Moved to France and Put the Youngsters in Faculty; Family Gap Year Overseas

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Gemma Bonham-Carter, 40, a working mom in Ottawa, Canada. It’s been edited for size and readability.

After having our first child, my husband and I began dreaming about dwelling in France. Before youngsters, we would lived overseas in England and New Zealand, and we wished our kids to develop up with that very same sense of journey.

After the pandemic, I spotted life was too quick to maintain saying “one day.” Sitting on the dock at my mother and father’ cottage in Ontario, the solar melting into the lake, it hit us: “If not now, when?”

Almost a yr later, in September 2023, we packed up our two youngsters and moved to the South of France for a yr.

Preparing for the transfer

I run a web based enterprise educating entrepreneurs find out how to develop and scale utilizing advertising and marketing and AI instruments. Before the journey, our days have been fast-paced: getting the children out the door, diving into calls, squeezing in fitness center time, juggling faculty pickups and household commitments.

Uprooting our lives wasn’t surprising — we had traveled extensively — however doing it with an 8- and 10-year-old added a layer of hysteria.

To put together, my husband took a sabbatical from his authorities consulting job. I in the reduction of my hours. We rented out our dwelling to a single dad who was renovating his home.

France made sense for a lot of causes

We wished our children to study French, and the slower, community-focused rhythm of southern France felt like the suitable selection. My husband and I each spoke the language.

Aix-en-Provence — sunny, walkable, and bursting with tradition and meals — appeared excellent. When we discovered an house on SabbaticalHomes.com, it felt like destiny.

Of course, fears loomed. Securing visas, enrolling the children at school, and budgeting our financial savings — round $75,000 — made my head spin. Could the children alter? Could we? With frugal creativity — strolling in every single place, cooking at dwelling, renting a automotive solely on weekends — the reply was sure.

Our three-bedroom house in an previous constructing had slanted ceilings, stone particulars, and a shocking view over rooftops. The cathedral bells grew to become our morning soundtrack. Just a few touches from the native markets and the children’ art work made it really feel like dwelling.

Our landlord and her husband have been heat and welcoming, serving to us navigate faculty enrolment, paperwork, and French life. They felt like surrogate grandparents for the yr.

France was eye-opening

Our shy son, simply starting French, struggled at first. I nervously despatched a message by way of the native mother and father’ WhatsApp group to introduce our household. That identical day, he returned dwelling with seven new mates.

Daily life in Aix was blissfully totally different. Weekdays meant strolling the children to high school, grabbing contemporary bread, and dealing from a café. Afternoons have been for exploring; evenings for cooking, strolling, or just watching the world go by.

Wednesdays — when many French faculties, together with ours, shut — grew to become our favourite: lingering over espresso whereas the children swam and soaking within the sluggish, communal rhythm.

Weekends introduced adventures: wandering Luberon villages, the Calanques in Cassis, and the Provençal countryside. During faculty holidays, we ventured additional — Italy, Malta, Belgium, Greece. Watching our kids take in tradition and historical past with such openness was unforgettable.

I additionally realized lots about myself

I thrive when life is slower, extra intentional, and fewer cluttered by consumerism and overscheduling. Walking in every single place and embracing minimalism introduced a presence and pleasure I did not understand I used to be lacking.

We returned to Ottawa in August 2024. Coming dwelling was bittersweet. I missed the “third spaces” — the energetic squares, cafés, and patios the place neighborhood kinds naturally.

Canada felt quieter, extra car-dependent, extra indoors. But I additionally grew to become fiercely protecting of our time and power. I now design my work across the life I need, not the opposite manner round. Parenting shifted too: I give my youngsters extra independence, realizing they’ll thrive outdoors their consolation zones.

On paper, our days look the identical — faculty drop-offs, work blocks, household time — however they really feel fully totally different. I’ve made a acutely aware effort to decelerate, scale back calls, and create respiration room in my schedule. My husband made a giant shift too: he left authorities consulting and now works with me full-time, which has been unbelievable for our household.

Ottawa will at all times be dwelling. From the start, we knew our yr in France was an journey, not a everlasting transfer.

Someday, as soon as the children are older, we dream of proudly owning a captivating fixer-upper in southern France.

Our yr overseas remodeled us — and we’re already planning our subsequent escape.

Do you might have a narrative about taking a spot yr that you simply need to share? Get in contact with the editor: [email protected].