Your self-aware piece today illustrates how there's no real escape from quotidian human limitations anywhere! Not in Austin, nor Berkeley, nor Seattle, not even in the beautiful countryside around Christchurch!
Hello my fellow Dan! Too true. Definitely not in Austin, I was born there & have family there & have haunted the place unsuccessfully for years. ChCh feels like Dallas to me, though with scenery from another world altogether! My other Kiwi dream is Lyttelton
Hi Kaila! So glad you dig it. You know all of this! I've been thinking of your stories of Kho Phangan--the party years sliding slowly into another chapter, and then another, with the beginnings and endings never very clearly marked at the time. Good luck on your new chapter in Valencia!
Saudade? Had to look that up. Great word. Immigrant, ex-pat, dual citizen, its all a blur and soon me and my family will be all three. We have feet in both countries - but the tether to USA is frayed, man. If not for relatives I'm not sure we would even visit. And Dan - this is a fantastic bit of prose IMO.
Thanks man! Glad you dug it. Saudade is the greatest travel/life word, I think, even to the point of being a cliche I can't get past...The blur is real, ain't it? Gotta stop and clear my glasses every now and then, and then step back out into the rain. Go get 'em, dual citizens!
Hey Miramartian! Two dollars, not bad. Spring is coming, gotta keep the faith! In a few months we’ll even have some decent zucchini, which I will not call courgettes
Yes and YES!! To everything you wrote. Except the bit about scotch, you can keep that - I'll be drinking Rapa pinot with you when we finally get home :))
Fine, insightful stuff, Dan. At my age now I'll never be an expat (but perhaps a wanna-be). I'm still living in the same country I was born in. But that country and I have slowly gone off in different directions, to different places, leaving me feeling like not an expat but maybe a no-pat. Not attached to any country and unsure how to feel about that.
I lolled at that
Your self-aware piece today illustrates how there's no real escape from quotidian human limitations anywhere! Not in Austin, nor Berkeley, nor Seattle, not even in the beautiful countryside around Christchurch!
Hello my fellow Dan! Too true. Definitely not in Austin, I was born there & have family there & have haunted the place unsuccessfully for years. ChCh feels like Dallas to me, though with scenery from another world altogether! My other Kiwi dream is Lyttelton
Day-um Dan!
This is sweet.
A lyric poem to wanderlust, and a desire for simple comfort - food, safe housing, a future for your children.
I’ll re-read it and probably drop another note later, but wanted to thank you for this start to my day.
Hi tracie!! Aw, thanks so much! You get it. Comfort, survival, home. What a lovely mess. Have a beautiful Friday out there!
This one is a beauty, Dan.
Joe!!! Thanks, man! How the hell are ya? Love from NZ!!!
Hell of an article, Dan. You capture the overzealousness of expat life very well, as well as the slow exhaustion that accompanies that. So well done!
Hi Kaila! So glad you dig it. You know all of this! I've been thinking of your stories of Kho Phangan--the party years sliding slowly into another chapter, and then another, with the beginnings and endings never very clearly marked at the time. Good luck on your new chapter in Valencia!
Indeed, that is the story I've been living! Soooo looking forward to the next one :)
Saudade? Had to look that up. Great word. Immigrant, ex-pat, dual citizen, its all a blur and soon me and my family will be all three. We have feet in both countries - but the tether to USA is frayed, man. If not for relatives I'm not sure we would even visit. And Dan - this is a fantastic bit of prose IMO.
Thanks man! Glad you dug it. Saudade is the greatest travel/life word, I think, even to the point of being a cliche I can't get past...The blur is real, ain't it? Gotta stop and clear my glasses every now and then, and then step back out into the rain. Go get 'em, dual citizens!
Too broke to buy my kids a cucumber
They're expensive, right??? And then yesterday afternoon New World had 'em back down to $4. Still too much. The struggle continues
Two dollars @ Pakkies in Kilbirnie, but a one day only price and they weren’t huge. More greetings from Miramar!
Hey Miramartian! Two dollars, not bad. Spring is coming, gotta keep the faith! In a few months we’ll even have some decent zucchini, which I will not call courgettes
Time to start an illegal fake cucumber trade. Painted courgettes. They won’t know the difference. We’ll be RICH!!!
How do we make the little bumps??
Yes and YES!! To everything you wrote. Except the bit about scotch, you can keep that - I'll be drinking Rapa pinot with you when we finally get home :))
Thanks!! Can't wait to see y'all crazy wanderers again. How did this year-plus-whatever-it's-been go so fast? Safe travels out there. Pinot for sure!
Thank you for this. Hope to meet you, fellow American writer immigrant! Gratitude from Miramar 🖤
Hi Kimberly! Great to meet you here on the 'stack. Waving over the hill. Holler if you're ever in the Wairarapa!
Oh I love this so much. A few days in Lisbon so far and I relate! Beautiful writing.
Hi Karen! Glad you enjoyed it. Welcome to the life! Keep the party going as long as you can :)
Excellent piece, and great metaphor
Hi Brendan! Glad you dig it. Looking forward to reports from your own expat era in Paris!
(I mean they all :)
Fine, insightful stuff, Dan. At my age now I'll never be an expat (but perhaps a wanna-be). I'm still living in the same country I was born in. But that country and I have slowly gone off in different directions, to different places, leaving me feeling like not an expat but maybe a no-pat. Not attached to any country and unsure how to feel about that.
Another gem mate <3
Many good lines here. I particularly enjoyed this one:
The sober permanence of the i-word scares the bejesus out of both of us, and our loved ones across the Pacific too.
They’re just carrots! As one of the people who lobbied for you to write this one I say: well done, you didn’t disappoint