Book Review: The Grown-Up’s Guide To Running Away From Home

Posted on 24. Mar, 2009 by Emmanuelle Archer in Blog, Relocation, Reviews
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Aimed at midlife people, empty nesters and retirees, “The Grown-Up’s Guide To Running Away From Home” by Rosanne Knorr is a practical guide to relocation for adults who long to live abroad.

A big strength of this book is its accessible, engaging tone. Rosanne Knorr keeps things simple and straightforward. Her “You can do it!” approach is resolutely optimistic. Her message in a nutshell? Better to go see for yourself if overseas life is for you than to be stuck with regrets and unlived dreams for the rest of your life.

This Grown-Up’s Guide is not meant for single, broke thirtysomethings. The assumption is that you have family ties to deal with, life experience to guide you and at least some savings to make your adventure possible. You do not have to be independently wealthy or receive a sizeable pension to live overseas, obviously, and Knorr discusses a number of ways to finance your expatriation.

Other chapters deal with seldom-raised subjects such as family planning and handling finances from a distance. Health care, medical coverage and safety concerns are also discussed extensively.

This book’s primary concern is relocation. All aspects of pre-departure planning, packing, travelling and getting started in your host country are discussed at length. By contrast, settling in and returning to your home country only get a scant 10 pages between themselves. Culture shock gets half a page.

Even though it only pays lip service to the emotional component of expatriation, this guide is a good, easy read for mature, first-time expats looking for reassurance and sound practical advice on how to handle the nuts and bolts of international relocation.

Make sure that you get the 2008 edition- the first edition dates back to 1998 and is quite dated by today’s standards.

Emmanuelle