We talk endlessly about the logistics of moving abroad; the visas, the paperwork, a whole life folded into boxes. But what about the part no one prepares you for? The quiet, interior work of building a self, and a home, somewhere that has no blueprint for you yet.

In this episode, Mickelle sits down with Yolanda Reshemah, storyteller and host of The Places We Call Home, for a conversation about everything that lives beneath the surface of relocation. Yolanda has moved six times across three continents, and she speaks about it with a rare mix of tenderness and clarity: the kind that comes from having lived every version of the experience, as a child, a student, a young professional, a wife, and a mother.

This is a conversation about belonging and about the courage it takes to become someone new without losing who you are.

In this episode

• The psychological move matters as much as the legal one. Sorting the passports is essential, but so is understanding what your soul needs in order to feel at home.
• "Feed your soul." Yolanda's central idea: know the sounds, rhythms, people and landscapes you need around you before you choose where to land.
• Proximity isn't belonging. Living near people who look or sound like you is no guarantee you'll feel understood. Real community has to be built with intention.
• The identity you can't pack. Your reputation and achievements don't always cross borders. Who do you become when you have to start again?
• Vulnerability and power abroad. When one partner holds the visa, the balance of a relationship can quietly shift and moving eyes-wide-open is the only way.
• Change your scales, or find a new pond. The image that ends the episode, and an entire philosophy of belonging in a single line.

About the guest

Yolanda Reshemah is a storyteller and the host of The Places We Call Home, a show devoted to the lived experience of moving across cultures, told largely through the voices of women building new lives far from where they began. Born in the Caribbean and raised in England from the age of ten, she went on to live in France before settling in Northern California, where she has now spent more than a decade.

She brings a background in law and strategic communication, along with senior consulting roles at T-Mobile, the kind of career where, when a CEO told her she had big shoes to fill, she replied, "that's okay, I have big feet." It's that blend of depth, warmth and quiet confidence that she now pours into holding space for other people's stories.

Explore her work:

• Podcast: The Places We Call Home — on Spotify and Apple
• Website: theplaceswecallhome.com
• Instagram: @placeswecallhomepod
• The Places We Call Home is part of the House of Peregrine network.

Listen, and build your life abroad with intention

This conversation with Yolanda is the kind of episode you'll want to sit with, and share with the friend who's mid-move.

And if you're building a life abroad, or dreaming your way toward one, House of Peregrine is the place to do it alongside others who understand. Create your free account and find your people.

Because you were never meant to feel at home overnight, you were meant to build one.