I sat down with Linda Mueller, who was a previous Co-Host for the Re-Entry Series. Linda is an experienced ExpatPartnerCoach and we dived into the benefits of coaching for people who live in the international and global communities.

Together, we explored what it really means to thrive as a global nomad, especially as an accompanying partner. We cover everything from wrestling with issues of purpose and identity to maintaining relationships and overcoming guilt. Linda shares her hard-earned wisdom and actionable tips for navigating life across borders through coaching.

Key Topics Covered:

• Why High-Achievers Need Coaches Too
  • Even the most accomplished expats can feel “stuck” or in transition, and coaching can be both a lifeline and a proactive tool for growth and clarity.
• Overcoming Resistance to Coaching
  • Linda discusses building trust, offering a safe, non-judgmental space, and the importance of vulnerability for clients who may shy away from coaching.
• The Real Pressures on Expat Partners
  • From managing expectations back home to redefining purpose, the accompanying spouse’s journey is uniquely demanding and often misunderstood.
• Coping Strategies for Expats
  • Practical tips like setting healthy routines, taking small steps for momentum, and practicing self-kindness can be powerful tools during challenging times.
• Identity, Home, and Belonging
  • The conversation delves into how expats define “home,” manage the feeling of being in liminal spaces, and foster a sense of belonging and connection.
• Technology & Global Coaching
  • Linda explains how technology has transformed coaching for global nomads, making support more flexible, connected, and accessible than ever before.
• Coaching vs. Therapy: What's the Difference?
  • Linda outlines the distinction between coaching (action-oriented, future-focused) and therapy (healing from the past), and emphasizes the importance of working with certified professionals.
• When to Seek a Coach
  • The best time? Whether you’re in crisis, stuck in a rut, or planning a big transition, coaching is for both the reactive and the proactive expat or nomad.

Notable Quotes:

• “Sometimes people don’t even know where they want to go...I give them the confidence that I can sort of build this container, this environment, so they can express themselves.” — Linda Mueller
• “A lot of times we feel like we’re the only one. We feel lonely, we feel isolated. But there really are other people out there.” — Linda Mueller
• “Therapy is like archaeology...coaching is like architecture.” — Doreen Cumberford

Connect with Linda at:

https://www.theexpatpartnercoach.com/

Thanks for lending us your ears! Please share this podcast with another expat or nomad!

https://www.nomadicdiariespodcast.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Camel-Lane-Embrace-Adventure/dp/0578607352
www.doreenmcumberford.com

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Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.

In this episode, we sat down again with Tanya Crossman, a leading expert on Third Culture Kids (TCKs) to catch up on recent research findings.

Understanding Third Culture Kids

• Defining the TCK Journey: Tanya clarifies what makes a Third Culture Kid—children growing up outside their passport country without plans to settle permanently—and why their experience differs from immigrant children.
• Hidden Struggles, Global Strengths: How TCKs develop unique perspectives while navigating complex identity formations that many parents and educators miss.

Groundbreaking Research Revelations

• Data-Driven Insights: Discover findings from Tanya's landmark study of 1,900+ TCKs that challenge conventional wisdom about cross-cultural childhoods.
• The ACE Factor: Learn how Adverse Childhood Experiences appear at higher rates in TCK populations and what this means for their development and wellbeing.

What Shapes TCK Experiences

• The Sector Effect: Why a child's expatriate community (missionary, diplomatic, military, corporate) influences outcomes more powerfully than nationality or host country.
• Digital Natives, Global Lives: How today's tech-connected TCKs manage unprecedented pressure to maintain relationships across continents—and the surprising impact on their present-moment engagement.

Practical Support Strategies

• Navigating Transition & Grief: Actionable approaches for parents to help children process loss, including Tanya's insights on using tools like "The Grief Tower."
• Permission to Feel: Creating spaces where TCKs can express difficult emotions without judgment or minimization.

The Evolving TCK Landscape

• New Pioneers: How global schoolers and digital nomad families are rewriting the TCK script—often without traditional institutional support.
• Bridging the Gap: TCK Training's initiatives to reach underserved global families with research-based resources.

The TCK Advantage:

• Resilience Research: Despite facing unique challenges, discover why 98% of TCKs wouldn't change their upbringing.
• Protective Factors: The specific positive childhood experiences that help TCKs thrive despite higher adversity rates.

Memorable Quotes

• "The majority of TCKs like the way they grew up… 98% said they would not take this back if they could." Tanya Crossman
• "When we talk about hard things, we give kids who are struggling the opportunity to talk. When we don't, we make them feel like they can't share what they're struggling with."
• "It's not culture alone that shapes a TCK—it's the combination of mobility, community, and how adults respond to their unique challenges."

Essential Resources

• Books:
  • Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century by Tanya Crossman
  • The Grief Tower by Lauren Wells
  • What Made That Feel So Hard? by Lauren Wells
• Websites:
  • TCK Training (featuring freely accessible research)
  • Tanya Crossman's personal site

Connect & Continue the Conversation

• Share your TCK experiences in the comments
• Join our newsletter for more insights on raising globally-minded children
• Follow our podcast on [platform links]
• 
  

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Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.

In this episode of Nomadic Diaries, we sat down with Tanya Crossman, a leading expert on Third Culture Kids (TCKs) whose personal experiences and professional work have made her a trusted voice in the global mobility community.

Tanya's Third Culture Journey

Tanya Crossman's journey as a TCK began with moves between Australia and the United States during her childhood, following her father's career path. Her cross-cultural experiences deepened significantly when she later spent 13 years living and working in China. These formative experiences across different continents gave her unique insights into the TCK experience that would later inform her professional work and writing.

Finding Community Among the Misunderstood

After years of feeling like an outsider in her own culture, Tanya discovered the profound relief of finding others who shared similar experiences. This revelation became the foundation of her life's work, as captured in her powerful quote: "I'm not alone has become a mantra for so much of the work that I do."

Defining the Third Culture Experience

Tanya brings clarity to what it means to be a Third Culture Kid, addressing common misconceptions and explaining that the "third culture" isn't a specific place but rather the shared experience of growing up among different cultural worlds. She explores how TCKs develop a unique cultural identity that combines elements from their passport culture, host cultures, and the expatriate community itself.

Emotional Intelligence and TCK Challenges

One of the most valuable insights Tanya shares is how the TCK experience can affect emotional development:

• A tendency toward emotional suppression as a survival mechanism during frequent transitions
• How this suppression can hinder the development of healthy conflict resolution skills
• The importance of creating safe spaces for TCKs to process complex emotions about mobility, identity, and belonging

Guidance for Parents and Caregivers

Tanya offers practical wisdom for parents raising children across cultures:

• The importance of preventive care rather than crisis intervention
• Creating environments where emotions can be expressed safely and processed
• Understanding that TCKs are "growing up in a completely different world than you are"
• Recognizing the unique challenges and opportunities that come with a globally mobile childhood

Resources for the TCK Journey

Tanya highlights the growing body of resources available to support TCKs and their families:

• Her book, "Misunderstood," which explores common threads in TCK experiences
• "Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds" (often called the TCK Bible)
• Practical tools for parents, educators, and caregivers working with globally mobile children

Connect with Tanya

For more resources on supporting Third Culture Kids:

• Personal website: tanyacrossman.com
• TCK Training: tcktraining.com

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Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.

In this engaging episode of "Nomadic Diaries," host Doreen Cumberford sits down with Marilyn Gardner—a seasoned author and expat who has spent her life living across multiple countries.

They dive into the essence of rituals and faith and how these elements intertwine with the nomadic lifestyle. Marilyn shares vivid memories from her childhood in Pakistan and discusses how these early experiences shaped her spiritual journey and everyday rituals.

Key Topics Covered

• Introduction to Marilyn Gardner: Doreen highlights Marilyn's extensive experience as an expat and repatriator, noting her impactful writing and authentic journey.
• Life in Pakistan: Marilyn opens up about her early memories in the Himalayas, growing up sleeping under mosquito nets, and the profound impact of the call to prayer in her childhood.
• Rituals and Faith: The discussion centers around how Marilyn's upbringing in a Muslim-majority country influenced her Christian faith, leading her to embrace Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which shares similar ritualistic patterns with Islam.
• Family Stories and Connection: Family stories were emphasized as being significant for resilience, illustrating the importance of connecting personal narratives across generations.
• The Great Big Family Chat: Marilyn shares how this virtual family connection became pivotal during the COVID pandemic, keeping family members emotionally close despite physical distances.
• Reflections on Grief and Death Rituals: The impact of cultural mourning practices on personal healing was discussed, particularly how certain rituals can fill the emotional void left by grief.
• Spiritual Resilience Across Cultures: Doreen and Marilyn reflect on how engaging with different faiths and cultures can enhance one's spiritual resilience and enrich our personal belief systems.

Find Marilyn at https://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com/

Why Nomadic Diaries?
Expats, nomads, global citizens, lend us your ears! We come not merely to share travel tales, but to reveal the profound journeys of those navigating life between worlds. Through Nomadic Diaries, discover how extraordinary individuals transform geographical transitions into powerful paths of self-discovery. Let this be your compass in the complex terrain of global mobility.

https://www.nomadicdiariespodcast.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Camel-Lane-Embrace-Adventure/dp/0578607352
www.doreenmcumberford.com

Please support the show by commenting, liking or sharing with another expat or nomad!

Support the show

Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.

In this episode of Nomadic Diaries, Doreen interviews Kirtika van Hunen-Malla who shares her experiences of living across cultures and how Eastern philosophies have shaped her understanding of international living. Here are some key highlights from their conversation:

1. Background & Cross-Cultural Upbringing:
   • Kirtika grew up with a unique blend of Indian and Nepali cultures, which provided her with a rich cultural perspective even before moving to the West.
2. Eastern Philosophical Influence:
   • Kirtika discusses how the Eastern approach to life, focusing on acceptance and adaptability, has helped her navigate different cultural environments with less conflict.
3. Intercultural Marriage:
   • She shares insights from her intercultural marriage with her Dutch husband, emphasizing the importance of understanding different communication rhythms and pacing.
4. Culture and Self-Awareness:
   • A significant part of the discussion revolves around the idea that understanding culture starts with self-awareness and knowing one's core identity.
5. Code Switching:
   • Kirtika explains the concept of code switching and how it can be a valuable tool for adapting between cultures without losing one's identity.
6. Professional Cross-Cultural Misconceptions:
   • They talk about common misunderstandings in cross-cultural communication and the importance of providing newcomers with an understanding of local cultural norms.
7. Wisdom from Eastern Philosophies:
   • Kirtika stresses the importance of self-awareness and the art of responding rather than reacting, which she believes is rooted in Eastern philosophies.
8. World Citizenship:
   • Kirtika shares her perception of being a world citizen and how it involves feeling at home anywhere and embracing a global heartedness.
9. Lightning Round:
   • Fun quickfire questions reveal Kirtika's desire to learn Italian and her love for the idea of feeling at home wherever her heart resides.
10. When Cultures Meet:

• Kirtika introduces her book, "When Cultures Meet," which compiles years of research and anecdotes to help people navigate cultural differences in professional settings.

The episode concludes with a key takeaway from Kirtika:

"Know thyself and stand strong in your personal identity to effectively engage in intercultural interactions."

Thanks for lending us your ears!

https://www.nomadicdiariespodcast.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Camel-Lane-Embrace-Adventure/dp/0578607352
www.doreenmcumberford.com

Please support the show:

Support the show

Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.

In this episode of Nomadic Diaries, we welcome our returning guest, Koen Gomes, a global nomad and horse groom recorded live from San Miguel de Allende. Koen dives into his experiences as a nomadic traveler, flying horses across the globe, and the intricacies involved in this unique lifestyle. We explore Koen's travels over the past six months.

Key Highlights:

• Koen shares details about attending the Olympic Games in Paris and experiencing Tokyo during autumn.
• We discussed the challenges of flying horses, including managing their eating and care during long flights.
• Insights into how different cultures handle the reception of horses and how this reflects national characteristics, were fascinating.
• Koen shared his travel statistics from 2024, including flights, distance traveled, and time spent in the air.
• He offered practical tips on using travel apps like Flighty and techniques for maintaining community connections globally while traveling.
• Finally, a couple of pieces of best practices for aspiring nomads on being flexible and building meaningful connections in their travels.

Travel Apps Mentioned:

• Flighty: A detailed app for flight tracking and managing layovers.
• Been: Tracks countries visited and include travel inspiration.
• Other apps for booking and travel management: Skyscanner, booking.com, and Google Flights.

Quotes and Takeaways:

• "Traveling is not a race. Go to places that give you a good feeling and comfort."
• Koen emphasizes the importance of being a "chameleon," observing and adapting to your surroundings.

Where to Find Koen:

• Instagram: Follow Koen at @kungamass for updates on his travel adventures.

Closing Quote:

"Don't compare your life to others. There's no comparison between the sun and the moon. They shine when it's their time."

We are a small but mighty independent podcast and we invite you to leave a review, like, or share the podcast wherever you listen.

Thanks for lending us your ears!

https://www.nomadicdiariespodcast.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Camel-Lane-Embrace-Adventure/dp/0578607352
www.doreenmcumberford.com

Please support the show:

Support the show

Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.

In this episode, host Doreen Cumberford chats with Dr. Sally McGregor, a licensed clinical psychologist and adult third culture kid, about the mental health challenges faced by expatriates and globally mobile individuals.

Dr. McGregor is the founder of Wanderwell Psychology, focusing on the well-being of expatriates, third culture kids, global nomads, and more. They discuss the unique psychological pressures of expat life, the importance of finding the right psychotherapist, and the difference between therapy and coaching. They also explore how cultural identity affects mental health and the significance of maintaining meaningful relationships.

• The conversation highlights the stigma around psychotherapy and how cultural norms influence mental health perceptions;
• This episode encourages expats to find support and maintain balance in their personal and professional lives;
• We remind listeners that choices are available and can have a significant impact on our relocation experiences.

Key Topics:

• Reasons expats might seek psychotherapy and the unique challenges they face
• Cultural adjustment and its impact on mental health
• The importance of belonging and identity in the expat experience
• Coping strategies for trailing spouses
• The evolution of therapy for globally mobile individuals
• How to find and choose the right therapist
• Differences between therapy and coaching

Resources Mentioned:

• Wanderwell Psychology (Dr. Sally McGregor's practice)
• Email: wanderwellpsychology@gmail.com
  Website: www.wanderwellpsychology.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sally-mcgregor-3ba96887/
• Truman Group
• International Therapists Directory
• Location Independent Therapists

Additional Notes:

• The conversation highlights the stigma around psychotherapy and how cultural norms influence mental health perceptions.
• The episode encourages expats to find support and maintain balance in their personal and professional lives.
• We remind listeners of the significant impact choice has on the psychological experience of relocating.

We are a small but mighty independent podcast and we invite you to leave a review, like, or share the podcast wherever you listen.

Thanks for lending us your ears!

https://www.nomadicdiariespodcast.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Camel-Lane-Embrace-Adventure/dp/0578607352
www.doreenmcumberford.com

Support the show

Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.

Cathy really embodies all the experiences of life abroad. She was a brave spouse, mother, accompanying partner. Here is he

Support the show

Home is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!

We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with Confidence.