Mark Ehrman

although i marked this as "read," you can only read so far into this appropriately-timed book before it becomes a list of countries and their pluses and minuses re: the expatriate lifestyle. there are very helpful facts, such as the legality/safety of open homosexuality in each country, etc. i enjoyed looking up the few countries i might be interested in spending some time in, and then it was kind of done for me.

the first part, though, is a useful and interesting overview of all of the different ways to legally and illegally live in other countries, as well as some things to keep in mind during and after the process of "getting out." the first was mostly interesting to me as a list of things i don't have to do if i ever want to go spend more than a few weeks visiting my family in poland, as my grandmother (on the non-polish side) was born in ireland and my irish citizenship was recently approved. that process is in here, along with quite a few others.

i really liked the narratives from expatriates who left this country for a wide variety of reasons, even though, as someone else here has mentioned, there were quite a few people i wouldn't want to hang out with. the girl who moved to the country i would love to live in most was kind of a jerk, and didn't say much but "waaah, people here aren't as nice as they were when i was a tourist." it would have been helpful to get more than one point of view. still, having all these different voices giving advice or telling their stories helps add more depth to the facts listed elsewhere. but unless you are dedicated to the idea of leaving america but aren't sure how to do it or where to go, i would borrow this from a friend, or from the library.… (altro)