Ok… so here’s the thing… I ‘talk’ to people regularly about my Sunday’s Stories interviews, many have said yes and I’ve sent off the questions, very much looking forward to reading some amazing stories…. I suppose it’s the Christmas ‘business’, but none have come back in time for this weeks deadline… so to keep my promise of an Interview every Sunday I have decided to answer the questions myself!

(I know it’s late… But i’m sure it’s still Sunday somewhere right?)

GULP… Here goes

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I am origianlly from Melbourne and after spending around 10 years Travelling around Australia (the slow way) I settled back in Melbourne again to study, marry and start our family. After around 5 years the opportunity came for us to Travel overseas for the first time. Not to do anything by halves we decided on our first ever trip abroad to move to Scotland. We now call Edinburgh our “Holiday Home” and Melbourne our “Far Away Home”

Where do you consider your home to be?

I definitely consider Australia my home, it’s where my heart belongs, where my family are, and my closest friends. In saying that, I feel at ease in Edinburgh and have made some lovely friends.

How many addresses have you had?

Honestly I’ve lost count…. I’ve lived all over Australia and had postal addresses in Darwin, Jindabyne, Thredbo, Perth, Carnarvon, Broome and Melbourne. I also spent a good amout of that time at ‘no fixed address’. I’ve lived in many and varied forms of accommodation too, from my tent, to a couple of caravans, various standards of ski chalet, houses verging on derelict, a tipi, a bungalow in Broome with only fly screens for windows, a sailing ship, a four wheel drive, a van, goodness, the list grows long!

Can you tell me about the different jobs/careers you’ve had?

I haven’t exactly worked my way up any corporate ladder…. sideways accross some form of scaffolding may be a better analogy. My first business was in High School, I only remebered the other day, I used to make ‘Fergie Bows’ (ok I’m giving away my age now!!) and sell them to my friends. My first ’employment was as a cleaner, and I’ve done it various times since… it’s a great travelling job… easy to get… easy to give up. Kitchen hand, waitress, and bar person complete my hospitality repertoir.

I also used my skills to make money for travel, creating little temporary cash businesses. I know it sounds bazaar, but I’ve tied ‘hair wraps’ at markets, taken photos, fire danced and even played classical piano! (In one place I was a kitchen hand on week days and classical pianist on a Saturday Night)

I did finally get sick of not having any qualifications, and have in the last few years become a remedial therapist, and then a swimming teacher…

Currently I’m using neither of those and working as a receptionist at my local gym, I’m hoping to mix it up though as they have both swimming lessons, and a Spa…. so I’ll keep you posted!!

Can you describe the process behind deciding to travel/ become an expat?

When I left the first time, I was initially running away from my unhappy self…. I was young and thought travel was the answer… Obviously it wasn’t. It did give me the space to work things out for myself though, and by then, the travel bug had set in forever. On coming to Scotland, our initial trip was booked for 5 weeks to attend a wedding, then it gradually got extended. We ended up forfeigting our tickets home to stay and experience life here.

What do you enjoy most about where you live now?

I love the people and the community we have created around ourselves. I like how different it is, It’s subtle, but there. I love the language, the history, the architecture and the proximity to the rest of Europe. (Think more travel)

Is there anything you miss about ‘back home’? If so what is it?

Warm weather, the beach, and TIMTAMS (biscuits)

How has travelling and becoming and expat changed you as a person?

It’s hard to say, as I started travelling so young. I think I’m flexible, tolerant and fairly culturally aware because of my travels. I’ve also had to be pretty creative at times. This year in Edinburgh has been one of our most challenging, we’ve faced financial hardship in a year we thought would be all about jetsetting around Europe, and eating out at restaurants. This forced me into a state of creativity once more. My blog was born… a charity project for our nursery has been developed, and I’ve started writing some childrens books…

How has travelling and becoming an expat changed your lifestyle?

I have to say, I’ve never had a ‘fixed’ type of lifestyle, because of the temporary nature of my life. I’ve just ‘fit in’. There are certainly a few things that are very different about living in Scotland, compared with Melbourne! As I’m writing this, my friends are getting up on a hot summers day (maybe so hot that they have to turn the aircon on, and not leave the house). That just doesn’t happen here. Someone probably had a BBQ in the backyard…. here not likely… and there were probably Christmas drinks on someones balcony in the sun. It is literally indoors compared with outdoors, flip flops, compared with UGG boots.

Did you travel or move with your family?

I travelled on my own for years, meeting up with various people along the way for some fabulous adventures. At one of my longer stops I met my now Husband, and we went on some fantastic adventures together before settling in Melbourne. Four of us boarded our plane to the UK, Me aka mummy, ‘B’ aka Daddy, three year old ‘D’ and 9 month old ‘R’.

If so how has travelling/ changed your family life?

We are close, (partly because we are crammed into a 1 bedroom flat) but also because we have had to rely on each other, certainly for the first 6 months after all our family and friends went back to Australia. We have since developed a community of support (now we have baby sitters!).

Any last words…..?

I think this journey has given me personally a sense of pride and accomplishment, despite being unplanned, unprepared and accidental!

So thats me

Thank you to everyone who has already done interviews, and also to everyone ‘working on them’

If you’d like to tell your story please contact me via comments here, @emmaoconnor on twitter or email [email protected]