Transplants by Laura Peruchi - Conversations With Women Thriving Abroad

Laura Peruchi
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Personal Journals
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A podcast featuring interviews with women thriving in new roots abroad. Each episode, we hear perspectives from women taking leaps of faith, chasing dreams, and building a life on their own terms. Living abroad is often the backdrop, but these conversations go deeper: into identity, reinvention, relationships, and the courage it takes to start over. These are real stories from real and incredible women.

  1. 2d ago

    #59 Starting Over Isn’t a One-Time Thing | Cepee Tabibian | U.S. → Spain

    What is life if not an endless cycle of starting over? I guess we all go through the process of starting over many times, at different stages of life and in different areas of our lives. Cepee Tabibian’s journey living abroad is a clear example of that. Cepee grew up in Texas, in the U.S., with a Colombian mother and an Iranian father, and from a young age she felt drawn to life beyond the country. A first trip to the Netherlands as a teenager opened her mind to a new world—and to the possibility of exploring life abroad. She eventually went to Spain to study Spanish, fell in love with the country, and became determined to make it her home. But not everything worked out the way she had planned. Between visas, jobs, and losing both of her parents, she returned to the U.S. and settled into a conventional life—until a trip back to Madrid reignited that desire and made her realize the dream had never really gone away. At 35, Cepee quit her job and moved back to Spain. Today, she is the founder of She Hit Refresh, a community helping women over 30 create a life abroad. In this episode, we talk about identity, grief, home, confidence, starting over later in life, taking what looks like a step backward, the messy reality of entrepreneurship, and what Cepee has learned from helping thousands of women pursue unconventional lives abroad. Connect with Cepee: Website: shehitrefresh.com Instagram: @shehitrefresh Move Abroad Guide: shehitrefresh.com/moveabroadguide Youtube Channel Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #59 Starting Over Isn’t a One-Time Thing | Cepee Tabibian | U.S. → Spain

  2. Oct 27

    #58 Learning to Trust Yourself Without Knowing What’s Next | Sage Michelle | Canada → Italy

    Sage Michelle has spent much of her adult life choosing freedom: first through traveling, then by moving abroad and exploring the joys of a nomadic life. She learned to built her life around keeping her options open. Originally from Canada, she first moved abroad through a Working Holiday Visa for Canadians. Then, she started to work for a startup in a remote role. But after six years exploring the freedom from that lifestyle, she quit her job without having the next chapter fully figured out - while she settles in Italy. In this episode, we talk about walking the Camino de Santiago, moving abroad during the pandemic, learning to trust yourself through uncertainty, changing careers in your thirties, motherhood, and the tension between freedom and commitment. Sage also shares why she’s now less interested in keeping every door open — and more interested in building depth, choosing a path, and creating a life she wants to stay in. Connect with Sage: Substack: https://sagemichelle.substack.com/ Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #58 Learning to Trust Yourself Without Knowing What’s Next | Sage Michelle | Canada → Italy

  3. Oct 20

    #57 You Don’t Have to Hate Your Life to Change It | Vivian Najib | U.S. → Portugal

    Vivian Najib has been living abroad for the past ten years, but her story isn’t really about finding the “perfect” country or escaping a place that wasn't make her happy anymore. Her first attempt at moving abroad ended after just 90 days in Italy - although she thought she would start a whole new chapter there, things ended up not working as she expected. Then, nine years after that first try, she left a life she genuinely loved in New York without knowing exactly where she would end up. Everything started in through Southeast Asia - and little by little, life lead her to housesitting around Europe, a career change from law to professional home organizing, and a new life in Portugal. In this episode, we talk about why you might choose to leave a good life, how to make peace with the paths you don’t take, and what happens when you stop believing you’re supposed to live only one version of your life. Vivian also shares how moving abroad changed her relationship with uncertainty, possessions, career, and the idea of home — and why some questions simply can’t be answered until you go. Connect with Vivian: Vivian's Website websiteMove abroad services page“We Are Not Taking The Whole House With Us” free email seriesSubstack - The expat diaries Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #57 You Don’t Have to Hate Your Life to Change It | Vivian Najib | U.S. → Portugal

  4. Oct 13

    #56 When Fitting In isn't the Answer | Elena Mezzadri | Italy → France

    When Elena Mezzadri moved from Italy to Paris at 23, the initial plan was staying there for six-month, the length of her internship in a company from the music industry. That internship became a job offer she couldn't say no and, eight years later, Elena is still there. But when the temporary stay became officially a new chapter, she did what she thought it would be the best way to adapt to that new life: she spent years trying to fit in, trying to be accepted, and believing that if she integrated enough, she would finally feel like she belonged. Eventually, she realized that belonging wasn’t about becoming more French — or simply improving her French and getting rid of her accent. It was about building a life that actually fit her. In this conversation, Elena shared more on how she built this life and shifted from “How do I fit into this place?” to “What kind of life and people do I actually want?”. We also talked about how French, English, and Italian bring out different sides of Elena, and how living abroad shaped her personality and confidence. Finally, we also discussed the emotional cost of living abroad, accepting that you can’t be everywhere at once, and learning to live with that bittersweet tradeoff. Connect with Elena: Instagram @fuoricasa.podcast @elena.mezzadriPodcast: Fuori Casa Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #56 When Fitting In isn't the Answer | Elena Mezzadri | Italy → France

  5. Oct 6

    #55 The Art of Starting Over: Building a Life, Community and Home Abroad | Preeti Varma | Japan → U.S.

    Preeti Varma was born in Tokyo to Indian parents — a place where she lived until she was 18, when she moved to New York City to go to college. Then, at some point, she felt the need to move to India to reconnect with her culture. There, she met her husband, and they both decided they wanted to live a very international life. And, so far, I guess we can say they are achieving that. They have lived in Singapore, Sydney, London, Ethiopia — and are now in San Francisco, in the United States. Add to that the fact that they became parents along the way, and each of their two children was born in a different country. So, from that summary, you can imagine it was not easy to put together a script without feeling FOMO, but I think I managed it well. We did talk for a while about her life growing up in Tokyo, but rather than exploring each of their moves, we discussed topics that will probably resonate with anyone living abroad — from the meaning of belonging to tips on how to build community in another country, and from the meaning of home to what happens to our identity when we suddenly lose the ability to work. We also talked about what changes when you start moving around the world with kids, why she believes vulnerability can be such a powerful tool for creating connections, and the skills she has developed after a lifetime of adapting to new cultures and environments. Connect with Pretti LinkedIn: Preeti VarmaSubstack: Culture Broth Substack: An Object Story Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #55 The Art of Starting Over: Building a Life, Community and Home Abroad | Preeti Varma | Japan → U.S.

  6. Sep 29

    #54 Trusting Your Gut and Designing a Life That Fits | Patricia Ordoñez | Venezuela → Spain

    When Patricia Ordoñez describes her relationship with Spain, she compares it to a good first date with “a really nice person, but it’s not your person.” She describes the country as a lovely place, with lovely people. She loves her apartment, she loves having access to the beach, and she has built a strong community there — but, at the end of the day, it just doesn’t feel like home. And rest assured, she is not a beginner when it comes to living abroad. She left Venezuela in 2015 and, since then, has lived in Colombia, Argentina, Poland, and finally Spain, where she was able to obtain citizenship. Along the way, Patricia also changed career paths a couple of times and had to overcome a limiting belief that work should mean sacrifice. That belief delayed her decision to fully pursue design — a skill she had been developing since she was a kid, but for many different reasons, chose to ignore for years. This conversation happened while Patricia was counting down the days until she left Spain, so we talked not only about her decision to move, but also about how she is intentionally designing what comes next. She shares how she is applying principles from design to her own life, why she is “auditioning cities” to find her next home, and what years of moving abroad have taught her about trusting her gut, asking for help, and being willing to change direction. We also talk about burnout, the pressure to struggle in order to feel successful, and the importance of community — especially for women living and working abroad. Patricia’s story is a reminder that starting over does not always mean something went wrong. Sometimes, it simply means you learned enough about yourself to realize it is time to build something different. Connect with Patricia Website / RARA Design Studio: holarara.com Personal site: patriciaordonez.com LinkedIn: Patricia Ordoñez Casa Profe: casaprofe.com Casa Profe podcast on Spotify: El podcast para profes de idiomas con ambición Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #54 Trusting Your Gut and Designing a Life That Fits | Patricia Ordoñez | Venezuela → Spain

  7. Sep 22

    #53 Quitting the 9-to-5: Leaving a Successful Career to Build a Different Life Abroad

    I guess a lot of people would agree that a 9-to-5 job is comforting and it is - allegedly -safe. But what happens when you start to question that? What happens when you’ve built a successful career — and then realize you might want a completely different life? I believe we are seeing that shift. People are realizing they can change their minds and transition into a different career. And some people are learning to let go of the idea that their success and self-worth are defined by their job. When you let that go, other opportunities can open up for you. In this episode, I’m revisiting three conversations with women who walked away from established professional paths and chose to start over. But don’t limit your source of inspiration to these four - this podcast features other tons of episodes with similar stories. In this episode, you will learn more about these stories: Sometimes reinvention is actually a return. After around 15 years in corporate life, burnout forced Leah to reconsider a passion she had pushed aside. So she quit her job to become an artist - in Paris. Your profession doesn’t have to be your permanent identity. Lisa trained and worked as a lawyer in Germany - but when her side gig as a content creator took off, she had to reconsider both her career path and the assumptions she had built around what a successful life was supposed to look like.Growth can mean starting from the bottom again. Cate left an established media career in the Philippines and moved to Madrid, trading professional status for the chance to discover who she could become in a completely different environment. Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #53 Quitting the 9-to-5: Leaving a Successful Career to Build a Different Life Abroad

  8. Sep 15

    #52 What Happens When a One-Month Adventure Changes Your Life? | Taylor Kane | USA → Czech Republic

    Have you ever looked back at your journey and noticed how some small decisions ended up changing your life in big ways? From the street you decided to turn down one day that leads you to find a cute new café, to turning down a job offer and later having the opportunity to get a better one. Or perhaps changing the destination of your month abroad can lead you to meet the love of your life... That's exactly what happened to Taylor Kane. Taylor had never dreamed about living abroad, and when she decided to spend one month overseas during college, Prague wasn't even her first choice. She was thinking about Amsterdam. But she changed her mind after following her uncle's advice — and during her very first week there, she met Mark. It has been seven years since her life took that turn, and now she is building a life with him in Prague. Besides chatting about her love story and the decision-making process that led her to take a leap of faith and bet on this relationship, we also talk about how living abroad challenged some of the beliefs she grew up with in the United States, how moving away actually improved her relationship with her mom, and what she has learned about independence and trusting herself. She also shares some useful advice about the importance of building your own friendships and community, and making sure the life you're creating abroad also feels like yours. Connect with Taylor: Packing Up and Peacing Out PodcastInstagram @TaylorTakesPrague TikTok @taylortakesprague Connect with Transplants: Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.podSubstack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchiFollow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplantsQuestions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

    #52 What Happens When a One-Month Adventure Changes Your Life? | Taylor Kane | USA → Czech Republic
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A podcast featuring interviews with women thriving in new roots abroad. Each episode, we hear perspectives from women taking leaps of faith, chasing dreams, and building a life on their own terms. Living abroad is often the backdrop, but these conversations go deeper: into identity, reinvention, relationships, and the courage it takes to start over. These are real stories from real and incredible women.

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