How Laura Robards Thrives in her Expat Life

With a personality as bright as her smile, Laura’s presence lights up any space she enters. She teaches trauma-sensitive yoga classes, creates online yoga retreats through The Journey International, and teaches yoga as a volunteer to at-risk groups in Amman, Jordan. Her heart to help others find peace and connection through yoga and meditation pairs beautifully with her fun spirit and love of adventure.

Laura has been living overseas with her husband for over 10 years. In that time, their two children were born, they’ve taken over 3500 combined hours of Arabic language lessons, started businesses and new careers, met life-long friends through the local and expat communities, and learned more about themselves and their own culture than they could have ever imagined. Read on to learn how all that she’s learned to thrive in her expat life.

What attracted you to life overseas?

The idea of moving overseas was always exciting to me; maybe it was a desire for adventure or just wanting to do something unique. I thrive in new environments and with meeting new people, which I had experienced in childhood as my family moved every few years for my father’s job. Moving to an entirely different culture was a much bigger challenge but I looked forward to it.

Yoga is a big part of your life! What do you hope others find through the classes you facilitate?

Yoga offers an opportunity to listen to our bodies as we connect the breath, body and mind. When we practice yoga using meditation breath practice and the traditional asanas, it helps us to also connect with our emotions and find a sense of grounding and calm in the midst of whatever stress we may be experiencing.

What unlocked your potential?

I realized how much I could learn and grow from the local culture and relationships with locals . Early on I saw the way my culture did things as ‘right’ and their way as ‘wrong’, even though I wouldn’t admit it. Finally, I was able to see value in the way others interacted with people.

When and how did you start thriving?

About 6 or 7 years after we moved overseas we made a trip back to the U.S.to visit family and for the first time, felt like we really belonged in our new home overseas. We didn’t feel that yearning for our home culture like we usually did. The thriving happened slowly, as we learned more about language and culture. It also happened by getting involved in the community. We started engaging with families as our kids started pre-school and took dance lessons. We joined exercise classes. We ate with local families for meals during the local holidays. We built deeper friendships with locals.

What had to change (personally or otherwise) to enhance your life overseas?

I had to realize that everything isn’t always better in my home country and culture and start seeing the good things happening here. Realizing the local culture’s worldview is valid helps me to be a better listener and learner.

Can you name some hidden stressors that you experienced early on that you weren’t aware of at the time?

Early on, I wanted to believe that, deep down, other people were really just the same as me. But when interacting with the local community, I encountered so many differences, and this didn’t line up with that belief, which caused lots of frustration and anger. I realized that part of me was afraid to see the differences because I didn’t want to judge them, but I realized that even though we are all profoundly different, that doesn’t mean one way of doing things is more right than another. That gave me room to let the differences impact me more and helped me to appreciate how different we really are.

What are the struggles of cross-cultural life that have taken the most time to overcome?

Trying to learn a completely different system for every aspect of life was tough. Everything from driving, figuring out the laws for getting businesses registered, laws for kids registering for school, insurance, home repairs, medical care, dealing with landlords….it was all different.

How have your relationships with locals affected you?

We have made several friends who we have fun with and can really be ourselves around. This has brought so much joy to our lives. They have been a guide for us in many cultural situations we didn’t know how to handle. They make us feel welcome. We have been able to learn from each other, sharing ideas on parenting, marriage, business and family.

What has expat life taught you that you’ll take with you the rest of your life?

Being an expat has taught me to listen better and be a learner. This is a lesson I hope to continue wherever I go. It’s important to laugh at yourself and the language/cultural mistakes you will undoubtedly make. Exercise helps keep stress to a minimum. Try to get out of your house or culture bubble and into the world around you; this is where you will grow.