Living in Another Language

a travel & adventure blog

  • About
  • Blog
  • Destinations
    • Asia
      • Bali
      • Borneo
      • Japan
      • Philippines
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Vietnam
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Croatia
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Norway
      • Poland
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • Fiji
      • New Caledonia
      • New Zealand
    • North America
      • Alaska
      • Hawaii
      • Texas
    • Cruises
  • Reviews
    • Accommodations
    • Tours
    • Locations
    • Products
  • Photography
    • Tutorials
    • Photojournalism
  • Travel
    • Guides
    • Travel Tips
    • Expenses
    • Travel Blogging
  • Work With Us

Archives for March 2014

Lately in Korea

Written by: Amanda // Category: Lately

It's actually been a whole heck of a while since I've written a lately post. I figure it's about time you know what's up with us as we continue our journey of living (and traveling) abroad. >> I've been designing my life away. Six full designs in the last couple of weeks, plus I'm in a constant state of rebranding. That being said, I've started a design blog over at The Suitcase Designs! If you're interested in what I've been designing, premeades, Blogger & Wordpress tutorials, my referral program, and more, you should probably follow along via Bloglovin' (yes the design blog has it's own Bloglovin' page! eeeep!). >> We found a Thai restaurant in our town. It's owned and operated by the sweetest Thai family. I'll tell ... Read More

White Temple, Chiang Rai

Written by: Amanda // Category: Thailand

We all love Pinterest. As a female with a severe case of wanderlust, Pinterest so graciously offers me travel boards, of which I use to daydream to my heart's content about the great World we have waiting in front of us. I pin places I would eventually (in my wildest dreams right?) like to see and photograph myself, and I never thought I'd be visiting one of these 'ultimate' locations within two years of having Pinterest. The moment I saw the White Temple (formally known as Wat Ron Khun, but foreigners like me can't remember names like that) on that random travel board, I just knew I had to get there someday. Did this place fall straight out of Narnia? I knew the temple was somewhere in Northern Thailand, a place I was not familiar with ... Read More

When Hotels Bite

Written by: Amanda // Category: Travel, travel tips

Derik and I have stayed at a lot of hotels over the past two years. Add the ones from the years before that and I'll be counting for half the day. We've had quite a bit of success booking killer deals and fancy places; like the time we booked the Ramada for $40 bucks in Seoul ($230 dollar value) and ended up getting upgraded into a freaking suite with a full kitchen, two bedrooms, two baths, and a living room. However this is not always the case. Sometimes hotels up and bite you, and they bite hard. The worst part? You're usually on vacation in an unfamiliar place, and don't have time to deal with a horrid place to stay. You see that picture above? That is not the bed from the Boracay Beach House in we stayed in for approximately 4 hours ... Read More

Grand Palace, Bangkok

Written by: Amanda // Category: Thailand

The Grand Palace was built in 1792 to be the royal residence of the Thai King. It's built up of many different buildings, offices, and temples (including the famous Wat Phra Kaew or otherwise known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha), spanning over 200,000 sq. meters. Derik and I had a brief two day trip through Bangkok, and after extensive research, decided that staying somewhere along the river would be the safest. We had been traveling during Bangkok's violent riot period in February, and were a bit hesitant to travel around the city. We settled on a tiny little B & B location literally right next to the Grand Palace. The area was filled with local markets, construction, and quaint restaurants. If we end up back in Bangkok someday, ... Read More

Living Minimalistically

Written by: Amanda // Category: Expat Living

Do you ever grow tired of acquiring things?  Tired of jumping on that downward spiral of a train called 'I'll be happy if I only have ____?' Yeah me too. If there's one thing the past two and some years of being an expat has taught me, it's that living minimalistically is not only ok, but it should be desired. A dear friend of mine told me that after our two month backpacking trip, I'd see the world a different way. She was right. After living with only enough clothing items to fit in my small 60L pack, I walked into our little Korean apartment and was overwhelmed by all the stuff we have acquired in the last two years: T.V.s, musical instruments, kitchen appliances, mechanical tools, and a whole closetful of clothes. After being back ... Read More

Stay Out of Trouble While Traveling

Written by: Amanda // Category: travel tips

I can confidently say that 99% of us have left our brain back home as we giddily head out the door for yet another vacation. After all, it's been 389.8888 days since the last one, you deserve to have fun! Here's the thing. When you add a foreign country or location you're not familiar with, leaving your brain back home may not be such a good idea. Let's talk a little bit about how to stay out of trouble while traveling. Last thing you want to have happen is end up as a featured story on that show 'When Vacations Attack' right? All these points I'm about to cover have been observed in some form or fashion while Derik and I have been on the road ourselves. 1. Have 'travel smarts.' I wrote about this after our trip to Borneo. Here's the ... Read More

Things Only Expats Understand

Written by: Amanda // Category: Expat Living

I was going to write another post filled with pictures from our trip, but I've decided to interlace the photography posts with stuff that has somewhat legitimate/entertaining content to read. Last night I was laying in bed staring at my ceiling and trying to fall asleep for 2.5 hours, when this post came to me. I started to make a list of things only expats (and travelers) understand, and they flowed onto my iPhone notepad like butter. Sometimes insomnia is a good thing? 1. Names become harder to remember, especially in a foreign country where they all start with 'Su' or 'Kim' and end with 'Ho' 'Li' or 'Seung'. 2. There actually is something worse than the DMV. It's called the Immigration Office. 3. You get asked where you are from ... Read More

Maui Photo Session

Written by: Amanda // Category: hawaii, Love, Review, United States

It's been a long time since Derik and I have had a legit couples photo session. Actually, its been since our engagement/wedding over three years ago, and I knew it was high time to schedule another one. The only problem was finding a good photographer. I thought it would be really awesome to hire someone to take our pictures while we were on our big trip, so I started looking for a professional/freelance photographer in Hawaii. You wouldn't believe the amount of so-called 'photographers' in the Maui area. Most charged over $1,000 for something I could have easily done with a point and shoot. I took one last drastic measure to find the kind of photographer I was looking for by checking out Craigslist. Yes, you read right, Craigslist. I'm ... Read More

Backpacking for 60 days

Written by: Amanda // Category: Travel, travel tips

If you would have told my 20 year-old self that all I’d be able to take on a 2 month vacation was only what I could fit in a measly backpack,  I would have laughed in your face and said, “Yeah right.” You see, I was the type of girl that would pack a full-size suitcase for a weekend trip (gotta make sure you have all the necessities and all the extras). You never know when you may need those 4 inch high heels or that fuzzy hoodie cut from the same cloth as the little kid’s stuffed bear you babysit for. Well, you don’t babysit the bear; I’m talking about the kid obviously. Let’s get back to the unnecessary items we pack shall we? Yeah it makes even less sense to pack ridiculous things like that hoodie, especially when you’re jetting ... Read More

Next Page »

Currently on Instagram

2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love 2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love social media, I found myself taking a break as the things we were all going through made social media so insignificant to me. 

In January/February I had a miscarriage. It was a horrible way to start the year, and little did I know it was just the beginning of it all. 

Even with the loss, hardship of moving back to the US in the middle of a global pandemic, and navigating our new lives here, we were given many blessings. The greatest of those was finding out I was pregnant again in March.

It’s a scary time to be pregnant right now, especially after a miscarriage, because doctors visits are very minimal. Also, Derik was never able to come to a single visit. I was terrified something would happen and I would be told bad news and have to face that alone. But God was gracious to us. 

We kept our special little secret to ourselves, and it wasn’t until our third trimester before we told immediate family and close friends. My pregnancy was very private for me, and a special time to bond closely with the babe growing inside me.

Our sweet little girl arrived November 30, and yes I had to deliver with a mask on, but she is perfect and I truly feel our family is complete. 💕🌈
 
“When a rainbow appears, it doesn’t mean the storm never happened or that we are not still dealing with its aftermath. It means something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy, and hope.”
I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/mons I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/monstera collector is when you get to behold such a beauty in real life. If there were ever #plantgoals, this is it. 

Since moving from Germany, it has been a long and slow process getting our life back to normal. All of our belongings have yet to arrive so we’ve literally been camping in our house on an air bed and camping chairs for two months. 😂 All that to say, having to start my plant collection over again here stateside has been so much fun! I will miss the plant prices if Germany, but the selection here blows my mind. Anyone else obsessed? We’ve lived here for almost 8 weeks now and I already have 11 plants 😂😬😬😬. I don’t have a bed or a couch, but by golly I have greenery. 😂🤦🏼‍♀️🌱
Oh my heart. I’ve been trying to figure out the Oh my heart.

I’ve been trying to figure out the words to say about our time in Germany, but my fingers can’t seem to type out how to express my love, gratefulness, thankfulness, sadness, and heartbreak I feel about leaving. Every country we’ve lived in has taught us something and has given us so many beautiful memories, as well as opened our eyes a little more to different cultures and ways of living.

But Germany was special. The first time we stepped foot into Germany was in 2015, and we loved it so much we stayed the extent of our travel visa (3 months). I was able to visit again in 2016, and then we officially packed everything and moved in 2017. Germany has always had my heart: the people, the festivals, the food, wine and beer, the immaculate home landscaping, and even all the rules that every resident is just expected to follow to a tee (like recycling every tiny scrap of trash). Our family grew from two to three while in Germany. Bringing our daughter into the world, and raising her for a year and a half in a different culture, will be one of the most beautiful memories of my life.

Our move was impacted by the COVID pandemic, and it took three long months of delays, red tape, and countless phone calls to get everything together so we could actually get on a plane and have our stuff packed and shipped to our new home. 
I am breathing a sigh of relief to know all the stress of everything is over and our new adventure can begin. I am mourning the loss of leaving Germany. I am in a weird transition right now trying to grasp it all, but here we are jumping into new things head first! We are back in the US for a while, in the beautiful state of Tennessee, and look forward to many new memories, travels, friends, and being able to spend time with family! 
Photos from my sweet and talented friend @juliejayphotos
I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas m I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas markets. We went to a total of ONE market, which is exactly 19 less than I told myself I would go to this year to make up for not going to any the year before 🤦🏼‍♀️(I was 40 weeks pregnant and not feeling crowds). I will say, it was a great one and the weather was so nice, we stayed out until the market shut down.

If there’s one thing I will miss most about Germany when it is our time to move, will be the sheer enthusiasm this country has for Christmas, and I’m not talking about consumerism. Food, laughter, friends, family, music, dancing: celebration. Also, Germany shuts down for not only one day, but THREE. Stores are closed, mail is not delivered, people aren’t out and about. Everyone is home enjoying time with family, and I love it. However, I may have gone into full blown panic mode Christmas Eve when I realized I had a total of 8 diapers to get us through until the 27th. 👀
We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whist We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whistler, Canada! A 10 hour flight from Germany , and I can’t say this one was better than the one we took over the summer on our trip to Alaska, but we survived! Entertaining a 11 month old for that long is much harder than a 6 month old, especially when they aren’t into sleeping on the plane AT ALL. 🤪

Whistler was beautiful despite the lack of snow, and we enjoyed our time with family, the delicious food, and as much sightseeing as one could do with a jet-lagged baby. 
This was actually my first trip to Canada ever, (unless you want to count the move my parents took up to Alaska from Arkansas when I was two. 😂🤷‍♀️ ) and I loved it! We would really like to take a big Canadian road trip someday and explore more of the country! 😍😍🇨🇦
Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time t Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time to put myself together, but I would rather spend the extra moments making special memories with our daughter that she can cherish forever. I doubt that she will look at this picture and see a tired, messy haired mama that’s barely had time to wash her face nevermind carefully apply makeup, but am hoping she will see a mama that never tires of carrying and cuddling her, or sharing new experiences with her. 💕
Oh Switzerland, you beaut.🇨🇭 We spent a coup Oh Switzerland, you beaut.🇨🇭 We spent a couple days enjoying the beautiful weather in the land of chocolate, cheese, mountains, and cows with bells 😍😍🤩. If you remember, we visited the same area  a month shy of two years ago but but the weather was quite the opposite! I’d have to say though, when you visit such a majestic and beautiful area, it doesn’t matter what the weather is, you’re going to be in awe and love it anyway!
  • About
  • Design
  • Work With Us
  • Contact

© Living in Another Language 2012-2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Site design by Alpine Lane.