The Trumpster Fire Escape Almanac: Facts to Plan Your Expat Life

I received a copy of this ebook as part of LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

This is, broadly speaking, a practical guide to relocating abroad that happens to be framed as a response to political frustration in the United States.

It combines comparative data on countries and cities with commentary on visas, healthcare systems, cost of living, and quality-of-life metrics, and it is genuinely useful in its scope and structure. The emphasis on tables, rankings, and structured criteria makes it feel more like a decision-making tool than a traditional narrative guide, which is arguably its strength.

At the same time, the framing occasionally sits uneasily with me. As someone already living as an expat, I tend to be wary of the idea that emigration show more functions as a simple “exit” from political dissatisfaction, particularly given how often that rhetoric is unevenly applied depending on who is imagined to be moving and why. The book does at least gesture toward some of these complexities early on, which I appreciated.

Setting that aside, the underlying content is solid. It highlights many of the practical realities people often overlook when considering relocation, including language, bureaucracy, and long-term integration rather than just initial appeal.

A well-researched and clearly organised resource, even if its tone and framing won’t land equally for everyone. show less

This is an impressive book. The author provides a surprising amount of useful comparison data for such a concise book, mostly presented in tables in the middle section. It's solid, well-sourced information presented plainly. The beginning and ending sections are where this book shines for me personally. The author brings up various considerations and practical concerns, explaining the process in a personable way that cuts through the emotional chaos. The reader is left with a clear idea of what the major considerations are, a starting point for comparing countries, and most importantly, with hope that moving is actually feasible with the right planning and preparation. Highly recommended for readers who are actively wanting to flee the show more current political situation in the US, as well as for those looking for reassurance that it's possible. show less

Don't let the title fool you- this is a comprehensive guide to planning a move to another country, no matter the political situation of the United States. The areas covered in this book are key considerations for anyone thinking of an international move. I think the true strengths of this work are the comparative tables which offer data on everything from cost of living to form of government to healthcare costs for hundreds of countries, allowing someone to quickly narrow down their search according to what criteria is most important for them. I liked that there was no author bias about any particular country, but instead straight-forward information about what would most affect you when moving.

Unfortunately, as one reviewer pointed show more out, the author's website doesn't work, which does detract from the claim of "real-time updates" to the data. However, the information in the book is a great starting point to planning an international move. show less

The author of The Trumpster Fire Escape Almanac states that this book is, in part, “an escape manual" for those wanting to limit their exposure of the “dangerous political clown.” While Thomas Pained does spend the preface listing reasons why we might want to leave the U S of A at this point in history, it is also a valuable tool for those deciding that there are other experiences in the world that may be worth sampling. I’ve often thought about relocating to say Portugal or Belize or living in my favorite city, Prague—but not because of anger over the current political situation. So as an almanac “full of facts and statistics” it lays out a fairly comprehensive outline of steps one should take in thinking about becoming show more an expat. The value in this rather thin volume is the effort the author made to classify 99 countries and almost 300 cities through two spreadsheets. He assigns a letter grade to many of the categories one should consider before moving to a new country. What is important to you: form of government, language, standard of living, medical care, crime & safety, and so on. They are well documented and provides access to real time updates from thomaspained.com. One can argue with some of the author’s assumptions and grading, but overall it provides a comprehensive comparison and encourages potential expats to scout locations before making a decision. Good advice all around. Even if your apolitical the information provided is worth having. show less

I am extremely excited to see books like this hit the 'shelves'!
Guides to aide disgruntled cry-babies off-shore is EXACTLY what we need more of. If only those who read through such pap would take it to heart and ACTUALLY LEAVE we would be a better country for it.
I had a former colleague who lost his mind who has developed a following on intstaface or whatever nonsense platform he uses who claims to be taking a 4-year long cruise to leave the U.S. because he can't bring himself to stay! I tried to contact him and offer to help pack his bags.
We have all had to suffer through insufferables in elected offices. To think that anyone would negatively compare Donald Trump to the likes of his predecessor! It's utterly comical.
To the author: I show more hope you take your own advice and leave. Please don't come back, though. Or you can pull the Barbara Streisand move and just talk, but please do continue to convince those of your ilk to buy themselves a one-way ticket out of the United States of America. show less

A short, quick read. Very helpful data but in general, a high-level introduction for people who are considering moving abroad. It is written in a fun, conversational style. It provides practical information and emphasizes important topics that many people do not think about, e.g. healthcare. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone looking into an expat life.

The book’s title led me to expect political ranting, but there was little of that; the author kept to his topic of how to plan for an expat life, with guidance on what to look for when selecting a country to immigrate to. Autocratically led countries were excluded due to political risk, while the consideration of democracies was encouraged. What to look for in a country was broken down into environmental, cultural, and health care characteristics. One issue related to the latter, health insurance, was repeatedly emphasized as an expat need. Without it, the expat could face large, wealth-diminishing hospitalization expenses that could not be forgiven. One story given for emphasis was of a woman who incurred a large hospital debt due to show more an emergency health issue. After the necessary procedure, she was not allowed to leave the country until the hospital debt was settled. Forced to withdraw a large portion of her retirement savings to pay off that debt due to a lack of insurance, she was left with insufficient retirement funds for her future needs, with a substantial U.S. income tax bill resulting from the large IRA distribution.

The book was formatted for Kindle, which made the author’s charts difficult to see and understand due to their small, unformatted size. Based on the assumption that the author would include the charts on his website, the address of which was provided in the text, I wasn’t concerned about it. Why the author included the website address in his book, however, is a mystery. The only thing said on the website page is “Welcome”.

Moving abroad requires significant consideration. Thomas Pained, nom de plume, provides the reader with a non-exhaustive list and guidance for evaluating the specific factors emphasized. The book was a quick read and gave me discussion fodder for a conversation with my daughter, who is interested in moving overseas. show less