LUCY BURDETTE: You've heard that John and I were in France for 10 days at the end of May. In Paris, we had the amazing opportunity to meet American, English, and Australian people who have moved from their home countries to France. This fascinates me! After I tell you about some of them, I would love to hear whether you would have either the urge or the nerve to move somewhere unfamiliar.
First, we had a glass of wine with a group of people who follow Heather Stimmler’s Secrets of Paris blog and newsletter. Heather is an American who moved to Paris in the 1990s. She started giving tours and now has a paying blog with exactly as the name says, secrets of Paris: places to go, how to get into a popular museum, meetups for those interested in socializing. At our table were two couples who have sold everything in the US and now rent apartments in Paris. We were interested to hear about their experience with medical care (good!), Learning the language (so hard!), making French friends (not easy.) One of the men is a musician who spends a lot of time playing with others and also listening to music so he’s met people that way. Another of the women knits and has joined knitting groups. John interviewed one of the men from our cocktail group and I know you will enjoy reading that article.
We also took a tour with an English man who moved to Paris with his wife in the 90s. He’s built a business giving tours and doing podcasts through his website, the Earful Tower. His introduction into the world of Parisian people came through playing basketball.
The real Emily in Paris, whom you’ve heard me speak of, came to Paris from London (she is Australian by birth) and then met and married a Parisian man. They now live in Paris with their two small children and his daughter from a previous marriage. She says her in to Parisian life is through her kids and also other expats in the city. She feels she will never be accepted totally as a French person.
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| The Real Emily in Paris |
Jane Bertch, who we've featured twice on the blog here, is also an American who first moved to London, and then to Paris in the banking world. She got the idea to found la cuisine Paris, and has written a memoir about the transition called the French Ingredient. She seems so comfortable in her new life! You can also read the cookbooks and newsletters of Dorie Greenspan and David Lebovitz, Americans who have mostly transplanted themselves to Paris and feel very much at home, while at the same time are aware of not being French.
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| Lucy with Dorie and Jane |
My takeaways from meeting these folks? A big move like this is really hard! It’s important to love the city that you are joining and be patient with yourself. Parisians are not famous for easily accepting people. The truth is, much as I love that city, and would love to know it more thoroughly, I have a deep tap root that connects me to the US. Along with friends and relatives that I would miss dearly. Plus a husband who wouldn’t go. So alas, I can’t see myself joining the ex-pats. I will have to do this through my fiction.
What about you, Reds? Can you see yourself moving to another country? If you’re tempted, where would it be and what draws you there?
I can't see myself doing this, Lucy . . . more than anything, I'd miss my family far too much . . . .
ReplyDeleteI know you would!
DeleteI am a solo retiree without any family left in Canada, but I haven't found another country where I would want to be an expat (yet).
ReplyDeleteBut becoming a snowbird to escape an Ottawa winter does sound tempting. So far, I have only left home for 2.5 weeks for SE or Eastern Asia (Singapore, Taiwan) where temperatures ranged in the low 30C/mid 80s/95F.
The snowbird life is appealing Grace! I wouldn't move to the US right now:(
DeleteDon't worry, I never visited FL or AZ as a snowbird and have no intention to do so!
DeleteTry Florida (smile) it is totally weird, we speak English (sorta) and is like Canadian Summer in the Winter. (right Lucy?)
DeleteCORALEE: No, if I decide to leave Canada, I am also leaving North America!!
DeleteLower living costs, excellent cheap healthcare, great food/culture and easier/closer travel to other countries would be necessary criteria.
GRACE: Totally can understand wanting to leave North America. Canada is the best country in North America at this point - way better than the USA. Not sure about Mexico, though.
DeleteMy husband would adore it if I were so adventurous! He has traveled all over the world and would move to anywhere in the Alps in a heartbeat. Me, not so much. Due to his work, in the 1990s we lived in the D.C. area for three years, then the Bay Area for another three years. This span "away" taught me that I can adapt eventually to other places but I will always be a New England Yankee at heart. (The northern Adirondacks are not all that different from northern Vermont.) He has the soul of an explorer. I'm afraid I have the soul of a farmer -- or a barnacle. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteI love the soul of a barnacle Selden!! I feel the same way now about being a CT Yankee.
DeleteConnecticut Yankee soul.
DeleteVisiting, yes, but moving to another country, no as I would miss my family and friends.
ReplyDeletethat's what I found the hardest to understand about people retiring in another country...how to leave the roots behind?
DeleteMy husband and I are in the process of doing this. We are approaching the end of 6 weeks in France. The first week was in Nice, where we signed a year’s lease on a flat. We don’t know if Nice is where we will end up (it feels very much like Long Beach - a large city on the water, but with even more tourists). Since at this time we are planning to split time, I think we are leaning more towards a smaller village so we can enjoy the quiet and nature. But Nice is a very practical first step - international airport, good train connections, lots of ex-pats, so English is widely spoken, which is helpful as we work on improving our French. If we don’t decide to stay here long-term, it is still a good base of operations.
ReplyDeleteWe are in Carcassonne for the month of June (planned before the Nice rental) and I really love it here. The medieval City is very touristy, but the “new” town of Bastide St Louis is so convenient. The Tues-Thurs-Sat markets are only a couple blocks away, and the main square, ringed with cafés and restaurants, is around the corner. Pharmacies and boulangeries in all directions.
We love the feel of the Occitanie region (very similar to SoCal), but worry about heat and water availability. We’re in the midst of two weeks with highs in the 90s F (upper 30s C) and the old stone house is starting to heat up.
We also like the Dordogne region - lots of water, very green, but humid in the summer and gloomy in the winter.
We realize that it will take a lot of work to become part of a community. We are both introverted, which means we need to push ourselves to get out there, but is helpful because we are fine on our own. As retirees, we love the slower pace of life here and how we can have daily activities and interactions just by going to get bread or croissants or going to the market. We plan to start the process for a one-year visa when we are back in the US so we don’t have to arrange our visits to comply with the Schengen limits (90 days out of every 180).
this is so fascinating and exciting! You must come back and write about it for us when you're further along in the process.
DeleteHappy to do so!
DeleteLISA: This is soooo exciting! Enjoy exploring possible locations in France, and keep us informed!
DeleteYou and your husband have really researched this, Lisa. I wish you luck, and hope you will check back on how things are going.
DeleteWe are both engineers, so yes, we are being very analytical about it. I am very much enjoying our time here and discovering favorite places that we return to in Carcassonne. Looking forward to doing the same in Nice.
DeleteAnother one here hoping you'll post regularly!!
DeleteLisa in Long Beach, are you following Helene on Instagram? She and her husband often post stories about living in Europe. Right now they are living near Nice, France. Her name is Helene Sula and her IG @heleneinbetween. She may also be on Facebook or YouTube?
DeleteI did it, and after two years I came home to Connecticut.
ReplyDeleteIt was the winter of 1975 and I was going to get tenure in my elementary school teaching position in a suburb of Hartford. It was a good job. Some of the teachers there had been in rheir classrooms for 20 to 30 years already. I was reading Mila 18 by Leon Uris. I knew a lot about the Holocaust already, but this story is about the Warsaw Ghetto and the uprising. At the end of the book, the heroine decides to go to Israel. I put down the book, picked up the phone and made plans to go. "If she could do it, I can do it."
I had already visited Israel for two weeks in the summer of 1968. My step sister had married an Israeli and was living in Jerusalem. Growing up, idealistically, I had thought about moving there some day. I made plans to study Hebrew at an Ulpan in Arad. From there, I moved to Tel Aviv where I got a teaching job and an apartment. I stayed for two years but in the end, I moved back to Connecticut.
That was adventurous Judy! You must have had so many reasons to feel tied to Israel. What made you decide to move back home?
DeleteOMG, Roberta, I was deeply unhappy with Judy. If you've ever heard this saying, which I'll paraphrase here, "You can travel the world over to find happiness, but unless you bring it with you, you will find it not."
DeleteI went home and found a great psychiatrist who helped me control my deep dislike for the person I was becoming.
Good for you Judy! It's hard to be that age and lost--I relate.
DeleteJudy I love to read your thoughts and responses that you post here, are you a writer like many others here (not me though!)?
DeleteA friend that my husband knew from his college years at Princeton (1965) was involved with a Jewish organization on campus, she was not a student (a townie) nor Jewish (Catholic & Italian). She was so liked by her Jewish friends that they convinced her to move to an Israeli kibbutz, which she did. Her husband wrote about her amazing experiences. She eventually moved back to her hometown too.
Thank you, Anon. I love to write but I think Coralee nailed it yesterday in our discussion of ideas and writing. I am afraid that I am a non-starter. Alas.
DeleteIt has been hard enough moving from Minnesota to Florida, so no I would not want to relocate to another country.
ReplyDeleteMy niece, who is very fluent in French, spent a year in France as an English teaching assistant. I think she had her fill of it.
I certainly get that Brenda! The hub and I talked about bringing his kids to france for 6 months but the plan never got off the ground.
DeleteWhile I can't realistically see myself moving to another country, if I was getting all those goofy romantic type ideas of how great it would be to live somewhere other than the US, it would Ireland.
ReplyDeleteHome of my ancestors, rolling green hills and way too many Ireland-set movies or TV shows to be considered healthy are the likely reasons why it would seem cool. But that's probably also where the fantasy would die too. It would be nothing like the movies and so it would just be changing location with the same damn day-to-day issues of life. Except cut off from any support system I might have here and now.
But it would be cool to visit.
Yes Jay! Ireland is very appealing these days...
DeleteIreland is very appealing these days. Rosie O' Donnell, the talk show host/actress, moved there with her son and they are very happy living there.
DeleteI am like Judy, I already did it. The year 1969-1970 in Okinawa, Japan. It really was not living in a foreign country, it was living the live of a military dependent. I was so young, so scared, and learned so much about what I might become some day.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, Florida is a foreign country. Everything is not what it used to be. But then maybe this is true for all of us.
A lot of Florida is foreign for sure. Key West feels a little different, but for how long?
DeleteI have lived all across Canada and have discovered the wonder and the hard work of moving to a new region that is so different from where I was moving from: Alberta to Nova Scotia, for example, in 1986. Same country, different culture. Very wonderful though very different. These days, I'm rooted in Manitoba and cannot see myself moving elsewhere. Never say never, but the world is so unsettled these days, with unrest and issues everywhere -- including my home province -- that I cannot see myself willingly moving elsewhere only to deal with similar issues in a foreign culture and language.
ReplyDeleteSo true, the wider issues are everywhere in one form or another.
DeleteThat comment is from me. I wasn't signed in earlier...
DeleteI loved travelling to places ( often linked to the books I had read ) and exploring . Currently, I have less taste for travelling and certainly not the taste for going to live elsewhere. It’s so good to live here.
ReplyDeleteI admit that I don’t really understand the desire to live in Paris. To begin with, I’m not a big city girl and even as a French Canadian, Paris wasn’t my favourite place in France. I preferred Dordogne.
I was maybe influenced by a Parisian couple that immigrated here in Quebec about twelve years ago because they wanted to have children and they didn’t consider Paris or France being a good place to start a family.
My friend Emily has kids and feels the French are very good at supporting families. But if you don't like cities and city life it would be a bad fit for sure.
DeleteMy brother-in-law has a good friend who moved to Paris around 40 years ago. He married a French girl and they have a family. He told my brother-in-law that he felt that Paris is a much safer place to raise a family. His neighborhood feels like a community and people look out for each other. I’m sure there are plenty of places like that here in the US. He found what he needed for raising his family.
DeleteDebRo
I find the word 'expat' to describe people who move from the US or UK to other countries very curious. How are expats different from immigrants? Is it the idea that they bring wealth with them, rather than fleeing somewhere for a better life? Is it because they have the ability to freely return home for visits? Or is it because they tend to settle in communities like San Miguel de Allende in Mexico where there are other expats? Other immigrants do that too, settle with people who speak their language. I thought of my dad as an immigrant, who moved from the UK to the US for a better life. Anyway, I have pondered the word "expat" for a long time. I don't think I could move anywhere else, although sometimes I'm tempted.
ReplyDeleteI never looked at it that way. I guess in my mind, expats are citizens who choose to live longterm in another country, while immigrants are people who seek to become citizens of another country. But perhaps that distinction exists only in my own mind. And yes, I guess the ability to return home and back at any time seems like a part of it to me, too.
DeleteA friend and her family had to flee a dictatorship (1980s) in Southern America and I was surprised to discover years later that they were able to return to their home country for visits in the 1990s. I wonder if that country became a democracy?
DeleteGood question Gillian, I don't know the answer!
DeleteGood question, Gillian. I would also like to know the difference.
ReplyDeleteWe have thought about moving somewhere, even just for part of the year, but I am rooted here in SW Ohio like an oak tree. My husband would move "out West", unspecified, in a heartbeat. He says. He lived in rural California for a year, while the kids and I stayed in Cincinnati and just visited back and forth, but it took him a long time afterwards to start saying he wanted to move there, once he got back home.
All three daughters have lived in other countries: Bangkok, Sydney, London, Nairobi, and now Athens, along with Charleston SC, Miami FL, Boston, Detroit, Traverse City, Boulder, Portland OR, and Cleveland. I visited all but Thailand while each were there. And that's really how I prefer it. I'd much rather work to make THIS country better than to attempt to insert my square peg into some round hole of another place, especially at this time of my life. The lush green Ohio Valley holds my heart and always will.
Karen, it is always a revelation driving south on 23, when the hills start appearing as you head farther south to the Ohio river and the valley opens up. Love it! Or driving 71 to Cinci from Columbus.
DeleteIsn't it? My husband did a lot of research on the glaciation of Ohio several years ago, and he said that is why the flat just stops: the glacier "crumpled up" the land, so it's why Cincinnati has the seven hills, among other interesting features.
DeleteNext time you drive this way, Flora, stop and have a cup of coffee with me!
Thanks, Karen!
DeleteI wonder how many of you exploring ideas of living in another country are ‘young’ old-people. Are you people with good health, endless (almost) energy, and no mobility issues? Will you be able to just explore and enjoy the new country? How close to becoming body-compromised (means some or many parts no longer work well) are you or your partner? What will you do for health care, or need of a care-giver? I think that would influence my idea of moving somewhere else more than anything else. Then there is the fact that I could not live in a city, so walk-ability to local markets is not a drawing point.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like I am staying here.
Yes, I am a "young" healthy retiree (not yet 60) in good health, with no mobility issues. That is why I felt safe travelling solo on those DIY trips to SE Asia. But so far, none of the countries visited made me want to live there long-term as an expat. But I am still looking & open to the possibility.
DeleteYou are right, this is an important consideration. We have been warned against moving to the Dordogne as it is a “medical desert.” We are fortunate to be at a time of life where we do not need regular medical appointments, so that probably won’t be a major driver for now. I have wondered how I may feel when I’m in my 80s and trying to have a nuanced discussion about medical issues in French. I know how frustrating those conversations can be in my native English from talking with my parents’ doctors.
DeleteGood point, Margo. We are fairly fit, but aging, and the distance of good emergency care from our Kentucky property changed my mind about making a home there. A friend's worker had a horrible injury that required immediate care, and it took well over an hour for help to arrive, and then more than that to get him to an ER. No, thanks. Especially on our farm, which has lots of hillsides and woods--it would be nearly impossible for an emergency vehicle to get remotely close to some parts of the property, if we could even communicate how to get there. I'm already nervous about my husband tramping around by himself.
DeleteLisa we found going to a doctor in France (Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice) was a great experience. My husband may have had food poisoning or something digestive. The doctor spoke perfect English and spent a long time discussing nutrition, among other medical things. The bill (including some vitamins and a medication was less than $50. But again not sure about major illnesses and need for a large medical hospital.
DeleteMy gut feeling tells me that my favorite doctors may emigrate to Canada. I notice that things have changed drastically in the last 15 years. My next appointment to see my doctor is in 2027!!! That made me wonder.....
DeleteYour next doctor's appointment is in 2027? Are you kidding? so do you have to go to the ER or urgent care every time you have a major problem?
DeleteThis is a real problem with our American healthcare. Somehow the powers that be don't get that a good relationship with a GP and preventative care saves much $$ for everyone.
DeleteAnon, that tracks with what we heard from a friend with a second home in Cannes. She broke her kneecap, had it fixed and got daily visits at home from a nurse and weekly visits from a cleaner.
DeleteA very timely question, Lucy. Lately I have been thinking about moving to Canada. The border is less than a 4 hours drive. I mentioned it to one son and he said he'd move in a minute, but he has a young son so that wouldn't work. I haven't discussed this with my other son, although he and I are planning a trip to Alberta next year. I think he has thought about living there, but from here it is very far away. So, I guess if my family wouldn't come with me, it makes no sense for me to go. That doesn't mean I have stopped thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteIn reading your essay, I was slightly amazed at how many people that you interacted with while in Paris, and I wondered if these meets were arranged before you left the US? Were they just random interactions with the natives, or would you be able to join a knitting group and then become part of the culture?
ReplyDeleteMy brother and wife used to go to Portugal for 6-8 weeks in the winter. They went to the same house – AirB&B each time, and after the first time as a tourist, just lived there as they would have if they were at home. It involved buying their own groceries and for instance having the same stir-fry that they would have had for supper on Thursday night at home, but instead in Portugal. Rarely did they partake of the local community café and cuisine. I cannot comment on the economics of buying and cooking rather than visiting the local for supper – was there a difference?
What strikes me, is that in this extended period of time, they never spoke of meeting anyone, being friends with anyone, or becoming a winter-friend of the community. I have no idea if they would like to live there forever?
That is interesting, Margo. Were they just chasing the sun? I always want to try to live like a local when I visit someplace.
DeleteAll the folks I mentioned were people I reached out to ahead of time. The retiree group did say it wasn't easy to break into the French community--language is definitely part of this!
DeleteGreat idea to reach out to people ahead of time. It is not only France. I have seen this from other European countries. The expats meet locals through their children.
DeleteOne more thing and then I am going to garden – it is cold out there so I am procrastinating! My husband picked up sticks and moved from Ontario to Nova Scotia after living all his life in Quebec and Ontario. All his family had moved on in the final sense of that word, except his sister who lived in Halifax (she too has since moved on…) We moved here to be with my parents – also gone now – so now his family is us – here. Our kids have their own families and live in Halifax, Moncton and British Columbia. Twenty-five years since moving, he will still never be a Cape-Bretoner, even if he can dress like one (think baggy pants, plaid shirt, and possibly a hat when he needs a hair-cut), but life is satisfying. He does say that since going through boxes of family history all winter, which he was never interested in before, he does want to talk about it with other family members, but there are none left. Maybe that connection with what went before is also something that you would lose in moving to another country.
ReplyDeleteI have deep roots here in Maine but we were lucky enough to move to England years ago and we loved it. I would absolutely love to love to another country again (UK, Ireland, France - just returned from a trip to Provence -already looking at apartments in Aix haha! Or Canada would be my first choices). My husband is pretty adventurous so I think I could persuade him if I get serious about this. We have a beautiful place in Maine that I would like to keep as my safety net… now that I am typing this, maybe just long-term stints in another country is more realistic… Aix is the first place in many years I could picture myself living in (besides Maine). The markets, walkability, proximity to hiking/beaches/countryside is very appealing to me. As an introvert, not being accepted by the French is not a concern of mine. I’m not French, and that’s okay. I just appreciate the lifestyle and of course the beautiful scenery. Living in a beautiful place is one of the most important things for me. I’ve lived in large cities and urban areas before and very quickly understood that is not for me. While the US has some beautiful spots (I’m partial to the quaintness of New England), nothing really compares (for me) to the architectural and bucolic beauty of Europe.
ReplyDeleteYour question caused me some real introspection. I mean, there is zero chance my husband and I would relocate to another country now, but it made me wonder why we never even discussed it when we were younger. My honest answer is that we both came from what most people might call lower middle class families, and while we pursued a lot of dreams and adventures unknown to the previous generation, the idea of relocating to another country was just too far outside our sphere of knowledge to even occur to us.
ReplyDeleteI have mentioned here many times that our son is currently living in Japan, and I feel like it is about 50/50 whether that will be for a few years or forever. Living there for at least some period of time was a lifelong dream of his. (So I guess we succeeded at giving him broader horizons!) There is much he is loving about living there, but even for a healthy 31-year-old, medical care is one of the biggest challenges. He has plenty of access to care, but communicating with enough nuance to discuss symptoms has proven quite challenging.
So interesting Susan! I have a second cousin who also did a stint in Japan. That ended up being permanent now because he married a Japanese woman and they have a child. I'm certain she wouldn't move to the US.
DeleteI've thought about such a move often in my life, but have never made the leap. I'm introverted, so being alone isn't much of a worry--except I've found that I do need the company of friends to get me out and about. Places I've thought of include Corfu, northeast Spain, southern France, Merida, Costa Rica. But my roots run deep in the US--all branches of my family were here long before we were the USA--no upstart Ellis Island riffraff! :-) and I'd much rather have a place to retreat to for part of the year than to move away permanently.
ReplyDeleteCosta Rica was at one point a very popular choice for American expats. I wonder if it still is.
DeleteI visited the Netherlands for the first time back in 2010 and felt immediately at home. I was only there for three weeks, but I travelled extensively and experienced as much culture as I could. I went back to Toronto with one thought in my head: I could move there. I had recently lost both my parents and I was single, which meant nothing was tying me to Canada, so I started studying Dutch, packed up my life, and moved to Amsterdam 2.5 years later. I loved it. There is something very special about the North Sea. I was fortunate to have networked extensively at conferences ahead of the move, which meant I had a network of friends and colleagues in the Netherlands, but also in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, and the UK. I only moved back to Canada after running into financial difficulties -- my residence permit was delayed by almost a year due to staffing issues, and my condo in Toronto never did find a tenant. I actually ended up meeting a Dutch-Canadian who is now my husband, and now I have the bonus of an extended Dutch family! I'm happy to be in a relationship with someone who understands my love for the Netherlands. I travel back almost every year to practise my Dutch and immerse myself in the place that is my heart's home. Our retirement plans include spending two or three months there every year. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteFascinating story!
DeleteI also felt immediately at home in the Netherlands. I would definitely consider moving there, but my husband needs more sunshine.
DeleteMy daughter, her hub, and two young children lived for almost 2 years in Bergen, Norway while her husband was a Fulbright Prof at the university. Norway is a great country. People are friendly, medical care is free, but food is expensive. They've also done a university/professor exchange in Athens. I think that is the best way to live in a foreign country...for example thru work, teaching, the military, family ties, etc.
ReplyDeleteWonderful experience for both them and their kids. We loved what little bits of Norway we saw last year. Norwegian is tough, but most of them speak excellent English!
DeleteNorwegiens learn English throughout their school years and are fluent in both English and Norwegian. My grandkids were young enough (3&8) to pick Norwegian up very quickly. Their parents...nope!! Hahah
DeleteIf I was going to live in a foreign country I'd like to live 6 months there and 6 months in our home town to be near our grandkids.
ReplyDeleteAn English Cotswolds village would be my first choice followed by either the south of France or Northern Italy. My husband just got his Canadian citizenship and I'd love to explore the eastern coast of Canada such as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, etc.He also has lots of extended family in Toronto.
Keep us posted about where you end up!
DeleteI have no desire to live in another country. If I had the money, I would definitely travel to other countries, but my roots are HERE!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
Good to know yourself DebRo!
DeleteVery timely. Languages are very easy for me to pick up. I have relatives and friends who are world travelers. They can visit me wherever I decide to settle in Europe. So I could easily see myself emigrating to Europe - anywhere that is walkable, family friendly, free health care, women prime ministers, NO guns, and social distancing. I just learned that in some European countries, there are NO stray cats/dogs. I also look at how other countries treat "elderly" people and people with disabilities. In some European countries, they are treated with respect.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am following social accounts of Americans who emigrated to European countries. They share their experiences about living in a new country.
Also looking at European countries where they are conscious of climate change and have clean water. I was traveling in Europe when I got very sick in this city of a million people arriving every day and there were cars everywhere. The air pollution was so bad there. Once I arrived in another city in another country, the air was so clean and there were bicycles everywhere. Far fewer countries and I never was sick there.
Mostly likely not returning to the USA because of the gun issue. I saw the writing on the wall when there was a wave of Republicans elected to Congress in 1994. Apologies for venturing into politics here.
We have a close friend who after closing his architectural firm in North Bennington, VT decided to take his hobby of world travel to another level and live part-time in Sicily. Tim is in his early 80's but not deterred by that fact. Age is of no consequence to him. He's quite familiar with both Italy and Sicily as he achieved his Masters in Architecture in Rome years before and loves going back to visit with the intention of eventually living overseas part of the year. His plans to purchase and renovate an existing piece of real estate in Sicily was moving along very nicely until...well...it wasn't. Apparently the real estate and construction regulations are a bit off the charts there...a difficult process...and unfortunately his dream vacation home in a quiet little Sicilian village fell through the "floorboards".So pardon the pun it's back to the drawing board again as Tim has no plans to abandon the idea of living in Sicily six months out of the year. As for me who is quite happy living among the wooded pines quite close to the Atlantic Ocean...I'll just quote Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz: "There's no place like home." :-)
ReplyDeleteSo interesting!
DeleteThis is fascinating, Lucy. I suppose I could say I did this, moving to Scotland, then England, in my late twenties, but in a way it doesn't count as my ex was Scottish, had a job there, etc. It did give me a taste of how difficult it can be to settle in to another culture (yes, Britain is another culture!) I would say even if it's the same language except that Borders Scots was like a foreign language to me!
ReplyDeleteNow, however, I have my own friends and connections in the UK, and many more years experience there, so hopefully it would be a different experience. That's only a dream life, unfortunately, as my husband would never agree to such a move, and I can't imagine leaving my daughter and granddaughter. Also, it's very expensive there.
I suppose this is why we make the move in fiction:)
DeleteAnd I love being a part of countries through fiction, especially mysteries. Deborah Crombie, Rhys, Charles Finch, Martin Walker, Tana French, Camille Lackberg, and others have made that possible! And Kim Hays recently introduced me to Switzerland! Thanks to you Jungle Reds (Heather S)
DeleteLucy, interesting question and blog post. Never an urge to move to another country, but three times to move somewhere “unknown” in the United States. In 1970 from western CT to Kodiak, AK, in 1974 from western CT to Seattle, WA, and in 2020 from western CT to the south Atlantic coast of FL. Even though the moves back to western CT were to a place I knew, the adventures, changes in my life, and time in between created urges to move back made the move to the “unknown”. Happy Summer, All. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteOh, Lucy, I DO understand. I went to Paris, rented an apartment for three months, intending to enroll in a language course. I met a gallery owner who introduced me to her friends--- artists, film directors, writers--- and my life blossomed. With my children off to college, I extended my stay... and returned to the States five years later. The best five years of my life. And, to be honest, were it not for all of my children and grandchildren living within an hour of me, I'd move to Paris in a flash.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had an amazing experience!
DeleteNot seriously considering it, though on a few trips, I was a bit tempted to stay. ;-) I did enjoy 3 months teaching in Jamaica, but I was happy to get back home. At this stage, I travel more easily in a book. <3
ReplyDelete-- Storyteller Mary
Fascinating post, Lucy! I'm kind of a homebody, but I do love visiting other places!
ReplyDeleteA childhood friend and His husband bought a home in Portugal before the 2024 election. Another friend and his wife bought a home in France. I have several friends with vacation homes in Canada.
ReplyDeleteAnd where is Eluzabeth Vardan? She and her husband live in Portugal now. Elizabeth often comments here on JRW.
Living abroad would be wonderful. I could easily see myself living in a country with free or cheaper health care, no processed foods, healthier lifestyles, stricter gun control.walkable cities, higher literacy among citizens and gender equality.
ReplyDeleteLucy, how wonderful that you got to see Paris through the eyes of those who lived there. When we went to Paris last year, I feel that I missed a lot, well a lot of what I wanted to see, like Moulin Rogue (although we did do a food tour of Montmarte, but I would rather have done a tour a literary and art tour there). I got to see the Eiffel Tower and go to the art museums, but I felt I didn't quite get the flavor of Paris I wanted. Of course, I was still in a bad place mentally, so that didn't help. The Seine River cruise following the three days in Paris was quite good. I liked seeing the smaller towns, especially Honfleur. Paris wasn't at the top of my list to visit, but now that I've been there, I'd like to go back with a few friends who better know the nooks and crannies.
ReplyDeleteEngland is where I really want to go (and hopefully will next year?), and it would be the place I could live other than here. The problem is leaving family behind. I'm not sure I could do that, and at my age, it would be a big adjustment. Maybe I need to just go spend a few months in England so I can see all the parts I long to see.
Commenting late today (Grammy duty, two-hour drive, and more). What a thoroughly delightful visit you had, Lucy!
ReplyDeleteI've known plenty of ex-Pats in Japan and west Africa, some permanent, some short-term. Traveling is lovely, although increasingly I need more comfort and less uncertainty, but I'd never move far away. Like you, I have the long taproot to home, which now includes grandkids. I hope to stay within an hour or two drive from all of them (if not closer), for the rest of my life.