Photo Blog, Too

We are also documenting our adventures in a more photo-oriented blog on Tumblr.

Why Aix?

Most people, whether they’ve heard of Aix or not, seem to have a pretty upbeat attitude about southern France. So I don’t think they wonder why we’re moving there in the same way they’d wonder if we said we were moving to, say, Ottawa. Nothing against Ottawa. But people are curious to know why we’re going anywhere at all, seeing as going anywhere at all for a year is fairly disruptive. So I’d like to try answering that here. And, sure, why are we moving Aix-en-Provence?

First, A Bit Of Background

Ever since Phebe and I first met, we’ve had the habit of fantasizing about living in various beautiful and interesting places. The first meaningful conversation we ever had — not a date, but the two of us alone, before we were a couple — it turned out we both had a notion that it would be desirable to live with friends on an organic farm somewhere like northern California, maybe Oregon, maybe Maine. Somewhere near the ocean but also near mountains; where you could work in a town but also come back to a fantastically beautiful farm with chèvre-producing goats. Hang out with friends in a big communal style kitchen. Share the work of handling all those goats.

(Am I taking to extreme the idea of starting a story from the very beginning? I hope not. This bit of background is important context, for me anyway).

Back to goats. I personally wasn’t so into working with goats, it turned out. I did give it a try. After graduating college, I spent about half a year working on a goat dairy near Sebastopol, CA. Phebe also, separately, worked with goats. But is that pertinent? Not really, no.

Actually, maybe it is a little bit pertinent, in that it indicates we’ve both been willing to do things that haven’t necessarily been obvious next steps over the course of our lives. For example, we did try moving to rural New Mexico at one point, thinking we might stay there for good. And we did pretty much just up and move from California to Cambridge back in 2002, kids in tow, leaving our friends and jobs behind just when it seemed like we might be settling into the rhythm of raising a family in Berkeley.

The point is that Phebe and I have always loved imagining what new and exciting adventures would come next. And, while we’ve basically been pretty conventional, we’ve never been risk-averse to trying something new. So when Phebe (or I, I don’t remember which) suggested that 2013/14 would be a good year to consider living abroad, I (or Phebe) said ‘sure, let’s think about it.’

And the more we thought about it, the more we felt this would be the best year — while our kids are still kids and still live at home — for doing it. Jack would have just graduated eighth grade and would be moving to a new school anyway; Dmitri would leave his friends for fifth grade but would re-enter in sixth, a convenient re-entry year for various reasons having to do with how his school does things.

So Then, Why Aix and Not Hanoi?

Once we decided this was the year, we began considering where to go. We did consider Hanoi. We also considered: Chiloe, Chile, Bariloche, Argentina, Bali, Florence, Tasmania, Cusco, and Nepal.

I should clarify that when I say we considered these places I mean we looked into them; we talked about it; we found some blogs or articles. In other words, at this point in our process, we were very much still just exploring. Putting our toes in the water.

In particular, we talked about moving to Bali, because it sounded so cool and faraway and different, and because Phebe had a friend who was doing an interesting-sounding healthcare project there, and because we discovered this school there, which seemed pretty nifty. But as soon as we elevated the idea of moving to Bali to the level of serious possibility, we got cold feet. So far away. So different. So hot and tropical. Also, this school, which seemed so nifty, also seemed a bit… California-ish? Overly groovy?

We also got serious, in particular, about Chile and Argentina. They’re different countries, sure, but the places we were most interested in were in Patagonia — Chilean and Argentine Patagonia. We found some blogs of people who had done something similar; I emailed one or two of them; we read about finding a home, finding a school, getting around. Eventually, we felt we couldn’t handle the mid-year school break for our kids (you’d leave the U.S. in the early summer but show up in Patagonia halfway through their school year, during winter break).

Having crossed out large sections of the globe — those that were too far away and those in the Southern Hemisphere — we started to consider Europe. We found a few areas that sounded appealing, places with bilingual schools, famous cities and romantic associations. We were excited, but our enthusiasm could have easily petered out had we not, around this time, learned that Phebe’s employer was looking for someone willing to set up shop in France. This kick-started us a bit.

I found a fantastic blog by a family from Vancouver who spent 2011/2012 in Aix, and I was so charmed and entertained by their stories that I wanted to speak with them directly. I called Bill Crow, the blogger in the family, and he spent almost two hours generously sharing his insights and thoughts about our developing plans. He wanted to know why we were considering this move, and when I said that a big part of it was to spend time together as a family, he said yes, good answer, because — no surprise — we wouldn’t know anybody there and would inevitably spent a lot of time together, just the four of us. Mainly, he told me how positive the experience had been for them, how incredible and invaluable it was to live in Provence. I got off the phone feeling very much on the right track.

The more we read and learned about it, the more excited we got, until enough pieces had fallen into place — regarding house rental, employers, schools, pet care — that we decided to commit.

So there you have it. Our going to Aix is somewhat but not completely arbitrary. Based to some degree on chance encounters, encouraging conversations, and romantic inclinations, but also on down-to-earth considerations like how easy it was to find housing, manage work, and educate our kids.

In parting, I suggest you watch David Byrne sing Once In A Lifetime.