expat life

Phnom Penh is a city of beauty and degradation, tranquility and violence, and tradition and transformation; a city of temples and brothels, music and gunfire, and festivals and coups.
But for many, it is simply an anarchic celebration of insanity and indulgence. Whether it is the $2 wooden shack brothels, the marijuana-pizza restaurants, the AK-47 fireworks displays, or the intricate brutality of Cambodian politics, Phnom Penh never ceases to amaze and amuse.

The Definitive Guide to Moving to SouthEast Asia: Cambodia is an insider's advice to discovering all that Cambodia has to offer. It's at once a travel guide and a relocation guide for expats. Written by an expat who moved to and works in Cambodia, this book covers all you need to know to visit or relocate to Cambodia.

So who are they, these Western expats who spend their lives in developing countries where they possess many privileges but few, if any, rights? Despised and envied in equal measure in their native lands, are they high-minded professionals anxious to help the helpless? Or are they ruthless entrepreneurs with an eye on the main chance? Or are they dope and sex fiends who merely ended up on the special place on earth where their vices could be reliably and inexpensively serviced?

Ray Zepp summarizes his 9 years of widely varying experiences in Cambodia since 1995: education, charity work, economics, working with the former Khmer Rouge, working with Buddhist monks and HIV/AIDS, and travel to all corners of "the Cambodia Less Traveled." His book has become required reading by several volunteer organizations for new recruits to Cambodia.

Cambodia is more than just genocidal communists, sweatshops and decaying temples. There's a vibrant culture — both unchanged for centuries and at the cutting edge of modernity — and endless adventures.
When I was 22, I was bored with university and work and decided to seek adventure.