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The Dream
The paradox
for every traveler is that we want a new
experience but we cannot escape
ourselves. We find
foreign
places, beautiful views, historical locations yet are disappointed that
they are cram-packed
with other tourists. It is hard to appreciate
anything new when so many others have come before (and will follow)
that a
whole industry has arisen to anticipate every
discovery that we might seek--before we even think to look for
it.
It is as if Christopher Columbus
was offered a "package deal" to the new world--and once there was
greeted by thousands of on-looking europeans all
holding newly purchased globes of the planet. The alternative
most lauded is simply to get off the heavily trampled paths or travel
at
off-peak times. That is
better but leads one ever further away from the "other" tourists
towards
the guilty recognition that we are the "others". Even if one was
to find a quaint little unspoiled discovery there is still the
inescapable feeling of urgency to experience it in a big hurry
according to modern schedules. The seduction to actually live the
lifestyle of a discovered place, to spend less time searching and more
time experiencing, was irresistible for us. I suppose one could
accomplish this at home, with the right attitude, but for us the change
in destination was important.
The dream was to live
in Southern France. We wanted to know the lifestyle, understand
the people, and perhaps let a bit of France become part of us.
The particulars changed as we got older, had
kids, and developed careers but the dream remained something we knew
would
happen--eventually. My wife is very fond of her French heritage
and has family living there so we even knew what part of the country we
would like
to live in. Our kids were prepared from birth to be
bilingual by my wife
who speaks French. Twenty years we dreamed until finally the
opportunity was real. Sabbaticals are encouraged as part of
a university professor's career as a way to bring in new ideas.
My early
career as an
engineer wouldn't have been particularly open to the idea of an
"extended vacation"
but it was never
impossible. Now that I am a sculptor I set my own work
environment. France was, may still be, an important center of the
art world. Finances can be a pain but we have made
adjustments over time.
Theoretically, we were as prepared as seems possible for something like
this.
The reality is that there is never a convenient time to
uproot yourself and face a lot of expense for a dream. In our
case, the jumping off point was my wife's formal request for
sabbatical. The process of describing, on paper, in concise
language, what our plans were and how this fit into her
professional career forced us to convert our vague dream into a plan
of
action. The feeling that we were pretending and that it
would never actually happen faded rapidly as others became
involved. Where, in all of France, would be staying?
(We were lucky that we wanted to stay near my wife's family but that
also severely limited the possible academic opportunities). What
would my wife
be doing with her time to justify her absence from the
university. What specific domicile would we rent (my wife's
family was able to help find
an apartment near a good school, not
too expensive etc.). Should we sign a lease and pay in advance of
being sure that we would even get permission to visit from the French
government? Several unexpected trips to the French consulate
later, we were struggling to keep our dream from turning into a
nightmare because every time we finished with one bureaucracy someone
would
say, "Oh, by the way, you should probably talk to..." and the whole
feeling of uncertainty would start again.
We were definitely experiencing what life is like when one
attempts to live in another country but this was not exactly what we
had
in mind. "So senore Columbus where will you be staying during
your
visit? and can I have copies of your birth certificate, police record
and proof of
medical insurance? All you wrote here was that you would be
traveling 'west'. I really don't think that will be sufficient."
08 August 2005
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