"I loved these adventures, there was such a feeling of freedom and exploration."
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Expatriate Adventures by Fred Richardson Trafford Publishing
book review by RJM Terrado
Expatriate Adventures is a good-read collection of Richardson's travel and stay in China and some countries in Latin America. Every chapter contains a detailed description of the author's experience as a child traveling and living abroad with his family and as an overseas management trainee. An effective storyteller who knows how to get his readers hooked, Richardson introduces historical events and figures to paint a narrative that is often layered, comparatively presenting the past and present adding a connecting strand to his life journey from one chapter to another.
The book offers readers a wide range of information in a relatively easy reading style. It imparts insights about the impact of World War II and the spread of multinational companies in the daily lives of people in different parts of the globe. In all the dangers he has faced during his adventures, Richardson travels the depth of communist cultures in Asia and the Americas and plays by the rule successfully. Readers do not have to be well traveled, a history student and an expatriate to China and Latin America to connect with and understand the book’s plot. The author's capacity to retell his stories goes beyond merely enumerating his travels. He brings his readers with him and let them own his adventures.
Expatriate Adventures probably would not be used as a major text for a given field of study, but rather would be a welcome addition to readings in expatriate management training and cross-cultural courses. It could be valuable for employees and their spouses and families with international assignments.