Hello, and a warm welcome!

My name is Franziska Luxhøj and I am here to help you
create the life & relationship you truly desire and be happy when living abroad.

This is your shortcut to creating more connection, freedom and happiness in your life.

You expected a dream to come true

You moved abroad.
Either because your partner is from a different country, or because you took an opportunity that showed up and decided to make that move together.

When making that decision, you had big dreams for your exciting life filled with adventures and pictured how you would breeze through life and create wonderful memories together.

But the dream turned out evasive, your reality looks way different

You often feel alone, unsupported and misunderstood. By your partner, your environment, your friends back home.
Sometimes you don’t even feel like you’re real partners any more. You feel a growing disconnection.
Yes, you’re still a family and sharing a roof – but so often it’s just about the practicalities.

How did your life turn out this way? You don’t even know how you got there, let alone how to get out of there.

I know what that feels like.
I have been there a couple of years ago.

After almost two decades in an intercultural relationship and living abroad, I know the joys and challenges of a global life first hand.
My handsome Dane and I met in 2004, and 3 years into our relationship we decided it was time to take that step and move together .
And what a ride through ups and downs it has been! We have been happy, sad, excited, frustrated, full of joy, facing challenges,…and if you live abroad with your family, I am sure that you can relate to that rollercoaster of experiences and feelings.

After a few years with a lot of change going on, amongst them becoming a mother in a country that was neither mine nor my husband’s, I felt like a shadow of who I used to be. In some ways I didn’t recognise myself any more. Instead of feeling my hunger for adventure and zest for life, I often just felt like cuddling up on the sofa and didn’t feel like leaving the house.

My energy level was way down, my drive and motivation to get things done basically non-existent. I functioned. I did run the necessary errands and took care of people around me.

But where was I in all this?

I had a sense that I had lost myself in the process. I wasn’t sure who I was and where I wanted to be. What I stood for, which impact I wanted or would be able to create.

How our life had panned out, affected me on so many levels. It showed up in all areas of my life.
Even my health suffered from it. Looking back, I find this quite amazing. How often I was sick back then. Not seriously sick, but having colds all the time. Which of course resulted in even less energy. I was stuck in that vicious circle.

Hitting rock bottom before finding 'happy abroad'

The culmination of our situation in the life abroad was the looming end of our marriage. Certainly a not-fun experience. Divorce is painful for everyone involved to begin with. Even more so, if you are an intercultural couple. There is so much sacrifice, no matter how peaceful and cooperative you go about it.
At least one partner will probably have to keep living abroad in a country that is not their own. Alternatively the kids have to live on a long distance from one of their parents. Potentially turning lives into a logistical hell.

Being faced with that outlook encouraged us both – my husband and me – to work on ourselves individually and on our relationship together. At that point, with our marriage almost falling apart, we found a way.
A way to fight FOR our marriage, NOT AGAINST each other. We reflected and talked. It helped us explore our relationship. Finally we re-discovered each other. It all meant putting in the hard work to design our relationship (and lives in general) more intentionally.

Through all the insights, awareness and hard work, we reconnected and created a better life & relationship for our family than we could ever have dreamed of. So from own experience, I KNOW that investing time, money, energy and effort into your own development pays off. By discovering your most authentic roots and exploring your needs & desires, you start thriving instead of surviving.

The not-so-secret secret to living abroad in happiness

Happiness comes from the inside. Also, happiness doesn’t just magically come to some people and not to others. It is a learnable skill, or rather a set of skills, that you can choose to invest in mastering.
This is the most important learning I take with me from all the challenges I have faced up to now.
 
Over time, I learned to be rooted in myself, to not be dependent on circumstances and the outside world to define me. Many times we lose ourselves in a foreign country, especially if our reason for the move was love. We are not sure any more who we are, what we stand for, or where we want to be in our life. Independently of everyone around us.
 
The key to becoming happy is to get clarity around that. And then show up as that best version of yourself, and make the life you dream of your reality. A happy life abroad.
And being happy doesn’t mean that you are joyful and enthusiastic all the time. It means leading a life that is most authentic to YOU.
 
Instead of following expectations, I learned to pursue my desires and purpose without feeling guilty. Without asking for permission.
And as a bonus, I created deeper & more intimate relationships too through being the best and strongest version of myself.
 
I am more equipped to tackle challenges and come out strengthened on the other side. I experience my emotions fully and use them as a navigator to making higher quality decisions aligned with my authentic being.
I want that too, show me how!

My mission is to help you
be happy abroad too!

  • Gain clarity of what you stand for, who you are and what you want to create and look into the future with HOPE & SELF-CONFIDENCE. 
  • Prioritise and focus your efforts so you experience FREEDOM & HAPPINESS instead of overwhelm and frustration.
  • Express your needs and desires in all your relationships in a way that results in CONVERSATION & CONNECTION instead of in a fight and lets you enjoy the feeling of BELONGING.

education & work background

I hold a double master degree in International Business & Management, and my focus during studying has always been on behavioural and psychological subjects. I thrived on learning about behaviour in different settings, motivation, team dynamics, decision making, etc.

Through my work experience as Change Manager I gained deep insight into how people move through change, which support they need in each phase and how transformation becomes truly sustainable.

Throughout the years I’ve read piles of personal development books. Which have been interesting, but which I also have to admit haven’t had the same effect as being coached and actually getting support.

Most recently, I supplemented my theoretical knowledge with a number of courses within Positive Psychology, online teaching and relational leadership, and my practical skills & tools with additional coaching trainings enabling me to work on a much deeper and more profound level.

investing in my true passion

I had flirted with a coaching training for a couple of years before finally taking the decision to invest. Holding off on that decision is something I remotely regret, and I am happy and proud of myself to have made that step in 2015. After being a stay-at-home mom in Utrecht (the Netherlands) for 2 years – that was my first step back into a career.

While already before that, I was able see how powerful coaching could be – it was only then that I FELT the full impact. By being coached and coaching others. Guiding someone to their own authentic truth and see them grow through it is the most fascinating and rewarding thing to do for me.

So through this training, I added specific tools and knowledge on how to guide you to YOUR personal transformational experience. With my support you can achieve the lasting and sustainable transformation you want through an impactful cycle of creating awareness, changing behaviour and evaluation.

If you want to know more about my education and experience in the more classical CV style, you can find all the details on my LinkedIn profile. You don’t need to be registered to have a look, and if you are – feel free to connect.

What else would you like to know?

Now that you have gotten to know me a little, I am super curious about who YOU are. Let’s meet for a virtual coffee and get to know each other.

Let’s explore together how YOU can go from being stuck, overwhelmed and frustrated to experiencing more connection, freedom and happiness.

Walk away with

  • your most pressing questions answered
  • clarity on small daily action steps you can take right now and
  • an increased feeling of ease and happiness