I recently met a woman who heard I have lived in the Horn of Africa for sixteen years WITHOUT AMAZON PRIME. She figured that was probably the hardest thing about those sixteen years. If she only knew…
Being sans immediate doorstep delivery of all the things does not constitute suffering in my worldview. That said, it does make expatriate life a bit more challenging and requires a bit more creativity. There are some important skills to develop. When prodigious amounts of travel are required to see your children, attend a wedding or funeral, pick up your life-saving medications, purchase new running shoes, or simply get a break in an English-speaking country, there are some important skills to develop. When navigating two worlds, there are some important skills to develop.
If you already live abroad, you know of what I speak. If you don’t, but are planning to move, here’s some skills to start developing now.
- Packing the right amount of peanut butter. How long will you be away from peanut butter? How many children do you have? How lazy are you when it comes to dinner (if you’re anything like me, the answer is: very)? If you’re packing a load of this liquid gold, here’s an easy link to order it. Via Amazon. Because why not just buy the 80 ouncer?
- Knowing exactly what 50.0 pounds feels like. Airline staff will be impressed and you won’t have to literally spread your underwear all over the airport floor in front of everyone, re-shuffling.
- Accurately guessing what style and size shoes your toddler/tween/teenager will wear eighteen months from now.
- Purchasing the right running shoes to get through the next 2,500 miles. My go-to’s lately are Brooks Ghost and Altra trail shoes, nice and wide for my toes, and great for off-road.
- Sitting nearly upright for fifteen hours at a time without losing your mind.
- Walking off those fifteen hours in preparation for another 8-10 before doing it again, while in a cramped airport lugging carry-ons, purses, computer bags, backpacks, diaper bags, strollers, and 1-3 zombie children.
- Filling out visa and immigration paperwork with one hand, the paper balanced on soft-sided luggage which is balanced on top of your thigh which is leaning against the metal bars that hold up those red ropes, so that you can stand in line while filling it out instead of getting stuck at the back of a group of not-from-around-here tourists, while hollering at your children and passing out Cheerios, while holding your pee and ordering everyone else in the family to hold their pee because you are NOT going to the back of the line.
- Peeing from any level of squat regardless of the availability of toilet paper or hand sanitizer or bathroom stall doors or bathrooms.
- Calling two countries home.
- Knowing that ‘home’ has multiple meanings.
What have been some of your essential skills?
*image via Flickr
*contains affiliate links to things you can order on AMAZON PRIME!
I still can’t guess the right shoe/clothes size, which partly explains why my 8 yr old only has 5 pair of shorts (no pants). Oh, well, once he grows, he’ll have more. The other part is trying to bring enough clothes to still have clothes left when some get torn, ruined, stolen, etc. We can get peanut butter here (fresh made, all natural), but almost nothing else. So it’s cramming as much chocolate & coffee as possible into the luggage and trying to put it in strategic locations- easily found. 🙂 Then trying not to eat all that chocolate in the first month. Also packing underwear in every piece of luggage, because if one piece of luggage gets lost, or 2 or 3, everyone still has underwear! Another skill is packing for a 2 week trip in your carry-on. It’s really possible with the proper motivation. (You know you may never see your luggage again, or at least not during that 2 weeks.) We just got a suitcase from a trip 3 months ago- almost like Christmas when it finally arrives safely! Another skill- keeping a decent attitude after 2- 3 days of travel, no sleep, little food, waiting in lines, immigration, dealing with delays, etc. (And I said decent attitude, not good. There are limits!)
The squatty pee made me laugh. After 14 months of practice, I am still unable to squat without peeing on my ankles. Every. Single. Time…sigh.
Oh Erin, Erin. Do you need more practice?! :O)
I love this article! But I also find myself doing a lot of this when we go back to South Africa or Canada to visit family – trying to decide what items I bring back from these countries to the USA and how much to pack – because the items are not readily available here or not available at all – and they are items I have grown up with and love using in various dishes here. When we pack we pack a 1/4 of each bag with each persons items (as there are only 4 in our family) – so that should baggage disappear or arrive days later, we have enough to live on. We also pack 3 changes of underwear, 2 extra T-shirts & 1 matching bottom in each carry-on bag – in case no bags arrive with you. A pack of dollar tree wipes in each carry-on bag too to deal with numerous different kinds of emergencies.
We do buy the clothing thing – but in reverse – we buy our items in bulk when in South Africa as they are so incredibly cheap (with the exchange rate), well made, durable and comfortable. Mark bought 5 pairs of Dockers pants ($5 for each pair) and about 12 button-down long sleeve and short sleeve shirts for work for $2 – $4 each the last time we were there. He is still wearing them 2.5 yrs later and they are looking good. He bought a pair of hand-made (specifically for him) leather shoes (lace-up for work) for $9 – which still look brand new today.
We call 4 countries home – which makes it harder to explain.
Planning your international layovers based on the availability of playgrounds and kids meals.
Disposable panty liners. A traveling gal’s best friend. Dollar Store cheap wash cloths for “bathing” in an airport washroom stall or plane restroom. Sound machine/white noise app and earbuds. Peanut butter crackers for long layovers or worse plane food. Zip-lock bags of all sizes. Baby wipes (even when traveling kid-free).
Love these. My favorite tip is to have a complete outfit for each member of the family in a tightly packed gallon ziplock in an accessible carry-on. Someone has an accident? grab the ziploc for the appropriate child (and for me is there was leakage) and head immediately to the bathroom. We also do multiple pairs of underwear but I love Deana’s above idea of disposable panty liners.
We pack ramen noodle cups for the plane flights. The flight attendants will give you hot water. My kids always hate the airplane food.
I never thought of that, what a great idea!
UGH trying to lose weight and figuring out if you will and so then trying to decide what size clothes to buy for yourself. Thankfully we are going to the US every year right now (for 4-6 weeks at a time) so I won’t wear baggy clothes for too long if I lose the desired weight.
Feel your pain sister. We lived in Singapore with 4 kids, two different universes. I now can’t believe I made all those trips with all those little kids!!
This is going to seem strange, but having gone to a capsule wardrobe for myself has helped me immensely! I am going on 4 years of the same 3 dresses, 4 long pants, 4 capris, and 12 blouses/sweaters in Nigeria and 3 pairs of shoes. I can then pack more teaching supplies and other items needed for ministry. Also I can not sleep on the plane or in airports so I find that I don’t seem to ever have jet lag. I also do not have any children that I am planning for or having to feed, etc. I am so thankful for that and really admire those moms that do that!
Rachel, we perfected the ‘flying wedge’ for approaching the airport check-in counter in countries where people don’t politely stand in line. With a family of 6, and our collection of various bags, carry-ons, strollers, etc., we could strategically occupy a significant portion of the available area as we moved toward the prize, the agent who would serve us. We formed a tight phalanx which other passengers couldn’t penetrate, and with each passing year as the kids got older, we would just spread the word, “flying wedge”, and everyone knew what to do. Once the kids started leaving for college, those remaining, though fewer in number, were still increasing in size and skill, and we were able to compensate successfully nonetheless. Now that it is just Jeanine and I, and we travel much lighter, this skill is no longer as necessary. But we definitely hold our own, even to this day! 😉
Oh my word I love this so much.