Confessions of a Jobless Expat

You may have seen this blog title in a social media post hashtag or two recently. Back in the states, I led a fairly busy lifestyle - staying busy keeps me sane and tolerable to both those who work with me and those forced to live with me (former roommates and Adam can attest).  I've had a job and been somewhat overcommitted to extracurricular activities since I was 15, so to say this move has been a transition for me is somewhat of an understatement. I went from utilizing 220% of my time to utilizing about 40% of non-sleeping hours performing tasks that aren't exactly first nature to me.

So, I thought I'd share some of the fun activities that take up one's time when you're unemployed, in a foreign country, and transitioning from being a habitually busy person. I'd like to throw in the disclaimer that I do not look down upon any of these activities, or those that choose to fill their days with such and/or enjoy them. I actually really like cleaning, and have come to love cooking. It's just amazing how much of it I find myself doing now that I have more time on my hands. Also, most of these activities look a little different in the UK, and I've had to relearn how to do some things. Consider this blog a guide to some of the daily activities of an expat housewife.

Expectation v. Reality

Trip Planning - When you have such easy access to most of Europe, you have to take advantage of it, right? Well, it's not as easy as saying "Paris this weekend, Barcelona the next," though we wish it was, and sometimes act like it is via social media (sorry for all of the humble brags).  Whether by planes, trains, or automobiles, it takes some thought and research to choose the best way to reach your destination, much less find a place to stay and plan out what you'd like to do with your time.  Many of our trips are only 2-4 days so we want to spend our time wisely.  We're still learning, but I've shared a few sites below that we've utilized and hope these are helpful to any future Euro travelers.

www.skyscanner.net - Like Expedia and friends, this site pools together the best prices from all of the airlines and gives you the best prices and options.  It's quite comprehensive and makes searching significantly easier and faster.

www.eurostar.com - We haven'e used the Eurostar train line yet as it doesn't travel from Brum, but it's famous for it's extremely cheap train rides off the island.  If booked at the right time, you can get from London to Paris for as cheap as 25 pounds.

www.airbnb.com - I've mentioned this on a previous blog and reiterate it's awesomeness.  I'm hopeful I'll have even more good things to say after our trip to Paris at the end of the month.  I was reminded how crazy good the lodging deals are when a friend sent me the link to the home she booked for her trip to Santorini Greece in October - picture luxury resort for the price of a good steak.

www.holidaypirates.com - One of Adam's coworkers sent him the link to this site and we're anxiously sifting through the deals to see which we'll try first.  From what I understand, it finds all of the good deals from flights, lodging and sometimes meals and puts them together for suggested trips for you.  A website that serves as a personal travel agent? Sign me up.

Grocery Shopping - This one's a doozy.  I hated going to Kroger in Jackson even though I knew where most everything was and knew the speedy path to take through the store.  Here, things are all over the place, and go by different names (i.e. - cilantro v. coriander).  It probably doesn't help that I cook out of American v. British cookbooks for the most part, but either way I think I'd still feel the challenge.  My first few trips took over two hours, at least.  It's gotten better, and my planning in this area has improved.  Recently I've taken advantage of the delivery service our local store offers since Adam has been using the car, and I may never go back.  Some days I come home successful, some days I come home feeling the sting of spending 4 pounds on Aunt Jemima (the British maple syrup just wasn't as good, I swear). One plus in this category is that there's a store on every corner - most are the mini-marts and don't carry full selections, but you're rarely ever more than a mile from a full grocery store or two blocks from it's express version which makes running out for coffee or eggs quite convenient.

Cooking - As I said, I've been utilizing my trusted American cookbook, specifically Skinny Taste as it's a trusted simple source for good clean meals.  I'm wary of Pinterest or Google as a source for recipes, unless they come from the Pioneer Woman, but England doesn't have enough butter to make most of her recipes.  We tried Chicken Tikka Massala (via Google) last week, and it turned out decently. I think cooking Indian food is a practiced skill. We may grab a local cookbook soon just for the sake of making the grocery list fully attainable.  I plan to expand my sweets horizon soon as we started watching the highly popular BBC show The Great British Bake Off when the newest series (they call a season of a show a series) premiered last week.  I ordered an accompanying cookbook this week and have high hopes for my first madeira cake.

Cooking also proves a little tricky as we're working with limited kitchen tools.  We didn't ship over the plethora of wonderful wedding gifts we accumulated in those first years of marriage (those are safe in storage), and purchased the bare minimum for our flat.  Most nights it takes a little longer than it probably should, but I quite enjoy having the afternoon to prepare the ingredients and cook dinner at a decent hour. I now can get started between 4-6pm versus 7pm or later (the earliest either of us usually got home back in the states) and not be limited to throwing together easy staples like spaghetti or tacos.

Laundry - If you watched a video on one of my first blogs, you may have seen that it's very common for washers and dryers to be combined and in the kitchen.  Yep, the kitchen.  It's not very big or very powerful. It takes over 3 hours to finish one load, and it rarely comes out dry, much less wrinkle free (see next activity).  We realized quickly there is a reason our laundry hamper is so small - when it's full, you've easily got 3 loads and a full day's work ahead of you.

Ironing (Sheets) - So, apparently this is a thing.  Back home, my sheets came out soft and smooth, so I popped those bad boys on the bed and called it a day.  Maybe it's the quality and/or thread count of our sheets here, but they come out of the dryer ridiculously wrinkled and crisp (as do Adam's jeans).  I find myself hovering over my tiny table ironing board trying to make the sheets look and feel as smooth as possible, but typically give up after a few minutes or sometime around the bottom middle part of the sheets that I assume no guest would over see and that only our feet can feel.

Decorating/Nesting - I miss Home Goods.  We have TKMaxx (TJ's British cousin), but the home section isn't stellar and Brum doesn't boast a ton of smart home stores, at least that I've found.  Ikea does the trick sometimes, and I've had some luck on Joss and Main, but flat decorating is different than decorating your forever home, and it's a balance I just haven't mastered yet of finding decent pieces that don't feel and look cheap.

So, there you have it - an average day in the life. I've also been reading a fair amount and am extremely overly caught up on TV/Netflix. The job hunt is still on.  I spend a large part of most mornings sipping coffee and applying for gigs. More exciting adventures coming soon (including but not limited to Buckingham Palace, our first rugby match and Paris), so stay tuned!