​“What have you been doing all day?” my darling husband says as he walks through the door, after a long day at work. He doesn’t mean it as an accusation, but I take it as one.
 
Yesterday, our freight arrived. I have two little children running round and round tall looming towers of boxes, stacked so high they are starting to sway in the wind. There are 381 of them. It’s all very well that the removal company offer a “surface unpacking service” (i.e. they will put things on surfaces, but not in cupboards), but there are no surfaces. Every inch is covered with piles of random stuff. Despite my finely honed organisational skills, there’s a toothbrush and a pile of toiletries by the kitchen sink, a bike in my lounge and a dolls’ house in my bedroom.

The world today is a funny place, unrecognisable from the carefree days of yesterday - or even yesterday.

A couple of evenings ago, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, declared a state of emergency. Effectively, it's house arrest unless you need food or medicine. 

It sounds drastic, but we've only fallen in line with other countries - the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has proven itself to be an invisible opponent outwitting governments across the globe. The number of cases increases by 20% overnight, leaving us looking suspiciously at those around us. Or those that used to be around us now we're in isolation.

Amanda, an American, gave birth to her two children in Dubai, and then moved to the UK. Intrigued with the way they see the world, she hopes their expat experience will give them a broad acceptance of the world, while still understanding their place in it. Here's her story, which is an extra from the book Do they eat soup in England?, available from Amazon:

When we moved to Dubai, I gave up my career to support my husband's promotional opportunity. I arrived in a new country and culture without a plan for myself, but having a family seemed to be the natural step, especially as Dubai is family-friendly. Leaving my career was hard to do at the time, but it's been a wonderful experience and allows us great flexibility as a family.

I was lucky to have both my children in a country with excellent quality private healthcare. While many women choose to return to their home country for birth, that wasn't an option for me due to a 17-hour flight and high-risk pregnancies.

Different parts of the World have visitor peaks at different times of year. You make your decision on a summer or winter vacation based on whether it’s in the northern or southern hemisphere. If you want the soft powdery snow you probably won’t head to the European slopes in July. And if you want to enjoy a glass of something crisp, white and fruity in the warm sunshine of a rose garden, you’ll probably check the weather forecast first. But while important, weather doesn’t always dominate our decision making process when it comes to travel destinations.

So how else can we make a decision? There are endless adventures to embark upon so how can we choose where to go next? Here are some alternative tips for taking a trip:

According to a new global study, the main reason that expat families move home early is the lack of emotional support.
How quickly an expats settle in a new country is as much about what they have left behind, as it is about getting to grips with their new surroundings. It takes nearly 25% expats more than a year to feel settled, but once they do they spend between five and 10 years abroad. 

Even with the squeeze on expat packages, employees are often well supported, surrounded by colleagues and a recognisable business structure. However, economic migration isn’t often possible without the help of spouses and families.

Mean, brooding, dark and cold. Not a description of my husband, but our first impression of Scotland in April.
 
“We’ll avoid the midges,” the husband said. Of course we will, because it’s too cold for anything to survive.
 
“We’ll see beautiful beaches,” he said. True, he had shown me photographs of stunning stretches of empty white sand. Empty because it’s too cold to get out of the car, let alone take a leisurely stroll. It’s nature’s way of mocking us. You can look, but you can’t touch.

When I asked my husband for three adjectives to describe Argentina he came up with: “wine sodden, welcoming and weirdly Welsh”.

Might seem like a strange collection of words, but it’s not far off the truth.

Let’s start with the Cambrian influence: A small community, descendants of Welsh settlers, who moved to Patagonia in 1865. They even still speak Welsh, or a nineteenth century version. You can visit and inspect how life has changed over the years, and compare with your knowledge of Cymru culture.