A Braintree woman who travelled the world before setting up home in America has published her first book.

Kylie Neuhas, who grew up in Braintree, has written Between England and Iowa: A Year In The Life Of An Emigrating Wife, which documents the realities of expat life.

Mrs Neuhas left Braintree in August 2016, and said she tested the water of moving by having weekend trips, visiting 39 countries in total.

She said: “Especially in the UK living so close to Stansted Airport, I’d often take the first flight on a Saturday morning, be in a new country by lunch time, visit some of the local attractions, have dinner, stay the night and get the last flight home on a Sunday evening to be back at work on Monday morning.

“It has only been in the past year that I’ve been living in America full time, but in the past year I’ve been to eight States and six countries.

“With the States, I live on the border of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois so I explore those quite a lot.

“The other states have been North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Indiana, Michigan.

“The states are huge, I can drive for four hours and still only be in Central Iowa.

“I came back to the UK for Christmas, then this past summer I went to Belize, Ireland, UK, Austria and Germany, back to Ireland and then back to America.”

The book starts with the final parts of her visa process and her last days in the UK, before describing her whole first year living in the USA.

She said: “Putting all my journal entries together sent me straight back to reliving the rollercoaster ride that this past year and a bit now has been.

“I’ve poured my heart into this thing, literally.

“I hope other expats, new or old, will be able to relate to my experiences.”

“We may be spread out all over the world but I think the state of mind is very similar even if our locations are very different.”

“Some parts may be tough to read but I pride myself on the fact that this is a completely honest account of expat life.

“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows.”

Mrs Neuhas met an American while she was on a solo trip to Jamaica.

She then married and moved to America.

Mrs Neuhas grew up going on caravan holidays in the UK, later taking a BTEC Travel & Tourism at Braintree College.

She said: “I love how travelling makes me feel alive. I get excited experiencing different sights, sounds and smells and doing new things.”

“I decided to take a leap of faith, go through a year long visa process, give up everything I knew and loved in the UK to emigrate and start a life in the USA.

“For a whole year I kept a journal, writing down my expat milestones, all my thoughts and feelings and documented each time I came across something that sent me into culture shock.”

The book can be bought on Amazon for Kindle for £4 or on paperback for £7.58.

Her blog can be found at betweenenglandandiowa.com.