Change is a fascinating topic and the prospect of change may not be appealing to everybody. It may excite some while it terrifies others. I personally thrive on change: it motivates me and causes me take initiatives.

Since 2017 my life has been full of change and I mean rather big lifestyle changes. I used to live in Brisbane, had a house full of teenagers and ran a garden business. I exchanged it for an indoor career, being an empty nester and moved from a big city in Australia to a small town in France.

Our lifestyle changes in a nutshell

This all happened within a few years. We made the decision, sold our house and rented instead, bought a house in France and turned it into a holiday rental.

When we set the date to leave, we sold most of our belongings as shipping them to France would be expensive. Also, we weren’t sure whether the furniture we had in Australia would be attractive in an historical French house. It was a curious process to sell things we had for years. Some were easy to leave behind while memories of others still give me a stab of nostalgia.

Some of the changes we made

• I gave up a thriving garden business that I can’t replicate in France because of the differences in climate. Also, I feel that gardening professionally may not be a long-term solution for someone in their sixties.
• We sold our car and made do without one for a year but realised that the limited local public transport was restricting us to make the most of the beautiful area we now live in.
• In Australia we used suntan every day of the year and avoided the sun while in France we seek out the sun to soak up enough Vitamin D.
• Brisbane gave us killer mosquitoes, sticky flies, plenty of spiders and huge cockroaches while in France we hardly ever see an insect. A huge difference is the birdlife – the sound of a flog of cockatoos waking you up is rather different than the soft tweak of the local French birds. I definitely miss the unique call of the Kookaburra.
• In Brisbane we had two daughters and usually a home stay student or two living with us. A full dinner table every night with great meals and chatty cultural exchanges. Now we are empty nesters and have ‘Diner à Deux’ unless we socialise.

The prospect of change in retrospective

Lots of changes and a totally different life as a result. I am not saying it is better, but it is certainly not worse. It is different, exciting and on many occasions incredibly challenging because of the language.

Would I turn back the time or wish I had never made these changes? Only on occasions when French bureaucracy is playing games with us, but mostly not. Life has become simpler, cheaper and in many aspects much more pleasant.

So, if you feel the thrill of change knocking on your door, don’t ignore it but explore it!

If however, the prospect of change makes you feel uneasy, contact us for a FREE call to explore this further.

I would be thrilled if you take the effort to leave me a comment or even better share my article!