Begin Again

So, six years in Abu Dhabi and it's time to do something different.

We are heading for a mid-December departure, and all that comes with it: shutting down one life and starting up another.

The warnings about both have been dire. "Leave enough time for the power company to return your deposit" "Make sure your landlord signs off on the apartment" "Get your health insurance in order" "Apply for a visa far enough in advance".

But that's the part you want to hear about, isn't it? The visa? What we will do next?



Paul and I have spent our entire professional lives as journalists. And soon, we won't be able to say that. (Well, it's already true for me). That's going to be a bit weird, I won't lie. Journalism, most of you know, is a profession that takes over your life. You can't really do it half-way. So both of us are going for not-at-all.

Today I filed the final (I hope) paperwork in a dossier for our long-stay visas in France. Everyone involved in the process, from the outsourcing people to those at the embassy, was (surprisingly) easy to deal with and cooperative. Not at all what I expected.

They required documents in quadruplicate, including certificates of good conduct from the Abu Dhabi Police. The most difficult documents to get were health insurance policies, and we filed those subsequently. We had heard that the dossier had to be complete before filing, and panicked a bit since we were going to have to pay for our appointment whether we filed or didn't. A rep told us over the phone to show up anyway, and they would tell us what to do. I was sure we would be rejected and told to return when we had everything, but no. So I headed to the embassy this morning (they are open only three hours a day) and dropped off the last 48 or so sheets of paper.

We have chosen France because it is a country both of us know pretty well and it offers an affordable and good quality of life. We have hopes of going to several countries along the Mediterranean to see which we like best, but are starting in France to test out the winter.

Will there be enough sun? We are less worried about cool temperatures than gray skies, things we never worry about in Abu Dhabi. We think our chosen destination, first on the Cote d'Azure and then the Languedoc (housing issues -- another blog post) will suit us just fine.

After that? Spain, most likely, then Italy and Cyprus. I think each of us suspects which place we will choose, after time spent moving around. But half the adventure is figuring it out.