"I'm in a creaky old-fashined bed with starched white bedlinens in a small hospital on the island of Borneo. I watch the monitor count my heart beat. 220 beats per minute. It's impossible to think clearly, I feel as if my heart is seconds from collapsing."

Over 8 years, I moved from Norway to India, Oman, Syria, and Borneo. I married and welcomed three fantastic children into our lives in two different countries (speaking the language in neither). I had become used to a life of liminality in a constant cycle of heightened stress levels, change, adjustment, and not-quite-there. 

I had also been grappling with huge questions and doubts about my identity, career path, and an ever-increasing sense of failure to meet expectations.

I was the accompanying spouse and my partner the wage-earning career expat. He worked, I didn't. He made money, but I didn't. He had formal rights, but I didn't.

I know it sounds harsh. It wasn't. We chose that life. We loved that life. We were happy. Until it wasn't enough for me.

In 2013 I watched former colleagues back home climb their respective career ladders, defend ph.ds and comment on national television as experts in their fields. I had sent my youngest to kindergarten and I'd had a good long introspective look at my own career prospects (lacking), my financial status (dependent), and my independent rights to live in our host country (nonexistent).  

Those realizations broke me and sent my heart spinning into overdrive. 

"Stress" the cardiologist diagnosed. "Perhaps make some changes to your lifestyle."

We made significant changes in our lives that spring, and I started working towards getting back to work: preferably without sacrificing the global nomad life we loved. 

We moved to Oman and where I enrolled in a course to qualify as a language instructor, started teaching, was accepted into a writer's program, continued writing, co-authored a book, and accepted responsibility for editing an online magazine. Alongside working on my own career path, I supported other expat partners struggling with international dual career concerns. It was challenging, but also extremely rewarding. My heart stopped racing.

I have lived in Stavanger, Norway with my husband, three Third Culture Kids, and two Omani cats since 2019. I bring everything I learned as an expat partner into my current role as a program manager working with skilled migrants in Norway. 

I had help and support from other expat partners who had walked that path before me to create a dual career that was aligned with our cross-border lives. If this website, and perhaps a coffee and a chat, can help you achieve the same, I'll be delighted. 

I can't wait to meet you.