russellvjward Profile
Russell VJ Ward
Join Date:
2011-09-28
About
A British expat living in Sydney by the ocean, lived in Canada by mountains and snow, and searching for a life less ordinary at www.insearchofalifelessordinary.com.
My Social profiles
Blogs Owned
1. In Search of a Life Less Ordinary
In Search of a Life Less Ordinary follows my wife and I as we went searching for a different way of living to the hum drum 9-5 routine of our life in the UK, moving through three continents with two dogs and the entire contents...
Tags: Travel, Expat, Canada, Australia, Expatriate Living
Latest Blog Posts
- Canada, eh?on Mar 30, 2013 in Canada Writing Experiences Writing Campaigns Blogging Expat Writing life less ordinary Travel Living in CanadaCanada. The great white north. The world’s second largest country. A land bordered by the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans. A nation of Anglophones, Francophones, inukshuks and Tim Hortons. Canada. The land of my forefathers. My grandfather...
- That One Defining MomentIf I hadn’t been in that place, on that day, at that time. Looking back on ten years of living abroad, I wonder what the turning point was that led to this life. What was the trigger or event that led to the decision to travel, explore the world,...
- The Great Australian Airfare Rip-offHere in Australia on his annual holiday, my wife's uncle told me about the growing number of deals to be found in the UK when booking a return flight from London to Sydney. "So what's a typical airfare with one of these deals?" I asked him, knowing...
- The Expat, the Writer, the Workeron Feb 28, 2013 in Writing Workshops Blogging Expat Writing Creativity Expat Transitions and Change TravelAre we inspired to do things we wouldn't normally do because we live abroad? Are we driven to increased creativity because of where we now call home? Some people might say that travelling overseas and living abroad changes us. That moving away from...
- Why I Hate It When A Blog Post BombsEvery blogger fears that moment when a blog post goes live and then... nothing. Not a comment, not a tweet, no significant page hits, nada. You can almost sense the tumbleweed blowing down the street. Your blog post has bombed. You've miss...
- More Than A Love Of The Raw Prawn"Enthusiasts bang on about the marvellous Aussie 'lifestyle', which basically comes down to eating shellfish outdoors in your pants. Or going to the beach at 9am on a Wednesday covered in zinc cream", writes Victoria Cohen in her column in The Observ...
- I Crave ChangeI recently tweeted the mantra below as part of a writing workshop I participated in. Change. Good for the mind. Food for the soul. A positive thing. But change can be a fearsome beast in the wrong hands, easier to hide from instead of fa...
- Lost in BabylandIt's been a while. Four weeks in fact. Four weeks since I last posted on this blog. Four weeks since I last sent out a stream of tweets or pinned a little something special. Four weeks since I last sat down and wrote anything at all. Four...
- When I No Longer Feel Like an ExpatI no longer feel like an expat. I'm not sure when I started to feel less like an expat and more like a local. It may have happened gradually, sneaking up on me over time. Or several triggers combining to create a sense of home and belonging. Maybe I...
- Travellers and Expats Write: Taking the Riskon Dec 3, 2012 in Writing Experiences Writing Workshops Expat Writing Guest Posts Expat Community Travel ExpatsWhy do travelers, expats and cultural spelunkers always want to write about their experiences? Showing off? Seen so much they have to share it all? Too much time on their hands? I’ll hold my hands up and admit I'm guiltier than most. I have no qua...
- Our Miracle Boyon Nov 28, 2012 in Expat Life Family Baby Expat Transitions and Change Living in Australia Life Changing MomentsSomething extraordinary happened last week. Something quite wonderful. My son, Elliot Nixon Ward, was born. Weighing 9lbs and 55cm in length from top to toe, Elliot is the most precious, miraculous thing to ever happen to my wife and I. We are smit...
- The Crying Gameon Nov 13, 2012 in Sponsored Post Guest Posts Expatriate Living Expat Dilemmas Home for an Expat Travel Separation GuiltLast week, I posted on the need for honesty when writing about life abroad. This week, Johanna Castro is guest posting on ISOALLO about one of the hardest parts of living overseas - saying goodbye. Johanna is a freelance writer living in Western Au...
- The Flip Side of the Coinon Nov 8, 2012 in Expat Life Expat Confessions Expat Community Home for an Expat Expat Transitions and ChangeThis week, I received emails from several readers of this blog. The authors shared similar views, which went something like this: they admired my life overseas and felt it was a near-perfect and carefree idyll they were either considering a similar...
- Panic at the Baby Showeron Oct 31, 2012 in Cultural Attitudes Fatherhood Family Baby Expat Transitions and Change Living in Australia LifestyleI knew I'd outstayed my welcome but I couldn't leave, even if I'd wanted to. It was a perfect Spring day. After weeks of persistent rain and wind, the sun shone and the sky was a brilliant cloudless blue. In the early morning, I'd put up gazebos, hu...
- Five Marvels of Modern Technologyon Oct 23, 2012 in Moving Abroad Expat Life Competitions Living in Australia Expat Technologies TravelHave you ever felt as if you've been overseas too long and you've lost touch with what's happening in the old country? Does it take a major event in the motherland to make you realise just how far you've fallen behind with everyone and everything -...
- Raising My Bilingual Babyon Oct 10, 2012 in Language Barriers Expat Life Family Expat Dilemmas Bilingual Baby Living in Australia"You should raise your child bilingually", my heavily pregnant French friend suggested to me a few week's ago as she adjusted position on a remarkably soft sofa. She described her own plans to bring up a bilingual baby. "I want my child to grow up k...
- Love My NeighbourhoodIf you read this blog often enough, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Sydney's Northern Beaches. This short stretch of golden sand beaches and salt water lagoons stole my heart six years ago and I’ve remained here ever since. Occasional t...
- The Greatest Expat Of Allon Sep 23, 2012 in Expat Life Family Expat Transitions and Change Living in Canada Life Changing MomentsWe're often influenced by people from different walks of life. By men and women we respect, admire and look up to. This is the story of one such person. He was born to Raymond and Mary Windsor on the 29th November 1918 into a world recovering from...
- What To Expect When You're Not The One ExpectingMy wife is now 31 week’s pregnant. We’re getting there. In reality, she’s the one getting there and I’m the one still playing catch-up. I watch from the sidelines feeling mainly admiration and a fair bit of apprehension at that fast-approach...
- Drowning in a Sea of Blogson Sep 3, 2012 in Writing Experiences Writing Blogging Social Media Expat Writing Expat Dilemmas Blog TipsI'm overloaded with favourite sites to keep up with, sinking fast in a wealth of fantastic reading material I can never realistically hope to get through. I'm drowning in a sea of blogs. From expat blogs to travelogues, personal journeys to wri...
