Can social media ground us and make us feel more at peace in this crazy world? 

This conversation with Tania from Swahili Secrets will present an answer to this question that is not common but very refreshing. Tania was born in Kenya and moved around a lot. Her geographical footprint includes 4 other African countries, Thailand, Austria and Germany. Although she calls Germany home, her heart and her projects revolve around Kenya. In this conversation we follow her online journey from her first chat room all the way through to her current day Instagram world. This IG space includes the travel services of Swahili Secrets, the African inspired merchandise of Bantu Sisters, and the community oriented The Kenyan Kind. 
 
 In this conversation we chat about:

• her amazing geographical trajectory
• her first experiences online & her current onlineness
• private and public social media choices
• how her online posting habits have changed
• the online lessons she’s learned over time 

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Lastly, I’d love to hear from you! Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn  & you can even leave a voice message on Speakpipe. 

About 2 years ago Comedian Andy Curtain let us dig into his virtual past on Geopats Online (then called Virtual Expats). In that interview, we dug into how his online habits changed when he moved from Australia to Shanghai, China more than a decade before. And of course, since then he has moved again, down to Hong Kong specifically. It's so easy to drop all creative projects when relocating to a new place but Andy not only kept his creative juices flowing but he pivoted his podcast presence to reflect his new place and his more permanent role in the comedy community there.

Would love to hear from you! Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn  & you can even leave a voice message on Speakpipe.

​This is a replay from our Geopats NaPodPoMo, National Podcast Posting Month, from November 2020. You can listen to all of the episodes from last month here: https://www.stephfuccio.com/napodpomo OR by searching for "Geopats NaPodPoMo" on your podcast app.

Today we are going to hear from a previous guest from Geopats Books (formerly Bookish Expats),  Summer Rylander. She will be reflecting on our episode from July 2019 about the book "Global Soul" by Pico Iyer, https://www.stephfuccio.com/geopatsbooks/4 .
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Would love to hear from you! Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn  & you can even leave a voice message on Speakpipe.

​This is a replay from our Geopats NaPodPoMo, National Podcast Posting Month, from November 2020. You can listen to all of the episodes from last month here: https://www.stephfuccio.com/napodpomo OR by searching for "Geopats NaPodPoMo" on your podcast app.

​Has music ever soothed your soul and made you feel connected again? Yes, me too. And it sounds like the same happened to James when he was an expat for well over a decade. He is back in his home country now so his perspective on his time in the Czech Republic and China are especially poignant. As is the origin story for his intensely researched and impressively sounding podcast, the Centuries of Sound. 

"I actually believe that China is about 15 times more advanced in the usefulness (with social media) than the United States." Keturah Kendrick. 
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Keturah’s online activities changes a lot when she moved to China, but not in ways that you think. Keturah is an intelligent, articulate and delightful person to talk to. I met her at a Podcast Creators meeting in Shanghai, China a few months ago and knew instantly that she needed to be on this podcast for y'all to meet. Her honesty on her online activities pre and post moving to China is really interesting. Keturah is now back in New York City in the U.S. doing her book tour for "No Thanks" and suffering through the adjustments of not using WeChat and the other mobile conveniences in China that she aptly describes in this conversation. 

In this episode I am pleased to welcome Yunus Emre Karasakal, a Turkish expat in Shanghai, China. Yunus is a Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ) Instructor here in Shanghai as well as an Abu Dhabi World Pro Masters Champion (Brown Belt) and an IBJJF Asian Open Champion (Brown and Black Belt). Yes, for the language geeks, he gives BJJ instruction in English and Chinese and yes, we chatted about him coming on the Changing Scripts show soon, don’t worry. Yunus is the first expat I’ve talked to that spends more time on his host country’s social media platforms than the ones he used before moving abroad. The platform he uses the most is the very popular Chinese video app, Douyin, which has an outside of China app spin off called Tiktok. He brings BJJ to a funny level on this current platform. If you don’t have Douyin, don’t worry, you can still see some of his videos on Instagram.   

Many of you have heard of Podcast Brunch Club but may not know much about the Founder and Co-Host of the PBC Podcast, Adela. In this episode, we are going to fill in some of your Adela knowledge gaps, through her expat experience, of course. For those of you that don't know about Podcast Brunch Club yet, it is, as Adela often say, "Like book club, but for podcasts." Once a month us podfans listen to a list of themed podcasts curated by a different PBC chapter and talk about them. We also inevitably share what else we've been listening to off the list as well. ​

In this podcast episode, it was such a delight to chat with Drew Pells of On The Counter Podcast. If you’ve listened to the Geopats Podcast before you know the topics I usually talk about: sports is just not one of them. I do like the cultural side of the World Cup but that’s it. The first time I connected with Drew, I thought my lack of interest in his passion project, his sports podcast, might impact the conversation that we would have. But then I listened to the first few minutes of On The Counter  and I knew that this would not be a problem at all. Drew is a funny, curious and friendly person who has a serious passion for what he does and can talk to anyone about anything.

 In this podcast episode, I chat with Ting, a Third Culture Adult who is currently interviewing fellow TCKs and TCAs about their experiences. I first heard about her project when I went to a TCK event in Shanghai earlier this year. During this event Ting shared her experiences living in China, Singapore, the U.S. and Hong Kong- all before she graduated from college. She had, as many geopats do, a complex mix of conflicting emotions and experiences connected to this multicultural identity. More on her story in a moment.  ​

In this podcast episode we chat with Actor and YouTuber Danny Salay. He is an Actor that got frustrated by the gatekeepers in the Entertainment Industry in the U.S. so he did what many expats do, he changed countries to increase his range of opportunities. And it worked like a charm. Not only did he get a lot of acting work during his 6 years in China but he started his YouTube channel, Travel Man Dan, as well. In this episode we dive into how his online activities changed when he made this move from the U.S. to China and back. No matter where Danny has been geographically or virtually; his positive attitude, hard work ethic and patience to build his dream one step at a time is inspirational. More on our conversation down below, but first let’s talk money. ​