As we neared the end of our stay in Vientiane, we had no inkling of where we’d be going next. This circumstance is fairly common for self-employed professionals in international development. You may just go home for a while and hope for short-term assignments, or you may be moving on to the next long-term one. …

I went to Laos knowing I no longer wanted to work as an independent consultant in adult education and media. I saw the posting as a chance to begin to develop skills and a résumé as a writer, a role teachers had been encouraging since high school. Before leaving Virginia, I’d received assurance from the …

Laos didn’t offer a lot in the way of entertainment, either for adults or children, so the expatriate community devoted significant time and energy to creating events as best they could. I love celebrations, but entertaining, both as a hostess and a guest, is a challenge. Because Russell was head of the United Nations Development …

Everyday life in Laos wasn’t as dramatic as an attempted coup or an assassination, but it was often challenging. Staying healthy, coping with high heat (over 100ºF) and humidity (99%) for much of the year, managing without household appliances that Americans take for granted, hosting frequent official events connected with Russell’s U.N. project, getting visas …

For years, I’d been operating with the philosophy that, as a consultant, I could focus on the beneficiaries of a project, working around the politics of bureaucracy and the challenge of team mates who were some combination of poorly prepared, racist and/or not focused on empowering participants to be effective in their own milieux. But …

Really a pleasure to read an excerpt of Malice on the Mekong at the July 19th meeting of the Central Coast Writers in Pacific Grove, CA. If you’re a writer, budding or published, this is a great group for you — fellowship, workshops and monthly speakers on topics of interest to folks like us.  Felt good …

Click the badge below to read my responses to the editor’s questions about the expatriate life and my writing.

Nancy and Husband Russell Sunshine promoting their books at the Central Coast Writers Booth, Good Old Days Festival, Pacific Grove. (Russell’s book, Far and Away: True Tales from an International Life, is also available on Amazon.)