It feels like it’s been ages since I last wrote in the Expat Diary. Life just kept moving forward, and with things slowly returning to normal, I struggled to come up with new topics to write about. Meanwhile, we settled in San Francisco, made some great friends, worked a lot, and spent our weekends doing what we love most: traveling and exploring California. We’d been unable to do this for quite some time due to the pandemic, lack of funds (since the USA is very pricey), and travel restrictions, so whenever we had the chance, we went for it.

We didn’t have that much of a time to do that eventually, though. Following our September 2022 trip home (where we attended Daniel’s brother’s wedding in Italy and made a quick stop in Berlin), we applied for an adjustment of status. I’ll explain what that entails another time, and hopefully, everything will be sorted by then, allowing me to write freely about the entire process. But in any event, this application comes with a travel ban that could last up to two years, so we have been making the most of exploring our home state for the past months.

You can imagine we were over the moon when Daniel received his Travel Authorization in January, and even more so when I received mine in mid-March. Without delay, we booked a flight to Germany and were lucky enough to land on Easter weekend. This gave us the perfect opportunity to catch up with family and friends during our five-day stay in Berlin. It was such a heartwarming experience to reunite with loved ones, especially our niece, who was born earlier in the year. However, five days was not enough time to spend quality moments with everyone, and the physical and financial exhaustion was overwhelming. Luckily, I had the chance to collaborate with a newly opened hotel in Berlin during our stay. In exchange for creating content and taking photos, we were given a significantly discounted stay, which was a perfect solution.

 

In addition to my role as a marketing consultant, my blog and Instagram channel have taken on a life of their own, attracting interest from more and more brands. I’ve added content creation to my portfolio and I now work regularly with local establishments, such as hotels, restaurants, and bars, to create content for their websites and social media. And it’s going well! There have been times when I couldn’t take on more jobs/work anymore and as a result, had to reduce the time spent on my longest client. That’s not a complaint at all, I am so happy to invest my time and energy into my own business. I also came to the realization that with the limited time of PTO, one gets in the US, for us as expats it makes sense to limit it to one corporate job. And besides, I am thriving to work on my own schedule and time – it’s what I’ve been doing for the past four years, after all.

We had a great time in Berlin during our recent trip, and we’re already looking forward to our next adventure in August. Our friend Lisa’s wedding in Mallorca is the perfect excuse to stop by Berlin, and we wouldn’t want to miss it. As for Christmas, we’re still deciding on whether we’ll be able to make it due to the high costs of international travel. Additionally, Daniel and I have a cherished tradition that we like to maintain, having spent the last few Christmases abroad. We’ll see how things unfold.

In the meantime, we’re thrilled to have visitors. Fabi and Helene have expressed their interest in visiting San Francisco this year, and Daniel’s brother has also mentioned a potential stop in San Francisco during their Baby Moon at the end of the year. We’d be thrilled to show them around our new adopted city and explore the beautiful wine regions north of the city, as well as the charming beach towns along the Pacific coast. Of course, this is all dependent on availability, but we hope to make it happen. We’re not sure if we’ll be staying in San Francisco for the long haul, but that’s a topic for another post. Until then, let’s enjoy each other’s company and make unforgettable memories together.

POST COMMENT

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *