A list of the posts regarding the planning and preparations surrounding this adventure. (oldest at bottom)

  • Apartment Hunting … Choose Well! – 30 April ’15
    Our travels have now taken us to apartments in Rennes, Brussels,
    Montpellier, Lyon, Rome, and now again in Lyon. This has given us a
    good bit of experience picking out …
  • A Distillation – 14 August ’14
    Distillation: something that consists of the essential points,
    aspects, or implications of something larger or longer. Most asked
    question: Are you excited? When we can catch our breath long enough
    to …
  • Lasts and Firsts – 10 August ’14
    As the countdown continues we have begun to wax a bit nostalgic.
    Even though, as I said before, we don’t tend to look back too much,
    it has been difficult …
  • The Countdown Begins  – 05 August ’14
    Well, it is now T-10 days. We fly out August 15th. Are we ready? Yes
    and no. We finally worked out a plan for the cars. Jeannie’s is sold
    and will …
  • Compression – 18 July ’14
    Frank Lloyd Wright often employed a principle he called “compress
    and release”. He used it to help direct people from one area to
    another. One author described it as “Sometimes, …
  • Whispering Floors – 29 June ’14
    The wood floors whisper underfoot as I wander the house, alone, for
    the last time. The furniture has been sold or taken to storage,
    there is no art on the …
  • Too Tired … – 24 June ’14
    … to write. The house is, once again, empty. Surreal, but … ONWARD!
    … yet still … . Read the full post here …
  • Where is the ________? – 21 June ’14
    Our home has been becoming more and more difficult to live in. Not
    because it’s not nice, but … maybe an example might serve to
    illustrate. We have been packing …
  • Connections and Reconnections – 14 June ’14
    We were in Miami the other night. The next day we applied for our
    French long-stay visa. For some reason we kind of had pre-test
    jitters, even though it is …
  • Printing as we shred, an interesting activity… – 08 June ’14
    As part of our quest to simplify and downsize, we are trying to
    become truly paperless. Though we’ve heard that stated as a goal of
    many businesses, we certainly haven’t …
  • Grandma’s Accordion – 07 June ’14
    I feel a very special responsibility for things that come into my
    possession that have had great meaning to someone. They are a
    special connection to the past, just as …
  • Existential Angst … – 06 June ’14
    Ok, this blog isn’t just for you. This blog is first and foremost MY
    journal of the experience of this craziness we have embarked upon.
    If it were Jeannie’s …
  • Tetris Anyone? – 24 May ’14
    Do you remember Tetris? The computer game from the mid-80s involved
    a random sequence of shapes composed of four square blocks falling
    down the playing field one at a time. …
  • Going is not leaving … – 03 February ’14
    One does not come to embrace an adventure such as this without
    weighing the downsides. We just spent the weekend in Gainesville,
    Florida to attend a dance performance at the …
  • Be Here Now – 27 January ’14
    When Chris and I were first discussing the plan to downsize and
    travel, we decided to establish a loose target date to have the
    house ready to put on the …
  • Project Managing – 26 January ’14
    Chris and I work fairly well together, as long as we aren’t sharing
    the same task. So while he is purging the garage and attic, I am
    working on the …
  • The research continues … – 25 January ’14
    A venture such as this has so many facets. The first of the two
    biggest distinctions are the issues related to preparing and selling
    our home and possessions. This is …
  • Here is how it begins … – 23 January ’14
    Jeannie and I have always enjoyed traveling. We are now both
    retired. I left the University of Florida in August of 2012, and
    Jeannie from the Seminole County School System …