Review by Manukiwi -- Living Abroad: Challenging the Myt...
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Manukiwi
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Review by Manukiwi -- Living Abroad: Challenging the Myt...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Living Abroad: Challenging the Myths of Expat Life" by Jim Santos.]
Jim Santos was 50 year-old recently widowed man with no hope of improving his life or finding another soul mate for his remaining years. He was also suffering from diabetes and high-blood pressure due to his current lifestyle and it was putting his health in jeopardy.
Everything changed when he accidentally met and got to know his real-estate agent who had also lost her spouse to cancer recently and he realized they had a lot in common. After a few first trips together, they realized it was completely possible for both of them to travel and work at the same time and they started visiting countries all across the globe.
While reading in a magazine about the wonders of living in a foreign country, they were compelled to consider the expatriate lifestyle. They investigated where they wanted to live and in a matter of months and with the help of an excellent attorney, they bought a property in the city of Salinas(Ecuador). After a few weeks living there, he realized he was feeling a lot healthier and had lost 20 pounds.Later, they notice some of the problems and disadvantages of their new home, like not being able to communicate with most people, culture shock, and possible relationship issues due to the stressful environment, but they overcome most of them with the help of locals and other fellow expatriates. Other useful advice he gives always comes with an example or interesting anecdote.They point out the excellent health care, good prices and safety of living in a country like Ecuador.The mind-blowing experiences and journeys this couple lives during these years are a good reason to move to a foreign country with an open mind.
Living Abroad: Challenging the Myths of an Expat Life is a hilarious book with approachable stories and honest and down-to-earth suggestions. It also gives a very good point of view for anybody, not just Americans, of how it is to live in a country different to you own and how to slowly adjust to a different society. I like how the author gives importance to understand and respect the culture and advises to his fellow readers to always keep an open mind and how generosity can go a long way.
This book does contain some misconceptions about the lifestyle of countries in South America, calling their society and life like the U.S in the 1950s. Since this book is written by somebody with a specific point of view, some people might feel disrespected or called out about this book.
There are also some incorrectly spelled words in Spanish he wrote throughout the book and I don't know if it's his way of pointing out his level of the language in that particular moment in his stories or just a spelling mistake.
I give this book a 3 out of 4 stars because it wasn't badly edited, and it was overall very enjoyable to read and potentially helpful to someone who might be thinking about living in a foreign country.
This book is suitable for all audiences because i don't recall it ever using explicit language and there is no sexual content, but I recommend this book to people who are thinking about moving abroad or to people who have already moved to a different country to gain perspective and gain useful knowledge.
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Living Abroad: Challenging the Myths of Expat Life
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Jim Santos was 50 year-old recently widowed man with no hope of improving his life or finding another soul mate for his remaining years. He was also suffering from diabetes and high-blood pressure due to his current lifestyle and it was putting his health in jeopardy.
Everything changed when he accidentally met and got to know his real-estate agent who had also lost her spouse to cancer recently and he realized they had a lot in common. After a few first trips together, they realized it was completely possible for both of them to travel and work at the same time and they started visiting countries all across the globe.
While reading in a magazine about the wonders of living in a foreign country, they were compelled to consider the expatriate lifestyle. They investigated where they wanted to live and in a matter of months and with the help of an excellent attorney, they bought a property in the city of Salinas(Ecuador). After a few weeks living there, he realized he was feeling a lot healthier and had lost 20 pounds.Later, they notice some of the problems and disadvantages of their new home, like not being able to communicate with most people, culture shock, and possible relationship issues due to the stressful environment, but they overcome most of them with the help of locals and other fellow expatriates. Other useful advice he gives always comes with an example or interesting anecdote.They point out the excellent health care, good prices and safety of living in a country like Ecuador.The mind-blowing experiences and journeys this couple lives during these years are a good reason to move to a foreign country with an open mind.
Living Abroad: Challenging the Myths of an Expat Life is a hilarious book with approachable stories and honest and down-to-earth suggestions. It also gives a very good point of view for anybody, not just Americans, of how it is to live in a country different to you own and how to slowly adjust to a different society. I like how the author gives importance to understand and respect the culture and advises to his fellow readers to always keep an open mind and how generosity can go a long way.
This book does contain some misconceptions about the lifestyle of countries in South America, calling their society and life like the U.S in the 1950s. Since this book is written by somebody with a specific point of view, some people might feel disrespected or called out about this book.
There are also some incorrectly spelled words in Spanish he wrote throughout the book and I don't know if it's his way of pointing out his level of the language in that particular moment in his stories or just a spelling mistake.
I give this book a 3 out of 4 stars because it wasn't badly edited, and it was overall very enjoyable to read and potentially helpful to someone who might be thinking about living in a foreign country.
This book is suitable for all audiences because i don't recall it ever using explicit language and there is no sexual content, but I recommend this book to people who are thinking about moving abroad or to people who have already moved to a different country to gain perspective and gain useful knowledge.
******
Living Abroad: Challenging the Myths of Expat Life
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko by Matthew Tysz
