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Home Sweet Anywhere

As I’ve mentioned I have a decided weakness for travel writing, and books wherein the characters travel. This nonfiction memoir follows Lynne and Tim as they reconnect late in life, marry, and find themselves approaching 70. They decide that they want to live in various places around the world instead of just traveling to and from a list of spots on individual vacations. So they sell their house and set off to be what they term “Home Free.” The book, inspired by Lynne’s blog, Home Free Adventures, follows them on their first year of living abroad as they enjoy – or not-so-enjoy – extended residences of a month or so in places such as Mexico, Ireland, Argentina, France, Morocco, Portugal, and Italy.

Part of the memoir is their adventures figuring out how to live in various places, and those were the segments I found the most interesting. The descriptions of where they found long-term furnished rentals, what to expect of those rentals (short answer: not comfy couches or chairs), how and why they chose different locations, and the details and routines they established in each new temporary home were fascinating. I had to Google some of the apartments and buildings they stayed in just to look at the pictures. The decision to redefine “retirement” and “old age” and to live without a permanent home is a big one, and Martin manages some of the time to address the very intimate specifics, down to the check list of things they do on their first day in a new location, as well as the larger issues of cultural expectations, negative responses from family and strangers, and navigating new places every few weeks.

The parts I found most frustrating were the “As you know, Bob,” dialogue that peppered the narrative and the at times long-winded descriptions of not just their own rentals but everyone else’s. Eventually, the descriptions began to seem redundant. Some of their conversations were too pat, too riddled with guidebook details to be real, and I found them awfully trite and grating after awhile.

But despite those irritants, I couldn’t stop reading because each chapter was a new location to explore with them both, and each brought new ideas for my own travel and destination plans – and retirement plans, too, someday. This book is light and easy reading, and explores a number of places from a very specific viewpoint. Most of the time, I was very happy to be along for the ride.

– SB Sarah

The Sell-Your-House, See-the-World Life!

Reunited after thirty-five years and wrestling a serious case of wanderlust, Lynne and Tim Martin decided to sell their house and possessions and live abroad full-time. They’ve never looked back. With just two suitcases, two computers, and each other, the Martins embark on a global adventure, taking readers from sky-high pyramids in Mexico to Turkish bazaars to learning the contact sport of Italian grocery shopping. But even as they embrace their new home-free lifestyle, the Martins grapple with its challenges, including hilarious language barriers, finding financial stability, and missing the family they left behind. Together, they learn how to live a life—and love—without borders.

From glittering Georgian mansions in Ireland to the windswept coasts of Portugal, this euphoric, inspiring memoir is more than a tale of second chances. Home Sweet Anywhere is a road map for anyone who dreams of turning the idea of life abroad into a reality.