The true, on-going story of one man's escape from the rat race to live a nomadpreneur's dream life...a unique travel guide
for the rest of us!
With its world class diving sites, corals beyond compare, natural beauty, warm weather and people to match, the paradise-inspired
island of Saipan in the Pacific might be just the ideal setting for a nomad's adventure, except that few people are
familiar with this furthest east American commonwealth just 150 miles north of Guam. But Jamaican in Saipan,
a unique book by Walt Goodridge, which chronicles the author's escape from the rat race in search of a private dream,
may yet change that fact.... (176 pages; 5.5 x 8.5
ISBN: 978-0974531397; Includes Walt's exciting adventures, insights, emails back home,
and journal entries, PLUS over 140 photographs of life on Saipan!
"Once upon a time, there was a Jamaican civil engineer living in New York who hated his job, followed his
passion, started a sideline business publishing his own books, made enough money to quit his job, escaped the rat
race, ran off to a tropical island in the Pacific, and started a tourism business so he could give tours of the
island to pretty girls every day....and live a nomadpreneur's dream life."
Inside: Walt shares more about Saipan's famous Thursday Street Market!
Here's the first of many short clips of life and living on the island of Saipan. Read all about this and more inside Jamaican on Saipan!
For more videos, visit Jamaican on Saipan on Youtube
"I wanted to tell a different story," Goodridge explains,
"from a perspective and through eyes you don't normally experience." And he does indeed.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised for
half his childhood in Jamaica, New York, Goodridge, a self-described "mobile,
mac-enabled, mimimalist nomapdreneur who happens also to be vegan" reveals a personal vision of happiness
he'd been searching for all his life. His story begins with his challenging,
almost aborted "escape from America," his arrival and acclimation to Saipan's
unique culture and lifestyle, adapting as a vegan in a meat-centric paradise,
finding opportunities for making money, achieving fame, and even cross-cultural dating on
a Pacific island.
A graduate of Columbia University, a civil engineer who walked away from his career
to be an entrepreneur, former radio personality, author of 15 books, e-business guru,
public speaker and career coach, Goodridge amassed an impressive
resume in his "former" life in the states. Even so, he's not afraid to risk baring
the ignominy of some of his experiences on the other side of the world--such as one
humorously chronicled episode of having no money or credit card
and having to call friends back in the states in the middle of the night for Paypal loans to purchase a ticket,
or his "rats in the kitchen" situation, or finding out too late that he hadn't done sufficient research to
know that he needed a visa for travel to certain countries.
With its wide coverage of life in Saipan,
the book also doubles as a travel guide, touching on a wide range of topics
of interest to potential visitors, retirees, tourists and fellow nomads who will find his "notes"
not just entertaining, but also educational, and a great way to round out one's knowledge
of this relatively unknown, but quite unique island paradise. By the time you finish reading, you'll know enough about
Saipan's culture, lifestyle, economy, tourist spots and even some of the local
celebrities to feel like you've been there, or at the very least, to decide if you want to go.
Goodridge's story is a personal, inspiring, at times embarrassing
often amusing, but never dull account of the adventure that
life often gives as reward to those with the courage to live their dreams. With a
Jamaican's eye for cultural anomaly, a coach's desire to teach, and a poet's way with words,
Walt chronicles his year-long experience in a collection
of personal emails, blog posts and private journal entries. The result is
a hard-to-put-down adventure peppered with insightful observations and
analysis on everything from global warming, to finding economic opportunity, love and
happiness in paradise!
###
TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword: Jamaican-ize
Introduction: Jamaican-eyes
A World Without Borders
Note 1: How it all Began
Note 2: Freedom Song
Note 3: Escape from New York
Note 4: Escape from Las Vegas
Note 5: Escape from Las Vegas, Take Two
Note 6: Escape from Japan
Note 7: Welcome to Saipan!
Note 8: Where on Earth is Saipan?
Note 9: Saipan Facts and Figures
Note 10: Off to a Great Start
Note 11: First Impressions
Note 12: Sights and Sounds...
Note 13: Passion Prophet in Paradise
Note 14: Meeting the Governor
Note 15: Elements of Fame
Note 16: Alien Soul
Note 17: Let the Music Play
Note 18: The Most Important Day of My Life
Note 19: Vegan in Paradise
Note 20: The Saipan Tribune
Note 21: MLK Day Legislation Passed
Note 22: Sistah Constable
Note 23: Settling In
Note 24: New York Calling...
Note 25: Rats in the Kitchen
Note 26: Dating, Language and Culture
Note 27: Return to New York
Note 28: Jamaican in Canada
Note 29: Preserving Paradise
Note 30: The 10 Commandments of Paradise
Note 31: Paradise-preneurs
Note 32: My World
Note 33: Walt's Friday Inspirations Ends
Note 34: Escape from America, the Sequel
Note 35: A Nomad Ruminates on Home
Note 36: Saipan Food Co-op
Note 37: Guam
Note 38: A Week in the Life
Note 39: Okay, So it's more than a week
Note 40: A Few Things I Haven't Done
Note 41: Heard and Seen on Saipan
Note 42: My Best Friend's Wedding
Note 43: Holidays on Saipan
Note 44: BeautifyCNMI!
Note 45: We Love Saipan!
Note 46: The Master Plan
Note 47: How We REALLY Did It
Note 48: MLK Day in the CNMI
Note 49: Early-Retirement on Saipan
Note 50: Island Fever?
Note 51: Saipan Calling
Note 52: Someone from the Future
Part Two! (2009 Update)
Note 53: There's always something to do
Note 54: The Best of Saipan!
Note 55: My Senate Resolution
Note 56: Contract Workers Unite
Note 57: Another Jamaican!
Note 58: MLK Traditions Continue
Note 59: Food for a Week on Saipan
Note 60: Marianas Trench Monument
Note 61: And Then, There's Obama!
Note 62: Ode to the Garment Factory
Note 63: Some Scenes We May Not See Again
Note 64: Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin
Note 65: Federalization and the Visa Waiver
Note 66: The Truth About Saipan
Note 67: And Finally... A Better Life?
Note 68: The Final, Final Word
About the Author
Further Reading and Resources
Saipan on DVD!
Saipan in Paperback
Books and Products by Walt Goodridge
Quiz
Order Form
Guest Starring (in order of appearance): New York City
Ken
Walt Goodridge
Eva, the American Airlines agent
Dave, the man
Yasaka,
Joe
Sam
John
Saipan
Cinta
Maria
Tony
Harry
Irene
Joe
Herb
Bob Marley
Gus
CRM
WIA
NMC
Governor Benigno Fitial
Howard
Willie
Ben
Dan
Daniel
Remy
Rebecca
Jeff
Tim & Adelia
Harvey and Gertrude Rat
The Goodridge clan, plus
Massoud
Clem
Curt
Lisa
Franicia
Guam
Bruce Wayne
Esther
Ernest
Kim
Tim
Aaron
Stacey
Monica
Happy
Diamond
Nicole
Chun Yu
Rose
Angelo
Tina
Sommer
The We Love Saipan bloggers
Angie
Dorothea
Ranger Nancy
Cynthia
David
Dirk
David
Brad
Ian
Shanai
Neta
Flourine
Albina
Cardiff
Ronald
Marsha Rose
Ike
James
Jay
Ken K.
Ruth T
Barak Obama
Daniel
Peter
In addition to being just an ordinary guy living a vegan lifestyle on
a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, Walt Goodridge is an in-demand speaker,
passion coach, author of 16 books (including his top-seller on Amazon, Turn Your Passion
into Profit), web marketing guru, business columnist, and was recognized by
official CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) Senate Resolution No. 15-54
for his invaluable contributions to Saipan, its residents and economy.
Because of numerous demands on his time, Walt's exclusive all day tours of Saipan
(including Walt's "Ultimate Saipan Experience") are not available to the general public.
They are available by referral only, or by special application. To begin the application process to
experience Saipan Walt's way, please click here.
"Hi, WALT! I was looking for a reference book at Bestseller Books [on Saipan] and came cross your book "Jamaican on Saipan!"
I grabbed a copy of it! It's fabulous, especially the cover page...it has captured Saipan's exhilarating views well! On a scale of 1 to 10 I rate it eleven!!
Thank you, Walt for you inspire writers like me.--Riza R.
(soon-to-be-published Pinoy writer on Saipan!) Update: Riza published her book!
Click here to see!
*****
"Walt describes himself as "just an ordinary guy living a vegan lifestyle on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean."
Even if you aren't a skinny Jamaican I recommend his book. Walt captures the essence of tropical living in Jamaican on
Saipan. Your experience in paradise will likely not be the same as his, but you can expect to do things you never dreamed of doing.
Saipan is a place where you can be anything, but don't take my word for it. Walt's book is a great read. I recommend it.--Angelo Villagomez,
The Saipan Blogger
*****
"This is a wonderful book that combines Walt's autobiography, business, adventure and travel into a very interesting approach to life.
Walt decided to leave the hustle-bustle of city life after picking up his college degree and a lot of business experience, and then
brought himself and his abilities to the Marianas Islands and is obviously making a positive impact on the Pacific islands of Tinian,
Rota and Saipan, USA. In all of his seminars and books, Walt talks about turning your passion into profit, i.e., why not make a good
living doing what you want to do? Makes sense to me! Walt has a lot of great photos and stories in this book, and also describes interesting
people that he meets along the way, e.g., other authors, lawyers, musicians, garment workers, vacationers, politicians, cops, and business people,
whom he calls Saipanpreneurs. Walt says, "You can call me an idealist. I'll wear that badge with pride." And precisely that idealism and "can do"
spirit is contagious and affecting the local indigeous people (combined with a worldwide mixture of American mainlanders, Korean, Chinese, Filipino,
Peruvians, Bangladeshi,Japanese, Russian, etc. and an occasional Jamaican). Walt has found a niche for his personality and talents. The book will be a
welcome addition to your library!"--Joseph Race, author of Moon Over Manila and many more...
"I loved reading it. Once I started i couldn't put it down.
I love the cover.........it's so Saipanish and eye catchy. And
makes you want to read about the crazy Jamaican in Saipan!"
It's, DA BOMb!"--Kim
"I LOVE THE COVER! It captures the fantasy of living in paradise and made me want to pick it up and read it!"--Stacey
"This is wonderful! I absolutely love the photos and looked forward to hearing about your daily adventures.
This is going to be a hit! It truly portrays the essence of living your dream and experiencing your vision to the fullest."--
--Adrienne
"...the rat story is crazy!"--F.W.
Encourage a world without borders...
"To create a just, sustainable world, nothing is more important than being able to think and
act across borders. Whether our passion is protecting the biosphere or preventing war,
we will succeed only if we have the passion and courage to cross the national,
ideological, ethnic, and religious borders of our time."--Mark Gerzon, author of Leaders
without Borders.
The internet makes possible the dream of life without borders and other arbitrary lines that separate humanity.
Use it to encourage the sort of boundary-breaking, limitless, expansive and inclusive thought and action that
will unite and free us. Jamaican in Saipan is just one of many real-life adventures which show the reader
new ways to be, think and act. Order it and share it with everyone in your world!--Walt
• Walt is the grandson of Charles F. Goodridge,
a key figure in the Rastafarian movement responsible
for bringing the Holy Piby to Jamaica.
• Jimbilin (click for larger image)
Walt discovers jimbilin on Saipan! It makes
his Jamaican on Saipan experience that
much more special! No ackee, yet, but
he's still looking!
"Hi, WALT! I was looking for a reference book at Bestseller Books [on Saipan] and came cross your book "Jamaican on Saipan!"
I grabbed a copy of it! It's fabulous, especially the cover page...it has captured Saipan's exhilarating views well! On a scale of 1 to 10 I rate it eleven!!
Thank you, Walt for you inspire writers like me.--
"Walt describes himself as "just an ordinary guy living a vegan lifestyle on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean."
Even if you aren't a skinny Jamaican I recommend his book. Walt captures the essence of tropical living in Jamaican on
Saipan. Your experience in paradise will likely not be the same as his, but you can expect to do things you never dreamed of doing.
Saipan is a place where you can be anything, but don't take my word for it. Walt's book is a great read. I recommend it.--
"This is a wonderful book that combines Walt's autobiography, business, adventure and travel into a very interesting approach to life.
Walt decided to leave the hustle-bustle of city life after picking up his college degree and a lot of business experience, and then
brought himself and his abilities to the Marianas Islands and is obviously making a positive impact on the Pacific islands of Tinian,
Rota and Saipan, USA. In all of his seminars and books, Walt talks about turning your passion into profit, i.e., why not make a good
living doing what you want to do? Makes sense to me! Walt has a lot of great photos and stories in this book, and also describes interesting
people that he meets along the way, e.g., other authors, lawyers, musicians, garment workers, vacationers, politicians, cops, and business people,
whom he calls Saipanpreneurs. Walt says, "You can call me an idealist. I'll wear that badge with pride." And precisely that idealism and "can do"
spirit is contagious and affecting the local indigeous people (combined with a worldwide mixture of American mainlanders, Korean, Chinese, Filipino,
Peruvians, Bangladeshi,Japanese, Russian, etc. and an occasional Jamaican). Walt has found a niche for his personality and talents. The book will be a
welcome addition to your library!"--
"I loved reading it. Once I started i couldn't put it down.
I love the cover.........it's so Saipanish and eye catchy. And
makes you want to read about the crazy Jamaican in Saipan!"
"I LOVE THE COVER! It captures the fantasy of living in paradise and made me want to pick it up and read it!"--Stacey
Photos of the life:
