Sometimes I wonder how we ended up in France.
Our life back home was good to North American standards. Our routine an art form. Perfectly allocated time between gym, work, kids activities, and hobbies, our life was a dance.
As precise as the changing of the guards Alfonz came home and I left to catch up on the last of the errands before dinner was done. Turning the key lock, I walked in to the smells of ready cooked meals. A well-oiled machine we had very few wrenches thrown our way we could not handle during those years when Alfonz worked full-time and I worked part-time. And money was never an issue.
When we decide to leave, it was when we realized we could not shop around to renew our mortgage in the current economic crisis. The banks tightened up their rules, and axed many people from the real-estate market replaced with rich foreign investors. The common person in Canada, 30 something’s that were not in the home market already for whatever reason, would not be able to buy him or herself a home making $100,000, which is a pretty good wage. What will Canada look like without its middle class, were my thoughts as the class shrank before our eyes?
At least Canada has some of the best small business set up programs that encourage people to venture on their own. That may be Canada's redeeming feature but for us, keeping up with the Jones's was simply not interesting to us any longer. Half way through our renovation and in the process to buy the million-dollar dream home on the beach, we threw in the towel.
Where to go? We decided we wanted better weather, cheaper real estate, a strong tourist drive with the possibility of an income earner from home and a place that hold true to their core values.
Next post, how we decided on France