Second Wind: Journey to a new life in Crete

by Philip Mann

A sorta-biography following the whys and wherefores of two English townies slowly finding themselves wooed by more and more remote Greece. Fate finally stepped in and they made the life-changing move. A thirty year roller-coaster journey of coincidences and sometimes unnerving omens it covers the positives and negatives of both the move and new life, and hopefully explains some of the subtle seductions of the islands, especially Crete. Packed with strange adventures and encounters, and eccentric characters (not least the two main subjects). Inspiring and daunting reading for anyone thinking of moving abroad.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2015

Reviews

[Tony Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second Wind is for anyone whether they are contemplating, or actively engaged in, a big change in their life, whether or not that demands they move to a place in the sun. In this case, Philip and Max fall in love with Greece, confronting the impossibility of bringing off the necessary move and the practical difficulties of moving, with which we can all empathise.

You can enjoy the hospitality of their hosts in Crete, and the surprises, good and bad, that are part and parcel of adapting to a new life in paradise. You can marvel at the determination they bring to heaving aside each new boulder that blocks their path.

Philip’s wry humour helps to generate a sense of relief that he is the one facing the seemingly insurmountable obstacle, instead of me. Despite neighbours from hell and the strange hidden rules of a foreign culture, you feel a sense of joy, because Philip is so obviously relishing his new life with Max and the menagerie of cats and dogs in the lovely human anarchy of a place freer and far less regulated than the country he left behind.