A few weeks back, I wrote about my thoughts on taking a blogging break. I was feeling exhausted, stretched too thin and pretty overwhelmed trying to keep up with blogging and my new 9-5 work life (which isn’t really 9-5). Truthfully, most of those feelings still exist, but after a lot of thought, I’ve decided that maybe a “break,” isn’t the way to go. Maybe to rekindle my love for blogging, I just had to shake things up a bit.
And so, I have some exciting news! Well, at least I think it’s exciting…. correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m going to be starting a new blog/vlog series called- A Little Look at My Expat Life- Santiago Style.
I’ve been wanting to pull the plug and try this for a while now, and I think it may be just what I need to feel excited about my little space of the Internet again!
I want to get interactive, to get engaged and talking. I want to connect with all my friends, family and followers out there!
And, because I haven’t had the time to travel a crazy amount lately- not to mention I’m still WAY backed up on posts from my winter travels- I thought it’d be cool to give you all a little inside look at what it’s really like living as an expat in Santiago, Chile. You know, the “uncut” real-life stuff, that too often gets left out of blogging.
After all, life in Chile may now seem pretty normal to me, but to those who have never been here- I’m sure it’s pretty damn different! I mean I didn’t know much of anything about this city before I got here, and what I found when I arrived really shocked me. Nothing was exactly as I pictured it to be. I can’t speak for everyone, but many of us gringos have got a pretty skewed view of South America.
I still get messaged on Instagram with comments like, “Whoaaaaaa! There are skyscrapers in Santiago?!?!” Yes. Believe it or not, there is a pretty big bustling city down here …
So, I guess it’s time I showed Santiago off!
So far, some of my ideas for this series include everything from a normal “Day in my Life” and “A Trip to Santiago’s Local Market,” to a tad crazier “Trip to the top of Latin America’s Tallest Building” and an uncut “Night Out in Santiago.” I’m also hoping to interview a few fellow expats. cough, cough– hope you’re cool with that Marcella! 😀
I’ll be posting the “episodes” on Instagram Stories and elaborating on them here! Hopefully twice a month. We’ll see how it goes…
But, to really get started, and give you all a true “inside look”- I first need YOUR help!
What do you want to know about EXPAT life in Santiago? OR really life in Santiago in general? What would you like to see/hear/read about in this series? Shoot me some ideas in the comments below!
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Welcome to Wanderful Wednesdays!
Consider yourself a wanderer?! Well then, this Blog Hop is for you!
Meet your hosts: ME, Lauren of Lauren on Location, Van of Snow in Tromso, Isabel of The Sunny Side of This and Marcella of What a Wonderful World.
Here on Wanderful Wednesday we hope to promote an open and supportive community for like-minded bloggers- expats, travelers and all kinds of wanderers!
The linkup will take place every Wednesday at 8AM GMT.
Wanderful Wednesday Guidelines:
- Link up a wanderful travel related post below! One per blogger per week please!
- Spread the LOVE! Blog Hops are all about hopping around & getting to know others within the community! At the very least please try to comment on one other post before you go!
- Let’s get Social! Really liked a post you read? Don’t be shy! Share your favorites on Social Media! You can use the hashtag: #wanderfulwednesday
- Don’t forget to grab the button and link back to your wanderful hosts! Help us spread the word and let’s get others involved!
You can also pin your post to our new Pinterest Board! Let me know if you’d like the invite.
This week I’m highlighting Kit’s of The Kittchen’s post “Where to Party in Belgrade.” Whenever I travel I like to get a taste of the local nightlife, and a good bar hop is right up my alley! What a great write up and guide that I hope to put to use one day! If you haven’t already, be sure to go check out her post and spread the love! Thanks for linking up with us Kit! ?
Happy Hopping Friends!! 😀
Looking forward to your next adventure and seeing what you’ll share with us! 🙂 I also took a two week blogging break during our honeymoon, and now I feel ready to get back at it! Sometimes it’s good to disconnect! #WanderfulWednesday
Sometimes all you need is some time away to recharge and get back to it 😀
I’m so excited to hear about life in Santiago! Is there a large expat community in the city? And what is the cultural dynamic of that community? #wanderfulwednesday
Yay, it makes me excited that you’re excited! And yes there is a pretty big expat community here! I can definitely talk about that in one of the episodes! Thanks for the idea 😀
Thanks so much for featuring my blog post about Belgrade! I really appreciate it! And I can’t wait to hear all about Santiago!
It was a great post! Thanks for linking up with us! 😀
Ooh I’m excited for this series!! I think reading about expat life is my favorite kind of posts. And looking forward to your interview with Marcella ;P
Good, I’m glad! I like reading about expat life as well! Kind of cool to see how people in different places are living! And I’m excited to interview Marcella as well 😀
Hope you had a great blogging break and welcome back! I’d love to know what going out to movies or watching T.V. at home is like? Is everything in Spanish? Subtitles in English? And also, the music scene? Are there alot of live music performances? Any local bands/artists you’re a fan of?
Thanks for the questions Setarra- Quick answer, I actually don’t pay for cable TV (Chilean TV is just awful hahah ) and hardly go to movies, but maybe doing an episode on this will push me to try these things. Also, I was already planning on doing a post on the music scene here. My Chilean friends are major into Reggatón! So I want to talk about that, since most people at home don’t even know what it is hahah
Can’t wait to read more about your Expat life and about Santiago! Super excited for this series!!
Yay! Thanks Melanie! Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to know! 😀
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea!! And I’m a sucker for apartment tours so I would love to see how you live in Santiago! And also how your job is like if that’s something you’re allowed to share. Cause I feel like you can learn a lot about a country by getting to know its work culture. In Germany for example, work is often crazy hectic and so is the general pace of life there while Norway is much more laid back in both regards…
Ah thanks Van! You just got me even more excited about the series haha .. But yes I will definitely be doing an apartment tour! And talking about my job! Weirdly I work for an American company here, so I’m not “very” a part of Chilean Work culture, but I do know a lot about it. And I worked at a Chilean school last year so I do have some experience. I’m going to guess that compared to Germany and even Norway the work style here is WAY more laid back and WAY slower haha
Great idea – I’m just reading Untamed State and in it, there’s a moment when her husband comes to Haiti for the first time – and he’d not realised they had running water, let alone that her parents had a beach house bigger than most US normal houses, and servants galore etc…she talks about how we get ideas of a country from the brief slivers shown on the news.
It’s SO true! I’m a little ashamed to admit how little I knew about Chile before moving here. I think I bought into the misconception that all of South America is completely undeveloped and dangerous, which is SO not true!
Awesome idea for a series! Do you speak Spanish? I’d love to know what it’s like for a non-Spanish speaker living in Chile.
Thanks Kat! And yes, I do speak Spanish, but Chilean Spanish is a whole other ball game. I’d like to do an episode on Chilean Spanish haha .. But I’m sure in my “Expat interviews” section I can ask one of my friends who doesn’t speak Spanish about this. It’s definitely not easy! Thanks for the question!
LOVE THIS!!! And I love of all of the questions people have asked below, amazing.
Can’t wait to take part 😉
Yay! Going to be so fun making you a part of this 😀 And people have been sending me such great questions- talk about inspiration 😀
I think this is a great idea. At least, in my opinion, I would like to read how your perceptions of South America has changed since you started to live there. Also, it may help others to see the countries in the continent under a different light. In terms of blogging, I believe you should write about what excites you. I have felt the burn (and have wanted to quit a lot of times) but end up going back to blogging because I really like it (and love the community!).
Such a great idea for a post Ruth! My perceptions of South America definitely did a 180 since moving here, so I think this would be really interesting to talk about. Many of my friends/followers have no idea what it’s like down here, so I think you’re right, people could definitely benefit from seeing these countries in a different light than how the media portrays them. And yes- I don’t think I could ever truly leave blogging because the community is just too important to me! 😀
What a cool idea for a series! I’d like to hear more about something you touch on above – things that shocked/surprised you about life in Santiago. Or maybe things you wish you’d known before moving there? 🙂
Oooo love that idea for an episode! Will definitely do one on that! I was shocked by a lotttt of things- so this should be fun. THanks for the input! 😀
I love this idea! I love a day in the life type post and an apartment tour like Van said would be great too!
Those two will definitely be in the first few episodes I do. Thanks for the input Courtney!! 😀
I am so excited to have found your blog and this awesome linkup! Can’t wait to follow everyone’s adventures.
Yay! We’re glad to have you Katee! Excited to follow along on your adventures as well 😀
What a great idea. Will look out for the first episode!