A new start

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Didn’t we all have a lot of time to think about our lives as the pandemic changed how we lived day-to-day? To think about what the pandemic made us miss, and what we didn’t miss, and what we wished for when there’s more or less an all-clear. I know I took stock. I’d been hoping to sell my house (which was also my business, Heaven Scent B&B) for a while already, and the forced interruption of hosting guests made me readier to give it up for good. And I’d thought I’d take off for the sunny skies and fabulous sea of Cancun, Puerto Morelos and area. But …

I’d had a wonderful trip to Europe in the winter of 2019-2020. (I left Italy in mid-January.) I was so happy to see old friends, and to enjoy different languages again, and go to some wonderful classical music concerts. I realized that’s more the life I want now: to get to spend time with the people who’ve been most important in my life – which largely means, people I’ve been seeing as much as possible over the years, but also reconnecting with some; and to fill my time with a lot of opera, classical music, theater and art.

I’ve long said to friends that I’m happiest in France: enjoying Paris, touring the countryside, speaking French, eating French food (agrees with my system like no other country’s cuisine), drinking French wine (oh yes, I am crazy about Italian and Spanish wines as well, but – when in Rome – or, oops, when in Burgundy …). And it seems the southwest of France may be affordable. So I plan to spend as much time as I can exploring and thinking about where I might be happy to live – and to see if I can find a home I’d love that I can afford. Before any decision, I probably will get to southern Spain and perhaps southwest Turkiye. Going to be a lot of fun!

I’m curious to hear what friends have thought about over this period, and if you’ve made decisions about changing your life. Have you decided to cut anything out? Add something new? Re-prioritize? Will be hoping to read your thoughts.

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