True to my realist nature, I had to write a post on my experience as a South African moving abroad to Canada. I sure wish someone had told me some of these hard truths before I emigrated from South Africa. It probably would not have changed my mind about moving, but it would have changed my expectations; my approach and inevitably helped the adjustment period. I actually wrote this post as a letter to myself at the peak of my struggle while adjusting to Canada (little did I know, I was probably suffering from Expat Depression), so reading it back was tough. Not being able to work, drive, get m ..read more

Relocating and moving abroad as a couple can be incredibly difficult on your relationship and it’s likely that you will experience some of these expat relationship problems. And if you’ve heard that before, you’re probably wondering whether your relationship can take the strain of moving abroad together? Since we’re currently going through the relationship adjustment that comes with having your first child, I can definitely agree that there are some similarities between both transitional periods. You’ll face role changes, lifestyle adjustments, and financial difficulties. If you do nothing to ..read more

No one really understands what it’s like being an expat (especially if they’ve never done it themselves), and unfortunately, the things listed below are all part of the price we pay being expats. I’ve learned a lot since moving abroad, and most expats struggle with these things I’ve listed below just comes with the gig. Moving abroad is not easy and, as always, our goal is to help others who are in the process. We hope this list of common challenges that expats often struggle with will give you some comfort in the fact that you are not alone. And if you’re still in the process of moving ..read more

I receive several emails a day from South Africans with immigration questions. I usually try get back to people as soon as possible, but admittedly, my email inbox does get away from me. While I do eventually get back to everyone, I do prefer compiling a list of Q&A’s online if I feel like it could be particularly helpful to you. So, here’s our first post of Expat Q&A’s including an important topic on moving with pets. Read: We moved again! Latest News! You mentioned something about a fast track (express entry) visa application – How does that work? Express Entry is an online system of ..read more

Hi! My name is Leigh and I am a lifestyle and travel content creator based in a small town just outside Edmonton, Canada. I’m 26 years old and I only started creating content a little over a year ago. That said, it’s been sidelined for way too long and this year, came with new motivation and excitement to create fun content that is at the same time, super helpful to readers. I am so excited to bring out content you would like to see, so if you have any ideas, requests, fun facts of your own, post them in the comments box below and let’s chat! This blog post is a follow up to an Instagram post ..read more

Finally, two and a half years after I initially moved to Canada, I can say I have officially completed the NCA Legal Exams! The long process of adjusting to our new home included realizing that my career would inevitably be put on the back burner. Realising that I was in for several more exams was extremely daunting! In hindsight, the process, while completely annoying, was relatively easy. I breakdown my exam schedule, tips and lessons learnt below to help future applicants throughout the NCA process: Read: Part of Why I Struggled as a South African Expat Living in Canada… My Expat Depressio ..read more

I realized this week that when I wrote “Things I Have Learned Since Moving Abroad”, I didn’t really touch on all the points why I struggled so much that first year — and maybe I need to clarify. You see, I had no idea that moving to Canada could trigger depression because no one talked about it. I’ve since found out that expat depression is an incredibly common mental health challenge associated with the stresses of global relocation. In fact, I found that our recent move to Calgary triggered my depression again. Isolated and lonely, again, regardless of the fact that I actually wanted to be i ..read more

Since so many of you have found our blog for immigration or expat reasons, we’re embracing it and including all the topics we can think of.  In fact, we’ve even started an Expat Newsletter which you can sign up to below. A huge thing to consider is how different day-to-day things can be  living in Canada, as opposed to in South Africa. So much of the initial culture-shock is from how different life actually is here. Not knowing what you’re in for, and how to do things in day to day life makes the struggle of adjusting that much harder! Here are some of the things we’ve noticed: If yo ..read more

No matter how hard I try with all my other blog posts, the Expat Series is the one that keeps people coming back over and over! LOL. I get it, it’s what you really want to know about! As a South African in Canada, we have started a new life since moving here and my aim with this blog is to share that with you: the good, the bad, and the ugly. If I can help anyone through the struggle or help a soon-to-be-expat prepare for this life-changing event, I’ll be happy! [bctt tweet=”Moving to Canada is TOUGH! Here’s the Guide How-To:” username=”theglobediary”] It Started With REAL THIS Post: Prob ..read more

Since writing Things I’ve Learned Moving Abroad, I’ve received countless messages asking variants of the same questions so I thought it best to post them all on the blog so you could see the responses too. With so much change on the go in South Africa at the moment, it seems immigration is on the minds of most South Africans and all I’d want to make sure is that you have all the information in front of you to make an informed decision. If I can answer any of your questions, I will sure try! How did we Immigrate? When we first moved to Canada, Craig arrived on a work visa (as he had a job offer ..read more