Barbara Bessenyei came to Luxembourg 18 months ago for a role as product manager in a telecommunications firm. Six months in and she had the idea to create a blog, recording her travels and helping other people to find interesting events and activities.

“My Life in Luxembourg” took a little longer than expected to get going, though, largely because Bessenyei built the site herself. But, since the summer, the blogger posts twice a week.

“The posts are always about places I have been to already--it can be hiking trails, an event,” she told Delano, adding: “Also some travels which are 3-4 hours’ drive away in Belgium or the Netherlands. People are always flying out of Luxembourg. But, there are so many nice places around.”

She had a helping hand in exploring Luxembourg’s hidden gems through her own personal tour guide--her boyfriend, who is a Luxembourger. Thanks to him, Bessenyei says she can understand Luxembourgish and, though she is not fluent, she hopes to extend a helping hand to other expats in learning the language through some informative posts.

Creating a blog was a natural choice for Bessenyei who, before choosing Luxembourg, said she read several blogs about expat life in different countries, including Singapore and Switzerland. By writing in English, as opposed to Hungarian, she hopes that her tips and experiences can help others to settle in, particularly since those first weeks in a foreign country can get lonely. For these moments, she urges her readers to be open-minded. “It’s easy to become antisocial, you’re in a new place and you’re tired because you’ve a new work place but those are the moments when people will invite you out,” she says, adding: “Be open and say “yes”, even if you have to force yourself!”

Thusfar, Bessenyei says the two most popular categories of articles on her blog tended to be about things to do and visit and her experiences. But she could be about to add a new one.

“Generally, my readers really like it. There was one good suggestion to have a section called ‘Hungary in Luxembourg’, because there are so many restaurants.”

The blogger says the vast choice of places to eat out in Luxembourg is one of her favourite things about the country and she likes the idea of making this a bigger focus of the blog in future.

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