Sonia Harford hooked one of the biggest assignments of her journalistic career when she covered Milosevic's war crimes trial in the Hague. Like many other Australians who move overseas to live and work, Harford was on a life journey. Leaving Paradise is in part the story of Harford's five-year expatriate adventure in Amsterdam and Rome. It also investigates the experiences of other Australians, such as best-selling author, Peter Carey in New York, who have made the life-changing decision to uproot their lives, families and careers to join the global community. In this entertaining and thoughtful personal investigation, Harford explores the boom in Australian expatriatism, and what it means for those who embark on it. Whether they're business professionals, artists, waiters or students, expats are guided by the heart, and this book is a lush exploration of the glamour and the grumble, the pain of nostalgia and the lure of the bewitching big city.