Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family's Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family's Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island

by Sonia Marsh (Goodreads Author)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 36 ratings · 19 reviews

"A suburban family discovers that trading materialism for a simple life on a tropical island helps them reconnect in unexpected ways."
What do you do when life in sunny Southern California starts to seem plastic, materialistic and just plain hellish?
For Sonia and Duke Marsh, the answer was to sell their worldly goods and move to an unspoiled, simpler life with their three s...more

Paperback, 328 pages

Published August 21st 2012 by Gutsy Publications

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 235)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 26, 2013 Sandra Bornstein rated it 4 of 5 stars

After visiting Sonia Marsh's website, Gutsy Living, I was intrigued. I couldn't wait to read her memoir. I wondered what would cause a family to uproot themselves from the comforts of Southern California and move to a Third World country. I also questioned what this family hoped to gain after they relocated to an unlikely location, Belize.

The opening chapter provided a taste of what they encountered in Belize. I immediately knew that life would be more difficult than they had ever anticipated. U...more After visiting Sonia Marsh's website, Gutsy Living, I was intrigued. I couldn't wait to read her memoir. I wondered what would cause a family to uproot themselves from the comforts of Southern California and move to a Third World country. I also questioned what this family hoped to gain after they relocated to an unlikely location, Belize.

The opening chapter provided a taste of what they encountered in Belize. I immediately knew that life would be more difficult than they had ever anticipated. Unless the conditions changed, I immediately sensed that whatever they hoped to gain would be an upward climb. I predicted that they would return sooner rather than later.

The second chapter started to answer my first question. Sonia openly starts to discuss the dynamics of her family and her fears. Surprisingly, she doesn't shield any of her minor children from the possibility of embarrassment. Sonia talks freely about her eldest son's inappropriate behavior and the fact that materialism and entitlement issues were wrecking havoc with her household and that her husband needed a slower paced legal position.

After coming to grips with the dysfunctional nature of the Marsh family, Sonia shifts back to life in Belize in the next chapter. Additional hardships prevail. From this point forward, the reader follows the family's adventures as they learn to live outside their comfort zone. Sometimes the stories mirror the trials and tribulations of living as an expat in a foreign country and other times the tales are unique to the Marsh family. The story occasionally reverts back to their life in the United States so the reader can have a better understanding of their decision making process.

The pace of the book is inconsistent. Sometimes it flows freely and other times it drags. I was content to put the book down when I started to lose interest.

Having lived as an expat in a foreign country, I can relate to some of her cultural struggles and apprehensions. However, at times she appears naïve. Most people would do thorough research regarding, neighborhoods, schools, medical providers and business opportunities before moving in the states or abroad. Before I relocated from the Midwest to a mountain state, I did my homework and checked out schools and health care. For whatever reason, she preferred to punt. Perhaps, that was an intricate part of her desire to escape the comforts of American society.

Anyone reading the book will see why few are willing to leave behind an American lifestyle for an unknown Third World environment. Those willing to gamble have mixed results. Some end up disillusioned and return home while others learn to adapt and figure out how to fit in. In this particular case, the Marsh family was able to benefit from their time away and drew closer as a family, but at the same time could not adhere to their new community's ways. Their inability to conform ultimately sent them packing.

Much is to be gained from an expat experience. Living outside their comfort zone had a profound effect on Sonia's family. The lessons that she learned from her adventure will hopefully help others who face a similar situation..(less)

like · see review

Mar 26, 2013 Bonnie Kassel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I admire people who have the confidence and strength to make a change instead of sitting around complaining. But what Sonia Marsh writes about in Freeways to Flip-Flops, only a fraction of the people on the planet would have the courage to do. Sonia didn't grow up feeling rooted to one place. She had an international background which allowed her to look out in the world for a solution to problems. When all three of her sons demonstrated a sense of entitlement absorbed from living in California,...more I admire people who have the confidence and strength to make a change instead of sitting around complaining. But what Sonia Marsh writes about in Freeways to Flip-Flops, only a fraction of the people on the planet would have the courage to do. Sonia didn't grow up feeling rooted to one place. She had an international background which allowed her to look out in the world for a solution to problems. When all three of her sons demonstrated a sense of entitlement absorbed from living in California, and the eldest began to spin out of control, she and her husband moved the entire family to Belize in Central America.

I thought this would be the perfect book to take on vacation, expecting luscious descriptions of turquoise water and tropical fruit as the Marsh's discovered paradise. But Freeways to Flip-Flops turned out to be about much more. The author was completely honest in her descriptions of herself and each family member, as well as the country of Belize itself. I laughed out loud picturing Sonia dressed in a little cotton spandex dress from Victoria's Secret meeting the expat community at a party for the first time, cringed reading about the bugs in the house and mangy dogs in the street, and felt my blood boil at the reaction of small petty minds when she and husband tried to start a business. I loved this book and the more I read, the more I liked Sonia. By the end of the book, I felt as if I knew her.

Like most things, "life is what happens while you're busy making plans" and everything didn't turn out the way they thought it would. But the Marsh family grew closer as they were forced to rely on each other and her children were changed forever in the most positive way. As adults they will be more likely to take risks, embrace adventure and most importantly, accept different ways of thinking. Sometimes we all need a reminder that life's too short to play it safe. In the most enjoyable entertaining book, Freeways to Flip-Flops is just the reminder most of us need.
(less)

like · see review

Aug 23, 2012 Belinda Nicoll rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sonia Marsh takes you full circle in this thoughtful memoir about a family's rite of passage. Worried about their oldest son's unwanted behavior, Marsh and her husband decide to opt out of glitzy California and move to the echo-friendly island of Belize with their three sons and the family dog. In short, easy-to-read vignettes, Marsh sketches the family's ups and downs as they try and engage with a Robinson Crusoe type of existence in a place where the attitudes of locals and other expats are re...more

like · see review

Aug 14, 2012 Muriel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am sure that this is a question that haunts any mother: what would you do if your teenage son was going off the track? Would you send him away to try to go and sort himself out? Would you try to deal with the issue yourself? Would you become depressed? Would you seek a family therapist?
Faced with such a situation, Sonia devised an innovative plan: she moved all the family to Belize for a year.
Her move surprised everybody, but somehow worked. Having a different pace of life and having to deal w...more

like · see review

Aug 03, 2012 Sharon Lippincott added it

Shelves: memoir

Sonia Marsh’s memoir, Freeways to Flipflops, gripped my attention from the first sentence and held me spell-bound through the last word. Lots of people dream of escaping to live on a tropical island. Few actually do. Author Sonia Marsh and her family did just that for a variety of reasons. The adults were suffering career and California Lifestyle burnout. One of their sons was heading down a very bad path. In desperation, they heeded the call of Belize, selling everything and moving to an island...more Sonia Marsh’s memoir, Freeways to Flipflops, gripped my attention from the first sentence and held me spell-bound through the last word. Lots of people dream of escaping to live on a tropical island. Few actually do. Author Sonia Marsh and her family did just that for a variety of reasons. The adults were suffering career and California Lifestyle burnout. One of their sons was heading down a very bad path. In desperation, they heeded the call of Belize, selling everything and moving to an island along its coast.

The sailing was anything but smooth. Their first bug infested shack was a nightmare, but they managed to find a more satisfactory one to buy. Or so it seemed. Until they ran afoul of local culture and got snarled up in island politics. Over the course of the year, Marsh gradually unwound; then the tension began building again. The subtitle of the book gives the ending away. They only lived in Belize for a year, but it was a transformative year, and the family who returned to the fringes of their high-rolling former neighborhood was not the family who had left it.

Marsh has done a superb job of crafting this story. While she writes of feeling mellow and discovering, for example, that she can, after all, meditate, she keeps the story pace moving so there is no chance readers will fall into a trance along with her. Her details are chosen with surgical precision, each serving a purpose, and her descriptions are often sublime. She doesn’t pull any punches. If she was as outspoken about Belize’s inbred politics and tourist-fleecing practices while there as she is in the book, it’s no surprise the natives closed ranks. Neither does she spare her family. A visit from her husband’s mother and aunt … I wonder if Marsh is still welcome for Thanksgiving!

The magic in the book is the way she ties the tense moments together with off-beat humor. Who would expect to smile at a description of spreading gumbo-limbo bark gunk on a boy’s back to cure a flaming case of poisonwood tree rash (worse than poison ivy)? Thanks to her deft description, I did just that, again and again.

This book has totally altered my outlook, at least my outlook on life in the tropics. From now on, every time I think about tropical islands, I’ll think of Freeways to Flipflops and wonder how closely life there resembles life in Belize. It’s that kind of book. It sticks with you.

This review was originally published at StoryCircleBookReviews
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 29, 2012 Kathleen Pooler rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sonia Marsh’s writing voice in Freeway to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Year of Gutsy Living on Tropical Island is so genuine and convincing, I felt I was not just reading a compelling story but that I was watching a movie I was in. In her first chapter, she pulls me right into her story with a harrowing scene of the first storm encountered since uprooting her family to an island in Belize, Central America. Once I knew she had uprooted her family, I wanted to know what ever possessed her to make such a...more Sonia Marsh’s writing voice in Freeway to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Year of Gutsy Living on Tropical Island is so genuine and convincing, I felt I was not just reading a compelling story but that I was watching a movie I was in. In her first chapter, she pulls me right into her story with a harrowing scene of the first storm encountered since uprooting her family to an island in Belize, Central America. Once I knew she had uprooted her family, I wanted to know what ever possessed her to make such a drastic decision. She immediately answers this question in the next chapter as she weaves in the circumstances that have led her and her husband to sell everything and move to a tropical island. Through honest reflection, excellent character development and well-paced scenes filled with just the right amount of sensory details, I see a family burdened with societal expectations, materialism and a teenaged son who is going down the wrong path. I feel the desperation of this family to make a change and by the time they are closing the door to their Orange County,California home,I am relieved and excited for them.

Her story moves along smoothly through vivid scenes depicting the lush tropical surroundings, the laid back local people, the relatively primitive housing arrangements and lack of amenities that the family has to adjust to. The writing is crisp, and engaging and continues to make me, the reader, feel involved and invested in the experience. Sonia weaves in her reflections masterfully and honestly which adds both depth and clarity and makes me empathize with her. I found myself putting myself in her place and rooting for her.

She intertwines the light and dark messages of seeing her family come together, her oldest son become a serious student, the beauty of the turquoise, crystal clear water and flourishing plant growth with her concerns about the subtle changes in her husband’s motivation to work, her younger son’s health and difficulty adjusting to the move and the frustration of dealing with the local people’s lack of concern about time. I feel her discomfort while sensing her resolve to make it all work for her family.

She crafts a compelling turning point when a business decision on the part of her husband wreaks havoc for the locals and clouds their vision of the paradise they thought they had moved to, leading the family to make a decision about their next step.

Then she brings us full circle to a satisfying conclusion which signals growth and transformation for this family. Through it all, we see a typical family who set out on an adventure and return from it changed and renewed. This stunning memoir with a solid story structure, authentic characters and a universal and believable message left me feeling entertained and inspired.
(less)

like · see review

Aug 12, 2012 Madeline Sharples rated it 5 of 5 stars

From the minute I started reading Sonia Marsh’s memoir Freeways to Flip-Flops I wanted to know how her story was going to turn out. I felt like I was reading a thrilling mystery: about a family deciding to sell everything and move to a tropical island in a third-world country in Central America. Though they were motivated to get away from materialistic Southern California and to resolve the growing problems with their teenager, the oldest of three sons, I wanted to know if a move to Belize was r...more

like · see review

Oct 12, 2012 Rhoda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Firstly, as I won this book as part of First Reads, I would like to thank the author for the chance to read and review this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about a family who moved to Belize for a year. After some problems with their eldest teenage son, Sonia & Duke decided to move the family to Belize in order to try to mend the fractures in their family. This book is about the experiences they had and the trials they faced in living in a third world country. Interestingly, when things...more

like · see review

Aug 22, 2012 Michelle Bendetti added it

"Freeways to Flip-Flops" is quite different than I thought it would be. Who hasn't said they want to throw it all away and move to a tropical island once or twice? I know I have. So when I started this book, I thought it would be an entertaining account of a year spent in a tropical paradise, just like a week vacation only longer. I was wrong! This book is so much more than that. From the reasons that the author and her husband decide to leave Southern California to the actual living conditions...more

like · see review

Aug 13, 2012 Gigi Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had been looking forward to reading this book by Sonia Marsh for a few years now. And I must say I found this book "Freeways to Flip-Flops" an exciting book to read from the first page right to the end. It is filled with her year of adventures in Belize with her family. She chronicles all her experiences of living in a third-world country including the many ups and downs they experienced, especially living in a different culture, and way of life in Belize.

I found it interesting how when Sonia...more

like · see review

Aug 27, 2012 Doreen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-memoirs, favorite-nonfiction, nonfiction

In the epilogue, Sonia reflects, ‘Had it not been for a leaking toilet, we might never have healed our family.’ Readers are offered an intimate glimpse into the mind and emotional state of a mother whose fears about the deteriorating state of her family become the courage that sets into motion an extraordinary journey.
Throughout my read of this captivating memoir, a question continued to sit with me. “How far off the ledge of conventional normalcy would I step in order to regain the integrit...more
In the epilogue, Sonia reflects, ‘Had it not been for a leaking toilet, we might never have healed our family.’ Readers are offered an intimate glimpse into the mind and emotional state of a mother whose fears about the deteriorating state of her family become the courage that sets into motion an extraordinary journey.
Throughout my read of this captivating memoir, a question continued to sit with me. “How far off the ledge of conventional normalcy would I step in order to regain the integrity of my family?” Sonia Marsh and her husband, Duke, chose a very risky unconventional path in order to repair the rift that was beginning to shatter the stability of their family. Sonia and Duke did not do a trial run in Belize, a third-world country that is without most of the comforts of home. Their gutsy move involved the sale of house, car, furniture, appliances and most of the comforts that living in a more civilized country has to offer. For this family of 2 adults and 3 sons, everything had to fit in 10 suitcases. The snafus regarding airline accommodations for Cookie had me clenching my hands as Sonia jumped through tons of hoops in order to later get her dog on board and keep her safe.
By far, the gutsiest move to me was Sonia’s willingness to openly write about the hardships and reactions during this physically and emotionally demanding journey. Duke and Sonia’s three sons, Steve, Alec and Josh gave her permission to bare their most intimate human reactions and feelings. Imagine having so much less and renting a thatched ‘palapa’ hut with gaps in the walls made of ‘skinny pimento tree trunks.’ Though temporary, the family had to make do with ‘stinky water’ and all manner of creepy crawling insects like ‘half-inch ants, huge roaches and scorpions.’ Even after the family moved to a beachfront villa, the availability of potable water was usually an issue.
Stories of adventure are my favorites. FREEWAYS TO FLIP-FLOPS offered me many thrills relating to climate issues, physically demanding hardships and challenges involving cultural differences. More endearing to me, however, was Sonia’s honest revelations of each family member’s thoughts and emotions. She masterfully wove these together in a way that reveals to the reader the emergence of her family’s renewed ability to cherish each other again. In the epilogue, we read, “All of us, my sons included, have learned to take risks in life, to embrace adventure and to accept different ways of thinking about life’s challenges.” How much was the Marsh's risk worth? In my point of view, the risk was priceless.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Susan Weidener rated it 4 of 5 stars

All of us dream of escaping a deadening routine and life, but few act on it. In this memoir, Sonia Marsh takes us on a wild journey of risking what families rarely do . . . sell the house, chuck all the material possessions and move to a Third World Country.

Sonia's husband, Duke, is exhausted from traffic jams and the endless commutes that characterize life in Orange County, CA. Her oldest son, Steve, is headed down a defiant and possibly destructive path. Sonia's desire to "heal" her family and...more All of us dream of escaping a deadening routine and life, but few act on it. In this memoir, Sonia Marsh takes us on a wild journey of risking what families rarely do . . . sell the house, chuck all the material possessions and move to a Third World Country.

Sonia's husband, Duke, is exhausted from traffic jams and the endless commutes that characterize life in Orange County, CA. Her oldest son, Steve, is headed down a defiant and possibly destructive path. Sonia's desire to "heal" her family and teach her three sons that there is more than video games, materialism and competition, leads to a path of drastic change. Despite her reservations after a visit to Belize and her own intuition that Belize may not be right for her family, she and Duke take the plunge anyway. The ups and downs, the steps and missteps, of moving from California to Belize, are both comical and heartbreaking.

Sonia soon finds that dreams collide with reality. She deals with a son who dislikes change and misses his friends back in California, a husband who can't let the "dream" go, an oldest son instant messaging his girlfriend back in California until 3 a.m. They are a homesick family trying to find their way back to each other.

"In Belize you didn't have to fit in, it was okay to be different," Marsh writes. But even that myth fades when the Marshes discover a social caste system where those in the bigger villas look down on those with less. The also discover unfriendly expats, rats in their oven, cock roaches that eat their way through ziplock bags . . . Then walking the beach one starry night in their flip-flops, the family looks up to see a shooting star and senses the possibility of magic, the beginning realization that beauty is not so much a place, as a state of mind, of being connected to one another as a family. That and the adventure that comes with trying something different and taking a risk, brings them together and is an important life lesson to be shared and savored.

What makes this memoir worth reading is the honesty of the author; not sugar-coating the family's experiences and interactions with each other. I would have liked less description of the family's lifestye in Belize and more reflection from the author. "I always felt it was impossible to escape mentally unless I escaped physically," Marsh writes with honesty and insight. I wanted more of this . .. a deeper glimpse into who Sonia Marsh is when she isn't juggling all the balls, dancing the dance, of trying to be the best possible wife and mother. (less)

like · see review

Jan 15, 2013 Janie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Met the author at book club yesterday, and she is a spunky lady with the brand, "gutsy living." Wouldn't we all like to think we were gutsy in some way? She relocated her family to Belize from Orange County California because her teenage son had become completely unmanageable. Her husband was also trying to escape the rat race of an unfulfilling career as an attorney. They discovered new insurmountable challenges, and Belize turned out to not be the anticipated paradise, yet they accomplished th...more

like · see review

Aug 17, 2012 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

Escaping the stress and materialism of California to a third-world country is really getting away from it all. Sonia Marsh kept me entertained wondering and worrying right along with her whether her family of five's adventure would turn out as she hoped. Loved learning about life in Belize and was surprised by how complex an island paradise can be. Honest and well-written, this series of short and practically standalone chapters works together to create a colorful, sometimes shocking picture of...more

like · see review

Sep 23, 2012 Karen Vandenbosch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Won this on goodreads and really enjoyed it! Fantastic real life adventure. I commend the author for taking the plunge and spending a year in Belize. What an awesome experience and interesting to read what they learned from it. Thanks!

1 like · like · see review

Oct 28, 2012 Regina rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this look into the ups and downs a family experiences when uprooted and re-located to Belize. Witnessing the variety of impacts the move had on each family member, from positive to negative, yielded an interesting look into the different ways people respond to change. It proved an interesting cultural assessment of Belizian life, often a stark contrast to the well-off, materialistic lives the family had grown accustom to in California. I enjoyed getting to know this family through this d...more

like · see review

Sep 23, 2012 Karen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

This was really interesting. I could never do what this family did and I don't think I will be visiting Belize anytime soon!

like · see review

Sep 25, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. An interesting book about a family who moves from California to Belize. Some portions are more well-written than others, it reads more like a journal than a memoir.

like · see review

Jan 10, 2013 Samhy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, english

coming soon

like · see review

May 14, 2013 Chloe marked it as to-read

Apr 04, 2013 Beccy Hall rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 02, 2013 Carlos rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 29, 2013 Lynn marked it as to-read

Apr 08, 2013 Ingrid rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 25, 2013 Jacqueline marked it as to-read

Mar 22, 2013 Carol marked it as to-read

Mar 18, 2013 Tracie Nicholson marked it as to-read

Mar 14, 2013 Helle Madsen marked it as to-read

Mar 14, 2013 Trudi marked it as to-read

Mar 13, 2013 Win marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Do you want to chuck it all and move to your "dream" location? If so where is that?	1	5	Aug 11, 2012 06:16am

Genres

Non Fiction

3 users

Autobiography > Memoir

3 users

See top shelves...

About Sonia Marsh

Having lived in many countries – Denmark, Nigeria, France, England, the U.S. and Belize – Sonia Marsh considers herself a citizen of the world. She holds a degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, U.K., and now lives in Southern California with her husband, Duke.
Sonia prides herself on being a “Gutsy” woman who can pack her carry-on and move to another continent in one...more

More about Sonia Marsh...

Books by Sonia Marsh

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Freeways to Flip-...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family's Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island
avg rating	preview: Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family's Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island Goodreads rating: 4.08 (36 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15768966-freeways-to-flip-flops?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343192270l/15768966.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15768966-freeways-to-flip-flops?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family's Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island by Sonia Marsh[/url]

Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family's Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Genres

About Sonia Marsh

Books by Sonia Marsh

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Freeways to Flip-...

new topic
Discuss This Book