sarah friedlander

Imperfect perfectionist living life to its fullest.



    I moved to Chile at the end of October 2010 after visiting twice. I believe Santiago to be the perfect mix of New York and San Francisco. Santiago posseses similarities to NYC's public transportation system with a similarity to SF's wide roads, beauty moderate climate. Since I was a child I've wanted to be a "city girl" and so I'm thrilled to call Santiago home.

    The life of an expat is never easy and filled with bumps along the way. In this section of my blog you can find my posts that discuss expat life in Chile. I hope these will inspire you to learn about a new culture. Often we don't realize how similar life can be in a new country and that the United States isn't all that unique.

    If you are reading my posts dreaming about expat life in Santiago, please contact me. Making the decision to move abroad permanently or only a few months is a difficult decision and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

    With that being said, enjoy!

  1. Why I Love the Santiago Metro

  2. Being Thankful: Expat Style

    While life as an expat is normally seen as glorious there are some days that hit you harder than others. To the rest of Chile, today is Thursday, not Thanksgiving. The work week continues, stores are open and most grocers would scratch their heads if you asked for cranberry gel or a full turkey. I’m thankful that there are a few restaurants that put on a spectacular Thanksgiving dinner and I will get my fair share of turkey and other delicacies tonight but that’s not what this post is about.

    Every year we are supposed to give thanks – and while I am extremely grateful for my friends, family, fantastic job, my boyfriend, dog, health, etc… I thought about mixing it up a little bit and sharing some of the things that make being an expat about 5000% easier and couldn’t imagine my life without.

    ~*~

    Skype Landline Phone

    For expats Skype is one of those services that you really can’t imagine living without.  Before I moved to Chile I took it a step further and bought a phone that connects to Skype.  The phone plugs into an ethernet line and can also be used as a dual phone – for a landline + Skype.  It’s made my life so much easier because I can make and receive calls without having to remember to connect to Skype via my iPhone or a computer.  I also love the ease of being able to pick up the phone and dial numbers like a US local.  The version I have is an older model but you can buy the RTX Dualphone 3088 via Skype’s website.
     

    Virtual Post Mail

    Virtual Post Mail is probably my favorite expat service.  It’s an online postal mailbox with a sexy Apple-like user interface.  You get a real US address that you can use to receive postal mail and packages.  They also provide a ton of other awesome services like cashing checks.  I love their service because I am able to maintain my identity even though I don’t live in the US.  Did I mention that their customer service team absolutely rocks?  More importantly I’m able to quickly read or discard mail, and continue to support Amazon.com and have things quickly shipped down to Chile.  I know most people would say they don’t need this kind of service because their parents can open their mail but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I’m a grown woman and I would rather pay a fantastic service to manage my mail, packages, etc.. than rely on family/friends.  Plans are cheap and start as low as $5.  For more info visit virtualpostmail.com

     

    Golden Frog VyprVPN

    There are many services offered in the US that aren’t available internationally including Pandora, Google Voice, ABC Player, Hulu, etc…  Yet I’ve never had a problem with this because of VyprVPN.  The service works on my iPhone, iPad or various computers and I’m able to still enjoy the same services I had in the US.  They offer a ton of different locations to connect to (US, UK, France, Asia) and are constantly expanding.  There are definitely cheaper VPN services out there but Golden Frog is the best and I’ve been happy with their service for a few years. Plans start at $14.99/month.  For more info visit goldenfrog.com/vyprvpn

     

    Google Voice

    Over the last few years my parents have become huge text messaging fans.  This still makes me scratch my head but they seem to enjoy the ability to quickly write a text as opposed to picking up the phone.  Google Voice has been my savior for this one – you can get a US number and text messages are free.  I have the Google Voice application installed on my iPhone so I’m able to very quickly write back and forth.  The best part is that my parents don’t even need to know how its setup – I can just give anyone my Google Voice # and they can text me from any cell phone – whether its a smart phone or not.  More info on Google Voice at google.com/voice.  Please note that in order to sign up with Google Voice you will need to first login to your Gmail account to activate the service from a computer in the US.  If you do it from an international location it will say that the service is not yet available.  

    ~*~

    So this year I’d like to give thanks for some technology that has made my expat life easier.  I hope this helps a few people that are either expats already or are looking at living abroad.  I’m always looking for new services so if there is something that you use that makes expat life a lot easier please let me know.  And of course, Happy Thanksgiving!

  3. GAP in Chile

    Look what my awesome boyfriend picked up for me today!  These bags were only reserved for the first 100 purchases at the store today.  I feel very lucky to have one and also amazed that my boyfriend knew that I’d want it!

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