A Gift Idea For The Expat

Monday 26 November 2012

Or the serial mover.

Or the traveller.

Expats make some pretty big moves, often traversing the globe where they set up life in foreign countries.  No matter the experience, those locations will inevitably become 'home' even if it is temporary.

Joe and I have now lived on 3 different continents and when we made the move from Gabon to Norway, I really wanted to find some way to showcase our 'homes.'  Enter Carrie and her Here & There Etsy shop.
Carrie creates maps of all sorts from world to continent to country to province/state and they are fully customizable.  I chose a style, size & colours and emailed off our locations to Carrie and she came back with this lovely design.
I think it's the perfect way to map our moves and I can't wait to showcase this in our Norwegian home.  I pre-purchased a frame so that I'd be ready when it arrived but the size isn't quite right so I have to find a different mat to make it work.

























I think this would make a fantastic gift for the expat in your life but with all of the options on Here & There, it's possible to make it work for anyone.  {It would be really neat to map the countries you've visited too.}

Carrie also sent me the image in order for me to use it on my About page - the perfect graphic to introduce our life abroad!

23 comments:

  1. I love this!! Such a great idea..

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  2. I'm in love with that! I've been looking for a cute way to make a "map" out of my expat journey, and this is perfect!! Great idea!

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  3. This is such a fantastic idea for an expat gift! Yours turn out great - what a cool momento :)

    xxx
    Jenna

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  4. That's such a great idea! I love the maps and have one in our home that you circle or color in the country but this one obviously looks way more legit

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  5. Adorable! Someday I also want a collection of map cuts of all the places we've lived: http://www.etsy.com/shop/StudioKMO?ref=seller_info

    (Just read your About page...Until last year I thought Caesars were a normal drink served everywhere. D'oh! Mike loves them too and when we try to explain to non-Canadians what they are everyone gets stuck on the clam juice thing. I wonder if you can sub something else for it?)

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    1. Re: Caesars... I always explain it to people to be similar to the American bloody mary drink... but better :) All you need though is tomato juice and clam juice and then the rest of the regular ingredients to make it sans actual clamato juice.

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    2. I generally explain it like that however then field questions about what makes it different and eventually the clam juice comes up and they're disgusted either way ;) I'm embarrassed to admit how much time I've spent trying to make a caesar without clam juice but I think I got pretty close while in Gabon.

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  6. OBFREAKINGSESSED. SO awesome.

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  7. This is a great idea! Maybe one day I'll have one made also :)

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  8. I love this! I'm already planning to order one with a heart connection NY to Germany. :) Thanks for sharing!

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  9. I ADORE this and will order one with the...erm...countless places that will feature on my map. Thanks for posting!

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  10. Very cute. I've seen similar pieces on Pinterest for couples where one heart is where he's from and one is where she's from. A third heart shows where they live currently.

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  11. This is so cute! I am definitely ordering one! -Heidi http://fabricandfrosting.blogspot.no/

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  12. i love maps like that that show the places you've lived

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  13. this is such a fun idea for a present! looking through her shop I really like the swirly way she connects all the locations - so pretty.

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  14. yes! I love this idea! though dallas, london & paris may look a little less cute! but this is awesome!

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  15. What a great gift. I love this map idea.

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  16. This is a great gift idea, or maybe just a present for myself!

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