EFM Author

AAFSW’s content manager interviewed Ambika Anand Prokop, Founder and Author of Greenfeet Guides, world adventure books for kids (also EFM, Dubai, Singapore, Chennai, now DC). Read the interview below!

 

AAFSW: When did you decided to start a book/guide series yourself?

Ambika: The idea for Greenfeet Guides started in 2013 while I was exploring the Temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia with my children, then 5 and 7 years old. I was incredibly excited to visit this world famous monument once “hidden” in the jungle. But I also knew that roaming around a 1000-year-old temple on a hot and humid day, might not be my kids’ cup of tea! I looked for kid-friendly books and resources about Angkor Wat before our trip to help inspire them, but didn’t find much on the market.

So I created my own Angkor Wat treasure hunt for the kids, and told them the stories of the temple’s famous carvings, and that did the trick! My children LOVED their day of adventure at Angkor Wat, and that’s when it occurred to me that other families might appreciate similar resources of stories and activities to help kids get excited about the places their parents take (drag???!!!) them to. And that’s how Greenfeet Guides began, as a series of story and activity books to help kids have fun discovering unique cultures and landscapes around the world.

 

AAFSW: What have been some of the best parts of the FS lifestyle with kids? Some of the biggest challenges?

Ambika: The best part of the FS lifestyle with kids, by far, is the chance to take a deep dive into different cultures and really connect with people from all over the world. Every post and country is so different, and my children have had a chance to see that there are so many different ways of doing the same thing. I love that my kids now have a very specific “favorites” list from all their world experiences to date: the classical Indian dance drama performances they saw in Chennai, the xiao long bao soup dumplings they devoured in Singapore, the marvelous light shows and expansive sand dunes they came across in the United Arab Emirates, and topping the list of course, is all the friendships with other kids around the world they have developed on all these adventures.

The hardest part of this life: saying goodbye and starting over, new schools, new friends, new culture and norms, time after time. It’s not easy at all, especially as the kids get older and have to keep adapting. We constantly remind them that it takes time, but they always manage find their place wherever we go.

 

AAFSW: How did your own children influence Greenfeet Guides?

Ambika: My children (and nieces and nephews) have been a key part of Greenfeet Guides since Day 1, because they were my test audience and editors. I observed them as they travelled the world with me, and I could see what excited them or bored them about a place and what the “pain-points” were; they tested all the activities, gave me feedback on the stories and drawings, and as they got older, started editing the books too.

Every child is different, and it was great to have my nieces and nephews get involved too, so I could incorporate more ages and preferences. Some kids like arts and crafts, others numbers, others writing, and nature or movement. I really try to incorporate different activity-types in each Greenfeet Guide, so having as many kids as possible be involved in testing the books, helped me cover the range.

 

AAFSW: What was the most unexpected part of the writing/publishing process?

Ambika: I never realized how hard book marketing is: book writing is one thing (and has been time-consuming but relatively straight-forward), but getting the word out to interested families on a large scale that my book series exists has been challenging. Greenfeet Guides is self-published, but now I see the value of a publisher, so that writers like me can focus on writing; it’s hard to do both! It’s also been interesting to experience different publishing standards and sensitivities in different countries (in Dubai for example, I had to be very careful about the representation of the ruling Sheikh).

That said, as the word has been getting out about Greenfeet Guides, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many different types of organizations have been interested in my books, including embassies and consulates, who order them as gifts for incoming families, hotel and travel company kid clubs, and government tourism ministries.

 

AAFSW: You have a number of artists who have worked on the guides: how did you find them?

Ambika: It was really important to me to work with local artists to make sure each Greenfeet Guide was accurate and visually reflected the local culture more authentically. The artists for “Cambodia Kids” were young Cambodian artists whom I met at a local nonprofit art gallery in Siem Reap on one of my research trips. I found the Emirati artist for “Dubai-UAE Kids” through word of mouth through the art and design community in Dubai. I often use the Expat Facebook groups in each country to get artist leads.

It’s not always easy to find a local artist with both the drawing skills and the English skills needed, but working with local artists has been one of the most fulfilling part of creating each Greenfeet Guide. I learn so much from the artist, and it’s a wonderful way to get to know someone from the local culture. Also, it really helps give credibility in-country when I market the books, and I have found local governments and nonprofits to be glad for another platform to showcase the work of local artists to international audiences.

 

AAFSW: Where are you planning on going from here with Greenfeet Guides?

Ambika: I definitely want to write more! There has been a very positive response to the series, and I am very excited that Greenfeet Guides are currently selling at the World Expo in Dubai. I have a draft of Singapore Kids half-written, and have been composing many others in my head after various travels in recent years: India Kids, Holy Land Kids and Kenya/Tanzania Kids. That will keep me busy for a few years! Now that I have returned to Washington DC, I’m also thinking about USA Kids.

So far, Greenfeet Guides has been a one-woman show (me!), but I’d love to expand and find a publisher or partner to help with sales and marketing, and more writers so Greenfeet Guides can expand to include more countries more quickly. So far, each book takes me one year to write.

 

AAFSW: What is one piece of advice you have for frequent traveling families with kids?

Ambika: Before you go, figure out one thing about your destination that each of your children is really interested and build that up for them in preparation for your trip: see if you can find a book, watch a video, or have them do a bit of research about that destination that they can share with the family. Having just one specific thing for kids to look forward to and be excited about – whether it’s a particular tourist site or a local specialty food, can make all the difference in everyone’s enjoyment of the trip.

When we went on a family trip to London, each of the 4 kids (ages 7-11) picked a destination of their choice (including the Tower of London, Harry Potter World, the Manchester United Stadium and the Canterbury Cathedral) and they became the tour guide at each place. It doesn’t have to be that involved, but in this case, it was great to have the kids involved in the planning and guiding.

 

AAFSW: Anything else you’d like to add?

Ambika: The goal of Greenfeet Guides is to help kids appreciate both CULTURE and NATURE around the world. I started my career in the environmental field as a teacher and a restoration biologist, so environmental stewardship has always been an important part of my work. Unfortunately, the carbon footprint of global travel is very high, and as a globetrotter myself, I struggle with this dilemma. I don’t have any magic answers, but I do my best to offset the carbon footprint of my research travel, and produce the books sustainably with recycled papers, vegetable-based inks, and local production.

When I write Greenfeet Guide activities, I try to help kids become aware of each country’s natural landscape and how their actions may impact those resources. My most recent Dubai-UAE Kids book helps kids learn about falcons which are very important part of Emirati culture, and the desert landscape. In one activity, kids are asked to think about the environmental cost of different transport modes to Dubai, and the water footprint of eating the popular shawarma sandwich found at street vendors in Dubai.

I hope that Greenfeet Guides can help kids enjoy culture and nature around the world, and through such experiences, kids will also see the value of protecting both.

 

Check out Greenfeet Guides! 

Joyce Hooley, an EFM and AAFSW member, recently wrote a memoir about starting the Foreign Service lifestyle in midlife, when, after 25 years of having her husband follow her career as an American pediatrician, she became a trailing spouse at the age of 55. She wrote the book to share her experience with other trailing spouses and with friends who wish to better understand the unique Foreign Service experience. Joyce gave a few moments of her time to answer some questions for AAFSW’s Content Manager about her experience with this life and about the writing of her book.

More information about her book is available on AAFSW’s EFM Book List, found here, and on Amazon.

What is the most important thing you learned from your journey?
That being fully alive is about being willing to change, to grow in new ways.

I had been very happy with our life in North Carolina when [my husband] Bob decided he wanted to uproot, at the age of 55. I loved our home and community, and felt I had a true calling in my work as a pediatrician there. I did not want to go… but after much deliberation I decided reluctantly that I must, because Bob had followed me for twenty-five years and it was his turn to follow his dream, my turn to follow him. By the time I began writing this manuscript I had come to the very important insight that life, even in midlife, is always about change. One should not expect to coast along comfortably; there is so much benefit in pushing oneself to take on difficult challenges, in becoming a learner of something totally new, at least occasionally. It keeps one flexible, more adaptable, younger in spirit. And I learned that I am capable of so much more adaptability than I had believed myself to be.

Is there something you wish you had known going into this new lifestyle?
Oh boy… there is so much I wish I had known! Mainly I wish I had known how glad I would be eight years later, that we made this choice! It would have made it easier to let go of my former life, if I had felt assured ahead of time of how much the next eight years would enrich our lives. But also it would have been easier if I had known ahead of time that I would indeed be able to keep my strong bond with my community here at home as well.

What is one thing you want your readers to take away?
I hope readers will come away with a better appreciation of the psychological challenges faced by trailing spouses, and a better understanding of how these challenges are logistically complicated and compounded by an overseas setting. When I first arrived in Ghana, I was very much taken aback upon realizing how some of the diplomatic and international aid communities viewed EFM’s, specifically trailing spouses, even ones with professional careers: I have never felt so inconsequential as I felt initially on that first assignment.

I was, however, very determined, and I succeeded in furthering my career, but many people in the foreign service community just sort of expected me to sit back and ride along in the periphery of my spouse’s world. I think that women and men who are considering following a spouse overseas should make a serious appraisal of what they are getting into, and should be completely honest with their feelings along the way, and be faithful to their own vocational goals. My book is not a lighthearted humorous look at the experience of trailing spouses, but more of a frank sharing of how I struggled with that role. I hope my story will encourage other trailing spouses who also struggle, to see the possibilities and the rewards of following one’s authentic purpose in life.

When did you decide you wanted to turn your story into a book?
I have always enjoyed writing and am a lifelong keeper of journals, so while I was in Ghana, (and later Ethiopia too) I composed long email letters to family and friends sharing my observations of things that interested me… mostly nature and culture. So many of my friends told me that they loved reading these and encouraged me to put them into a book. It wasn’t until three and a half years after we had left Ghana, that I began working on the book.

At that point I was at home while Bob was still in Ethiopia, so I had a lot of uninterrupted time to write. And frankly, the writing was therapeutic for me, as some of my experiences working in medical settings in Ghana had felt quite traumatic. Writing helped me to process, to make some sense out of what I had experienced, and to reflect on what I had learned about myself, and about how I had changed. I realized then too, that I wanted to write more than just a collection of essays based on the email letters, but something more personal, a personal journey. I took an online creative writing class from the University of Wisconsin, which happened to be called “From Notebook to New Work,” which enabled me to take parts of the journals and the email letters and develop them into pieces of a storyline with a narrative arc.

How was the writing process?
Long and drawn out. I worked at it during morning hours several days a week, on and off for four years. At first, a lot of the writing was as much psychological processing as it was creative crafting. Despite the fact that I have been journaling all my life, the medical school years and medical career had given me no practice in creative writing, so I felt I needed to learn at least the basics of this craft and signed up for some online classes. Parts of this manuscript were developed as material for those writing class assignments, so I had the feedback of instructors which was very helpful to me. The last year of writing was mostly editing, tinkering. Getting it published allowed me to stop tinkering and get on with my next project.

What is something you didn’t include in the book but wanted to (or thought about or edited out)?
There was so much more material about our travels––birding and hiking––that were part of the letters home, so many beautiful scenes which eventually had to be edited out to keep from straying too far from the narrative arc of the personal journey story.

Outside My Skin: My Midlife Detour as a Trailing Spouse in Ghana is available on Amazon, here.

Images courtesy of Joyce Hooley.