The Plan for the Year Ahead - Stories, Curiosities, and Chasing More Questions
Food, culture, and history in France we've explored this year —and why I still have no idea what I’m doing (yet).
A new year has arrived, and I’m asking myself the big question: what am I doing with all of this?
I write Finding Home Elsewhere 3 times a week about music, food and my perspectives on living in France as an American. I try to cover things you might not see in other places. I’d almost named the site “The French Rabbithole,” but it sounded a bit like an oddly specific sexual practice and I wasn’t sure what kind of traffic I’d get.
The is about people, things and experiences I find interesting – and I hope you do too. I try to focus on what might be overlooked or unknown, particularly for foreigners in France, but sometimes even the French themselves. I want it to be a discovery of this country for everyone.
And I am so glad that people are reading.
Thanks, Dear Readers.
A building year
I don’t usually go for sports metaphors, but 2024 has been “building year” for me, or one of those years a team focuses less on wins and more on laying the groundwork for future success—testing strategies, developing players, and figuring out what works. In a way, that’s what Finding Home Elsewhere has been: an experiment in storytelling, exploring, and improvisating as I figure out what connects and what comes next.
It’s been really satisfying to write this, to meet and interview some truly fascinating people. I want to have more of that in 2025: more stories, more connecting to new people, more building.
Writing is how I make sense of the world.
Everything else has been a patchwork of unlikely jobs and unintentional adventures. My friends joke about my endless list of gigs, but one constant has always been writing.
I once had this idea of writing my resume as a game of Mad Libs for an interviewer and I to play together, figuring that any employer who had the interest or patience to do that with me might be somebody I’d want to work for.
Keith Christiansen is a(n) [adjective] and [adjective] professional with a passion for [noun] and a proven ability to [verb]. Skilled in [buzzword or skill], [buzzword or skill], and [noun], with [number] years of experience in [field]. Known for [insert acceptable personality trait], [SFW unexpected skill], and occasionally [funny or self-deprecating line]. Seeking to [verb] and make an impact in [field or industry], while continuously [aspirational verb].
Write this story with me!
I mean, at least we’d have something to talk about—and those conversations always seem to be people hearing what they want anyway.
In any case, I dunno: I never tried it.
Making sense in the mess
If there’s one thread connecting everything I’ve done or everywhere I’ve been, it’s writing. I collect odd little details, fascinated by the overlooked moments that show so much about a person, a place, or a thing (even if it’s me).
One of the best things I learned as a teacher was that you don’t have to have all the answers. It’s useful to show people how you think, how you question, how you stumble through problems—and let them discover things for themselves, on their own terms.
When I started Finding Home Elsewhere, I was trying to make sense of France—its food, its culture, its history, and the endless list of things I am told are quintessentially “French” – or what isn’t “French” (even if it is).
These didn’t seem to match my day-to-day experiences here. Like the U.S., France has an exported image that often doesn’t align with reality.
I like the messier version.
K
What’s ahead in 2025:
- The history of French electronic music, from early experiments to modern mixes.
- More interviews with fascinating people who’ve found “home” in new places.
- Strange food facts, because there is so much to know about food in this country.
- More hidden histories and odd discoveries.
I post 3 times a week: Mondays are for music, Fridays for food, and Wednesdays for everything else—personal essays, obscure cultural bits, or whatever shiny object grabs my attention.
I’ll also be doing some videos soon—just because it sounds fun and I want to see where it goes.
The Podcast, New Projects, and What’s Ahead
The first podcast came from the same impulse (and Aurelie’s incredible enthusiasm): to explore how people come to understand their lives in a new country, told by them in their own way.
I’m learning so much from these conversations—from Aurélie Jezequel’s reflections on returning home to France and how the experience has changed her, to Yoni Diaz’s journey to the U.S. to become a NYC public school teacher, and Will Scheckel’s long and winding (but very entertaining) path to return home.
Finding Home Elsewhere
There are more podcast interviews coming – from Jett Wilson’s reflections on exploring to Anna Wilson’s rooted wanderings, these conversations remind me how much there is to learn from others.
An episode with my wife (!) is in the works—it’ll either be hilarious or deeply awkward (likely both).
Popular posts this year
The most popular pieces in 2024 and a few I loved anyway.
Moving abroad
Posts about my wife and I moving to France were popular, but lessons we’ve learned after 2 years remains important as well as my own daily experiences of frustration here.
For anyone considering life in France, I’d read about the Diagonal Vide or any of the posts about protesting or thrift store hunting as well.
Food
Fois Gras and leftovers were popular, but I also love the understated story of Alexandre Dumaine’s cookbook - and love letter - to his wife and Mère Fillioux’s Chicken Queen status, creating the “destination restaurant” before people even drove cars.
The overlooked Christmas Zoo Dinner Menu when Paris was under siege is also a personal favorite, but mostly for the archival images and a sense of ugly Paris history beneath the glitz.
Music
The Disco series was popular with Cerone’s Supernature and Disco Circus, but Space’s Carry On, Turn Me On is genre-defying and beautifully mellow.
I loved researching the French Rap series, with artists like MC Solaar and the groundbreaking work of Sidney Duteil making France the second most important country in the world for rap music.
From the 1960s, Je Suis Jaloux by Abdelwahab Doukkali is an absolute gem and Serge Gainsbourg’s Chez Yé-yé is wonderful for Pierre Casel’s dancing alone.
Finding Home Elsewhere
Laugh, Learn, Share: Repeat?
Living in France has reminded me that I’ll never get everything right, and that’s okay. In fact, I now know that I will routinely fuck things up. I used to be embarrassed - now it’s funny.
If this post made you laugh (smile, even?), think, or maybe see something surprising, please come back and check out other stories.
Know someone who’d be interested? Forward this to them!
Subscribing to Finding Home Elsewhere gives you more stories, more insights, and more shared moments from people and places making home abroad.
I’d love to have more people reading and sharing some odd and interesting things. Help me to grow and keep writing!
Thanks!
Va te faire future
When I was younger, I thought for sure that we’d all have flying cars by now. After years of seeing how most people navigate driving on the ground, I’m glad we don’t.
In any case, I thought the future would be cooler.
I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler (2015) by YACHT, a Los Angeles-based synth-pop duo mixing retro-futuristic sounds with social commentary. And yet it’s playful and funny, while being sadly very correct, and very danceable. I only recently discovered this video. It’s pretty fantastic.
