Customer Reviews

The Grown-Up's Guide to Running Away from Home: Making a New Life Abroad

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first happened upon this book I was immediately attracted to the title. As a person who had left the comforts of an active career 4 years earlier to see what I could build in Europe, I thought this book might be amusing and thought it might enlighten me about situations I had yet to encounter.

It turned out to be a great deal more than that and I wish I had read it before I'd made the leap. It would have saved me a lot of hand wringing on various subjects and helped me think through a number of topics in advance.

The book addresses those who want a few months' getaway in a different environment as well as those who want to pull up stakes completely for a more `long term' change of scenery. Although written to some degree from an American perspective, the issues and questions raised apply no matter what your departure point.

Knorr raises subjects ranging from how to choose your destination, the family planning that's required, health care and medical coverage, insurance, passports, visas, bureaucracy, safety, financial considerations when operating away from home, what to take and what to leave behind, how to deal with the property you own, settling in, networking in your new environment as well as how to find a home, car, doctor, you name it, she thought of it.

Knorr gives you the facts but also addresses the emotional upheaval that can accompany such a move and helps you think through the permutations that always accompany a big decision! She writes with the wisdom of somehow who has passed this way and wants to save the reader some of the headaches she encountered while navigating the waters of setting up home in a new location. Her style is engaging, straight forward and very well informed .

If this book inspires you to take the leap, all the better, but even if I doesn't, it's a great read and will acquaint you with the adventure and challenges that await those who do. It is an easy read and jam packed with good information on virtually every aspect of making this kind of decision. If she missed anything, I'm not sure what it is.

There's nothing in this slim, superficial little book you can't discover for yourself in 30 minutes' focused Internet surfing. If you have genuinely never considered even the most basic issues associated with living abroad, and you find value in pronouncements like "Don't buy a fancy car over there" or a list of 800 numbers for overseas airlines, you might get some value from this. If you've traveled overseas with some frequency, know the culture you want to join, and now need practical advice on tax and money management, visa and residency requirements, property ownership rules, etc., this book is more or less useless. The author quotes a couple of immediate-circle friends extensively about their move to Portugal but appears to have done little serious research... admittedly it's difficult to write a guide that covers every country you might move to, but be warned this book is really an example of "once over lightly."

As a career consultant, I find myself responding to questions about the ultimate getaway: finding a new job (and maybe a new life) overseas. It sounds so romantic...till you get into the nitty-gritty of paperwork, taxes and health care.


This guide gets 5 stars simply because it does what it promises: offers a straightforward guide to those who are considering a move but have no place to begin. However, I would recommend (a) reading multiple guides and (b) talking to folks who have been there. Try to find someone who's been in your situation. A 60+ retiree won't benefit from talking to a twenty-something; a single person needs to understand how a culture interprets her lifestyle.

I spent a few years in Canada on a "landed immigrant" visa (equivalent to a green card) as a business school professor. It's been awhile, but I would say the info here seems accurate and balanced. The author assumes her readers will be concerned about safety and health care. Your beliefs, values, and interpretation of events will influence your own priorities.

But for a starting point, you could do a lot worse.

You CAN run away without buying this book. I did not learn anything that I didn't already know from my own intelligence and common sense. I was intrigued by the idea of chucking it all and starting anew in Europe. I purchased the book and anxiously awaited its arrival. The enthusiasm with which I began reading shortly waned. Do I really need a book to tell me to submit change of address cards to the post office? I kept waiting for the author's secrets to unfold. There are none in this book. If you want to run away from your current life... you need money and courage and language skills. I should write a book !!!

Although well written and easy to read, there isn't much insight or useful information for someone pondering the issue of retiring outside the country, what the living circumstances might be like, what the alternative countries might be like. Instead, the book gives a chapter called "Personal Packing for Runaways" with advice on what sort of clothes to pack for your exit departure. Well, that would depend on where you are going, your wealth, and many other factors. The book's advice is mainly to pack light. The list includes taking a watch, travel alarm, reading material, sunglasses, and camera. Oh, it advises taking "film" for the camera, whatever that is. Once upon a time there was something called "film" that was used with cameras.

The book focuses mostly on Europe, as the author moved to France and gives advice most suited to those with similar interests, which are different from mine.

The Grown-up's Guide to Running Away From Home: Making a New Life Abroad is a really great read. I'm planning to retire to Europe and it is proving very helpful. It asks many questions, some that are obvious and some not, has check lists (such as how many months before the move you need to have a mail box set up, find renters, move furniture, change subscriptions, etc.) It also helps solidify the process of making decisions about where to live and why. I'm loving it and recommend it to everyone!

This is a great book to read & use as a reference if you are at a cross-roads in your life, whether personally or professionally, especially if you've ever had the urge to move overseas.
The book addresses ways to accomplish your dream with suggestions on ways to do it whether by working, home exchanges, volunteering, etc. There are also many practical suggestions once you've arrived in your new country.

This is MUST reading for anyone wanting to make a major move in their lives, but were too confused with the details to do so!!! A fun, informative read for all adults.

Besides advocating working illegally if you can't find legitimate work abroad, the book has some good information but is pretty general--mainly of the sell-some-of-your-stuff before you go variety. It's very clear that the book is written only for people who are planning on traveling abroad for some extended period of time, as well as people who are middle-aged or older; there is no info about severing ties to the US. Most of the suggestions are also without the further needed information in the form of resources, agencies, etc. The author's repetitive suggestion of Mexico as a place to live is offensive and pointless, especially if you like in the southwest and are already invaded by Mexicans. Finally, while threre are some quotes from people who have decided to live abroad for a few months to a year, for some reason all of the quotes come from Portugal, Venezuela and Mexico. Seems to me there are thousands of cultures one could travel to but her bias is clearly to get people to these locales. The question is, Why?