Mark Derksen
Head of Global Mobility Booking.com
Over the last five years, Booking.com has provided The Mobile Life to our employees and their partners who we have moved globally. It is a must for anyone looking for effective and practical strategies to manage the relocation experience.
Suzaan Pretorius
International Business Studies, Business and Adminstration College Utrecht
Using The Mobile Life in my lessons, ensures me that students are fully equipped to take on any move abroad. The resources and practical approach shared by the authors make it easy to apply for students of all ages. Analysing their current and future lives is the first step of blooming into the great adventure of living abroad.
Markus Droll
Vice President, Nigeria and Gabon, Shell Upstream International
There are many practical books and guides that can help us relocate, but most of them are fairly mechanical and focus on the immediate needs and tasks. This book is different because it encourages the reader to better understand their own motives and drivers for a move. In turn, this fosters a more positive state of mind, an essential ingredient for surviving an often challenging experience.
Painted against the canvas of Shackelton’s most famous adventure, I found the book both entertaining as well as thought provoking. I am sure this book will be of value to those who move their life for the first time, as well as those who have spent most of their lives moving’.
Renée Jones-Bos, Secretary-General
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
The staff of foreign services around the world face the challenge of adapting to rapidly changing international circumstances. To do so they need to be flexible and willing to accept difficult situations that will affect them and their families. This book gives practical advice on how to approach this challenge: how to adapt, be prepared and engage with your new life. I found this book innovative, easy to read and useful for a broad range of readers. I highly recommend it.
Billy Allwood
Founder/Owner of the ‘Feel at Home in The Hague Fair’ and TheHagueOnLine.com
The best book out there for anyone planning to live in a new country.
Darren Huston
Chief Executive Officer of Booking.com
A fascinating read that turns the standard view of culture shock on its head with the idea that we can use business skills to successfully move. A must for anyone looking for effective & practical strategies to manage the relocation experience.
Jo Parfitt
Publisher at Summertime Publishing
Discovering this book by lifelong expats, Diane, a writer and Anne, an intercultural communicator and trainer made parallels between change management and relocation made me both slap my forehead and smile. Of course! Using Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton as a case study makes perfect sense and in doing so we discover that nothing the multimover experiences is news, and now, it all makes perfect sense. By taking the extreme case of Shackleton we can relate to the fear, the thrill, the passion and the inherent dangers of the mission. We also see, that we choose this life for ourselves. It’s lucid, it’s candid, it’s very different and it’s explained well. This is an expat book everyone needs to read.
A reader
In the late eighties and early nineties, my husband and I worked in Germany for several years. During that time, we met many frustrated expats. As I read your book, it struck me that you addressed the root causes of their unhappiness. I wish I could go back in time and pull THE MOBILE LIFE out of my back pocket and give it to them.
Stephanie Chandler
Nonfiction Authors Association
The Mobile Life is a must read for anyone thinking about resettling into a new location, especially a foreign country.
This fast read gives greats tips while telling the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s journey and exploration of Antarctica during the early 20th century.
Lemieux and Parker point out in chapter three that, “Every individual will experience living in a foreign country differently: what is an advantage to one person may be a disadvantage for another (48). With that said, they recommend that individuals visit the location before planning to resettle there. Resettling requires you to look at every aspect of the vision you have for your life. A move to a foreign country could potentially completely change your identity map. The activities and foods you loved in one location may not be available in your new location.
This book really made me appreciate how flexible our military families are. Moves like the ones described in the book affect all aspects of a person’s life including things like how you will get to work and what foods are and are not available to you. “The
philosophy of this book is that the knowledge, skills and attitudes of personal change management will help you gain control over how you experience the adventure of moving to live in a new country” (102). The tips throughout the book and reference
section at the end will be valuable to anyone moving across the country or abroad.
www.johnmason.com
This book focuses on the emotional side of moving abroad and the difference between relocating (moving) and resettling (establishing a new life). The structure of the book is unique and interesting. Tips and plans for setting up a new life abroad are related to the 1914 Antarctic expedition by Sir Ernest Shackleton, making the point that expatriation is similar to taking an expedition.
As many people will know, moving abroad can be chaotic and the authors aim to provide the reader with advice on things that they can control throughout the process. The book also has a checklist to help you prepare for the move.
Both authors have travelled since they were young and therefore are both very familiar with the relocation experience. Overall, it is a very valuable resource for anyone preparing to move overseas.
Partner of an oil industry employee
Hi Diane,
I’ve enjoyed reading your book. I like the way you structured the book with Shackleton’s antarctic expedition intro to each chapter.
Lagos is our first overseas experience and I see that I took a “wait & see” approach here. My husband, wants to do another overseas assignment after next year. After reading your book, I plan to take a more proactive approach to planning and adjusting to the new country…
Charlene
Book review by ACCESS
Josien Deknatel
Managing director Kickstart School
The Netherlands
Ik zou dit boekje graag gehad willen hebben bij onze uitzending. Het neemt je bij de hand maar het daagt je ook uit om je nieuwe leven zelf vorm te gaan geven.Geen slachtofferschap maar leiderschap!
Martine Haex
Yourambassadrice.com
Martine used The Mobile Life to prepare for her move from Amsterdam to Nairobi. The first time she’s lived overseas, Martine recommends the approach to moving that gave her the confidence to take the plunge. The blog is in Dutch.
Read the review of Martine (in Dutch) on Yourambassadrice.com