“As with any food rich in nutrition, this book is best sampled regularly and digested slowly.” Douglas Ota

‘Expatland’, that vast unknown, often represents great opportunity tempered with challenge. In The Emotionally Resilient Expat, Linda combines deep research with professional insight and numerous and varied anecdotes, to demonstrate everyone has a baseline of emotional resilience. “However,” she emphasizes, “we need to genuinely care for our ‘self’.”

A mere glance at the range and caliber of the reviewers and one feels this should be a staple textbook for every expat. Replete with detail and resources it is easily digestible and enjoyable to consume. Readers are offered an overview of the evolving expat scene, extensive information from global research and trends, and rewarding tools such as FACTORS, (Family, Awareness, Communication, Transitions, Optimism, Rituals, Significance) and visualization. The layout is clear, and key messages are emphasized. It is intelligently structured, enabling you to dip in and out, but with an energy that entices you to keep reading.

Jammed with tips, most notably “live as though you’ll be there forever,” the book helps readers move outside their comfort zones, and adopt strategies to make transition more fun for everyone: journaling, blogging, writing, getting creative, eating the right food and even the importance of playing ping-pong on the empty walls of your new home.

It’s as if by reading the book one is participating in an intricate dissection of the expat experience. Surrounded by the world’s ‘expat experts’, readers are cultivating, in that lab, all the frameworks, attitudes, approaches and rituals necessary to build a deep understanding of the expat existence and the emotional awareness to thrive in it. All the while mentored, questioned and supported by Linda herself.

The publication concludes with a long and very personal note from the author. As readers who have been wholeheartedly invited into Linda’s very personal journey, it feels right to close the book in this way. As she states, “In the end we muddle through and survive […] eventually we even begin to thrive.” Reading this book means you no longer have to muddle through; now you can learn how to thrive and make the most of your expat experience.

Ginny Philps

Editor