Homesick Over Chicken Schnitzels… Yes, Really
When you emigrate, you miss the big things. Family. Friends. Home. All the time. What you don’t expect is how much the small things can get to you. For me, it’s Woolworths food. And more specifically… Woolies chicken schnitzels. I know how ridiculous that sounds. We live in the USA, where you can get just […]
When You Can’t Change the Circumstance, Change the Lens
Yesterday I had a conversation with my 11-year-old son that made me think. He’s been thriving since joining his middle school football team here in the U.S. – training hard, earning his place in the starting lineup, loving every minute. And then, two weeks ago… injury. After X-rays and MRIs, he was diagnosed with a […]
Building a Life — One Allen Key at a Time 🇿🇦 🛠️ 🇺🇸
When we arrived in the U.S. with 10 suitcases, we didn’t just leave behind our home, we left behind every couch, coffee table, and bookshelf too. And so began the era of flat-pack furniture. If you know, you know. The endless cardboard boxes, the instructions that seem to be written in riddles, the missing screws […]
The American Holiday That Stole My Heart 🦃 ❤️ 🇺🇸
Of all the American holidays we’ve come to know, Thanksgiving is by far my favorite. It’s the least commercial (except for the sheer number of turkeys involved), and possibly the most meaningful. There are no gifts, no pressure to spend. Just families gathering from near and far around the country to pause, reflect, and just […]
🎶🌍 “It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you,
There’s nothin’ that a hundred men or more could ever do,I bless the rains down in Africa,Gonna take some time to do the things we never had” Not long after arriving in the U.S., we booked our first big concert: Journey. An 80s kid’s dream. We were super excited, nostalgic and all those things. The […]
You Can’t Put a Timer on Healing 🇿🇦 💔 🇺🇸
On the 15th of August, it will be three years since we boarded that flight to the USA — suitcases in hand, hearts in our throats, and hope tucked somewhere in between. In many ways, we’ve come a long way. We’ve built a new life from scratch. We’ve learned new systems, made friends, bought a […]
The yellow school bus. 🚌 Do you recognise these from the movies?
You grow up seeing them on TV, probably still do — part of every American childhood storyline — and then suddenly, it’s parked outside your house, and your kids are climbing aboard like it’s the most normal thing in the world. But for me? It still feels surreal. This big, bright, unapologetically yellow bus rolling […]
Finding My Tribe, Thousand of Kilometres from Home 🇿🇦 👭 🇺🇸
When we moved to the U.S., I thought: Well, at least we won’t have a language barrier. Turns out, I was wrong. Yes, we all technically speak English — but between the accents, the slang, and the “Sorry, are you British?” moments… it sometimes feels like we’re translating in real time. One of the greatest […]
10 Suitcases and a Whole Lot of Dreams 🇿🇦 ✈️ 🇺🇸
It is almost 3 years since our family of 5 left South Africa, 2 suitcases each, and hearts full of courage, nerves and sadness. Our kids were 8, 13, and 15 — old enough to have roots, young enough to still believe in adventure. My husband was offered an opportunity to start the U.S. arm […]
When Family Visits, its one of the emigration milestones… 🇿🇦 🧳 🇺🇸
When you emigrate, you don’t just pack up your belongings and say goodbye, you leave behind the people who’ve always been your constants. Parents, siblings, nephews, lifelong friends. And no matter how excited you are for the new adventure, the ache of that distance never quite disappears- for you or for them. Last summer, we […]