe, and an exorbitant number of cocktails. However, only one of those things is true. As my…

  • My Lost Year as a Moscow Expat

    I think a lot about the ‘right way’ to be an expat. If I were to construct the picture of a ‘good expat,’ they would be someone who speaks the language, has relationships with local businesses, gets…

  • Alternative Places to Learn Russian

    After my long rant about why people should stop asking about learning Russian in Kyiv and instead just make their plans to go to the Motherland, you might find it odd that I’m encouraging you to think…

  • Here's how to plan an international family vacation so that your trip will go smoothly and you'll end it with only the best memories!

    How to Plan an International Family Vacation

    After about a year of living in Ukraine I found myself as the tour director for a very small, very specific group of visitors — my family. I’m not even sure how the idea got started, considering…