Hi! I'm Ashley.  I hail from California's picturesque central coast and now call Berlin home.

1. Why did you move abroad?
I was sent abroad by a former job, I set up a photo department for a company based near the French/German border.  I lived in Paris for a year in 2006 and my old boss knew how badly I wanted to move back to France.  He somehow (probably on purpose) failed to mention that the company they had acquired was actually located over the border in Germany rather than in France.  A fact I didn't really realize until I had already moved across the world.  It all worked out in the end, I met my husband in the small city in the south of Germany where we lived for 3 years before moving to Berlin and fell in love with the country and the German people.

2. How do you make a living ?
I am a freelance travel, lifestyle and wedding photographer.  When we moved to Berlin from the south of Germany, I spent a couple months figuring out what I wanted to do professionally- if I would find another retouching/photo editor job or take the leap to work for myself, and I am so thankful I decided to pursue my working for myself.  It is sometimes terrifying and so much more work than working for someone else, but much more satisfying.  I feel really lucky to call this my job.

3. How often do you communicate with home and how?
I probably talk to my mama every other day, and am so thankful for my 5€ flat rate phone plan for calls to the US.  I also use imessage a lot and facetime on my iphone.  Technology makes living abroad so much easier.  It is such a different experience than when I lived in Paris in 2006.

4. What's your favorite thing about being an expat in Berlin?
Being surrounded by interesting, creative people.  And summertime in Berlin is pretty amazing.

5. What’s the worst thing about being an expat in Berlin?
The long, grey winter.

6. What do you miss most?
Mexican food, the pacific ocean and my family and friends.

7. What did you do to meet people and integrate in your new home?
Social media and blogging helps connect people in a way that wasn't possible even 5 years ago.  I am pretty shy around people I don't know so connecting with like minding people online makes meeting people so much easier.  I am married to a German so integrating into the culture was not too difficult, taking German classes and speaking German also really helps.

8. What custom/ habits do you find most strange about your adopted culture?
Most Germans have an insurance policy for pretty much everything.  Personal liability insurance is virtually required and most Germans have a "lawyer tax" which covers the cost of visiting a lawyer in the rare case they need to consult legal counsel.  

9. What is a myth about your adopted country?
That all Germans are organized, on time, own lederhosen/dirndl and love beer.  Some Germans fit the stereotype, but Germans are a diverse group of people and that is often forgotten.

10. Is the cost of living higher or lower than the last country you lived in and how has that made a difference in your life?
Living in Berlin is much cheaper than life in San Francisco, the city I last called home before moving to Germany.  Our apartment here in Berlin would cost at least three times what we pay if it were in San Francisco.  That being said, incomes are much less in Germany than in San Francisco, so I think it sort of balances out.  

11. What advice would you give other expats?
start a blog!  It has been such a blessing to connect me to fellow expats here in Europe.  Some of the blog friends I have made are some of my closest friends in real life now.  I am constantly inspired and motivated by bloggers living abroad and feel lucky to be a part of the blog world.

12. When and why did you start your blog?
I started my blog to share my life abroad with my family and friends back home.  It is now a place where I share my travels and my work as a photographer.

Ashley's blog, Chasing Heartbeats

Find out more about being an expat in Germany with our expat's
 Berlin Guide

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