About the Book:
Bruce and Karen Gowen are facing a retirement that neither one wants. Bruce can't imagine life without employment. Karen wants change, adventure, a chance to spread her wings and fly away after thirty years of raising their large family.
Their opportunity comes in a way they can both support: helping their daughter and son-in-law with a hotel project in Panajachel, Guatemala.
Never ones to do anything half way, the Gowens sell everything, including one of their businesses. What they can't sell, they give away. With their worldly possessions down to two checked bags and two carry-ons each, they fly one way to Guatemala City. Then on to Panajachel, a tourist town on scenic Lake Atitlan, in the southern highlands of Guatemala.
Here they begin their new life, a time filled with incredible experiences, tough challenges, and unexpected adventure in one of the most beautiful settings on earth. A place where the Maya culture permeates the land. A land and people that will transform anyone fortunate enough to encounter the magic of these hills in Guatemala.
My Review:
Gowen has provided readers with a very detailed account of their move to Guatemala. The detailed descriptions of living conditions, food, social interactions, etc. will provide readers with everything they might have wanted to know about retiring there.
She freely relates the tensions resulting from their move. Finances were more than they had anticipated and they were cheated at times. Karen felt the pain of not be able to be with her sister as she died of cancer.
Perhaps the most disconcerting tension was within family relationships. Gowen freely relates misunderstandings and the intense drama between Gowen, her husband, and the son-in-law for whom they had traveled to Guatemala to help. The verbatim accounts of dialogue in the interactions were not enjoyable to read. She even labeled him a sociopath at one point. The Gowens later relocated to Mexico, leaving some of those family problems behind.
This is a realistic account of leaving everything behind and traveling to a new country upon retirement. Their experiences were not always the wonderful adventures they had anticipated. Be ready to encounter some difficult family tension.
My rating: 4/5 stars.
About the Author:
Born and raised in central Illinois, Karen Jones Gowen attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. She transferred to Brigham Young University, where she mether husband Bruce, and there graduated with a degree in English and American Literature.
Karen and Bruce have lived in Utah, Illinois, California and Washington, currently residing in Panajachel, Guatemala. They are the parents of ten children. Not surprisingly, family relationships are a recurring theme in Gowen's writing. Learn more at karenjonesgowen.com.
(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)
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