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Does Your Language Change You?
The other day, I was chatting to a friend when our conversation drifted onto something I’d never really stopped to think about before. Do you become a different person depending on the language you’re speaking? The more we talked, the more examples we came up with. My friend told me about a woman she knew who was an absolute powerhouse in English, despite it not being her native language. Confident, outspoken and full of authority. Yet the moment she switched back to Spanish, her mother tongue, she became noticeably quieter and more reserved. We both agreed that this strange phenomenon seemed to exist. What we couldn’t work out was why. At…
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10 Cool Things to Do in Aix-en-Provence (By someone who lives there)
Living near Aix-en-Provence feels a bit like living inside a painting — one that smells faintly of lavender and espresso. It’s elegant, sunlit, and endlessly walkable, yet always full of surprises.
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Sunday Mornings in France
One of the first things you notice when you move to France is that, in most places, Sundays are still sacred. Not in a religious sense, necessarily — though you’ll still hear church bells echoing through the villages — but in the sense of slowing down, of pausing.
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A Year in Provence: Expectations vs. Reality
About a year ago, my family decided to move from a quiet rural village in northern France to Provence — specifically, to a village just outside Aix-en-Provence — so that my children could attend a bilingual school. It turns out, it was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.
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What I Miss Most (and Least) About Home
I last lived in my home country, the UK, when I was twenty-one. Things have changed hugely since then — new slang, new politics, new prices — but the things I miss always seem to stay the same.
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French Bureaucracy and the Art of Staying Calm
There’s a moment every foreigner in France faces — the day you realise that your most valuable life skill isn’t language, or charm, or even patience. It’s persistence.
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10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Moving to France
(Because it’s not all croissants and châteaux — but it’s close)
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Cultural and Linguistic Fails I Can Now Laugh About
From accidental insults to culinary crimes, here are a few of the many ways I’ve managed to confuse, amuse, and horrify people across Europe — and what I learned from laughing at myself.
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What Belonging Means to Me
Belonging isn’t always about fitting in — sometimes it’s about finding comfort in your own little bubble until the world around you starts to make space. Here’s what belonging means to me.
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How to Find your tribe abroad
Moving abroad is exciting — until the loneliness sets in. Finding your people in a new country isn’t always easy, but it can change everything. Here’s how to build your tribe — one awkward coffee at a time.
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Why The Blonde Outsider?
Have you ever walked into a room and instantly realised you don't quite belong?
Life Abroad, Unfiltered / Stories from Life Abroad
