Ten years ago today I hit “publish” for the first time. I had no clue.

I had no clear agenda. No long term goal. No 10 step plan for optimizing SEO, driving traffic, managing bounce rate, or maximizing widgets.

I barely knew what a blog was.

I just knew that cultures, smashing together, mixing, tangling, merging, jumbling, sometimes exploding, but always blending, was something that sparked my synapses, and I wanted a place to write about it.

So, with the expert tech support of my way cooler and much more savvy colleagues, we launched a blog with this post.

Will it blend?

What a ride.

The Culture Blend has been a decade long whiteboard for scribbling out the thoughts that keep me up at night and a platform for sharing what I am learning along the way. It has followed me through repatriation, re-expatriation, experimental expatriation, and re-repatriation and it has given birth to three books.

99 Questions for Global Friends

99 Questions for Global Families

The Day Grandma Got Us Kicked Out of Mexico

More than anything … it has been a point of connection. A watering hole where global beasts and traveling herds with vast differences and similar stories have come together, interacted, gotten some refreshment, and moved on to the next thing. I am so thankful for the kindred souls that I may never have met had I never hit “publish” in 2011.

So if you’ve got a minute, celebrate with me. Reminisce a little. Dig into something you missed along the way. Connect. Reconnect. Reach out to your global people and remember how good it is when cultures blend.

Here are the Top Ten Culture Blend Posts from the past ten years

Number ONE
The Transition that NEVER ENDS: The ongoing cycle of Expat Stayers, Goers, and Newbies

Number TWO

The Seven Lies of Living Cross-Culturally

Number THREE

Why Expats Hate June

Number FOUR

Leaving Well: Ten Tips for Repatriating with Dignity

Number FIVE

When I was Your Age: An Expat Dad’s Note to His Kids

Number SIX

Landing Well: Ten More Tips for Repatriating With Dignity

Number SEVEN

How to Drive an Expat Crazy: Ten Ways to Irritate Someone Who Has Lived Abroad

Number EIGHT

Staying Well: 10 Tips for Expats Who Are Left Behind

Number NINE

Repatriating Normally: 10 Things That Make Coming Home Feel Weird

Number TEN

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 12 Things That Expats Should Consider When They are Considering Leaving

Wherever you are. Wherever you’re going. Wherever you’ve been and however you got here.

Thanks for reading The Culture Blend.