Several magazines, newspapers and radios are looking for expats to tell their stories about their experiences abroad.
Two of the most recent posts on the forum at www.expatsreunite.com include:
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I'm a UK journalist working on a story for Woman & Home glossy monthly magazine. It is about women, (single or with families) who have emigrated and left a lone parent in UK. The parent, preferably a Mother, needs to be at least late 60's and widowed or divorced. The feature is in no way invasive, but discusses the emotional and practical implications involved in leaving a parent. If you are interested in telling your story to me, I would need to know reasons for emigrating, telling parent and family, how often and by what means you keep in touch (email/skype/phone etc.) I would require a clear picture of yourself and your parent. If you are interested in telling me your story, please contact me asap at jancollier@fsmail.net Many thanks
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My name is Mark Butler and I work for the Guardian Newspaper's G2 supplement. We are currently looking for people born and raised in Britain whose families came to the UK from another country generations ago, who have now moved back to their ancestral homeland for 'roots' reasons. This is for a forthecoming special feature, and we would like to interview and photograph willing participants and invite them to share their family history and photos with us.
We would particularly welcome links with Ireland, Australia and Bangladesh, but any would be most appreciated.
If this applies to you, or you know someone who this applies to, then we would be delighted to hear from you.
I can be contacted by email at mbutler.media@googlemail.com
One of the things that is easy to forget when you move abroad is claiming a tax rebate! With one hundred and one things to do you may just about remember to tell the tax man that you have actually left the country.
Refundsdirect.com claim that up to one in three people are due a tax rebate with millions in unclaimed rebates and an average of 800 pounds per person. By taking a short survey on their site, they can give you a ball park figure of what you may be due and state that they will process all of the paperwork for you.
While they are not cheap - fees start at 18% - they work on a no win no fee basis, so if they do not manage to get any tax refunded, you do not have to pay for their services. Also, even after deducting their fee, if it is true the average rebate is 800 pounds, this means you will have a tidy little sum you did not have before.
SolChannel.com is an alternative guide to the Costa del Sol using the video medium instead of making you read through reams of text.
One of the main advantages of this type of guide has to be that you get to see videos of the areas they are talking about - as they say a picture paints a thousand words. Covering everything from lifestyle, beaches, hotels, health and more.
The site has grown substantially just in the last few months and will undoubtedly expand to include more areas of Spain in the not too distant future.
If you would like your 15 minutes of fame or would like to promote the region of Spain you live in Sol Channel is also accepting videos of up to 2 mins in length. For more details visit: SolChannel.com
When you start planning your move to Spain, there are a million and one things that you have to consider and to organize. It can be difficult to keep track of all of the things that you have to remember unless you are a very organised person by nature. In addition, once you get to Spain there are plenty of administrative tasks you will need to remember and take care of.
One excellent - and free - tool is available at www.simpleology.com. While it is initially focused at increasing your productivity it is also an excellent place to store all of your ideas, set priorities and goals, and have everything in one easy to access place online.
While it may seem like a strange resource to offer to expats, it is well worth creating an account as it is free. Not only will it help make your move easier, it could improve the organisation of other areas of your life aswell.
Find out more at www.simpleology.com
Euro-Cheque.com has come up with an astonishingly simple but useful formula for helping those who have trouble with Spanish and need to write a cheque.
Simply select Spanish cheque from the left hand menu, click on the amount you want to write the cheque for and the translation for the words in Spanish appear on the image at the bottom.
Expat Entrepeneur is written for those who are looking to create a new career or income stream that will work anywhere in the world.
As well as advice on how to choose the right career for you it highlight examples of successful expat entrepeneurs.
Expats need to be more resourceful than regular job seekers and the Expat Entrepeneur can help you with ideas for your new venture.
Available from Bookshaker.com
www.unispain.com is a great site for those looking for Spanish language course. Instead of having to search through hundreds of different websites, they have a price calculator to give you an estimate of how much the course will cost including accommodation, if you need it.
They have other useful tools on the site like:
The Pocket Money calculator to determine how much you are likely to spend once you get to Spain.
Spanish level test to help you determine your level of proficiency in Spanish
Weeks needed to learn Spanish test, which gives you an idea of how long it will take you to learn Spanish.
Online Spanish course which you can try for free
There is a lot of useful information on the site and it is well worth having a look: www.unispain.com
The telecommute industry used to be full of scams and offers of jobs for mailing envelopes, pyramid schemes and other time wasting and often expensive pie in the sky positions. However the world is changing and with downsizing and outsourcing a new range of opportunities is available online.
This is good news for expats as it means that they do not have to rely on traditional jobs when they relocate, nor do they necessarily have to struggle with learning Spanish.
One such opportunity is to become a Virtual Assistant offering administrative and secretarial support to clients all over the world. With no office to maintain the overheads are minimal, requiring only the advertising of your services. Once you have a few clients you are likely to get repeat business and referrals.
If you visit www.virtualpabusiness.com Lisa Taliga offers a free ebook with an overview of what is needed to ensure that your business is successful.
I came across a network on Facebook today which called ´You know you´ve lived in Spain when...´
They have a long list of things which made me chuckle. Some of my favourites include:
1) You think adding lemonade, fanta or even coke to red wine is perfectly acceptable. Especially at lunch time.
2) You can't get over how early bars & clubs shut back home - surely they're shutting just as you should be going out?
3) You aren't just surprised that the plumber/decorator has turned up on time, you're surprised he turned up at all.
4) You think it's fine to comment on everyone's appearance.
5) Not giving every new acquaintance dos besos seems so rude.
6) You're shocked by people getting their legs out at the first hint of sun - surely they should wait until at least late June?
7) You're amazed when TV ad breaks last less than half an hour, especially right before the end of films.
8) You forget to say please when asking for things - you implied it in your tone of voice, right?
9) You eat lunch after 2pm & would never even think of having your evening meal before 9.
10) You know that after 2pm there's no point in going shopping, you might as well just have a siesta until 5 when the shops re-open.
11) The fact that all the male (or female) members of a family have the same first name doesn't surprise you.
12) You don't see anything wrong with having a couple of beers in the morning if you feel like it.
13) Floors in bars are an ideal dumping ground for your colillas, servilletas etc. Why use a bin?!
14) You see clapping as an art form, not just a way to express approval.
It currently has about 22,000 members so is well worth joining - you never know who you might meet!
A new website is in pre-launch called My Happy Planet. The idea behind the site is that you meet up with people online to share language skills for free. Put an English person and a Spanish person together and they can exchange lessons for free from the comfort of their own home.
It will undoubtedly turn into a social networking site with a twist but it is a great idea in principle. Especially as the site grows and you may be able to find someone in the region you plan to settle in, or already live in.
I would be interested in feedback from anyone who uses this service.
Register for free today at www.myhappyplanet.com
