House of Peregrine

As we close out 2025, Mickelle sits down for an intimate reflection on everything House of Peregrine has built this year not as a highlight reel, but as a love letter to the beautiful, complicated life we're all navigating abroad.

This year didn't emerge from strategy. It came from late-night messages asking "does everyone feel this way?" It came from vibe coding sessions where we built software side by side, and from boat rides to lighthouse islands where strangers became friends and sometimes collaborators. Because living abroad is an entire life stage, and we're creating the infrastructure and the rituals to make it lighter.

In this episode:

• Season highlights including conversations on finding purpose after a breakup, somatic wisdom for landing in new places, and managing money across borders

• Navigating divorce abroad with international lawyer Magali, essential wisdom whether you're struggling or happily partnered

• Introducing Nina Aziz Justin's new monthly column on reimagining holidays and belonging across cultures

• Launching Meridian, our astrocartography app born from community co-creation

• The House of Peregrine Marketplace, curated pieces for this life stage, from Herkimer necklaces that keep loved ones in orbit to keepsakes for the journey

• What's next in 2026: becoming a community of communities where we collaborate instead of compete

From Copenhagen to Dubai, Ghana to Portugal, Mariam Navaid Ottimofiore shares the shift that transformed her life as a globally mobile family and helped each move feel intentional and  how each place becomes a layer of who we are—shaping our views on everything from taxation to tolerance. She brings us into the world of linguistic empathy and explains why speaking multiple languages doesn't just open doors, it creates different versions of ourselves.

In this episode:

• Recognizing the privilege of experiencing multiple corners of the world, while also acknowledging the realities

• What internationally mobile people bring to their host communities

• Linguistic empathy and how speaking different languages transforms who you are

• Choosing your mindset over your circumstances, whether navigating four-hour traffic in Accra or bureaucracy in a new language

Connect with Mariam and listen to the original episode - https://www.houseofperegrine.com/podcast/ep-039.

House of Peregrine is the network for International life, made by and for people living abroad.  

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Ever feel “lucky” abroad and yet you don’t know how you will keep everything in the air? This episode names that tension and gives you the tools you need to break through to the next level.

Mickelle sits down with International Psychologist and Elite Performance coach Karina Lagarrigue.   Karina maps the hidden character traits and hidden costs of the internationally mobile: highly sensitive nervous systems, shifting roles, and the cognitive lift of rebuilding identity across borders. Together they reframe privilege with precision - visas, language, and family dynamics can stack into genuine vulnerability and show how to design safety first without dimming your ambition.

Karina explains why therapy often misses mobile lives and how to prevent burnout: pace transitions, regulate your nervous system, and choose clinicians who understand culture, language nuance, and relocation. You will come away with a practical blueprint for thriving abroad as a high performer and learn that you likely fit into an elite group of people who are creating new paradigms of living, success and thriving.

In this episode:

• Sensory processing sensitivity (HSP) and why relocation amplifies it(and how it is more prevalent in the globally mobile)

• Stacked vulnerabilities turned into strengths

• Therapy burnout and how to find a modality that can help

• Visa-linked power dynamics; emotional and financial safety that may be messing with your peace

• Nervous system regulation as you continue to Level Up

• Couple prep and maintenance that  you shouldn’t ignore 

The divorce rate among couples abroad is significantly higher than averae so even if you are happily coupled it is wise to be familiar with the complexities and pitfalls of international divorce and the documents and agreements that are essential before you leave your home country. Magali van Maanen, an esteemed divorce lawyer and mediator with nearly two decades of experience at De Boorder Advocaten in Amsterdam gives us an overview and some sage advice about divorcing abroad.. What struck me most was Magali's profound perspective on divorce as a "threshold to a whole new life" rather than simply an ending, a powerful reframe.

The conversation is about how living abroad amplifies both personal growth and relationship challenges. As Magali explains, when you're building a life in a new country, certain personality traits emerge that you never knew existed. 

This episode is a a must listen in your life abroad

In this clip of the full episode: 

• Why consulting a divorce lawyer before making final decisions can really save a lot of time and money for international couples 

• The reality that children within the marriage abroad can cause unknown limitations or complexity that you didn’t foresee. For example: children cannot leave the Netherlands without both parents' agreement so parents might have to remain in the NL because the other spouse wants to stay.

• Spousal support is vastly different from one country to another–check before you act

• Considering the importance of securing your own visa rather than relying solely on a partner's 

• Magali's transformative question: "What do you want your life to look like in three years?" 

• Why international relocations often become make-or-break moments for relationships

In this episode, Mickelle sits down with Sophie Duong, a fully qualified European Financial Adviser, London-born daughter of Vietnamese refugees, and Barcelona-based risk whisperer on how to decode how to build a globally flexible life without sacrificing your future. Sophie manages €40M+ for 120 clients and brings a calm, human approach to cross-border money: simple language, rigorous planning, and zero shame.

They unpack the realities of international finances and why, where you live and where your money “lives” both matter and how to design plans that honor your dreams and your spreadsheets. Sophie explains the difference between an accountant and an adviser, when to call each, and how she acts as “triage” to assemble the right global team. Entrepreneurs get special love too: you can grow the business and your future nest egg - now and later.

Sophie also demystifies phases of wealth (accumulation, crossover/protection), flags common traps (PFICs for Americans abroad, UK inheritance domicile, beneficiary-based succession in Spain/France/Italy), and makes the case for stress-testing plans as rules and visas change.

In this episode:

• Designing a globally flexible life that’s compliant and tax-smart

• Adviser vs. accountant: who does what, when

• Avoiding cross-border traps (PFICs, UK domicile, succession rules)

• Planning moves before you move; optimizing where assets are held

• Entrepreneurs: balancing growth today with future independence

• Estate planning across jurisdictions—so money goes where you intend

  
  

It’s now - and later. Build the life you want while taking care of future you.

Reach Sophie:

• Website: www.thewealthadviser.com

• Advisory: Devere Spain

• Socials: @thewealthadviser (TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn)

House of Peregrine is your network, protocol, and platform for international life.

Join a global circle of thinkers, creators, and doers. We host events, publish guides, run a podcast, offer rewards and curated products — all within a vibrant ecosystem of experts and businesses to support your life abroad.

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