No One Was Harmed in the Making of This Podcast

Keith Petit, podcaster personality at Expatriate Act, was looking for expats living in the Dominican Republic when someone on Reddit told him about Drinking the Whole Bottle (thank you, Reddit fan!)! I’ve never done a podcast interview – or any conversational interview, for that matter – so my cycle of batshit-crazy-when-I-try-new-things shifted into gloriously fast speed.

There is a common confusion people make of me which is that because I’m socially comfortable and willing to “vomitshare” (not a real word but it is a real thing) pretty much anything about myself and my life that I must be an outgoing, brave person. In fact, nope. I’m very much not that. I handle most new situations in the same way: I’m anxious which leads to irritability which means you don’t want to be around me / in my path / anywhere nearby. I know I’m being a cantankerous POS in those moments which pushes me to withdraw and retreat — that helps me calm down which eventually leads to all good things. (Ahhhh the workings of an artist-type person)

And this was an “all good things” type of thing. Keith was extremely easy to talk to, the kind of person where 2 hours of conversation seemed like swinging on a hammock with a tropical drink in hand. And like most things we say yes to, I realized it wasn’t nearly as scary as I set myself up to believe. (aka not scary at all)

If you’re interested in listening — we talked about living abroad, living in the Dominican Republic, raising kids abroad, moving to Mexico, and a lot about education. I had a lot to say so you’re welcome to break it up into pieces when you’re working out or on a commute. Play it like a book on tape.

Here’s what we talk about in the podcast interview:

🥂 Traveling with kids and what inspired our move?

🥂 New Jersey
– Being from
– Teaching in
– and education in NJ
– Teaching abroad vs. U.S.

Lots of education talk til about minute 40:00

🥂 Moving abroad
– where did we end up?
– Had we been abroad before?
– Bilingualism
– Initial impression arriving in Santo Domingo
– Do you feel safe in Mexico? Safety in Mexico vs. the U.S.

🥂 Living in the Dominican Republic  & Abroad
– Positive thoughts of living in DR
– How the culture in Dominican Republic shaped our kids
– Figuring out that personal truths are not universal truths
– How experiences shape your understanding

🥂 Kids abroad
– travel
– where the kids identify being from

🥂 Expat community in DR

Interrupted by the water delivery  

🥂 How long do we plan on staying in Mexico?

🥂 Drinking the Whole Bottle
– Where did the name come from?
– Saying yes to opportunites
– People I’ve met through DTWB
– What restores me as a writer
– Rewards of writing

Was there anything that you didn’t know? Or anything you want to know more about? Let me know what you think. 

P.S. Don’t be afraid to live big and the heartbreaking decision to leave our island home