Africa — Taking Route

This Global Walk Outside | Day 29: South Africa

Our home is set to the back of campus, so we appreciate some quiet and privacy while still living in community. The campus is set up on a hill, and we enjoy a view down the valley below – never in my wildest dreams did I expect to have a view from my home here! This photo was taken during a recent, and very rare, snow. Yes, it does snow in Africa! ;) Last year, we planted our front garden with all indigenous plants, and it’s been such a source of joy for all of us – blooming wild irises, pincushions, birds of paradise. So much beauty!

This Global Walk Outside | Day 26: DR Congo

Culturally, you invite visitors into a covered area to have meetings/visits. For us, it provides much needed privacy so that the house isn’t under the constant siege of people that flow through daily. The house is technically the volunteer house and our organization’s “headquarters”.

I love the fact we have so much property. Due to security, the majority of the time the girls and I really can’t go anywhere, and it’s wonderful to have the back yard for them to run around.0 when we were in a fairly strict quarantine and our son wasn’t allowed to leave the apartment complex. Thankfully we have very understanding neighbors who didn’t mind him scooting in the front entryway or allowed us to go up on the roof to get some fresh air and blow bubbles! Will learned how to ride his bike on the roof of our building.

This Global Walk OutsideTaking Route EditorsOctober 26, 2021This Global Walk Outside, Series, 31 days series, Africa, DR CongoComment

This Global Walk Outside | Day 24: North Africa

So, we have two main outdoor spaces. This is a picture of the outdoor patio that is on the back of our house. You can access it through a door in our kitchen, or through a door from our living area. Initially, this space was just kind of there, and I didn’t know what to do with it except to hang our laundry. But, after a few years (... just being honest about how long it takes us to make home improvements), we added the table and chairs. Now, this is one of our favorite spots because we often eat dinner together outside here in the spring and the fall!!

This Global Walk Outside | Day 23: Benin

One of my favorite things about our outdoor space is our covered patio. Even in the midday heat, we can sit outside in the shade and enjoy the fresh air.

This Global Walk OutsideTaking Route EditorsOctober 23, 2021This Global Walk Outside, Series, 31 days series, Benin, AfricaComment

This Global Walk Outside | Day 18: Peru

We live in a second-floor apartment in a little 5 apartment building in Lima, and unfortunately we do not have our own outdoor space. We would love to have a outdoor yard, or at least a balcony, but houses and larger apartments in Lima can be quite expensive to rent.

We really lamented not having our own outdoor space from March to August 2020 when we were in a fairly strict quarantine and our son wasn’t allowed to leave the apartment complex. Thankfully we have very understanding neighbors who didn’t mind him scooting in the front entryway or allowed us to go up on the roof to get some fresh air and blow bubbles! Will learned how to ride his bike on the roof of our building.

This Global Walk OutsideTaking Route EditorsOctober 18, 2021This Global Walk Outside, Series, 31 days series, Africa, South America, PeruComment

This Global Walk Outside | Day 17: Honduras

Our mission hospital almost touches the Caribbean, and a large part of the hospital housing extends up a hill with marvelous views of the ocean. Every morning we can see rustic fishing boats setting out early looking for their catch of the day. Just in the distance we can make out a chain of small islands called the Cayos Cochinos, and during the summers the sun lowers over the ocean bringing us spectacular sunsets.

This Global Walk Outside | Day 13: Malaysia

A lot of people here live in high-rises, and many buildings are shaped so that you can see the ocean from nearly any apartment. Most apartment buildings have a common outdoor area with a pool or tennis court, and a lot of the apartments here have balconies. I never had a balcony before moving to Malaysia, but now I have four of them! It’s by far my favorite part of my apartment.

This Global Walk OutsideTaking Route EditorsOctober 13, 2021This Global Walk Outside, Series, 31 days series, AfricaComment

This Global Walk Outside | Day 6: Mauritius

This Global Walk OutsideTaking Route EditorsOctober 6, 2021This Global Walk Outside, Series, 31 days series, Africa, MauritiusComment

This Global Walk Outside | Day 5: Kenya

We live in a beautiful place. Our home is nestled in the side of the Rift Valley, which means that we are greeted with beautiful views each time we walk out of our home and around our community. I often stop mid-walk and just stare at the views of the hills and valleys...it just doesn’t get old.

This Global Walk Outside | Day 3: Ethiopia

I live on the same compound as the school where I teach; it is an 8-acre campus in the suburbs of Addis. The campus is surrounded by a stone wall with razor wire on top. On our campus, you can find wild Genet cats, Mongeese (or Mongooses..both are acceptable plurals), and a few tortoises roaming around. The neighborhood outside our walls is packed with people, mosques, churches, and a variety of small shops selling everything from fruit to fabric to used shoes. Both the beauty of our campus and the life outside the gates play a part in the outdoor space I call home.

This Global Walk OutsideTaking Route EditorsOctober 3, 2021This Global Walk Outside, Series, 31 days series, Ethiopia, AfricaComment

This Global Walk Outside | Day 2: Rwanda

This is a little different “walk” than we’ve had on other days of our global walk outside, because we don’t actually live here...yet. We’ve owned this property for four years and have been developing it slowly, and we hope to start building our home in the next few months and finally move onto the property in 2022! I’m excited to share this space with you.

This Global Kitchen | Day 31: Malawi

Hi! My name is Stacy Leigh Hutchens, and I live in beautiful Zomba, Malawi with my husband, five kids ages 3-11, four cats, and a standard poodle. We had the rare privilege of getting to design and build our home here. It isn't extravagant, but it is my dream home, especially the kitchen.

This Global Kitchen | Day 30: Horn of Africa

Hi friends! I’m Sarah, and I live in the Horn of Africa along with my doctor husband and two kids. In my past American life, I worked in communications for a medical non-profit, but at the current moment, I’m about a year and a half into language learning, while helping my husband research and administrate a future NGO project.

This Global KitchenTaking Route EditorsOctober 30, 2019This Global Kitchen, 31 days series, Africa, North AfricaComment

This Global Kitchen | Day 29: Tanzania

Hi, my name is Courtney and I’m an expat living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I’m married and have four children. My kitchen is far from spectacular. It’s the hottest room in the house (we live on the coast of the Indian Ocean), water leaks all over the floor each day from a seemingly unrepairable sink pipe, and yet, somehow, it’s the space we all prefer to spend our time in together.

This Global KitchenTaking Route EditorsOctober 29, 2019This Global Kitchen, 31 days series, Africa, North AfricaComment

This Global Kitchen | Day 27: West North Africa

Hi, my name is Abby. I moved to Western North Africa 5 years ago with my four girls (16, 13, 11, and 8) and my husband. Having four girls is wonderful, but we moved to a city that is a little isolated. There were not a lot of opportunities for girls and we needed some sort of outlet, so we took up cooking.

This Global Kitchen | Day 26: South Africa

It is smaller kitchen and with the hopes of opening up the space I decided to go with an open shelf plan which is a fun way to be able to try and minimize my kitchen stuff and gives me a chance to try and be creative about how to store and display things I am using in my kitchen.

This Global Kitchen | Day 25: Botswana

As of now, I don't have a lot of counter space so the kitchen table also acts as as prep station. I was gifted a Kitchen Aid mixer from a missionary friend who left the field. For so long I had wanted one but as you know, they are heavy! I couldn't contain my excitement when she said she was leaving me hers, along with a lot of other things she knew I would love and use. Community is a beautiful thing!

This Global KitchenTaking Route EditorsOctober 25, 2019This Global Kitchen, 31 days series, Africa, BotswanaComment

This Global Kitchen | Day 24: North Africa

I really actually love my kitchen!! This is our third home since we've lived here and the kitchen here is a VAST improvement over the first places we lived (think no counter space at all... so chopping veggies on the table). I spend lot of time in the kitchen, and have learned so much about cooking from scratch since the day we arrived here.

This Global KitchenTaking Route EditorsOctober 24, 2019This Global Kitchen, 31 days series, AfricaComment

Home: A Tck’s Perspective

You see, I started college absolutely convinced I would be returning overseas after I graduated. I just could not picture what it would look like to live in America long term. It felt so foreign to me – whereas being foreign was what was comfortable. I knew how to handle being obviously "other" and to skate across the mix of cultures growing up overseas involves. But I didn’t know how to handle it when I looked

Family & TCKsCaroline SwartzAugust 23, 2019Africa, TCK, adult TCKComment

7 Ways Life Abroad Prepared Us for Tiny Living

Travel & MovingElizabeth SpencerMarch 8, 2019Africa, expat home, home, learning lessons, This Global Home, tiny living Comment