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Expat Women: Confessions - 50 Answers to Your Real-Life Questions about Living Abroad
If you have ever wondered what it is like to live abroad, work abroad or accompany your working partner abroad, this book is for you. If you are already living the expat life but have mixed emotions about settling in, rebuilding your identity, relationship changes, successfully managing your money and career, raising children far from home or repatriating, this book is also for you.
In Expat Women: Confessions - 50 Answers to Your Real-Life Questions about Living Abroad, experienced expats Andrea Martins and Victoria Hepworth share a wealth of wisdom and positive tips to motivate you at every stage of your expat journey. They cover popular topics like leaving family back home, transitioning quickly, intercultural relationships, parenting bilingual children and work-life balance. They also address more difficult issues such as expat infidelity, divorce, alcoholism and reverse culture shock. This unique book is the perfect addition to every expat bookshelf.
"A must for anyone who is, has been or will be an expat!" Peggy Love, GMS, CERP, President, FIGT (Families in Global Transition)
"A terrific book! Real-life examples of the challenges expat women face, with insightful and practical advice, this should be on the must-read list for anyone involved with expatriate administration." Andrea David, Head of Global Mobility, Bloomberg LP
"What a great book! For the first time, a real-life manual that will reassure every expat woman that she is not alone in her unspoken feelings and questions. I loved it!" Ruth E. Van Reken, Co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds
"This book is a great resource for all expat women." Leslie Brant Teixeira, Director, U.S. Department of State Family Liaison Office
"Expat Women: Confessions is a wonderful addition to the literature on the experiences of women during their lives abroad. Andrea and Victoria answer difficult questions with empathy, an upbeat attitude, and wisdom. This is a book that every expat woman should keep at her bedside for the moments that inevitably surface when abroad and even after repatriation." Elizabeth Perelstein, President, School Choice International and named one of Fortune Magazine s 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs (2010)
In Expat Women: Confessions - 50 Answers to Your Real-Life Questions about Living Abroad, experienced expats Andrea Martins and Victoria Hepworth share a wealth of wisdom and positive tips to motivate you at every stage of your expat journey. They cover popular topics like leaving family back home, transitioning quickly, intercultural relationships, parenting bilingual children and work-life balance. They also address more difficult issues such as expat infidelity, divorce, alcoholism and reverse culture shock. This unique book is the perfect addition to every expat bookshelf.
"A must for anyone who is, has been or will be an expat!" Peggy Love, GMS, CERP, President, FIGT (Families in Global Transition)
"A terrific book! Real-life examples of the challenges expat women face, with insightful and practical advice, this should be on the must-read list for anyone involved with expatriate administration." Andrea David, Head of Global Mobility, Bloomberg LP
"What a great book! For the first time, a real-life manual that will reassure every expat woman that she is not alone in her unspoken feelings and questions. I loved it!" Ruth E. Van Reken, Co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds
"This book is a great resource for all expat women." Leslie Brant Teixeira, Director, U.S. Department of State Family Liaison Office
"Expat Women: Confessions is a wonderful addition to the literature on the experiences of women during their lives abroad. Andrea and Victoria answer difficult questions with empathy, an upbeat attitude, and wisdom. This is a book that every expat woman should keep at her bedside for the moments that inevitably surface when abroad and even after repatriation." Elizabeth Perelstein, President, School Choice International and named one of Fortune Magazine s 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs (2010)
- GenresTravelNonfiction
274 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 14, 2013
On my blog and in my App I choose to focus on the bright side of life in Rome as an expat. That said, expatriate life is not always a prosecco in palazzos and weekday lunch outings. Living away from home, family, friends can be lonely and isolating no matter how glamorous the current post is.
Happy or struggling, new to game or seasoned old-timer, Expat Confessions: 50 answers to Your Real Life Questions about Living Abroad is an excellent read and useful resource.
I am a longtime fan of the website expatwomen.com. No longer an "active" site, it is still a great place to start when looking for information on the expat life.
Andrea Martins has distilled the very best of the vast amount of information from the super useful site, particularly the Expat Confessions section. The book tackles subjects as broad as settling in and culture shock to knottier problems like alcoholism and teen rebellion to negotiating difficult expat friendships, career and the identity issues that can come along being a "trailing spouse," She offers concrete examples and corresponding practical advice and resources to help expat women make the most of our time abroad.
Expat life is more good than bad. Life in Rome is more sunshine than gray skies. Get this book and keep looking on the bright side.
Happy or struggling, new to game or seasoned old-timer, Expat Confessions: 50 answers to Your Real Life Questions about Living Abroad is an excellent read and useful resource.
I am a longtime fan of the website expatwomen.com. No longer an "active" site, it is still a great place to start when looking for information on the expat life.
Andrea Martins has distilled the very best of the vast amount of information from the super useful site, particularly the Expat Confessions section. The book tackles subjects as broad as settling in and culture shock to knottier problems like alcoholism and teen rebellion to negotiating difficult expat friendships, career and the identity issues that can come along being a "trailing spouse," She offers concrete examples and corresponding practical advice and resources to help expat women make the most of our time abroad.
Expat life is more good than bad. Life in Rome is more sunshine than gray skies. Get this book and keep looking on the bright side.
February 5, 2013
I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Expat Women: Confessions doesn't seek to be an in-depth guide to every expat location or issue, but instead is an excellent introduction to some of the emotional and practical hurdles you might face. I was impressed by the breadth of topics, including pitfalls I would never have considered, and there is a comprehensive resource section. The eventual return to your passport country, where your accent and appearance won't get you off the hook for a cultural faux pas, is mentioned too.
My only real criticism is in the structure: the book seems to have grown from shorter online pieces and some of the material feels duplicative. And while I have no doubt about the usefulness of some contact with other expats for support, I do wish more emphasis had been placed on the power of volunteering to gain purpose, a daily routine, local friends and most likely, new skills.
By all means, read this book early in your expat research, but be prepared to seek out more detailed advice for your own location and situation. And don't forget that your own positive attitude is probably the biggest single determinant of your happiness as an expat.
Expat Women: Confessions doesn't seek to be an in-depth guide to every expat location or issue, but instead is an excellent introduction to some of the emotional and practical hurdles you might face. I was impressed by the breadth of topics, including pitfalls I would never have considered, and there is a comprehensive resource section. The eventual return to your passport country, where your accent and appearance won't get you off the hook for a cultural faux pas, is mentioned too.
My only real criticism is in the structure: the book seems to have grown from shorter online pieces and some of the material feels duplicative. And while I have no doubt about the usefulness of some contact with other expats for support, I do wish more emphasis had been placed on the power of volunteering to gain purpose, a daily routine, local friends and most likely, new skills.
By all means, read this book early in your expat research, but be prepared to seek out more detailed advice for your own location and situation. And don't forget that your own positive attitude is probably the biggest single determinant of your happiness as an expat.
May 24, 2011
I'm a frequent reader of the Expat Women website. When the founders of the site contacted bloggers to read and review their new book, Expat Women: Confessions -- 50 Answers to Your Real-Life Questions About Living Abroad, I was excited and couldn't wait to start reading.
The founder of Expat Women has been compiling letters and answers from the popular Confessions column on the website and has put the most common subjects and frequently returned to topics into one book for easy reference. What I think everyone will take away from this book is that "You are not alone." Moving within your own country, even within your own town, is hard. Moving to a new country is very hard, no matter how prepared, organized, determined, or open-minded you are. It helps to hear others' stories for inspiration.
The book is organized into different topics, such as culture shock, raising children, death and divorce overseas, and moving back to your home country. There are questions from single women, women who are the working partner, and women who are the "trailing spouse." The women featured come from a range of different countries and backgrounds, not just the United States, which emphasizes the fact that we can all relate, because we all have some of the same thoughts from time to time.
I don't consider myself a seasoned expat, but I found myself already knowing the answers to some of the questions. One problem I found with the book is that regardless of the problem, the answers were similar or overlapped. There is a lot of advice geared around getting professional counseling, which seems like a difficult thing to do if one of your issues is a language barrier and there are no counselors or therapists practicing in your native language. There is apparently a huge market for life coaching, especially those who practice expat life coaching, of which I was unaware. Most of the advice is to relax and think through the problems and decisions and to have a positive attitude. Exercise and try to make friends. The same pep talk was repeated several times. I think there's more value in the variety of questions, knowing that whatever problem you have there's one other person out there with the same problem. The answer isn't always as important as knowing someone else already asked the question.
There is a lot of practical advice on what sorts of documents and paperwork we should all have in order, especially for when emergencies arise, such as financial papers, health records, wills, and documents pertaining to legal issues in your host country.
After reading this book my feelings that as a State Department expat I think we have it much easier than other expats were confirmed. As much as we grumble sometimes, we have an automatic network in place if we choose to use it. Much of the advice given in this book is similar to what you'll get from the Family Liaison Office. Our housing is mostly taken care of, we have medical personnel and security officers on-call a lot of the time. We have mail service. We jump in to a new assignment filled with people that have just gone through the same move and we have instant access to those people to show us the ropes of a new city.
I think the book can be a valuable resource for some women. It's easy to get so involved in our own little worlds that we forget there are others out there like us but sometimes it's nice to identify with someone.
The founder of Expat Women has been compiling letters and answers from the popular Confessions column on the website and has put the most common subjects and frequently returned to topics into one book for easy reference. What I think everyone will take away from this book is that "You are not alone." Moving within your own country, even within your own town, is hard. Moving to a new country is very hard, no matter how prepared, organized, determined, or open-minded you are. It helps to hear others' stories for inspiration.
The book is organized into different topics, such as culture shock, raising children, death and divorce overseas, and moving back to your home country. There are questions from single women, women who are the working partner, and women who are the "trailing spouse." The women featured come from a range of different countries and backgrounds, not just the United States, which emphasizes the fact that we can all relate, because we all have some of the same thoughts from time to time.
I don't consider myself a seasoned expat, but I found myself already knowing the answers to some of the questions. One problem I found with the book is that regardless of the problem, the answers were similar or overlapped. There is a lot of advice geared around getting professional counseling, which seems like a difficult thing to do if one of your issues is a language barrier and there are no counselors or therapists practicing in your native language. There is apparently a huge market for life coaching, especially those who practice expat life coaching, of which I was unaware. Most of the advice is to relax and think through the problems and decisions and to have a positive attitude. Exercise and try to make friends. The same pep talk was repeated several times. I think there's more value in the variety of questions, knowing that whatever problem you have there's one other person out there with the same problem. The answer isn't always as important as knowing someone else already asked the question.
There is a lot of practical advice on what sorts of documents and paperwork we should all have in order, especially for when emergencies arise, such as financial papers, health records, wills, and documents pertaining to legal issues in your host country.
After reading this book my feelings that as a State Department expat I think we have it much easier than other expats were confirmed. As much as we grumble sometimes, we have an automatic network in place if we choose to use it. Much of the advice given in this book is similar to what you'll get from the Family Liaison Office. Our housing is mostly taken care of, we have medical personnel and security officers on-call a lot of the time. We have mail service. We jump in to a new assignment filled with people that have just gone through the same move and we have instant access to those people to show us the ropes of a new city.
I think the book can be a valuable resource for some women. It's easy to get so involved in our own little worlds that we forget there are others out there like us but sometimes it's nice to identify with someone.
December 17, 2021
Some valuable pattern information for living abroad. A lot though is self help with the extra element of being an expat.
August 18, 2011
I am sure this book is a valuable resource of information for Ex Pat Women in general, just not for me. I do not really fit into any of the categories, except as an ‘Empty Nester’. Whilst it was not of use to me I still found it made for an interesting insight into the problems that others may face. Although I visit the Expat Women Website I am not familiar with the Confessions column which is I believe where the majority of the material in this book first appeared.
Moving to a new country although an exciting experience can be hard, inspiration and guidance with various problems can be found if you read the stories of the women, whose real life questions are used as the basis for the book. The subjects covered are very varied and include subjects such as the language barrier, raising children, death, divorce and so on; including advice on the different sorts of documentation that may be required.
If you are about to become an ex-pat for the first time or you are already living abroad but having problems settling in, then this book is probably of interest to you. If nothing else you will realise that you are not alone and that your queries and problems have already been experienced by thousands of women before you! There is certainly plenty of practical, sensible and helpful advice to be found within this, for want of a better description, little manual of advice for Ex Pat Women.
For author information and further links please visit LindyLouMac's Book Reviews
http://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogspo...
Moving to a new country although an exciting experience can be hard, inspiration and guidance with various problems can be found if you read the stories of the women, whose real life questions are used as the basis for the book. The subjects covered are very varied and include subjects such as the language barrier, raising children, death, divorce and so on; including advice on the different sorts of documentation that may be required.
If you are about to become an ex-pat for the first time or you are already living abroad but having problems settling in, then this book is probably of interest to you. If nothing else you will realise that you are not alone and that your queries and problems have already been experienced by thousands of women before you! There is certainly plenty of practical, sensible and helpful advice to be found within this, for want of a better description, little manual of advice for Ex Pat Women.
For author information and further links please visit LindyLouMac's Book Reviews
http://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogspo...
March 17, 2013
As an expat I found this book incredibly helpful and insightful. It deals with the real expat problems, some of which don't fit the image of an Expat Woman. Highly recommended for prospective, new and seasoned expats (and not just the women).
July 3, 2012
Fun for expats to read and see themselves.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews