The latest headlines across local media read, "Dengue reaches epidemic level in 10 districts" and "Dengue: Public Health Officers’ leave cancelled". I don't know whether you've noticed the hike in these sorts of headlines over the past year, but there seems to be a lot of fear mongering with regards to the Sri Lankan dengue situation. Undoubtedly, this is an ...

Belated Happy New Year to my regular readers and new visitors of this blog. I hope 2015 has begun well for you and good opportunities are unfolding. FYI, for those who have been wondering, I am still alive and kicking in Sri Lanka . Over the recent festive season I was away from the island visiting family and friends. What was supposed to be a few weeks holiday turned into more time away as I

In my blog post "A Word of Caution on Investing in Sri Lanka - Part 1" we looked at some of the potential risks and dangers of investing in Sri Lankan land and properties. In this second instalment we'll take a closer look at other areas of investing, such as the stock market and local business opportunities.Late last year, the ...

Occasionally you can come across some really jaw-dropping stuff living in a place like Sri Lanka. Some of it is out-of-this-world fantastic and some of it, not so much. This particular blog post is about some of the real experiences and stories that focus on the potential risks and dangers when it comes to investing in Sri Lanka. They can ...

It feels like it's time for another installment of "An expat in Sri Lanka: the Good, Bad and Ugly". You're probably wondering how life has been treating me over the past few months. It's been busy in all aspects of life, but I've been reaping the rewards of all the good stuff I've been sowing for the past few years. ...

June is proving to be a month of dramatic changes in the weather. Was it only a couple of months ago where I was reading and voicing concerns about the drought conditions across the island? I guess I should have fallen back on the local belief of heavy rains (or floods in some cases) expected 45 days after the Sri Lankan New Year. And, the rains have certainly come!  I've been enjoying more

We're into the home stretch now...! Can you believe it's December already? Where has the year gone? It's been one helluva year, that's for sure. I'm still reeling from the past eleven months and, as I mentioned in my last blog post on resilience, I can't help but think what else is in store for us before the year comes ...

We're now officially into the inter-monsoon season on the island, which means mostly clear weather in the mornings followed by thundershowers from the afternoon. It's certainly a very theatrical time of the year from a weather perspective. It's like the skies put on a show with lightning activity and surround sound of thunder and rain. If you're not used to ...

My mailbox has been inundated this year with emails from across the globe, largely from women who are either interested in or are about to embark on a longer stint in Sri Lanka. So, this post is largely going to focus on what it is like to be living as an "expat woman" in Sri Lanka and my thoughts on any perils ...

A common question from foreigners wishing to come and live in Sri Lanka is how to make their expat experience a successful one. It's probably a good idea to define what success means in this context. Success is usually defined as a favorable or desired outcome. In the context of an expat, success could be equated to accomplishing an overall ...

The question of medical or health insurance for expats is one of those critical things that needs some proper attention. To be honest, a decade ago, I didn't think too much on it because of my personal circumstances, which was essentially that I was young, healthy and not 100% sure about my plans for living in Sri Lanka. I had ...

As expats I find we fall somewhere in-between immigrant and traveler. For some expats, it's closer to immigrant because roots have been planted and time has been invested in this foreign land we call home. While for other expats, it's closer to traveler because Sri Lanka is really just a short stint on the life journey of opportunity and experiences, ...

Sri Lanka has long been a favorite destination for all types of spiritual seekers, from those wanting to learn how to be calm and stress-free, avid meditators who enjoy long periods of solitude, seekers of the Truth, those with an aspiration to ordain as a Buddhist monk or nun and the rest that fall somewhere within all of that. Buddhism ...

One of the mainstay Sri Lankan customs is the gentle art of eating with your hand. If you want to eat like a local then this is something you'll want to put into practice. Eating by hand is a custom in many areas of the world, including parts of Asia and much of Africa and the Middle East. I've seen ...

A rather startling, but somewhat happy, thought came to me as I was travelling outside of Sri Lanka recently. And this particular thought was about turning into a local Sri Lankan i.e. going native! I know I know… you're thinking, "What the heck is she talking about?" Well, although it sounds a little strange, I think I'm going native and ...

There's something wonderful about letting someone else take you on an adventure. I particularly love when my local friends invite me on a day trip or a drive without really telling me what's on the agenda. Naturally, there's trust as well as a sense of excitement at not knowing where or what we're doing. Plus, after keeping to schedules most ...

Who doesn't love a little road trip? Well I certainly do. You'd think I'd have run out of places to visit after a decade of tripping across this island. But, this just isn't the case. I still have a TBR list, which funnily enough stands for "To Be Roadtripped" . Budugala has been on my TBR list for something like ...

Life in Sri Lanka isn't always easy, though it's easy to be misled by the Instagram feeds of many posting idyllic shots of travel and expat life on the teardrop island. But in reality, life on the island veers sharply left and right of those glamorous sponsored shots by the hotel pool or the view through a social media filter ...

We think we know what it takes to cool ourselves off in a tropical climate, but the truth for most expats and travelers from parts of the globe that have more than one season a year, is that we have no clue. And why should we? We've grown up learning about how to deal with four seasons and the challenges ...

With all the activity and movement over the festive season coming to an end, I realized I needed to re-connect with nature and replenish some of my energy reserves. Though I enjoyed time with family and friends over the festive season, the surrounding environment was very much an urban jungle and a huge contrast to the everyday life I've become ...