To move to a country where the cost of living is deemed very affordable is very expensive. It starts with a dream and I can promise you that this one is not free.
But beginnings are usually always sweet, and a couple of bucks donated to Jeff Bezos’s Space Odyssey are insignificant.
You need a book or two, and a good map. Imagine, from the end of your driveway to the bakery (La Boulangerie) 10 miles away, there are at least 3 hamlets. Some with 4 houses, some with 15. Each of these are tiny dots on a map, possessing their very own longitude and latitude, with names involving anywhere from 1 to 2 to 3 words. Reading these and mastering their pronunciation can double as a french language lesson.
The book outlines costs associated with the Visa process. The book does not include costs to travel to your Visa appointment, which in an ideal world, is supposed to be held at the nearest French Consulate. COVID has created chaos in this arena, the appointments are booked for weeks on end, and the likelihood that we will need planes, trains and automobiles to find an opening somewhere in the USA, remains high. At this point we would rent a dog sled.
Next comes packing materials. Boxes, paper, bubble wrap and tape. Lowes and U-Haul fit the bill, or should I say bills…
Our bank account is still in the black, but we have a long way to go. Now to get packing…we have 3 weeks to pack up this house, and due to another pandemic called Netflix Binges, those boxes are still in the garage.