Aussie Bloggers

The following is an interview with Guera from A Roaming Aussie Mum, who talks about what it is like to be an Australian parent and expatriate blogger overseas.

Andrew: Hi Guera, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for Aussie Bloggers. What is it like being an expatriate Aussie in Mexico?

Guera: A lot of days it is a huge challenge. It can be exhilarating, interesting, frustrating and really hard work. I have loved learning a new language (Spanish) and many everyday things are so fascinating, like all the fiestas and rituals they have and the amazing food we have had. Some days though, you just want to do something simple, like go to the doctor, pay the phone bill or do the shopping, without the hassle of working out how to manage it in Spanish and with a foreign country’s systems. And of course, we have a lot of days where our family life is not so different from home, hanging out with the kids, work, school etc.

There are quite a few expats in the city we live in but no other Aussies (as far as we know) so sometimes we feel quite removed from Australia. That’s one of the reasons blogging and the Aussie Bloggers Forum has been great - to connect with other Aussies. And sometimes we get a bit homesick, missing family and the familiarities of home, but we go back to visit often and have regular visitors from home, so its not too bad.

Andrew: You blog on a variety of topics, and seem to mention family life overseas a lot - Tips for Flying with Children looked especially helpful, and Flying with Children - A Cautionary Tale was very touching. Can you see yourself continuing to blog about family life if/when you return to Australia for good?

Guera: When I first started my blog I really only thought of blogging about life as an expat in Mexico, but I soon discovered how much I enjoyed blogging and how many different things people were blogging about, so I started talking about more things in my everyday life, that aren’t particular to living in Mexico.

I definitely won’t be stopping my blog when we go home, I think there’s always plenty of blog fodder in everyone’s daily lives. My blog will probably just move in a slightly different direction. I have found particularly with personal blogs I follow that you really get involved in people’s lives and are interested in what they are doing. They definitely become friends so I would hope that people who’ve followed our adventures would be interested in what our life is like when we come home and re-adjust to life in Australia.

Andrew: Here’s the hard question: are there similarities between various expatriate Australian blogs? Is there enough material in common such that they could be considered a niche in and of themselves?

Guera: There’s that word again! “Niche”!

I read quite a lot of expat blogs and I think there are similarities between them. A lot of them are not really “blogger’s blogs” though - many people are blogging primarily to keep in touch with their families back home, so its hard to define them with normal blogging terms.

There’s definitely a strong expat blogging community though, with a few sites like Expat Blogs and Expat Women which have directories of expat blogs so you can find other people experiencing the same things as you or do a bit of armchair travel to places all over the world. I guess you could probably say that expat blogging is a niche. Expats no matter where they are from or where they are living, have similar experiences about adjusting to life in a foreign country.

Andrew: How have you found the Aussie Bloggers Forum so far?

Guera: I can’t believe how friendly and helpful the vibe is there! It’s been a great place to find new blogs to read, meet new people and get loads of tips about blogging. Aussie Bloggers seem to be very community minded so there’s a lot of people giving their time and expertise to help other bloggers and there’s a lot of honest and thought-provoking discussions going on, as well as quite a bit of fun!

Andrew: Finally, where do you see your blogging going from here? Do you have any plans for an expanded number of blogs or blog projects?

Guera: I’ve got lots of ideas for continuing with my blogging on my current blog and for a few new blogs. I’d love to think that I could make a bit of money from blogging, but it’s not the easiest thing to do and I wouldn’t want to do so to the detriment of fun I have in blogging and the enjoyment that readers of my blog (hopefully!) get out of reading it.

I love playing around with the design of blogs and with lots of other online tools, so at the moment I’m having fun. I’ve been doing a bit of work in the background on a couple of new blogs, but I’m also trying to focus on getting my primary blog going well so the others are a longer term project. I’ll let you know when they are ready to launch.

I’m also looking forward to doing a few guest posts for this blog, which are going to focus on expat Aussie Bloggers - maybe we’ll find out if we do have similar blogging experiences and are our own niche!

Thanks for interviewing me Andrew and for the great job the founders and everyone involved in the Aussie Bloggers Forum and Blog are doing. Well done for creating such a useful resource!