Writer, EFL teacher, trainer, and translator, I was born in Tanzania, have lived in a dozen countries over three continents, and describe myself as an ‘expatriate sin patria’. Wherever I go I make it my business to learn the language, get to know the local people and customs, and discover the country’s remotest corners. I became interested in writing in mid-2006, did a short Open University creative writing course and a Writers’ Bureau course, and began getting articles published in 2007.

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Well, the plan was to leave Uruguay, go to Ireland for a month, then spend the second half of August in Belgium looking for a place to live before getting on with Real Life from 1 September. So what on earth am I doing in Iona?

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Could someone explain to me, please, why Team GB is not called Team UK? Thanks.

We’re not experienced climbers, in our family. Okay, we’ve all been up Kilimanjaro, but that’s more a question of opportunity and determination, rather than skill. I didn’t know the difference between gaiters and garters until this week. We never have quite the right gear, but we’re all reasonably fit and enthusiastic, and the rare times we get together, we like to get out for a good hike.

And on this holiday, there was only one day when the five of us would be together without elderly relatives.

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Yesterday, a historic meeting took place in Edinburgh between

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Thank you all for your kind comments - this is the link to see the winning photos: http://foto.expatclic.com/

Greetings from the wettest holiday in history. Remember the expat photo competition?

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You have often heard my comments on identity (or lack of it). The main problem is on of never fitting in, wherever you are. And here in Ireland, where I lived for the first two years of my marriage, and have come on holiday regularly for the next twenty-eight, what makes me stick out like an octopus in the garage

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