The Almost Local Letter
A bi-weekly newsletter for people building a life abroad, with honest reflections, guest insights, and stories about belonging, identity, culture shock, and finding home elsewhere.
The farm village near Panama City where ‘true wealth’ is food
How Thomas Patton turned 2,500 hectares of industrial land into a regenerative farm‑village and what that means for people moving abroad.
Why Belize felt like an opportunity, and what the honeymoon hides
Simo D. traded 20 years of Canadian construction for land, LLMs and a quieter life in Belize, with trade‑offs he didn’t expect.
Why Greg stayed: San Miguel's comforts, costs and trade‑offs
An foreigner broker on 17 years in San Miguel de Allende, the real cost of living, and the one thing most newcomers miss.
How a seven‑week move, snakes and metros rewired one parent's life
Anthi Patrikios on moving from Manila to Nairobi to Tashkent, parenting abroad, burnout and why she became a parent coach
Why Scott moved his family to Portugal, and what he learned there
From remote Brazil and paddle courts to visas.pt: practical truths about safety, cost, language and the paperwork that actually matters.
How a bar, walking and small-town politeness made Ireland feel like home
Willa Goodfellow on writing in Costa Rica, serving as a priest in Ireland, and the concrete moves that helped her belong abroad.
When home feels unfamiliar: a coach’s return to Germany
Annegret Bertsch left teaching for expat coaching after China, now she's back, and repatriation is the work she understands best.
How the invisible hand of culture changed one life abroad
Lisa La Valle on losing assumptions, practical hacks (24‑hour clocks, social anchors), and why she wrote 101 Culture Hacks
Why he keeps three home bases, and why Latvia stayed
Bobby Casey on building location‑independent companies, the 183‑day tax myth, and what life actually looks like in Riga
She moved to the Balkans, stayed through grief, and wrote a how-to for starting over
Chanoa Inez on learning Serbian with SpongeBob, living seasonally between Belgrade and Montenegro, and why she wrote Dream On
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