Introducing… Esther Schorr

Did you choose Spain or Spain choose you?           

Both!  My husband and I had been thinking about living abroad for many, many years.  The stars aligned, we found Spain, and Spain won our hearts – and here we are.

And before Spain you were ….          

Living in Seattle, Washington, raising our amazing three kids, two dogs and two cats….living in suburbia…enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest but getting tired of the rain and the sameness of daily life.  We have always had “wanderlust”!

Why Barcelona?           

Como no???  We did our research, made a list of the top criteria for a new and different place to live, and Barcelona got 100% right. The list included great weather with more sunny days than cloudy…relaxed approach to everyday living –  “working to live not living to work”…family and community is a priority…deep traditions and culture…a business center with easy access to the rest of Europe…good schools for our son. The list goes on a while.

Are you now a serial expat, or is the USA still very much your home?            

I think it is a bit early to tell.  My heart is still very much with my close family and dear friends who live all over the US, but I have quickly begun to feel very much at home here in Barcelona.  You may need to ask me this question again in a year or so.

Tell us about your blogging passion           

I actually began journaling while traveling long before blogging actually existed (please don’t ask if that was when dinosaurs walked the earth), and when the ability to share my travel experiences more broadly with family and friends became easy to do with blog sites, I was hooked!  I find blogging cathartic – a great creative outlet as well as a way to document my own unique journey during the great adventures in my life.  If no one read my blog besides me, it would actually be OK.  I do it for myself – if others enjoy it, that is awesome.

Favourite blogger and why?           

This is terrible to say, but I actually do not read other blogs very often – maybe because I get busy reading other things.  Maybe I should start seeing what other people blog about, hmmmm.

Top Tip for new bloggers           

Only do it if it gives YOU pleasure or personally rewards you in some other way.  Unless you blog for purely business reasons – and that is very valid as well – a personal blog needs to come from the heart or it will seem like a chore.

The day job is….           

Doing projects for my clients (Business Consulting and Project Management – I do organizational development and strategy, executive coaching, and project management in a wide variety of industries and application areas) and helping my husband with some aspects of the work he does in patient education and empowerment.

What makes a great business woman?     

• Passion – for her work
• Respect –  for those she works with and for
• Focus – on doing her best work, always
• Flexibility – willingness to look at more than one possible solution to any problem
• Patience – always holding the belief that good outcomes will come from good intentions and hard work!

Book which has changed your life, either business or personal     

There are a few books that have inspired me so if that qualifies as “changed my life” then here goes:

• In the Shadow of Man – Jane Goodall
• Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
• The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein
• The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 

Your childhood dream was to be..?           

Believe it or not, I was an aspiring actress for many of my more formative years.  Through high school and into college I performed in plays, had an agent in Los Angeles, the works.

What’s your greatest indulgence?           

Hmmm…NY Cheesecake and flan (gastronomically)….and loooong massages when I can afford them!

If you could achieve one spectacular thing in one day what would it be?     

Walk the Camino Santiago de Compostela…which I am planning to do with my daughter in the Spring of next year

From a “full life” perspective, I aspire to leave this earth having given more back to my fellow man than I have taken – whether through continuing my work in developing countries, working with not-for-profit organizations to help them achieve great things for society, or simply seeing my children do the very best work they can to repair and nurture the world we live in.

How can we find out more (Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc.)     

I’d love to have people enjoy my blog at https://eschor.wordpress.com

You can also find me on Facebook and LinkedIn.

It would be great to meet and get to know other women who are lifelong “bungee jumpers” (figuratively, not literally).