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In search of a life less ordinary
insearchofalifelessordinary.blogspot.com
6
Bored with the daily grind of my life in the UK, I decided to head overseas in the summer of 2003 with my Australian wife, our two dogs and the entire contents of our house. Looking to find a different way of living for ourselves, we made our home in Vancouver, Ottawa, then Sydney. This blog follows our adventures in making a home away from home.
#198572 in All , #38 in Australia

The Passage of Time

It was a photo of reasonable quality. It had a sepia tone and the corners had curled. I imagine it might have a musty, papery smell that would make you want to inhale deeply and breathe in its age an...

3 days ago

The Day Social Media Took Over My Life

The day started out much like any other. I woke up, showered, got dressed, walked the dog, wolfed down my breakfast, and jumped into my car for the daily commute to Sydney. My iPhone sat expectantly ...

18 may 12

My Big News

Its been a week for big news here at In Search of a Life Less Ordinary. First of all, I got to the finals of the Best Australian Blogs 2012 competition (by the way, the winner is announced on 10 May)...

09 may 12

Im a Finalist! (So Im Good At What I Do, Right?)

I didnt see this coming. I turned on my Twitter feed a few days ago to some incredible news. In Search of a Life Less Ordinary had been selected as a finalist in the personal/lifestyle category of th...

02 may 12

Finding Love When You Least Expect It

Do you ever really find love when you most expect to? My own journey - and the journey of others like me - says you probably dont. I spent last Saturday evening celebrating the birthday of a good fri...

26 apr 12

One Dir Are Here! (And Heres What I Think)

The word went out early Tuesday evening on Facebook. Theyd been spotted in Manly, a local beach suburb. And drinking at Hugos no less. After screaming hysterically for an entire five minutes and danc...

12 apr 12

Sydney: An Englishmans Parallel Universe

Walking up to the door, it seemed like a regular enough building. Rectangular and squat. Yellowy-orange brickwork and a flat tiled roof. Rusted lettering peeling away from the heavy swing door. An un...

02 apr 12

A Pledge to Read the Printed Word

I made a solemn pledge last year... A pledge to read the printed word. I didnt swear the pledge in front of a row of witnesses, write it in my own warm blood, or chant it before the high altar of gra...

25 mar 12

Seeing Everything And Wanting It All

“We’ve just had 61 centimetres of snow in the last week… such great conditions.” “Another amazing powder day today with more snow on the way Monday!” “The slopes have received 32 feet of snow to date...

14 mar 12

Blogging the Way I Do

Im always looking for ways to improve my blogging in the hope of making In Search of a Life Less Ordinary as good a read as it can be. In writing and blogging circles, they apparently say that conten...

06 mar 12

Youre Not Alone: Help With Connecting Globally

Living abroad can be a lonely affair. Ive been fortunate to choose destinations where a distant family member or long-lost friend happen to live - and are close by when I first arrive....

27 feb 12

Nasal Manoeuvres

NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches Moving abroad sends our senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell into overdrive, and in this month’s NSEW offering, we explore an element of expat l...

20 feb 12

Writing for Love and Money

There was a fairly seismic shift in my world a week ago.   It only dawned on me in its full entirety once the dust had settled, but my personal landscape had changed - and arguably for th...

13 feb 12

The Land of the Three-Week Visit

Theres the Land of the Rising Sun, the Land of the Long White Cloud, the Land of the Giants, even the Land of the Free. But what about the Land of the Three-Week Visit? I have a theory. Anyone w...

03 feb 12

5 Ways to Change My Life in 2012

This week marked the start of the Chinese New Year - the Year of the Dragon no less - while Au stralia Day will take place on Thursday. A Chinese tiger. In other words,&n...

25 jan 12

Expat Jeopardy: New Beginnings for 100

NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches With 2012 still fresh and new, this months NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches examines beginnings from the four corners of the globe. Here at In Search of ...

18 jan 12

An Interview with Jack Scott, Published Expat Writer

I had the pleasure of meeting Jack Scott through In Search of a Life Less Ordinary and the wider expat community in 2011. Jack is a regular visitor to this blog and a faithful advocate of&n...

09 jan 12

The Best of In Search of a Life Less Ordinary 2011

A New Year.  Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net  In the time honoured tradition of looking back at the highlights of the year that was, I thought Id round out the year with a look back ...

03 jan 12

Living in the Lucky Country Doesnt Come Cheap

I recently wrote for the UK Telegraph on the rising cost of expat life in the land down under. This is a contentious issue and one which is stirring up opinion on both sides of the fence - those...

20 dec 11

No Bubble Wrap, Thank You

 NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches Its fast approaching the end of the year which means we have time for just one more Expat Dispatches for 2011. As always, your faithful expat dispatchers from t...

14 dec 11

No Place for Ugly Attitudes In Australia

I read something shortly after returning from  my trip along the New South Wales coast that got me thinking about the first time I visited a dentist in Sydney. I was...

07 dec 11

Fingal Bay Fun

Were currently holidaying along the beautiful eastern coastline of Australia, not three hours north of Sydney in an area called Port Stephens so I wanted to share some photos of the neighbourhood wit...

02 dec 11

Lessons in Language

Our English language is funny - a fat chance and slim chance are the same thing. ~J. Gustav White. The English language is even funnier when youve forgotten how to speak it. I was in a meeting at wor...

25 nov 11

Have Passport, Will Travel

NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches Its the middle of November so you know what that means: its time for our monthly virtual four-way blogfest. We are: North: Linda in The Netherlands (http://www.ad...

17 nov 11

Lifes a Beach

I had a need to pinch myself moment this week. Id finished a training session on one of the local beaches, Bilgola, and sat recovering on the sand. Gazing out at the ocean, ...

10 nov 11

Celebrating Different Styles

Something a bit different today on ISOALLO. The lovely Linda Janssen of Adventures in Expatland, who you will know and enjoy from our monthly NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches posts, joins us as p...

04 nov 11

What Happened to Halloween?

Can someone please tell me what happened to Halloween?You see I dont think I saw one bedsheet-wearing ghost glide down my street, no mischievous trick or treater on the hunt for a bag of sw...

02 nov 11

Where to Wear the Thong

I have an ugly big toe. In fact, its not just ugly, its downright scary. Its bruised, its broken and its very, very ugly. A tyre landed on this ugly big toe a few months back. It was a very big ...

24 oct 11

The More I Learn

NorthSouthEastWest: Expat Dispatches We’re back - four intrepid souls who swap guests posts each month from the far corners of the globe. We are: North: Linda in the Netherlands (http://www.adve...

13 oct 11

Facing my fears

Ever done a deal with the devil? Seeking out a new life isnt really that different from shaking hands with the bad man himself. I mean, sure, youre set for some pretty good times ahead, but at w...

04 oct 11

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