In October 2021, my wife and I made the life-changing decision to leave the United States and move to France, uncertain if we’d ever return. Now, two years later, we’re reflecting on the challenges, rewards, and unexpected lessons learned during our journey. From navigating the bureaucratic hurdles of French banking to adjusting to a slower pace of life, we’ve encountered countless moments of growth. This post offers insights for anyone considering moving abroad, sharing personal experiences, practical advice, and a glimpse into what it really takes to start over in a new country.

Two Years Already?

In October 2021, my wife and I left the United States, unsure if we’d ever return. We had ambitious plans to document the entire journey in real-time, hoping others could learn from our experiences as we navigated life abroad.

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Uh…

That didn’t really work out, except for a few pretty bad videos I’d rather keep private, honestly. Almost no matter what else I do, I’ve noticed that it takes me about two years to really get comfortable in a new place. Whether it's the nature of transitions or just my own personal learning pace, maybe I am getting older (?), I'm not sure. But if my experiences can help others adjust a bit faster, that's a win for me, too.

When we started out, we originally wanted to move Portugal but after several months of unsettled issues with our visas, we ended up in France, so we’re still in the middle of settling in to this country. I think we’ll be here for a while. We really enjoyed Portugal, but France suits us as well. Both are very different places than the US.

Starting to feel at home

After a year in the country, I am just starting to feel comfortable saying that we “live in France,” and I know we will not be going back to live in the US. As I said to a friend back home recently, “just the fact that we’re not paying for US healthcare means that we are better off outside of the United States…” But there are a lot more reasons.

I wish it weren’t true.

This bi-weekly newsletter will share our journey, including cultural encounters, bureaucratic hurdles, and general items of interest. One newsletter each week will be about our experiences and the second will be much shorter, filled with resource and ideas that really helped us.

As Americans, we face some unique challenges when moving abroad. It’s taken a lot of time, thought and research to address each one of them. I hope that our struggles can make things a bit easier for others.

Thanks for joining me,

Keith

A Good Place to Start: Banking in France

In France, everything is naturally done in euros, so it’s best to set up a Euro-denominated bank account before even leaving the U.S.

You will likely have challenges setting up an account. You can always solve this problem by hiring lawyers or other people to help, but without that, it will take time.

A lot of the banking problems here are not French problems, but American ones. A lot of local banks would rather not deal with U.S. government reporting requirements requires that they report to the IRS and at the same time, they only provide the necessary forms in English, which simply makes no kind of sense.

The banking culture is fully different here than it is in the US. When I open up my online banking page for my French account, the name, number and contact information of the woman who set up my account is right on the top. She is tied to my account until she leaves the bank – or I do. If I need help with anything, it goes to her and our first appointment to set up an account took 90 minutes.

This seems to be perfectly normal here. Take the time.

We already had accounts set up with Wise and you can easily maintain a USD and Euro account with them.

Get familiar with wire transfers which really kind of did my head in when we first had to deal with them. This might be normal all over the world, but in the US, we do everything by credit card. To secure an apartment or lease, you'll need a bank account and a local phone service. To secure phone service, you’ll need a Euro account you can wire funds from. Already having a Euro account will actually make it much easier to set up a brick-and-mortar bank account, which you will want to have here in France.

Securing an apartment or lease in France requires a bank account and a local phone service. They're interconnected, creating a classic catch-22 situation. Patience and direct communication are key. I still struggle with it, but people have been patient. In France, it is indispensable and that just can’t be overstated.

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