If you could live anywhere The surprising importance of place in a work-from-anywhere world

In the midst of the pandemic work-from home trend, this aptly timed book offers tips on how to capitalize on the opportunity to work from anywhere. Long gone are the rules that to work in publishing you need to be in New York, or if you want to act, you need to live in Los Angeles. Warnick kicks off the book with the "Anywhereist Manifesto," nine rules for living and working anywhere. With so many options, she focuses on how to decide on a place, offering tips gleaned from more than 100 interviews. Her organized approach takes readers through topics like values, cost of living, climate, deal breakers, and more. The book also covers the advantages of moving to lower-cost locations, such as more free time, cheaper housing, and being able to save for retirement. Lists abound, including cheap countries, anywhereist careers, and location strategy. Those who have the opportunity to live anywhere and haven't considered the option will find this book easy to read, intriguing, and informative. It will also appeal to high-school and college students.

This out-of-touch manual from journalist Warnick (This Is Where You Belong) offers remote workers guidance on finding a home base. Warnick suggests that those who are able to work remotely (whom she calls "Anywhereists") should reconsider where they live, taking into account different locations' economic incentives, such as Vermont's grant program that reimbursed remote workers up to $10,000 to move to the state. She also highlights the benefits of moving somewhere with a low cost of living, noting that a cheaper locale could mean fewer work hours, earlier retirement, or being able to afford more nice things. On the importance of connection, the author tells how a Denver woman relocated to a small Oregon town and created a work community by opening a coworking space in an old opera house. The author's glib treatment of gentrification will likely rankle some (she describes those opposed to unchecked development as "CAVE people--citizens against virtually everything"), and the advice is often impractical, such as the recommendation to "ask for what you want" from a town's chamber of commerce before moving. This is a missed opportunity. Agent: Lisa Grubka, Fletcher & Co. (June)