Submission Guidelines for Living Abroad “Stories” Section

Our Stories from Abroad section showcases articles addressing challenges Americans face when living abroad, including adjustments to life in new countries and cultures.

These articles tell a good story, including situations readers can identify with and that possibly offer solutions to their own problems. We all feel comfortable knowing that we’re not alone. Personal experiences are what matter in these stories, ideally with a “learning component” showing how you faced a challenge or overcame an obstacle.  As AARO is non-partisan, please refrain from addressing partisan political issues.

Thematic / Subjective Guidelines

Some topics might be:

• Missing (or longing for) the U.S.
• Making friends in a foreign land
• Learning about other cultures
• What/where is home?
• How to get involved in overseas communities
• Adapting to your new environment
• What have you learned living overseas?
• How have you changed while abroad?
• Embracing change
• Focusing on similarities instead of differences
• Issues with family back home in the U.S. (e.g., aging parents)
• Issues with families overseas (children, schools, etc.)

This list is not exhaustive and we’re open to other topics, so don’t hesitate to contact the editor with your ideas.

Technical / Practical / Legal Guidelines

It’s helpful to have a consistent format and style, as below:

• Please submit your piece to the Editor as a Word document, and include subtitles.
• Article size – between 1000-1500 words.
• We appreciate images or visuals to support the article, but please respect copyright.
• The AARO editor will support you and answer your questions, reviewing each article for consistency with other material and with the intended topic.

Once edited and approved by you, we’ll post your article to our website with your byline, most likely promoting it in AARO’s biweekly newsletter. Address for submitting articles: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As AARO is a non-profit association with a limited budget, we won’t be able to pay you for your articles. As the author you will retain the copyright for your articles, but you will grant AARO a Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC-SA, granting AARO the right to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes.

Thank you for being a part of AARO’s Living Abroad program!

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