Being Abroad is a collection of personal stories about relocating to a foreign country. It aspires to sidestep traditional styles of travel writing and focus instead on the emotional aspects and consequences of living abroad.
The project was conceived in 2005 when, within weeks of moving abroad, Lucy Reynell and I met and discovered a mutual desire to discuss our respective experiences. The original website launched in the autumn of 2006, outlining the aims and inviting people to submit essays on their experiences. A few months later, the Sketchbook Challenge was set-up to allow participants more creative control over their entries, and 10 sketchbooks were sent to 100 people around the world. Four were lost along the way, the rest made it home.
After some delay, a website was launched in 2011 to showcase the best of the written submissions, and document the sketchbook contents.