About

I'm Anna, a new-ish British mum currently living in Philadelphia, USA. I moved here in summer 2014 after a shotgun wedding to my boyfriend of seven years, who was headed out here on a work secondment. I tell myself he would have proposed one day anyway, but the visa issue sure helped to force his hand.....

After a year of moonlighting as a retired lady from an affluent suburb* (volunteering a couple of days a week, going on lots of mini-breaks and entertaining our many visitors), our American adventure was flipped on its head when we welcomed our baby daughter – the most delicious little bean with a toupée to rival Donald Trump – in August 2015. Since then I've been doing my best to figure out this motherhood malarkey away from home and across the pond.

What is The Faraway Mum?

All new parents have a sizeable mountain of things to figure out. It starts as soon as you find out you're expecting and only escalates from there. Being pregnant, and then becoming a parent, far from home means there is extra stuff to boot. As a Brit abroad in a country that is 'seemingly' culturally similar (spoiler alert – it’s never that simple!) I thought I was quite alone in this. But the more new mothers I've met, the more I've realised that many of the questions I had (and continue to have on a daily basis) were the same for Brit mums abroad elsewhere, as well as for other new parents living in their native country, but far away from established support networks of family and friends. And with job mobility, study placements and broader travel opportunities, being a 'faraway mum' is actually incredibly common.

The Faraway Mum is a collection of my own experiences and observations (and hopefully, down the line, those of other parents too) of being just that – a mum far away from home. My blogs are tagged in two categories: Parenting across the pond, for my observations as a Brit mum in America, and For all faraway mums, for content that is relevant to expat mums elsewhere in the world as well as in-country ‘transplants.’ I'll also be posting what I call Faraway Files, giving a glimpse of the lives of faraway mums from a whole host of places. I hope this blog will shed some light on beginning this life-changing experience even further outside your normal comfort zone, rouse the odd laugh, and help other faraway mums (and dads) to realise that they are definitely not alone.  

I would love to hear your comments, and suggestions for anything you think would make a good post. Please email me or find me on Facebook or Instagram.

*this wasn't my choice, honest – I wasn't allowed to work here. It was a really tough year [desperately tries to maintain earnest expression]