Straddling the years

Binning 2025 and hoping for better

My compact Swiss Family has embarked on a Grand Tour this holiday season. First the US (New England-upstate New York chapter), followed by southwestern Germany. My son gets to see both his living grandparents, spouse and I get to see a selection of siblings, nieces and nephews, and old friends. Unconditional love and hugs, too much food at odd hours, jet lag, a lot of driving, and some Festivus-like airing of grievances are all on the program.

(photo: C. Smrstik)

With that, it is time to close my (first full) Substack year with a look back and a look ahead.

At home abroad is the place where I write about living in different cultures and all the emotions that accompany learning to live anywhere. It’s a broad umbrella, which has allowed me to write about sheep, Germany, horses, belonging, my American roots, raising third-culture kids¹, and of course all things Swiss.²

The generated recap called this “ideas, impact, and incredible growth,” which is a very American take. Spending a week in the land of unbridled optimism gives me license to say that openly.

On a personal level, I will be glad to see the back of 2025. This was supposed to be my diamond jubilee year: out with the old, in with the I’m-not-old-yet. It was not.

However, my very own particular brand of bridled optimism leads me to believe that the coming year will be better, with foreseeable life changes that will grant me the time, energy, and brain space to write more.

In 2026, you can look forward to all this on At home abroad:

• Swiss neutrality and the struggle to define what that means in today’s geopolitics.

• The occasional educational rant about the marginalization of women in Switzerland.

• Now and again, comic relief as provided by life in Switzerland—because laughing about the quirkiness helps balance out the ranting.

• Half-settling and integrating into yet another country, culture, and language.

• Cultural identity and finding peace with that at an advancing age.

• Musings about entering my seventh decade.

• More photos, because sometimes observing wonder in the world is necessary medicine.

• If he consents, my wonderful son with his multicultural identity may appear in some essays.

• My horse will certainly appear from time to time, because he teaches me so many lessons about relationships, trust, and existing in the world.

In conclusion: thanks, danke, merci, obrigáda, díky, ďakujem

Thank you to my elite handful of paid subscribers for providing an effective form of pressure to keep me publishing my written thoughts.

Thank you to my unpaid subscribers, because it is encouraging for me to believe that so many people think what I am putting out here is worth following.

Thank you to all who comment on something they have read. As an introvert, this level of online engagement is quite workable for me and I love reading and responding to your thoughts.

Happy holidays to all and einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr³.

Winter Wonderland in northern New York (photos: C. Smrstik)

1. A topic that led to my very first Substack live, with Elizabeth.Ink.

2. In 2025, this included cheese, humor, legislation, cultural peculiarities, gold, and voting.

3. Literally, “slide well into the new year.” I have always liked the mental picture of either smoothly slipping into the next calendar year, or trying to keep one’s balance on an icy surface as the years change. Much better than just “Happy New Year.”