It's Me, Sara Louise

{my blate, Alex}

You know, when I first started blogging, I had absolutely no clue what I was getting myself into. Before I hit publish on that first post back in 2009, I had never even read a blog. I didn’t know that there were thousands of other people out there hitting publish just like me, and loads of them expats as well. And I sure as heck didn’t know that one day I’d develop relationships with some of these other publish button pushers, and even meet a few in real life.

Blates are bizarre and wonderful things, even according to us bloggers (for those not in the know, a blate, is a blogger date). I mean, we agree to actually meet someone that we met online. It’s our own special version of online dating. But the thing is, even though we don’t ‘know’ each other, we know each other. We can sit down together for the first time and immediately flow into conversation without any awkwardness because we’ve been all up in each other’s blog kool-aid for months, even years.

Take my first blate with my friend, Sarah, for instance, there was no timid blogger lunch for us… no, no, no, we went straight for a sleepover in Avignon. And that blate turned into a friendship that has brought Sarah and her husband to Le Petit Village and on many other adventures with me; to Marseille, Cassis, and Lyon. Sarah even rescued The London’s, Gregory and I when we got stranded in London. That’s real friendship stuff right there.

So imagine my delight when I found out that Sarah would be visiting Texas when I arrived. Only a few days after stepping off the plane in San Antonio, my blog buddy popped down from Austin and was sitting on my couch with me drinking wine and chatting. It was lovely, and it was beyond comforting to have her here with me. She was a connection to Le Petit Village and my old life, and she was here with me in Texas. It did wonders for the repatriation jitters.

{Texas blate food}

A week later, I was off on another blate, a first blate with Alex. Alex and I had been planning a Tex-Mex get together for a couple of months and we only had a small window of time to go on it. While I have just returned to America from my expat adventure, Alex’s is only beginning… she’s off to Australia to live with her Australian boyfriend.

It was surreal sitting across from Alex. It felt a bit like I was peering into a mirror at my younger self… a young women in her mid-twenties, full of hope, enthusiasm and anticipation, and embarking on an adventure to a foreign land and to love. It seemed all so familiar.

As we chowed down on fajitas washed them down with a Dos Equis (ahhh… Texas, you taste so good), I grew more and more excited as I listened to Alex tell me about her plans and what she thinks life in Melbourne might have in store for her. And truth be told, I grew a tad envious too… oh to be starting out on that journey again! But, I’ve got my own journey to continue on, the repatriation journey. It’s not nearly as dazzling, I can assure you, but it’s mine.

As a dedicated publish button pusher, Alex will be blogging about her fantastic new adventure Down Under on her blog Mutual Weirdness. You should check it out and become blogging buddies… you never know when you might find yourself in Australia looking for a blate.