New Yorkaise - Parisienne Makes a Transitional Move

Yesterday was 1 October. In one month, I will be moving from the Upper West Side of Manhattan to Portland, Maine, to spend the next six - eight months preparing for the move to Paris. My mother and I are cleaning out our family home of 45 years to be sold. Even in this failing economy in the United States, the Greater Portland Area is still a thriving hotspot for real estate.

Last week, after leaving a contract position, I decided now is the time to leave New York. Over the next month, I will be closing a chapter in my life which I began in June of 2001. To document my love for New York, I will begin a photo essay which I hope to exhibit in coffee houses in Maine. I will also be lining up weekend sublets on the Upper West Side so I can return to my neighborhood for weekend getaways (subletting beautiful vacation rental apartments on VRBO) with lots of theater, ballet, jazz, long walks in Central Park plus lots of cafe writing in the West Village. You can take me out of New York, but you can't take the New Yorker out of me!

Living in New York is both exciting and exhausting. Now that I know the ins and outs of it so well, it will be SO great to come back for visits without having to pay astronomical rent. In the Greater Portland area, rents are MUCH more reasonable and you get so much space with gorgeous views of Casco Bay.

So now the journey begins. I have launched my own business as a Performance Consultant / Information Architect, I have my own coaching practice, and I have also joined forces with a colleague in the coaching profession to be a leading force in his business as well. Yes, I am also a Personal Coach / Life Coach.

Since I have launched this blog, I have not kept up with my journal entries on a daily or even weekly basis. So many things have been going on in my life, so many changes. But now is a great opportunity for me to document this exciting time.

I hope you will join me, as all roads continue to lead to Paris.