One of the biggest Hints to know in a foreign country, not just France, Never leave the airport without some local money. Not too much because the exchange rate at the airport is way too high usually, BUT you do Not want to get in a rental car and take off without any local cash.
Case in point: We arrive our first day to Paris, getting our rental car and heading to drive to the Champagne Region. After a crazy flight, crazy depart from the airport (we drove around twice before finally figuring out what/where the Exit sign was; seeing how it was in French we didn’t know what Exit was!
(Sortie by the way, (Exit) is the sign you are looking for)
We hopped on the motorway only to discover it was a toll road. We are whizzing along feeling all smug and happy we had figured out how to rent/drive/leave the airport and get to our destination on our own UNTIL……
The toll booth! UnManned toll booths that is! And all in French! No clue what to do, out on a lonely stretch of motorway, with no one there but us (thank goodness hindsight) and we had No cash at all except American money!
Fat lot of good that will do you in Europe. (not just at toll booths but anywhere in Europe – NO they do Not want American monies so don’t bring much)
ok sorry back to the toll booth: Having no idea what to do, we sat reading the signs on the booth like somehow we would all the sudden read and understand French! Nope that doesn’t work; we finally figured out the little tiny pictures were a diagram of a credit card. Victory, they take credit cards!
We stick our American Visa into the slot and hold our breaths, Hoping it will work. We are in the middle of nowhere it felt like, green grassy fields everywhere your eyes look but no people anywhere and a giant bar across the toll road, no way around it. Viola, it worked! woohooo Victory as the bar lifts up and the box returns our credit card to us.
So, either be sure to have money OR be sure you have a credit card! Seriously though, get at least $20-$40 of local money no matter where you go, before you leave the airport: taxis/trains/toll booths or cafe, they won’t take American monies so be Prepared, plan ahead.
YES this is our Real Luggage we brought over! and it was Way too much. Originally we were going to ship 21 large boxes with full kitchen/household linens/accessories and personal clothing items. I spent days and days and even weeks trying to figure out a shipping company that was legit and never found anyone and it was going to be around $2000!
We gave up on that idea and I can save you a ton of time and money; if you aren’t being moved by a company or the military the cheapest way to move is the dumb airlines luggage overage charges! you can get ALOT in luggage and the price of airline fees is cheaper than ANY shipping that isn’t a full container. If you have less than a container than there truly is no cheap way, forget postal/fed ex no longer does it and I never found any other way.
BUT, however, if you are moving over, I would recommend taking Half of what you think you want/need!
What not to bring? First and foremost, too much clothing! Trust me there are stores here with tons of cute fashion!
Electronics, they won’t work here without an adapter and even then they might not work (see my post about the blown up heating pad)
Shoes, there are Tons of GREAT shoes, better shoes in some cases than in America.
And if you are going mobile traveling and not renting a flat, then you REALLY need 1/3 of what you think you want/need. What you use/need in America is Not what you need here. and it becomes a major burden to lug all this stuff with you. Find a way to keep it back home until you have been over here awhile and KNOW you are staying forever. Know you miss it enough to think about it while traveling, and then bring it over.
Meantime keep it simple and bring only the basics.
“WHY would you want to move HERE??” “You’re from California? Oh I’ve always wanted to go there. Wait, why would you want to move here!?”
Those are the two sentences we hear the very most living abroad! Obviously, after they ask you where you are from, that is the immediate response by almost all. Why do you leave San Diego and America. Because we CAN? That seems to be my immediate response in my head. Because we wanted to. Because there is SO MUCH more out there that we have to see. Time is short and there are so many cultures, foods, sights, sounds and we want them all. Oh, and unknown to us, WE have accents, ha ha. For some reason people guess Canada first then America.
“1000 Places to see before you die” is my Bible and my guide. A friend bought it for me back in 2000 and I have drooled over it and carried it with me on every trip ever since! As a guideline of areas/places I would have never thought of, never even heard of; it enhanced my already wander lust and made it my burning desire to ensure I highlight every page before I die! (I use a yellow or pink highlighter and cross out destinations, each time we go somewhere in the book.) A deep sense of satisfaction comes over me with every area highlighted. Thanks to this book we have had some crazy adventures like our road trip to Oklahoma and going to “Truth or Consequences, New Mexico” because it was in the book. (pretty sure Darren tried to burn the book after that holiday. Sorry to New Mexico and the book, but that is one page/stop we can help you to skip!)
But other amazing adventures have been had due to the book leading us there. San Miguel De Allende is one of those places. Spectacular.
And Amazing New friends are met, that you would have never known if you stayed in one place.
Back to why we would leave California and San Diego specifically; really for me, its because my feet feel like a gypsy. Travel is my drug, its what gets me excited, its what got me thru the worst economic collapse where we had to Fight to stay alive and keep our houses and business going. The reward was always the trip at the end, the money to get to go on the trip. Until I realized, 2-3 weeks per year just wasn’t enough to get it all done and I wanted to get started before I couldn’t hike, sail, jump on trains, etc physically any longer. I wanted to see it all and it was always my answer when I asked the question: “If you were told you had 1 yr left to live, what would you regret the most?” My answer was always, “all the things I missed seeing, all the places I didn’t get to go”. My bucket list was HUGE for travel so I had to get started Now! There was a time that we thought we would never leave California, but with each and every destination and trip we took, we realized regardless of how nice California is, it was time for us to get going thruout the world and of course, EUROPE was our go to destination, as it is for most people. Where else can you road trip to other countries not just another state? Until we can cross off all those countries off in THE book, we are UK/Europe tethered. I want to be at a cafe talking to other ex-pats and when they say: “have you been to …….” I can say YES, and we find that common denominator for all world travelers; Great stories of those exotic places you have both been to. Fabulous stories of the locals, the food, the smells and the joy of discovering something new and being able to share those stories with others that have gypsy feet like me. We can’t wait to see what each new destination brings: people/food/experiences. You never know when you are on a random island and someone asks you to crew on a 160 foot Yacht! Never know when you find yourself at dinner in Champagne, France with an entire group of non English speaking people, using your iPhone to translate an entire dinner conversation and it works! You never know………..there are so MANY adventures awaiting and we are so excited to see what that might be.
The incredible adventure of having No Idea what is around the corner, that is really Why you leave the comforts of home, the love of family and holidays together. Those smells of a new city, the feel of a new guidebook in my hand, learning new languages and more, that is why we we left and how do you explain that in one sentence when someone asks? Why would you leave California?
You can do it too, even if you start as a one week traveler at a time, who knows when the gypsy bug will bite you and you too will say, How can I leave and do this full time? The question from us to you? Why Not? and When? Come join us at some point on the journey, we would love to see you! And the great news, if you find its not what you want to do forever, Home is always where Family is, and you can always go back!
Looking back at our original posts we had such hopes and dreams of being in Europe in 2013; well that plan got delayed. Don’t you love when you Think you Know what is going to happen and it goes totally different?
Well in this case the house did Not sell like we thought right away. Well it did, in that we got an offer, opened escrow and buyer backed out. We never got another offer and finally pulled the house off the market 🙁 Took a break from all the house showings and making the house perfect and had to take a mental break.
Instead we decided to explore America since we couldn’t get to Europe, so ROAD TRIP here we come……wooohoo.
Oklahoma was the final destination But with a lot thrown in: Vegas, Zion National park, Four Corners, New Mexico, Colorado and parts unknown. We road trip’d down the Great Route 66 part of the time and saw the craziest things on purpose and some as total surprises. Thanksgiving in Durango, Colorado was Gorgeous; Christmas time in Santa Fe and Taos NM was awesome. Mind numbing highways of brown dirt/mesas led to crazy singing and driving on the Real live but hugely abandoned Route 66 in some places.
It was tons of fun, seedy motels as we had no itinerary or dates and therefore no reservations, crazy food eaten and Bella Rocked it all the way. Rolled into my college town of Norman Oklahoma – GO SOONERS GO BIG RED and had a great time hanging with family. On to mom and dads house for the GREAT CHRISTMAS ICE FREEZE of 2013!!!! HOLEY COW I might have been born in Oklahoma but this girl has been in California for 20yrs and I don’t LIKE cold! However, I did like finally be in Tulsa for the holidays with family as it had been YEARS.
All wasn’t fun and games and food, we also stayed and built mom and dad a brand new Master Bath in 9 degree temps!! Although it turned out fabulous I might say, we won’t be doing that ever again in December.
One of the biggest Hints to know in a foreign country, not just France, Never leave the airport without some local money. Not too much because the exchange rate at the airport is way too high usually, BUT you do Not want to get in a rental car and take off without any local cash.
But other amazing adventures have been had due to the book leading us there. San Miguel De Allende is one of those places. Spectacular.
Travel is my drug, its what gets me excited, its what got me thru the worst economic collapse where we had to Fight to stay alive and keep our houses and business going. The reward was always the trip at the end, the money to get to go on the trip. Until I realized, 2-3 weeks per year just wasn’t enough to get it all done and I wanted to get started before I couldn’t hike, sail, jump on trains, etc physically any longer. I wanted to see it all and it was always my answer when I asked the question: “If you were told you had 1 yr left to live, what would you regret the most?” My answer was always, “all the things I missed seeing, all the places I didn’t get to go”. My bucket list was HUGE for travel so I had to get started Now! 
