#21 Ten countries and a world of experience – with Mariam Ottimofiore
Holding the Fort Abroad · Rhoda Bangerter
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Show Notes
Synopsis:
Mariam Navaid Ottimofiore is a Pakistani expat author, writer, researcher and economist. She has lived in ten countries as both a TCK and an expat adult: The Kingdom of Bahrain, the United States, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Ghana and Portugal. She is the author of the expat guidebook This Messy Mobile Life: How a MOLA can help globally mobile families create a life by design (Summertime Publishing 2019) which equips international families to navigate a life abroad. She is also the blogger behind the expat blog And Then We Moved To in which she explores expat life and raising multicultural and multilingual children in her East-meets-West marriage.
In This Episode:
- Mariam’s life as a mum of a globally mobile family. Her experience of this lifestyle with young children and children of differing ages.
- The unique struggle living and coping in cultures where one partner is entirely dependent on the travelling partner, with very little rights of their own (visa, finances, etc.)
- The need for flexibility when one partner travels for work, as well as working together as a team.
- The importance of asking for help, having a backup adult, and good self-care. To have realistic expectations of yourself.
- Mum vs Dad travelling: the upsides and society’s double standards.
- Navigating the return of the travelling parent and how to reintegrate them into family life and routine.
- Ideas and strategies for keeping the travelling partner emotionally present in the home/with the kids.
- The importance of good communication within the couple, sharing each other’s experiences.
- How knowing all the travelling partner’s travel details can be vitally important, especially when dealing with high-risk situations