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My Other Country: Nineteen Years in Bolivia
Many people dream of living outside their country, to see the world through different eyes. Among those who do, many just move for a short time or transplant themselves to a place not so different than home. Then there is Bolivia. My Other Country is a family memoir, the story of a young couple from San Francisco who moved to a valley in the Andes and stayed for almost two decades. It is a story about a family coming together, about falling into the center of a South American revolution, and about a handcrafted life in a very different place.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 27, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 28, 2020
“My Other Country: Nineteen Years in Bolivia” is a truly inspiring piece of memoir that all young people should take into consideration for reading as they begin their lives.
Firstly, it shows the capacity of imagination to astound the reader from the very start. Jim Schultz describes that when he met his future wife, there was a dream in both their hearts to get out of the U.S. and spend some time in a place far different from what they had experienced thus far. Secondly, what becomes immediately apparent is that this imagination – this trip to Bolivia – set the stage for a family to take root in and become strong in bonds of love in a way that is not typical or guaranteed. Thirdly, it does guarantee that the reader comes away with a thirst for more stories, more memories, and a new appreciation for the unknown lives that exist around them.
Schultz doesn’t bore the reader with overly dramatic descriptions of Bolivia, but strives to impart a way of life that his daily exercises and routines find themselves immersed within as he passes each day, week and year.
The path is also not chronological and mirrors Schultz’s prose in the columns he writes, as he tackles the subject matter with an insight few can have without being on the ground – experiencing the action and the place, re: his look into the politics of his adopted country and the change he found himself reporting to the world.
But besides being wonderfully written with lots of anecdotes and descriptions of exactly what one might suspect a U.S. native to have in a place like Bolivia – honing in on the details that keeps the readers hungry for more – “My Other Country” is sewed together with the family created within its pages and within the last two decades. It is not a dream if you will it.
Firstly, it shows the capacity of imagination to astound the reader from the very start. Jim Schultz describes that when he met his future wife, there was a dream in both their hearts to get out of the U.S. and spend some time in a place far different from what they had experienced thus far. Secondly, what becomes immediately apparent is that this imagination – this trip to Bolivia – set the stage for a family to take root in and become strong in bonds of love in a way that is not typical or guaranteed. Thirdly, it does guarantee that the reader comes away with a thirst for more stories, more memories, and a new appreciation for the unknown lives that exist around them.
Schultz doesn’t bore the reader with overly dramatic descriptions of Bolivia, but strives to impart a way of life that his daily exercises and routines find themselves immersed within as he passes each day, week and year.
The path is also not chronological and mirrors Schultz’s prose in the columns he writes, as he tackles the subject matter with an insight few can have without being on the ground – experiencing the action and the place, re: his look into the politics of his adopted country and the change he found himself reporting to the world.
But besides being wonderfully written with lots of anecdotes and descriptions of exactly what one might suspect a U.S. native to have in a place like Bolivia – honing in on the details that keeps the readers hungry for more – “My Other Country” is sewed together with the family created within its pages and within the last two decades. It is not a dream if you will it.
March 18, 2025
It's difficult to rate a memoir with it being someone's interpretation of their own life experiences, but one can rate the quality of the prose and the degree to which one connects with the author's telling of their experiences. With full disclosure, I personally know the author through work, and while I might not have otherwise been introduced to this book, I would have been drawn to the subject matter in whatever context I discovered it.
I'm very interested in Jim's advocacy work, but that's a small portion of this book. As a one time aspiring writer myself, I found that I was even more interested in his efforts as a writer, making advantageous use of the fledgling internet of the 90s and 00s, to bring world attention to a country many Americans couldn't accurately pinpoint on a globe.
Some of the experiences are truly unique and possibly very relevant to others considering similar futures, moving to an almost entirely unfamiliar culture, learning the language, and then adopting first one and then three children, while you are the foreigner and they the nationals of the country, navigating the almost impossible obstacles of bureaucracy in doing so.
The narrative also details 20 years of observing activism Bolivia style, a culture that while full of economic inequity is not mesmerized by the false promises of capitalism, where happiness is found in the daily pleasures of life, not the constant pursuit of the spoils of a flawed meritocracy, and where community goodwill is a very real thing.
At one brief moment, our experiences converged, the author and me both finding ourselves living overseas as the events of September 11th unfolded, myself in a first world country but young and very isolated at midnight on the other side of the globe.
And finally, on a personal note, I really appreciated the advice for flying internationally with dogs. Who knows when you may need that information on short notice?
I'm very interested in Jim's advocacy work, but that's a small portion of this book. As a one time aspiring writer myself, I found that I was even more interested in his efforts as a writer, making advantageous use of the fledgling internet of the 90s and 00s, to bring world attention to a country many Americans couldn't accurately pinpoint on a globe.
Some of the experiences are truly unique and possibly very relevant to others considering similar futures, moving to an almost entirely unfamiliar culture, learning the language, and then adopting first one and then three children, while you are the foreigner and they the nationals of the country, navigating the almost impossible obstacles of bureaucracy in doing so.
The narrative also details 20 years of observing activism Bolivia style, a culture that while full of economic inequity is not mesmerized by the false promises of capitalism, where happiness is found in the daily pleasures of life, not the constant pursuit of the spoils of a flawed meritocracy, and where community goodwill is a very real thing.
At one brief moment, our experiences converged, the author and me both finding ourselves living overseas as the events of September 11th unfolded, myself in a first world country but young and very isolated at midnight on the other side of the globe.
And finally, on a personal note, I really appreciated the advice for flying internationally with dogs. Who knows when you may need that information on short notice?
September 2, 2026
If you are interested in Bolivia, this is a book worth reading.
I read this book after living in Sucre, Bolivia for a week. I had already read what I could find about Bolivia, but then this book popped up as a suggestion in Kindle after I had arrived.
The author lived in Cochabamba, which is in a valley, and I am in the mountains. However, I identified with a lot of the author's feelings about Bolivia being a simpler place. It is a bit like traveling back in time, which is what I wanted. I needed to clear my head from capitalism. I am only living here for a few months, but like the author, I hope to return with a better perspective about what is important in life.
I had already read about the water crisis when Bolivia's president tried to privatize their water, and Bolivians said HELL NO, revolted, and won! It was interesting to read about what happened from the author's perspective.
I read this book after living in Sucre, Bolivia for a week. I had already read what I could find about Bolivia, but then this book popped up as a suggestion in Kindle after I had arrived.
The author lived in Cochabamba, which is in a valley, and I am in the mountains. However, I identified with a lot of the author's feelings about Bolivia being a simpler place. It is a bit like traveling back in time, which is what I wanted. I needed to clear my head from capitalism. I am only living here for a few months, but like the author, I hope to return with a better perspective about what is important in life.
I had already read about the water crisis when Bolivia's president tried to privatize their water, and Bolivians said HELL NO, revolted, and won! It was interesting to read about what happened from the author's perspective.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews