The Expat Refrigerator

I was writing an article the other day and I mentioned that we had been living abroad for six years now. SIX! I can't believe it. There are a lot of great things about life abroad, but for me, food has always been one of the best. I love cooking (and eating) and I love trying local dishes and poking around the grocery store to see what you can find and what you can't. For fun, the other day I made a list of things that are always in our fridge or pantry now that we live in Scotland, compared to what we always had on hand in Italy, and what we usually keep at home in the US.

What We Have:
Tea. Lots of it.
Cheddar cheese. Again, lots of it. This is something we were missing in Italy and we're still overcompensating.
Curry packs. Curry is huge in the UK and you can buy all sorts of different kinds.
Tunnock's Wafers. You guys. These things are amazing. They're the perfect sweet and they've been around forever. I always see old ladies buying them in the grocery store.
The best salted butter.

What We're Missing:
Really good dill pickles. Can't find them anywhere.

What We Had:
Dried pasta (obviously) in about ten different shapes on any given day.
Stravecchio cheese. My favorite cheese, from the deli counter.
Espresso.
Half empty jars of pesto.
Fennel.

What We Missed:
Cheddar cheese, cumin and canned pumpkin.

What We Have:
Green chilies! We live in Colorado...
A variety of hot sauces. Favorites include Cholula, Sriracha and our local favorite from the Yampa Valley Sauce Company, Habacado.

What We Miss:
That Stravecchio cheese and Tunnock's wafers!

Our Scotland List

When we found out we were going to spend this season in Scotland, we were really excited for a change of scenery and a chance to learn about a new culture and to explore new places. So! We put together a list of a few things we want to make sure we do while we're in Scotland:

1. Try haggis. Check - we tried a bit the other day at breakfast. And I think we're one and done on that front.

2. Isle of Skye. We've heard so many amazing things about the Isle of Skye, so this is number one on our list of places to visit.

3. And speaking of isles, the Isle of Iona is on the list too....my mother remembers going there years ago and it being magical.

4. Eat lots of fish & chips. This is an ongoing item, but we think we've already found our favorite at the Wee Chippy in Anstruther.

5. Visit cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee.

6. Search for the Loch Ness monster. We did this last week but didn't see it...

7. Loch Lomond.

8. A boat tour of the Firth of Forth. We bought tickets to this one so we'll do that sometime in the next month (hoping for sun!).

9. Lots of walks on the beach. After four years in the mountains (year round between Cortina and Steamboat) it's so much fun to live by the sea, so we're going to take advantage of that while we can.

10. St. Andrew's....for the castle, the cathedral and the ice cream. (We saw the old course during a quick trip a few weeks ago).

11. Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.

12. Try one of those fried Mars bars that everyone keeps talking about...

13. The Jacobite Steam Train in Fort William.

We're open to any suggestions as this is an always expanding list, so if you've traveled to Scotland (or live here!), let us know what else we should add!

Resources for Moving Abroad

I get a surprising amount of emails from people asking me various questions about moving abroad. Some are from families looking for an adventure, some are from travelers looking for advice on a year in Italy and some are from people with very specific questions about housing costs and how to get a Visa. Unfortunately, I'm ill-equipped to answer the more technical questions since Ryan's team has always taken care of everything for us, from apartments to Visas to cars.

But! I do have my own pieces of advice for movers abroad and I do know several great resources for the more technical aspects of the move...

Call On!

While we’ve absolutely loved our time abroad – from our four seasons in Italy to our current stint in Scotland – by far the hardest part is being so far away from family and friends. Most expats will tell you that they hate missing things back home: weddings, birthdays, family gathers, holidays…but what I miss most is picking up the phone and calling my parents to chat.

But! This year we’ve solved that problem thanks to KeepCalling, an international calling company that I’m loving. It’s so easy: you sign up and then download the app (although you can also make calls from a landline or from the computer, but I’ve always used my iPhone). From the app, you can call anyone, anywhere! I started with 500 minutes which is only $5.00, if you can believe it. 

My first call was to my parents to check in and say happy birthday to my dad…

…and my second was to Verizon to figure out a billing issue back home. Very functional! On my end, the call was clear and it didn’t at all feel like I was talking to my parents thousands of miles  away in Massachusetts – across oceans!

We’ve tried other apps like Viber before and didn’t love them…in that case, it did sound like we were a million miles away (not the feeling you want from a phone call, right?) and the calls were frequently dropped. But I would highly recommend Keep Calling for any expats or expat relatives that you might have. Rates vary from country to country, obviously, but you can check them out and get started on their website, www.keepcalling.com.

Thanks so much to Keep Calling for keeping us in touch with our families and for sponsoring this post!

**Wedding photos by Audrey Hannah Photo