About

Expat travels came to life after finally learning what a blog was after returning from 2.5 years of living in Switzerland. I had already been living in Canada for a short time and was trying learn about my new adopted country and customs. ET also known as Jen Schilling to those who meet her in person is a photographer, a swimmer and triathlete and an outdoor traveler. She grew up in Northern California, lived in Switzerland for 2.5 years, but now calls Victoria, BC as her permanent home.

ET's obsession with traveling started when she quit her corporate job in 2001 and moved to Switzerland for a marketing job. The work permit didn't exactly go through and she found herself leaving her new found Swiss friends and learning how to teach English in Prague. While in Prague she figured out she was falling in love with Switzerland and had to find a way back to Switzerland to stay.
Her first European adventure started in Montreux where she taught a 20 month old toddler English 4 days a week, with one free day a week to improve her French. She soon grew fond of her travels and her time exploring Switzerland with her tiny camera. It was during her time living in Montreux that she got to travel extensively around Europe and learn so much about Switzerland. She also met a few great friends who she still keeps in touch with to this day. You also might find them photographed in some of my adventures.
In August of 2003, ET relocated to St. Louis, France just outside of Basel. She realized although her love for the country was infinite that her time was coming to a close and another adventure was to be had in Canada.

Expat Travels was started as a way to write down all of the great times she had while living in Switzerland and reach out to meet other people who were going through much of the same trials as herself as well as providing some awesome tips of great places to travel. She was hoping to become a landed immigrant of Canada and was looking for information to make the process move smoothly.

Once she began meeting more expats, she realized there were some that she probably met while living in Switzerland. Her stay in North Vancouver led to a more permanent stay in Canada after becoming a landed immigrant and Citizen of the country.

Four years later, ET is still exploring Canada but mostly now on Vancouver Island. Expat Travels serves as an outlet to enjoy her photography as well as keep in touch with other expats from Switzerland and around the world as well as document part of my expat life from one culture to the next....