Today I taped an episode of Bay Area Focus with Susan Sikora at CW 44, cable12, (KBCW) the CW Network affiliate for the San Francisco Bay Area. It'll air June 24. We talked about Tales From The Expat Harem, expatriatism, and the location independent lifestyle.

Here are some of the prep questions.

1. What factors should we all consider before moving abroad?

2. How is moving abroad different from travelling abroad?

3. What is the perception of Americans abroad? What is the image most non- Americans you met had of the U.S? Did that improve at all during the time you lived abroad? Did it change? How so?

4. What prompted you to leave in the first place??

5. What was the hardest adjustment you had to make?

6. For 14 years you've lived in three countries outside the USA (Italy, Malaysia, and Turkey). Why did you choose the countries you did?

7. How is living abroad different than travelling abroad?

8. In what ways were you unprepared for the realities of a wider world? What conventional wisdoms about the world did find to be untrue?

9. Can those differences between expats and travelers be seen in the literature they write about a place?

10. When you moved to Istanbul in 2003 you were planning to write a memoir about your life in Malaysia. Why did you create an anthology about Turkey instead?

11. What is behind the metaphor “Expat Harem” and how does it help us understand Turkey better? How did it help you understand yourself better?

12. As you compiled the book Tales from the Expat Harem you found that cultural understanding wasn’t a function of time spent in a location but rather the depth of an individual’s connection with the place. How can we foster that kind of connection to have a better experience when we travel?

13. What were you hoping to learn about yourself by moving?

14. What were your expectations of living abroad? Were they met?

15. How were you perceived as an American? How do you think most Americans are perceived?

16. You’re a Berkeley native. How do you think being raised in the Bay Area prepared you for the life abroad?

17. For people considering a trip or a move to Turkey, what would you suggest they do to prepare themselves?

18. A few years ago you launched a group blog of “neoculture discussion” inspired by Expat Harem. You called it “expat+HAREM, the global niche” and it wasn’t just about Turkey, or women, or expats. Why did you expand your sights, and to whom?

19. What came out of those neoculture discussions?

20. You’ve coined this expression “global niche”. What is your definition of a global niche?

21. Where did the idea of a global niche come from?

22. Why do you call yourself a hybrid ambassador?

23. Can you explain what you mean by 'psychic location independence'?

24. What’s the difference between location independence -- where people are looking for the freedom to travel and work and live where ever they want -- and your version?

25. So can we take advantage of your global niche concept even if we don’t leave home? That is, can we be global citizens without a passport?

26. You believe if we build our global niche we’ll have found where in the world we belong -- and also be globally unbounded. How can we be in one place, and everywhere at the same time?