LIFE STATUS UPDATE: THE PAST TWO YEARS IN REVIEW AND WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

Oh man… I’m struggling here! I don’t even know where to begin. I want to tell you about my life in the past two years, what is really happening right now, I want to share our plans for the coming months, our next moves… I want to make a life update but I truly don’t know how I should write this. I can’t even figure out a title for this post!
At this very moment (when I started to write this post, about two months ago) my husband is publishing an ad to rent the apartment we’ve been living for the past two years. I never liked this apartment… Everyone says it’s a great apartment, but I hate it! I never felt completely comfortable living in here… I don’t know exactly why, sorry, no reasonable reasons to explain this feelings of mine. Ok, after I was able to buy some furniture and hang some pictures it became less hateful, but still. Maybe it’s because for more than a year we really didn’t like living in this area, maybe it’s because when we entered in this apartment it was super dirty and the furniture was the most ugly I have ever seen, maybe it’s because when we came I had the mind of a super emocional pregnant woman and that feeling stuck… I really can’t explain. I even convinced my husband to change apartments in case we stayed here! But we are not staying here…
Let me start from the very beginning. In 2012 we were living in Berlin, I was taking daily German classes and my husband was working from home. After only a couple of months living there, my husband got an offer from CERN. Of course he couldn’t say no, so we left in September and moved to Saint Genis Pouilly, a little French village in the border with Switzerland.
We arrived in early fall and although the landscape was absolutely stunning it didn’t strike me, like I didn’t fell in love with that place. We struggled to get an apartment, we struggled to get used to the higher prices of that area and we struggled with the lack of street activity and life. I mean all we would see was traffic, a lot of traffic, ugly, very ugly buildings and deserted streets.
Then the winter came and things got even harder because being as pregnant as I was I couldn’t do the only thing people do in that area during winter: winter sports! I couldn’t even go up on higher mountains… It was boring as hell and I spent a lot of time at home, in a house I hated.
But not everything was bad, I’m not that pessimist! We had good friends, we got to know a lot of new places around Switzerland and France and we got used to the prices. We even came to like Swiss fondue!
In March 2014 our daughter Olivia was born and everything went better and better! The Spring came, we started to go out more but it was only when I joined the Toddlers Group at CERN, when Olivia was 7 months old, that I began to like living in there. Going there twice a week helped me to know new people I could relate and talk to and because of that I got to discover new places to visit and things to do. Going to this playgroup also made me get out of the house more, gave me some sense of purpose and really brought a lot of joy to my life!
And we also re-started traveling! Yay! When Olivia was 5 months old we flew to Portugal so the family could meet her. Then we went to London, Berlin, La Corunna, Copenhagen and Portugal again several times. We also wandered a lot around Switzerland and France. Our baby is a natural nomad! She really enjoys wandering around and discover new places, I’m so proud of her!
After almost a year and a half we began to enjoy living in Switzer-France. We had friends, very good friends who showed us a lot of the positive things of living in there. We had those nice routines of having breakfast at CERN on Sundays, when the place was empty and really peaceful. I started to like our house and began to call it a home. I opened this blog! I started to make plans, just in case we’d stay there. Life was good, I couldn’t complain!
Long story short, my husband’s contract at CERN was finishing and we began to think about our next move. “Should I look for a job in Geneva area so we can stay here?” “Do we want to stay here?” “What would you like to do next?” “Where do you want to go?” Me and my husband (mostly him) started to make these and many many more questions. For me it was clear: “I want adventure! In a few years I’ll have to settle down because I want my daughter to have roots, but for now, let me still be a bit crazy and let’s move again!”
And so we did. My husband got the job he wanted for almost 3 years and we got to move back to our beloved Berlin!
We packed our things, 9 boxes total, we put them and our car in our old garage, we left to spend Christmas with the family, we came back to Saint Genis Pouilly to spend New Year’s Eve with our friends and then, one week later, we sent the boxes to Berlin and on the January 2nd, we packed the car and drove there!
In this exact moment I’m seating on a very uncomfortable sofa in a temporary apartment in Berlin! I’m so happy to be back, I feel like I belong here. Things are more complicated because moving with a toddler is not as easy as I thought it would be and the housing prices in Berlin really went up! I guess the city is changing… We still need to find a permanent place to live, a kindergarten for Olivia, German classes for me and much much more but I AM HAPPY! And exhausted…
I’m 100% sure 2016 will be another great year. I have a feeling so much more is coming… 😉
MOVING HACKS, TIPS & TRICKS TO KEEP YOU SANE WHILE MOVING - packmahome
11/03/2016 @ 18:05
[…] Yes, apparently I didn’t plan enough this last move… I just went with the flow. Just read here everything that happened during our move to […]
Virginia
18/01/2016 @ 19:33
Thank you for sharing this post about your journeys the last two years! I find it inspiring that you embraced where you were and lived life to the fullest and made the best of it all. I have been in Texas for almost 16 years now and I’m still trying to be okay with living here and embracing where we are (I’m from California and I don’t like the super hot weather here.) We are homeschoolers who have always wondered what it would be like to buy an RV and take off exploring all of the U.S. or taking the plunge and traveling Europe. For now, I have decided that in 2016 I’m not going to wish I lived somewhere else, but rather just enjoy living here. We have plans to explore the area we live in (state parks, landmarks, etc), some of which are only minutes away and we have NEVER visited in all the years we’ve lived here!!! We will find adventure here! Looking forward to following your adventures on Instagram. (p.s. I found your blog via Pinterest while pinning planner printables. Thanks for the freebies!! And, sorry for the LONG comment!)
lenagrosso
18/01/2016 @ 20:04
WOW Virginia I really enjoyed reading your comment! Thank you so much for sharing! No worries about your comment being long, I truly appreciated it!
Two important things I learned these last two years: 1. having friends or a group of people with similar interests really helped me forgetting I didn’t like where I lived; and 2. forcing myself to go out and during weekends discover everything the area had to offer made me realize that there were a lot of things there to enjoy. So I totally support your decision of explore your area! And having your kids homeschooling I’m also all in favor of getting an RV and just go! They’ll have new unforgettable experiences and learn so much more than by just staying there! Go for it!
Ines
14/01/2016 @ 14:13
That’s a lot of sharing on one post but it left me wanting more!! More about your future plans! I hope that includes a visit to London. Bisous
Lena
14/01/2016 @ 16:43
For now I’m focused on getting a better internet connection and a permanent apartment. Then we can talk 😉 but don’t worry, I’m sure London will be one of our weekend getaways. :*
Sherry
14/01/2016 @ 03:40
I’m thrilled to stumble upon your blog. It’s exactly what I needed to read today. I feel like our stories are so similar, only I’ve been trapped in Portland while pregnant and hating it. My baby is 13 months now and my husband and I just yesterday decided to take the plunge and leave the U.S. for Japan for the next three months, followed by who knows where? We’re just ready to travel!
Lena
14/01/2016 @ 16:47
Wow! You and your husband are even more adventurous than me! So exciting! Do you have a blog? I want to follow your travels! And can I ask how did you find my blog, just out of curiosity. Thanks!