Robin Pascoe and Me
Robin Pascoe, the Expat Expert, has retired. Few will miss her more than I... We first met ‘on the page’. It seems appropriate now, looking back, that this was how her thousands of fans also met a woman they would… read more >
Robin Pascoe and MeRobin Pascoe, the Expat Expert, has retired. Few will miss her more than I... We first met ‘on the page’. It seems appropriate now, looking back, that this was how her thousands of fans also met a woman they would soon consider to be a friend. For Robin did not only ‘speak to’ her audience through her writing, she also began a blog at her website www.expatexpert.com and answered countless queries every day. Then, every year, at least once, she would take the kind of international tour that would freak out anyone other than a rock star – Eastern Europe one year, South America another, not to mention all the speaking engagements for schools, clubs and conferences. Robin Pascoe was always ‘one of us’. An expatriate partner herself for many years, married to a diplomat, this CBC-trained broadcast journalist kept herself busy by writing during her moves to Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei and Beijing. From starting the first newsletter for expat mothers for the BAMBI group in Bangkok, to writing a novel in China. But it was when she stood on a stage or in front of a camera that her message came alive. Hilariously funny, unafraid of straight-talking, Robin was loved by her audiences who bought her books in the thousands. And then, this year, she decided to retire. It had been more than a decade since she had repatriated to Canada. She hates flying and also, surprisingly to me at least, she shuns adulation. In 2010, Robin and I were both presented with Trailblazer awards at the Families in Global Transition conference in Houston. After a 12-year friendship and a time during which much of Robin’s life had paralleled mine – indeed, Robin has always claimed we were ‘twins separated at birth’ – it was decided that we would… read more >