'Starting out in Kunming forced me to learn how to navigate Chinese society for myself much more deeply and quickly than I probably could have managed in Beijing,' says Mr. Crosby, who writes the South of the Clouds blog. 'There is such a critical mass of foreigners in Beijing, and there are so many bilingual Chinese, that a lot of people get by without having to take a plunge into the local society. Also the lack of available talent in Kunming allowed me to punch above my weight class, because you had these highly talented people who desperately needed someone who spoke native English to help them do things like setting up a Web site or moderating business negotiations.'

“在昆明生活让我学会如何在中国社会中摸爬滚打，如果一开始就去北京，感受可能没那么深，学习的速度也没那么快。”克罗斯比在自己的博客South of the Clouds(云之南)上写道，“北京的外国人那么多，会说英语的中国人也很多，所以许多老外不需要融入当地生活就能过得轻松自在。而昆明的双语人才缺乏，令我得以发挥自身优势，因为很多人特别需要来自英语国家的人帮他们建英文网站或在商业谈判中做翻译。”

'Once I had that grounding, however, I really benefitted from spending more time in Beijing, which woke me up to a lot of new possibilities, and sparked greater enthusiasm and ambition in me. The danger of a place like Kunming, where it is cheap and comfy, is that it is easy to grow complacent. A lot of people fall into the 'expat trap,' where you leverage your advantages as a foreigner to get by with as little work as possible, and find yourself utterly unemployable back home. '

“经历在昆明的生活后，我觉得在北京的日子也让我获益良多，因为那里激发了我很多新的想法，让我变得更富激情和斗志。昆明这样的地方生活成本很低，也很舒适，但危险之处在于容易让人安于现状。许多人都陷入一个‘老外陷阱’之中，以自己是外国人为借口，什么也不做，结果发现回国后根本找不到工作。”

Of course, there are expats living off the beaten path all over the world. Many of them can be found blogging away on www.expat-blog.com, a clearinghouse for expat writing. I often enjoy poking around to see who is writing what from where.

当然，在异国发展的人有很多，其中不少人都在www.expat-blog.com写博客，这是一个聚集全球外派人员的网上社区。我经常上去逛逛，看看谁又在哪个地方写了些什么。

It was there that I found Geoff Roberts, one of the hearty souls who have become veritable specialists at living in exotic locales. A headhunter recruited Mr. Roberts to work as a Corrosion Engineer for an oil company in Tripoli, Libya, where he relocated in February. The Welshman has previously worked in Kazakhstan, Yemen and Iran, as well as throughout Europe.

在那里，我认识了乔夫•罗伯斯(Geoff Roberts)，他是一个很真诚的人，去过许多遥远的国度，是个在异国他乡生活的专家。有家猎头公司介绍罗伯斯去利比亚首都的黎波里的一家石油公司当防腐材料工程师，他2009年2月前往那里。这个威尔士男人以前还在哈萨克斯坦、也门、伊朗和欧洲各地工作过。

He says that he was about to decline the offer when his wife pushed him to accept; she longed for another adventure, months after repatriating from Kazakhstan back to Wales. Despite some trepidation, he has found Libya to be a surprisingly relaxed, optimistic place and Libyans easier to befriend than he had anticipated.

罗伯斯说他本来想拒绝这份工作，但妻子坚持让他接受，因为她从哈萨克斯坦回威尔士好几个月了，渴望新的冒险经历。虽然利比亚的局势有些动荡，但他发现这个地方的生活节奏很轻松，利比亚人也很乐观，比他想象的更好接触和交往。

'They are really happy to see Western faces again, after all the years of sanctions,' he says. 'Where I live we have a surprising melting pot of people from all nationalities and we all get along quite well. As a guy who enjoys a beer, it can tough living someplace where it is rather hard to get one, however.'

“经过这么多年的国际制裁后，他们真的很高兴又看到西方人的面孔。” 罗伯斯说，“让我惊奇的是，我住的地方简直是个种族大熔炉，什么国家的人都有，大家相处都很愉快。不过，作为一个喜欢喝啤酒的人，在利比亚这个很难找到啤酒的地方生活，还是有些不太习惯。”

After living in places with various privations, due to either oppressive governments or lack of economic opportunity, for years, Mr. Roberts has also been surprised by Libya's relative open nature.

在许多贫困国家─－无论贫困是由于政府压迫还是缺乏经济发展机会─－生活多年后，利比亚相对开放的环境也让罗伯斯感到惊讶。

'It is very free out here -- no internet sites are blocked and you get access to all the Satellite TV channels,' says Mr. Roberts. 'In fact I feel far more monitored with all the CCTV cameras back in the UK.'

“这里感觉很自由，互联网不受限制，也能看到所有的卫星电视频道，”罗伯斯说，“事实上，我觉得英国的公共监控系统让人感觉更压抑。”

You never know where you might feel most free to be yourself.

你永远都不会知道，哪里的生活会让自己觉得最无拘无束。