I met Cynthia on instagram- While she runs the very serious business of recruitment and coaching for expats through her company Xpath Global Careers, she also happens to run a hilarious instagram account called @expatmemes which pokes fun at the trials and tribulations of international life…  Many times, I found myself commenting (or at least thinking) YES!  I can relate…  It was so funny, I knew I had to meet the person behind it, and sure enough our interview didn’t disappoint.

Cynthia is a third culture kid.  Her father is from Chile, but he fled to Argentina during a coup.  There, he met her mom, but they were forced to flee yet another coup- to Sweden.  Cynthia grew up in Sweden, but recalls that she often faced prejudices based on her Latin heritage.

“…My mom always said, ‘if you are a foreigner, you are always going to have to work three times harder than someone with a Swedish name to gain the same place; the same respect.”

Aside from Sweden, Cynthia has lived in Tanzania, Spain and Holland. She compares her experiences of living in both developed and developing countries.  She also talks about life after kids and her search to find a place that truly feels like home, once realizing that her passport country was no longer that place.

“…was it the country that changed or was it me?”

Hear about Cynthia’s adventures as well as her advice to other expats who are trying to find friends, find jobs or find themselves.  She says the journey can be challenging, but if you embrace it- you will grow- as will your heart and your possibilities.