​CONTINUOUS LEARNING
One of the joys of being part of the global mobility world is the opportunity for continuous learning. This month I attended the virtual Families in Global Transition's (#FIGT) forum. Years ago FIGT hosted in-person conferences somewhere in the world. I was booked to travel to Bangkok early 2020 for my first conference but we all know what happened then. This was FIGT's third virtual conference and it looks like online will be the way of the future - pandemic or no pandemic. 
These events require a logistics degree to figure out when to schedule speakers as so many time zones are involved. For me it was a Saturday night. Others were having breakfast and the hardy ones get up in the middle of the night. I always leave refreshed and invigorated and enjoy being part of this global community.

​CHICAGO IN-PERSON EVENTS
Just a reminder about my meet-the-author, co-hosted Chicago Distance Families events in May and June.
The lovely Chicago based Linda Mueller is an Expat Coach and Founder of International Women in Chicago. Linda does an amazing job gathering expats, arranging events and creating a community of like-minded women experiencing similar transitions. In 2022 Linda kindly hosted an author event and I met with some of her community.
We're doing it again - this time a 10am session on Wednesday 8 May and a 6.30pm session on Tuesday 4 June. Venues will be confirmed by Linda but they are likely to be in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. If you know any expats or migrants in Chicago please send them this link. I would love to meet them. Please visit the IWIC Facebook page for full details.

Have you followed these newsletters but never actually read one of the Distance Families Book Series? I invite you to do so. They really are a great resource whether you’re the left behind kin, or the away generation.

The other week I did a video interview for an upcoming, super useful resource. Think... Yellow Pages for global mobility - who and where to go to for advice, information and expertise. I will let you know when it’s live.
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I was asked to explain what my books are about and why they would be useful. My response was that all expats and migrants have intergenerational family somewhere that are affected in a small or large way by their move. Understanding, empathizing and accepting ‘how it is’ for the other generations of your Distance Family are crucial to thriving relationships.

It’s hard to believe it is three and a months since we returned from our mega Northern Hemisphere travels. So much has happened - getting our house on the market, enjoying our UK granddaughter’s visit and right now, we’re about to get on a plane again to properly visit our U.S. family.

Our new Chicago grandson has grown from the three week old we cradled in January while watching snow storms outside. We've had our first Facetime call and we could tell he was entranced.
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We’ll also visit Atlanta and be there when our grandsons (7 and 9 yrs) break up from school for the summer. We haven’t been there since 2018. ​​There’s so much of our daughter and grandsons' Atlanta to catch up with and we’re really excited about that.

Our grandsons have learned about Australian cricket from watching Bluey. The cry from Atlanta is, "Can Grandad teach us cricket?" The plastic set is bought and the book is packed. 

During March I had the pleasure of being interviewed by author and global mobility expert, Doreen Cumberford from Nomadic Diaries. This podcast series is of particular interest to soon-to-be-retired, or retired expats. My episode will go ‘live’ in a few weeks and I will highlight it in the next newsletter.

​I have read a couple of books lately that I particularly enjoyed mainly because they were both SO different.
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I bought Airplane Mode by Shahnaz Habib at Chicago Airport when my flight was weather delayed. It seemed an appropriate read on the occasion. It's unique.
​The crux of the narrative is “The color of one’s skin and passport have long dictated the conditions of travel”. It is that, and much more. You’ll never look at immigration queues in quite the same way.
A reviewer described this as a book of short stories. I loved that aspect. It was so easy to pick up and put down, without getting lost. The stories are insightful, eclectic and backed up by personal experience and savvy research. The bibliography makes for fascinating reading. I recommend this book to anyone who loves travel.

​Finally, just a reminder about the FIGT online Forum. Early bird registration closes 6 April. The virtual conference will take place over two 4-hour live sessions on 20 and 21 April 2024 during different time zones. This will be accompanied by a platform, on Kumospace, where participants can meet, mingle and chat in an informal manner. I really enjoyed this facility last time.  
Conference registration gives you access to all content for six months, even if you are unable to attend on the weekend.

Do Parents Matter? by R LeVine & S LeVine has been on my radar for a while.
Intergenerational, intercultural families are common in distance families. Even when all parties speak English different parenting styles can be present.
So I couldn’t resist the subtitle, Why Japanese Babies Sleep Soundly, Mexican Siblings Don’t Fight, and American Families Should Just Relax.
This book gave me a deeper understanding of why cultures and nationalities parent in different ways. What are the pros, and what are the cons? The book asks if the American approach, though I would say Western approach, is the best? The authors state that Western countries tend to see child-rearing as massively burdensome. Wouldn’t it be great if that wasn’t the case? Insightful, fascinating reading.


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​During the COVID years I wrote the first two books of the Distance Families Book Series. Some would say that’s a pretty mad timeline. It didn’t seem so at the time. When you can’t go anywhere one can be quite productive.
Since then, the third and last book, Being a Distance Grandchild has been a work in progress on my desk. Much research has been done, many fascinating interviews have occurred and 60,000+ words are in a Word Document. But as any author will tell you – that’s just the beginning.
I had great intentions of publishing in 2024 but I am giving myself some grace and accepting it’s not going to happen this year… and that’s fine. When you throw into the mix a lot of travel, unexpectedly selling our house, moving into a new apartment and a couple of upcoming, never anticipated hip replacement operations some how, the original timeline was a tad ambitious. However, every time I open the file and reread the draft, I get excited about this untold story.

March was a ‘red letter’ month as our 24 year old U.K. granddaughter took a three week break from her job and visited New Zealand... for the first time. Regular readers will remember our grandson, her brother, come last year.
We have made many visits to the U.K. and it has been wonderful to share our New Zealand and help her connect with her kiwi-ness. We’ve visited touristy sites and introduced her to a bunch of relatives she has never met before. She’s been a trooper and navigated it all so well. What’s extra special about having adult grandkids visit is that we do adult things together (no more theme parks) and later savour a nice bottle of red at the end of the day.

May sees us back to the U.S. for a few weeks visiting our Atlanta daughter and two grandsons, and Chicago son, daughter-in-law and grandson.  I have to confess our new addition in Chicago is the most gorgeous baby with the loveliest smile - but then I am probably a little bias. He's grown so much from the three week old we cradled last January.
Our daughter has moved from a condo to a house with a yard. We're looking forward to seeing all she has achieved and catching up with our grandsons who we haven't seen since Christmas 2022.
In between all that our house is still on the market. Lots of moving parts!

Take care until next time
Helen Ellis

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