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Project Escape: Lessons for an Unscripted Life
Lucinda Jackson, a harried scientist and business executive, sets off to make a break from her corporate decades and have an “extraordinary” retirement. She launches into a five-phase “Project Escape,” complete with a vision, goals, and a scorecard of success to deliver this next chapter. Soon, Jackson and her semi-reluctant husband of thirty years are off as volunteers to the government of the Pacific island country of Palau. But while Jackson got the girl out of the corporation, even the jolt of Palau can’t fully get the corporation out of the girl. As she struggles through self-examination around purpose, identity, ego, marriage, and parenthood after years of investing so much in career, Jackson gradually learns who she is again. Whether you’re thinking ahead to retirement or are already there, Project Escape provides an unvarnished but ultimately encouraging reference in navigating the “post-career” era.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 12, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 25, 2023
It takes guts to shake up almost everything about your life. Author Lucinda Jackson did just that! In "Project Escape," Lucinda takes readers through the adventure that she and her husband embarked on when they retired from their careers and began their next chapter as volunteers for the Peach Corps in Palau.
Their story shows how retirement can be a time of personal growth and an opportunity to use the skills developed during your career to make a positive difference in the world. It’s also a cautionary tale of how taking risks can be plagued with numerous unforeseen challenges.
Reading this book got me to start to think about what retirement might look like for me and made me aware of things I should both consider and avoid. Learning about the Palauan culture that’s centered around family, inclusiveness and acceptance was really interesting.
Along the way, Lucinda provides helpful constructs for approaching a project and evaluating its success that can be used when you're plotting your retirement or evaluating most any other aspect of your life.
“Project Escape” was an entertaining page-turner that opened my eyes to things I didn’t previously know about and hadn’t yet considered.
Their story shows how retirement can be a time of personal growth and an opportunity to use the skills developed during your career to make a positive difference in the world. It’s also a cautionary tale of how taking risks can be plagued with numerous unforeseen challenges.
Reading this book got me to start to think about what retirement might look like for me and made me aware of things I should both consider and avoid. Learning about the Palauan culture that’s centered around family, inclusiveness and acceptance was really interesting.
Along the way, Lucinda provides helpful constructs for approaching a project and evaluating its success that can be used when you're plotting your retirement or evaluating most any other aspect of your life.
“Project Escape” was an entertaining page-turner that opened my eyes to things I didn’t previously know about and hadn’t yet considered.
May 23, 2023
A retirement plan gone awry that makes you think!
If you are planning your retirement, already retired and wondering if there is something more, or just want a beach read about a beach you DON’T want to go to, read this book! Lucinda Jackson’s type A planning and executing of her retirement plan to fulfill all her retirement goals goes awry pretty early in the story, between the reluctant husband and the quirkiness of the Peace Corps. But her thinking out what she wants and her endearing attempts to persist in making her choices work despite more obstacles than sharks in a lagoon is what makes this story so compelling. I could relate to how Jackson had high expectations and a high need for control of what was supposed to be a lovely service-oriented trip to the tropics. I was cringing right along with her when those expectations were punctured one by one. Yet she and her husband plugged on, enduring more hardships and constraints than I could have taken, while their relationship and her retirement evolved in surprising ways. It was all mesmerizing, and left me pondering my own retirement goals and how to best reach them. A vividly written story and an easy read, the images and feelings remain with me still.
If you are planning your retirement, already retired and wondering if there is something more, or just want a beach read about a beach you DON’T want to go to, read this book! Lucinda Jackson’s type A planning and executing of her retirement plan to fulfill all her retirement goals goes awry pretty early in the story, between the reluctant husband and the quirkiness of the Peace Corps. But her thinking out what she wants and her endearing attempts to persist in making her choices work despite more obstacles than sharks in a lagoon is what makes this story so compelling. I could relate to how Jackson had high expectations and a high need for control of what was supposed to be a lovely service-oriented trip to the tropics. I was cringing right along with her when those expectations were punctured one by one. Yet she and her husband plugged on, enduring more hardships and constraints than I could have taken, while their relationship and her retirement evolved in surprising ways. It was all mesmerizing, and left me pondering my own retirement goals and how to best reach them. A vividly written story and an easy read, the images and feelings remain with me still.
April 16, 2022
In her second autobiographical book, Lucinda Jackson describes a later period that is fraught with quite different issues than her first book about growing up, getting educated (both formally and as a woman scientist in corporate America). After succeeding in all of the metrics of a career, retirement throws many curveballs her way in the changes in self-image and thinking and habits of that successful career. She chose an altruistic change to becoming a Peace Corps volunteer in the western Pacific in "partnership" with her husband. Trials and more trials that are sometimes painfully funny, ironic, and tragic. This Lucinda, in contrast to the younger one in her first book, is both wiser and more vulnerable - often due to the vestiges of stubbornness, orderliness, idealism, and moxie that she used in that earlier life.
April 25, 2022
Inspiring, funny, reflective memoir on a post-corporate career adventure gone wrong. Jackson's reflections on her purpose, values, and what she seeks in a new phase of her life will resonate with those winding down intense careers and pondering their next move. As well, this book will appeal to anyone going through a major life change and trying to center their next move in the most authentic ways they can. At the core of this story is also a reckoning with and celebration of love, a reminder of its importance no matter what phase of life transformation we are in.
July 17, 2022
Lucinda Jackson takes us on her own post retirement journey in her delightful book. You will be surprised, you will laugh, and you will hurt at times for Lucinda. So many of us find it hard to retire and find ourselves with no purpose. If you are one of those types, this book is for you! If you aren't and you had no trouble finding a new purpose after retiring this book is still for you! I promise you'll enjoy this wonderful read.
October 21, 2022
An excellent read for anyone who's wondered how to transition to retirement, who's worried how retirement might affect a long-term marriage. It's about reconnecting, it's about taking risks,
it's about doing the hard work of rediscovery. It's about throwing caution to the wind and signing up for the Peace Corp in Palau and all the challenges that resulted from that decision, including returning to a subsistence budget.
it's about doing the hard work of rediscovery. It's about throwing caution to the wind and signing up for the Peace Corp in Palau and all the challenges that resulted from that decision, including returning to a subsistence budget.
November 26, 2022
This is such an interesting book, especially for those facing retirement or wanting to re-imagine the next phase of their life. The bare honesty and gritty emotion will have you rooting for Jackson and her husband to find a way out of the unexpected mess they found themselves in, and cheering at their triumphs. An added bonus is getting a peek at life in a country that few of us will ever see. A highly recommended read!
September 14, 2023
This was a quick interesting read about a couple figuring out possible next steps after retirement. You will not find a glowing review of Peace Corps, but they definitely learned a lot about themselves and their futures. I still would have liked a little more about Palau, but this was definitely more of a book about retirement than the country itself.
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November 15, 2024The author's experience as a mature Peace Corps volunteer in Palau is an intriguing, engaging and honest read. It is peppered with wisdom and insights into her struggles and successes on her journey to retirement. Lucinda and her husband reconnected and found themselves falling in love again. I so enjoyed it and could so relate to author.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews