15 years, 7 countries and 3 continents later, I call myself an eternal expat.
15 years, 7 countries and 3 continents later, I call myself an eternal expat.
Hi, my name is Mariam
and I am the founder and writer behind the blog ‘And Then We Moved To.’ When I was 19 years old, I left my home in Karachi, Pakistan to go on an adventure. What started off with just me and one suitcase, has turned into a full-blown expat adventure with a 40-foot container, an expat husband from the other corner of the world, 2 kids born in different countries and a very, very big collection of travel photos and books. I can never remember my new phone number or new home address, or where I packed my favorite pair of suede boots!
15 years, 7 countries and 3 continents later, I call myself an eternal expat. I have become a seasoned expert at getting lost in every new city I call home, and butchering words in the many foreign languages I have picked up along the way. I have also perfected the art of being perpetually homesick for one country or another.
As a child, I grew up in Bahrain, New York City and Karachi. As an adult I have lived in the United States (Massachusetts and Texas), United Kingdom, Germany, Pakistan, Denmark, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
Hi, my name is Mariam
and I am the founder and writer behind the blog ‘And Then We Moved To.’ When I was 19 years old, I left my home in Karachi, Pakistan to go on an adventure. What started off with just me and one suitcase, has turned into a full-blown expat adventure with a 40-foot container, an expat husband from the other corner of the world, 2 kids born in different countries and a very, very big collection of travel photos and books. I can never remember my new phone number or new home address, or where I packed my favorite pair of suede boots!
15 years, 7 countries and 3 continents later, I call myself an eternal expat. I have become a seasoned expert at getting lost in every new city I call home, and butchering words in the many foreign languages I have picked up along the way. I have also perfected the art of being perpetually homesick for one country or another.
As a child, I grew up in Bahrain, New York City and Karachi. As an adult I have lived in the United States (Massachusetts and Texas), United Kingdom, Germany, Pakistan, Denmark, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
I currently live in Dubai, where I write mostly about life as an expat, the feeling of having several different “homes” scattered around the world, trying to raise multilingual children in my cross-cultural, East-meets-West marriage, and of course traveling the world. My 2 kids were born in Singapore and Dubai, while my husband and I hail from Italy, Germany and Pakistan, and therefore the most complicated question you can ask my family is “where are you from?” Most of my answers include the phrase “and then we moved to…” (insert different random country) as I try to explain accents, passports, languages, nationalities etc. I decided to blog about it on here – to connect with others around the world; other expats, other parents, others raising multicultural children abroad, travelers, bloggers, writers and artists.
Everyone and anyone who has ever lived away from home or can relate to the thrills, the amazing new experiences and the incredible insights that come from living life out of your comfort zone. I stand for a global world, I believe in multiculturalism, I believe in raising tolerant and globally-minded children who are not afraid. Not afraid to be both Asian and European and sound American. Not afraid to speak Urdu, sing in Italian, talk in German, study in English and learn Mandarin or Arabic in school. Not afraid to answer; please don’t ask us where we are from – because we are from everywhere.
Everyone and anyone who has ever lived away from home or can relate to the thrills, the amazing new experiences and the incredible insights that come from living life out of your comfort zone. I stand for a global world, I believe in multiculturalism, I believe in raising tolerant and globally-minded children who are not afraid. Not afraid to be both Asian and European and sound American. Not afraid to speak Urdu, sing in Italian, talk in German, study in English and learn Mandarin or Arabic in school. Not afraid to answer; please don’t ask us where we are from – because we are from everywhere.
I currently live in Dubai, where I write mostly about life as an expat, the feeling of having several different “homes” scattered around the world, trying to raise multilingual children in my cross-cultural, East-meets-West marriage, and of course traveling the world. My 2 kids were born in Singapore and Dubai, while my husband and I hail from Italy, Germany and Pakistan, and therefore the most complicated question you can ask my family is “where are you from?” Most of my answers include the phrase “and then we moved to…” (insert different random country) as I try to explain accents, passports, languages, nationalities etc. I decided to blog about it on here – to connect with others around the world; other expats, other parents, others raising multicultural children abroad, travelers, bloggers, writers and artists.
We belong everywhere – to so many different countries and cultures around the world. Follow me on this exciting (and sometimes challenging!) journey across continents, languages and cultures – when I am not blogging on here, I can be found writing and contributing on expat forums, parenting magazines and dreaming about our next big adventure.
My work has been published on the Huffington Post, Expat Living Singapore, Expat Living Hong Kong, Expat Connect Dubai and Sassy Mama Dubai. Some of my articles have also been translated into Italian, courtesy Dubaitaly. You can always connect with me on And Then We Moved To | Facebook and on Instagram(@andthenwemovedto), where I love to hear from readers, to inspire them and to be inspired from others.
I hope you continue to like and relate to the articles you find on here! Living life on the expat trail has shown me that we just never know what will happen when we say yes to new experiences and meeting new people. When we open ourselves to new beginnings and new adventures, life has some unexpected and wonderful surprises in store for us 🙂
We belong everywhere – to so many different countries and cultures around the world. Follow me on this exciting (and sometimes challenging!) journey across continents, languages and cultures – when I am not blogging on here, I can be found writing and contributing on expat forums, parenting magazines and dreaming about our next big adventure.
My work has been published on the Huffington Post, Expat Living Singapore, Expat Living Hong Kong, Expat Connect Dubai and Sassy Mama Dubai. Some of my articles have also been translated into Italian, courtesy Dubaitaly. You can always connect with me on And Then We Moved To | Facebook and on Instagram(@andthenwemovedto), where I love to hear from readers, to inspire them and to be inspired from others.
I hope you continue to like and relate to the articles you find on here! Living life on the expat trail has shown me that we just never know what will happen when we say yes to new experiences and meeting new people. When we open ourselves to new beginnings and new adventures, life has some unexpected and wonderful surprises in store for us 🙂