The Blank Space
Someone asked me recently what the hardest emotional moment of our emigration had been. I thought I should have a big answer. Something dramatic. A crisis, a breaking point, something you could point to and say- that was it. But it wasn’t anything like that. We’d been in the U.S. a few days. Everything still […]
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 […]
Watching Your Children Become Something New 🇿🇦 🇺🇸
It caught me off guard the first time it happened. I said a word the way I’ve said it my whole life, and one of my kids corrected me. Not in a cheeky way, not even in a funny way. Just naturally. Instinctively. “That’s not how you say it.” I laughed it off at the […]
Vegas, Volume, and Why We Choose Experiences
A few weeks ago, we landed in Las Vegas. I had seen it in movies. I had heard the stories. Nothing prepares you.You walk out of your hotel during the day and it feels like a busy city, almost ordinary. Heat rising off the pavement. Tourists with coffees. Traffic humming along. Then night falls… and […]
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 […]
Red, White, and Wow 🇺🇸 — Our First 4th of July as Green Card Holders
We’re not U.S. citizens (yet), but this year’s 4th of July felt especially meaningful — our first as permanent residents, and another milestone on this wild, wonderful emigration journey. We celebrated in true America fashion:Golf cart parades 🛺 , flag-themed everything 🇺🇸, fireworks 🎆 , lemonade stands 🍋 , dogs in bandanas 🐶, the works. […]
Considering the L1 Visa Option to the USA? Some Things to Know. 🇺🇸 💼
We applied for our L1 visa in 2022 and landed in the U.S. in August that year — full of purpose, with a business to build and a future to create. What we didn’t realise? The L1 isn’t an easy option. It starts the moment you arrive. You’re typically given one year to prove that […]
Celebrate Everything. Even the Little Things. Especially the Little Things. 🥂✨
This weekend, we booked a short family getaway, not because everything is easy right now, but because it’s been three years since we landed in the U.S. Three years of rebuilding, learning, and recreating. Three years of starting over, navigating new, building new, facing challenges, feeling like beginners… all the while still showing up, every […]
I’ve acquired a new skill!
This week, I made my first batch of biltong — and honestly, I’m not sure if I was more proud of the result or the fact that my whole house now smells like home.There’s something magical about the taste of biltong ❤️ — that unmistakable mix of coriander, vinegar and nostalgia that instantly transports you […]
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 […]