They are more interesting than you’d think. — Two years ago I moved from America to Kosovo. One of my top reasons was so that I could have chickens. I have wanted chickens my entire life. Raising chickens was against the zoning laws of the small town we lived in America, but we had a house in Kosovo…

(Hint: It is not to save us from sexually out-of-control men.) — Years ago I gave up wearing hijab for about three months. I stopped covering my hair. I gave up wearing the scarf. At first, it was glorious. My hair was… so free. And fun. I tried different hairstyles I would not normally do because they would not work under a…

And I almost didn’t publish it. — One day I wrote an article that was just for fun. You see, I raise chickens and I realized that a lot of people don't know much about them. I thought it would be fun to write about the weird things people probably don’t know about this common animal. …

And it wasn’t the subject matter — Every day I start and end my day by reading on Medium. I take the idea seriously that the best way to become a better writer is to read other writers. Lately, in pursuit of that goal, I have paid attention to why I will stop reading an article. The…

The European trade in Egyptian mummies was a huge business for hundreds of years. — The ideas that people come up with are weird. Downright bizarre. One of those bizarre ideas was using ground-up human remains from Ancient Egypt both as a medicine and a paint pigment. The thing is, no one just thought “Let's grind up ancient dead people and use them.” It was…

When Nature failed me, a little chick gave me the chance to experience motherhood. — Two years ago when I moved to Kosovo, the number one thing I wanted to do was raise chickens. I love them and have wanted them since I was a child. So I knew that I would get some after moving to my husband’s homeland. So one day in April…

A photo essay — For a long time, I have wanted to go to Serbia. As an American, it almost feels like a forbidden land. I have read about Americans and Albanians sometimes having issues. Then there is the country’s strong ties to Russia. So, I was a little nervous. …

Clear writing means more engagement — I understand how hard it is to not know a language. I moved from America to Kosovo and still don’t the language here yet. It isn’t easy. Writing is hard even when you grow up speaking the language. But clear language will help your articles perform better. …

As long-term travelers, we all have a responsibility to do and be better. — I recently had someone comment to me that they cannot see the possible negative side of expats. It is an issue that has been recently discussed online. (Some articles: here and here and here and here as well as the comments on this one.) The commenter’s point was that all…