The Grown-Up's Guide to Running Away from Home, Second Edition: Making a New Life Abroad by Rosanne Knorr
Authors: Rosanne Knorr
Ads: Link
birth dates and ancestral places overseas. Books, computer software, and genealogical groups on the Internet provide research help. The Church of Latter Day Saints offers comprehensive genealogical information, including research tips and a massive library of contacts and records at www.ancestorhunt.com . (No, you don’t have to be a Mormon to take advantage of the services.) Once you’re overseas, you can check specific church or city hall records and follow any other fascinating leads you uncover.
Get Fit
Use your new lifestyle to put more life in your body. Spend your spare time walking interesting village streets, hiking through vineyards, riding a bike along a tranquil river path, swimming, or playing tennis. Participate with groups to make new friends, or take a class to learn a new sports skill. All this exercise has a wonderful side benefit: it helps burn off the tempting new foods you’ll try.
To find groups active in your sport, ask at the town hall where you’re living, watch for posters on planned events, and buy the community paper. The latter almost always lists neighborhood activities, the time and location of the events, and contact numbers.
Develop Your Artistic Self
Paint, write, sculpt, or learn photography. Even if you’ve never thought of yourself as artistic, you can enjoy the process, and no one has to see the results if you don’t care to share. Perhaps you’ll even discover a latent talent. Take classes and make friends at the same time. Most places you’ll want to visit will offer lessons in traditional local crafts as well as the fine arts.
Mexico’s Instituto Allende is located in a sixteenth-century colonial town so pretty it’s been declared a Mexican national monument. The courses offered include oil painting, watercolor, and sculpture, while the surrounding streets are filled with artists, art galleries, and inspiration. (The Instituto is also known for its language classes.) For information: Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonia #20, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, 37700 Mexico; telephone (international) 011 52 415 152-0190. Email: [email protected] . Website: www.instituto-allende.edu.mx .
For other areas, check the ads in recent art magazines; they’re usually jammed with trips that combine classes with visits overseas. Or ask local art associations if they have any upcoming trips that are open to fellow artists in the community.
You can also join local art classes abroad. You’ll benefit twice, by expressing yourself and by becoming involved in the community.
Cook a New Cuisine
Part of the joy of traveling is discovering new tastes in food and drink. Don’t settle for just eating, though; try making some recipes yourself. Markets in old-world countries are fascinating places, filled with fresh-from-the-next-field vegetables and fruits, plus interesting cheeses, meats, and fishes. Explore the market; then go back to your kitchen and create your own specialties. Even those of us who didn’t like cooking after putting in a full day at work in the States are discovering that cooking overseas is fun.
If you’re serious about learning new skills, you can sign up for overseas classes. Find them via the Internet or locally. Or you may want to splurge on the most prestigious school overseas, the Paris-based Le Cordon Bleu.
Long renowned, Le Cordon Bleu schools excel in the culinary arts. Master chefs train students from around the globe; diploma courses are available for professionals, though serious amateurs can start with certificate courses. The original began in Paris, but schools are located in several major cities worldwide. Paris: Le Cordon Bleu, 8, rue Léon Delhomme, 75015 Paris, France; telephone 33 (0)1 53 68 22 50. U.S. corporate office: (800) 457-CHEF. Website: www.cordonbleu.edu . Email: [email protected] .
Create New Space
If you’re permanently settled somewhere overseas, warm up your surroundings with flowers from the garden or local arts and
Get Fit
Use your new lifestyle to put more life in your body. Spend your spare time walking interesting village streets, hiking through vineyards, riding a bike along a tranquil river path, swimming, or playing tennis. Participate with groups to make new friends, or take a class to learn a new sports skill. All this exercise has a wonderful side benefit: it helps burn off the tempting new foods you’ll try.
To find groups active in your sport, ask at the town hall where you’re living, watch for posters on planned events, and buy the community paper. The latter almost always lists neighborhood activities, the time and location of the events, and contact numbers.
Develop Your Artistic Self
Paint, write, sculpt, or learn photography. Even if you’ve never thought of yourself as artistic, you can enjoy the process, and no one has to see the results if you don’t care to share. Perhaps you’ll even discover a latent talent. Take classes and make friends at the same time. Most places you’ll want to visit will offer lessons in traditional local crafts as well as the fine arts.
Mexico’s Instituto Allende is located in a sixteenth-century colonial town so pretty it’s been declared a Mexican national monument. The courses offered include oil painting, watercolor, and sculpture, while the surrounding streets are filled with artists, art galleries, and inspiration. (The Instituto is also known for its language classes.) For information: Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonia #20, San Miguel de Allende, Gto, 37700 Mexico; telephone (international) 011 52 415 152-0190. Email: [email protected] . Website: www.instituto-allende.edu.mx .
For other areas, check the ads in recent art magazines; they’re usually jammed with trips that combine classes with visits overseas. Or ask local art associations if they have any upcoming trips that are open to fellow artists in the community.
You can also join local art classes abroad. You’ll benefit twice, by expressing yourself and by becoming involved in the community.
Cook a New Cuisine
Part of the joy of traveling is discovering new tastes in food and drink. Don’t settle for just eating, though; try making some recipes yourself. Markets in old-world countries are fascinating places, filled with fresh-from-the-next-field vegetables and fruits, plus interesting cheeses, meats, and fishes. Explore the market; then go back to your kitchen and create your own specialties. Even those of us who didn’t like cooking after putting in a full day at work in the States are discovering that cooking overseas is fun.
If you’re serious about learning new skills, you can sign up for overseas classes. Find them via the Internet or locally. Or you may want to splurge on the most prestigious school overseas, the Paris-based Le Cordon Bleu.
Long renowned, Le Cordon Bleu schools excel in the culinary arts. Master chefs train students from around the globe; diploma courses are available for professionals, though serious amateurs can start with certificate courses. The original began in Paris, but schools are located in several major cities worldwide. Paris: Le Cordon Bleu, 8, rue Léon Delhomme, 75015 Paris, France; telephone 33 (0)1 53 68 22 50. U.S. corporate office: (800) 457-CHEF. Website: www.cordonbleu.edu . Email: [email protected] .
Create New Space
If you’re permanently settled somewhere overseas, warm up your surroundings with flowers from the garden or local arts and
Similar Books
