Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Away We Go We Go follows the journey of Sophie & Jordan Epton, an American couple who moved to France with their 10-month old twins, and the crazy adventure that follows. We dive deep into what it's really like moving and living abroad as expats, interview others who have taken the road less traveled, provide travel tips, discuss how you can do hard things to change your own life, and everything in between.
riverside_jordan_epton_raw_audio_sophie_epton_s_stud_0292_clean
===
[00:00:00]
Sophie: Hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Away We Go, we Go podcast. I think we have a little bit more of a pep in our step today.
Jordan: Little Pep.
Sophie: Little Pep, because we are officially celebrating one year. One year of the
Jordan: podcast.
Sophie: Yes, folks. That's [00:01:00] right. We have been doing this for a year, which is like.
Kind of hard to believe in some ways. Like in some ways it feels like, of course it's been a lot of work, but in some ways it's been so much fun and the year has passed so quickly.
Jordan: Yeah, it's pretty shocking.
Sophie: So,
Jordan: you know, that, uh, I was involved in something that was this consistent.
I mean, let's be real, other than this marriage, this is a pretty good. Build of consistency and it's been really. Feels like forever ago, but also feels like we just
Sophie: started
Jordan: it. Haven't done that many
Sophie: episodes. I know. So we're really, really excited to take you along with us today. We are excited to just like reflect and also, you know, this really, this podcast is about you guys too, because we have been able to build this amazing [00:02:00] community in a year and it's really, really special.
Sure it is. And the way that everything has grown has been amazing. Truly. You know, I think that when we first started this podcast, the idea of like why we started it and what we wanted to explore. You know, it really came down to, we had so many people that were asking us, especially from the states where we're from, you know, what was it really like to live in France?
And, you know, wanting to know more about everything from the lifestyle to kind of the practical things that you have to do when you move just to navigating culture and you know, figuring out more travel, doing things with kids as a family, or if you're just going to retire, like all these different things.
And so for us it was really important that. We shared like the good and the realistic moments because as we know, as you know from listening [00:03:00] over the past year, like there are both, there are a
Jordan: whole lot of both.
Sophie: There's good, there's bad, there is magical, there is,
Jordan: what the fuck,
Sophie: what the fuck there is.
There is wild and adventurous and there is. Why did we do this? I mean, there's so many different ups and downs, hills and valleys, and so it's, I think it's really cool to be able to share all of these things with you. And you know, something that I would say that when we first started, and this is such a big thanks to you, our amazing community, is that we, when we started, we had no idea.
We're like, let's just start this. We'll see what happens. And within. A month of us starting, we had a post go viral on Instagram that now has like 400,000 views. We, you know, have this podcast that has been growing like crazy, like it's listened to in [00:04:00] over 70 countries and. We're, you know, growing by, every week we get, you know, new listeners and it's just, it's kind of mind blowing.
Jordan: It's, it's really interesting because we never intended to start a podcast when we moved here.
Sophie: No.
Jordan: Like this, there, there wasn't some grand plan. It was honestly, I think it like, came out of like a couple realizations. One was like, you know, you were getting hammered with questions. I was getting hammered with questions big time.
And. And it was like the same questions over and over and over again, and, and we just kept talking about it and realized like, we moved here with 10 month old twins, like probably one of the more insane times to like uproot your lives and we are
Sophie: crazy.
Jordan: I think we just talked about like, there was this point where we were like, we're, we're talking to people and we're kind of sharing stuff, but like it felt like we were doing an awful [00:05:00] job documenting the experience.
Because we were talking about it a lot and we're just like, I think we had that conversation where it was like when the twins are like 10 or 20 or whatever, and they're like, I'm sorry, we were 10 months old. You did what? And we would've had to like, you know, just go back to like camera rolls, you know, to share all these photos and like try to remember and talk about it.
And I think just like those two things of like, Hey, let's. Let's address a lot of these questions that we're asking to start talking to it. 'cause we like talking to each other. I mean, I like talking to you, um, and Uhhuh and uh, and then also kind of create this, this love letter to the twins where it's like, you're gonna have no idea what the hell was going on when you were this age.
And yeah, it's, it's been, it's been really fun to kind of build this out.
Sophie: It really has. And I think, you know, looking back. I think the thing that has blown us away the [00:06:00] most is just, I still can't believe, and I'll say it again and again, the community that we've built and the people too that we've met in the process.
Jordan: And we made some like good ass friends.
Sophie: Yeah, good friends like you. Amazing connections. It's just, it's just been the coolest. So we thought it would be fun to, especially if there are any new listeners, or if you've been a long time listener, just to recap a bit about the last year and what it's meant to us and like, you know, how we've lived our lives in France and the good and the bad of like, everything including like, you know, our, our, what am I trying to say?
Our strengths and our struggles with the podcast. 'cause we'll get real about that too.
Jordan: Yeah.
Sophie: And, and just everything that's been happening. So Jordan and I always, I think we've done this in one other podcast episode, but we always love to break things down, especially like whether we're reflecting on the year, a trip, whatever it is, with a rose bud [00:07:00] thorn.
So obviously our rose is the best things. The thorns are the worst things, and the but is what we're looking forward to next. So how
Jordan: always a fun thing to do when you travel and you come back and
Sophie: reflect. So, oh, it's the best. Just anytime you want to reflect. It's just a great way to, great way to look at things.
So why don't we start first with our rows with life in France over the last year?
Jordan: I mean, yeah, I mean there's a, I think a, like just a handful of things. Like it's like. Year in review type flashes of like memories that kind of pop in your head? When I think about that stuff, I mean obviously the big one is like, I remember the flight here with the twins and they were tiny babies like passed out on our chest the whole time.
They are now tiny. They're now turning three and a half in like a week. And I mean,
Sophie: they're [00:08:00] truly little people
Jordan: full on conversations. So funny in nature. Literally, London woke me up yesterday morning and,
Sophie: oh, you're really gonna tell this story.
Jordan: I'm not scared, man. Gonna
Sophie: house yourself. Okay, let's go. Listen,
Jordan: it's just funny shit.
Like, look, I walk into the room at like 7:00 AM which it was a weekend. Normally they're pretty good about sleeping in. And I just hear, you know, from the other room, like, mom, my dad. So I walk in and I always try to go in first, let Sophie sleep in a little bit when I can, and I walk into the room and like, I don't know, the nightlight turned off or whatever.
And London was like, it's so dark, I can't see anything. And then Luca got up and he ran and turned on the light and, and like, without like skipping a beat, London just like crawled out of her bed, didn't even take a step. I was like five, six feet away from her. Near Luca's bed and she's like, dadda, I can smell your cheesiness.
And I was just like, what the, what the fuck are you talking about? Where did you even learn to say something like [00:09:00] that? Just funny ass shit that toddlers say. And these are the kinds of things that come out of their mouth, not around Sophie, just around me, but um,
Sophie: yeah,
Jordan: but now they say, they just say funny ass shit and it's like.
We get to watch our kids grow up in France, go from starting at daycare, transitioning through a few different daycares into a school now where they're just like running down the path with other kids. And it's, it's, it's cool man. Like they've more than officially spent a majority of their life here in France, which is pretty wild.
Sophie: When I think about the last year they've gone from two to three and it has been such a wild transition. You know, when I think about like all the different memories of. What it's been like to watch my kids grow up in France. I mean, the things that are coming to mind in the last year.
We really spent a lot of time like just taking little cute photos and videos of them in all the changing landscape, so the tulips and the [00:10:00] poppy fields, and of course the lavender fields, which we have gone to every single year, which is such a cool bookmark to their lives and like watching them grow year after year.
And just thinking about, you know, even just them partaking in all the different cultural joys that are part of France, especially this year or this past year I should say, with. Christmas and Hanukkah. Halloween
Jordan: even.
Sophie: And Halloween. Yeah. Because they really understand it now and it's so cool for them
Jordan: looking forward to it.
And they talk about it. Yeah. And you're like, oh yeah man, we can talk about this stuff.
Sophie: But just the way that it's celebrated here and you know, they're getting so excited about the Bush Noel at Christmas time and just. Really cool things, seeing through your children's eyes living in this foreign country.
And it makes it, I think, that much more special And, and even thinking about, you know, just our, a huge why, which we've talked about many times is, you know, living in a city but living very close to nature. Mm-hmm. You [00:11:00] know, thinking about all of our road trip adventures to go down to the Mediterranean and Cai, or the road trips that we've taken them up to in the Luba Hall, like.
It's just, it's so fun being close to so many amazing areas and getting to like, take our kids with us. And that's just a huge part of, like, when I look back at this last year, like we really, I mean we've talked about this, we've, we got past, I think a lot of the like initial hurdles and I think last year was a lot more about.
Really enjoying where we were living with our kids. And so that, that really makes an impact on me. I see you smiling over there.
Jordan: Yeah. 'cause it was cool, man. Like, one of my biggest whys was like the ability to travel and be somewhere where like we could hop in the car and 20 minutes outside of the city, it's like, oh.
Oh, that is gorgeous.
Sophie: I know.
Jordan: And you're just like, yeah, this is where I am. Like, that's a fucking cool feeling, man.
Sophie: Yeah. Really, really cool. And then on top of it, [00:12:00] I think, you know, you and I were able to travel.
Jordan: Yeah.
Sophie: So much actual travel, like real travel last year. I mean, which we, we definitely traveled, you know, in the first year and a half that we were here.
But this, this travel I felt like was on a different level this last year. And like
Jordan: the really intentional. Kinda like pleasure travel. Not all of it, but like we really got a chance to like explore around a bit.
Sophie: Yeah, and I think it was just, again, a culmination of us. It was just, it was so cool. 'cause the timing with the podcast, it was so fun to talk about our travels or maybe our travel mishaps.
A funny story. Mm-hmm. And then also just be able to recommend things that we love to you guys. So, I mean, if you go back to any of those episodes, you know, like we, we lay it all out for you. But I mean, just to like kind of touch on a couple and just again, why, why living here and, and our why is, you know, really important is just.
Access, right. So I went to see Lake [00:13:00] Cuomo, which I'd been to before, but I'd never been during the springtime, specifically in April. And like I caught the wisteria at the perfect time. And I mean, I'm talking like every lookout point was covered with this gorgeous purple wisteria. We somehow got so lucky because Lake Como tends to rain a lot, and it was.
Gorgeous and sunny, the majority of the time we were there. It didn't even get overcast till like the last afternoon I was there and it was, yeah. And then just, you know, eating all the northern Italian food, you know, it just doesn't get better than that. And then you're not
Jordan: better than that.
Sophie: You know, we went to Switzerland for Jordan's birthday, which like he had never been to Switzerland, and
Jordan: that was epic.
Sophie: That was so epic. It was like the quickest trip ever because of the kids being sick. But it was still the most amazing, I think it was
Jordan: like a 48 hour trip,
Sophie: Uhhuh,
Jordan: and we drove and it was like a five hour drive to get there. We went to Lausanne Los, yes. [00:14:00]
Sophie: Lausanne
Jordan: Lausanne, uh, which is on Lake Geneva. And it was winter.
It was like right around this time of year, but it was so cool. It was like foggy and misty, but it wasn't like raining. And we went on like an epic hike.
Sophie: Yeah.
Jordan: And like around the lake, which is like beautiful and way more fucking uphill than we kind of anticipated in that. Kind of fucked this over a little bit, but it made us definitely hungry so that we could have this epic meal that we, that we did.
We went out, we went for a Michelin meal. Um,
Sophie: it was actually worth it. I don't, Michelin meals are often very worth it, but this one was,
Jordan: this one was this one. We definitely spent a pretty penny, but, oh my God, like I
Sophie: dream about
Jordan: very much. Remember some of the dishes that were like, so cool. I remember they did like a kombucha flight 'cause.
That was like an interesting thing. We weren't drinking and uh, it was just cool, man. It was really good and we got fondue. It's [00:15:00] not there. Different place.
Sophie: Yeah. Like
Jordan: super fun.
Sophie: Best fondue. Yeah. In, in a, in a cabin, in a mountain like side where it was this little town that you had to like, drive in the dark to get to, like, I mean just, just all these things, right?
We're able to go to London several times. One time for my birthday. That trip was so cool because we went during the Chelsea Flower Show, which I'd never really like been during an attended parts of the show. That was cool. So it was so cool because it was like everything was themed, like the high teas, the flower sculptures everywhere.
You know, we've visited London at least 20 times. Yeah. You know, it's one of our favorite cities. We named our daughter after the city.
Jordan: Oh yeah,
Sophie: we did. Yeah. That, but, but it was so cool to be there during that time to experience that. You know, we went to Paris several times, which was amazing, and I, it's still like, it's still, it doesn't, like, what am I trying to say?
Jordan: Couldn't tell you.
Sophie: It [00:16:00] still means so much to me. Like it, it, I'm not jaded to the fact that it is only a three hour train ride to Paris when it used to be, oh my God. Like a, just
Jordan: a massive
Sophie: flight, a nine hour flight to, to London and then a layover, and then we take the channel and then by the time it's all said done, it's like 24 hours of travel.
So yeah. That, like that is incredible. So we could say like, we can just pop up to Paris for a day. Like we know how important and special that is. Mm-hmm. Um, so being able to do that, and I got to go to Tuscany and Florence and Rome this past year, which meant so much to me because that's where I lived when I was 20 years old, studying abroad.
And it was the, you know, time of my life that completely changed the trajectory of. The rest of my life. It's the reason that I met Jordan. You know, the reason that I had moved to Austin, like all of these things.
Jordan: So cool. Yeah, it's cool to like keep going back there at
Sophie: these different degrees. Awesome.
Yeah, and I actually, I'd never been back [00:17:00] by myself since I had lived there by myself. When I was 20, so it was so, it was so full circle, like coming back and
Jordan: just obviously so much more fun because, you know, I'm just like, I'm just
Sophie: playing. No, there's nothing better than traveling with you. But it was really cool.
It did feel like, I don't know, just like
Jordan: no so freeing to do that. Yeah. And you just like get to like, have like this unfiltered perspective on it.
Sophie: Yeah.
Jordan: You, you were really, really lit up
Sophie: and then. If you've been listening for a while, you also know how much we still do love to go back to California.
Jordan: Mm-hmm.
Sophie: I wouldn't say some of the states, but I'd say California for sure. Like it is our happy place. We went to San Diego twice for work.
Jordan: Good.
Sophie: So it just feels good. Just feels good to connect back with the, you know, our home country.
Jordan: Let's be real. We took a couple long ass flights without the twins and love you two to death.
But like, we weren't
Sophie: about so easy,
Jordan: you weren't about to do that,
Sophie: like the easiest 11 hour flight you've ever had in [00:18:00] your life. You're just like, oh, that's, yeah. Cool.
Jordan: Yeah.
Sophie: Um, you know, and just being able to like. Revel in, you know, ordering from Amazon or Target and walking on the beach and
Jordan: mostly tacos
Sophie: letting and oh, and eating all the tacos.
Mostly fish, eating all the tacos. Mostly
Jordan: fish tacos.
Sophie: Yes. Like to my amazing California community, you know who you are. Like thank you also for giving me all of the good recommendations for more tacos that we can't wait to try very soon. Mm-hmm. Because we have more work in San Diego this year.
Jordan: Yeah,
Sophie: so I mean that we could talk about travel forever, but those are just like some of the highlights that it was just so fun to experience to really get into that travel, to delve into that part that we knew if we'd moved to France, like we would be able to experience so much of this.
And again, I feel like this last year we were. Really able to experience it. Dig in.
Jordan: Yeah. And I mean, I had a few as well. I, I was able to pop off the Dublin for a few days. Right. I was able to pop, I li like, [00:19:00] the coolest thing for me was like, you know, it wasn't anything epic about the specific visits, but I was able to do a turnaround to Dublin in like three days.
Right. I literally did an overnight to Amsterdam to like meet with some people. Like it is just like. Very cool stuff like that. That was like exactly what I envisioned with being here, which is like, yeah, I'm not gonna be able to do this all the time every month. But when I can, it's like, Hey, gotta pop off to Amsterdam and I'll be back tomorrow.
And that was just a cool thing. So I really enjoyed doing some of that and, and I, and I got to drive all over the south of France, got to, you know,
Sophie: yeah.
Jordan: Get over
Sophie: Absolutely.
Jordan: Way to, you know, to lose and ed over that direction. Then went the other way towards time, Luis a bunch, and
Sophie: we spent time in the French Riviera together, which, I mean, it's, again, it's like.
You know, we also aren't jaded to the fact of where we live and even just a couple hours of drive or less like takes you to these unbelievable places that, [00:20:00] you know, we know what people do to get here and this is where we live. And so it just, I don't know, it just, the only thing about the podcast is that it really allows us to.
Create these amazing memories that are stamped in time for both us and our listeners with everything that we're experiencing and like that has been like such a cool gift.
Jordan: Yeah.
Sophie: So, um, the other, you know, couple things that we really feel like were roses for us was, you know, we, we rented out this apartment in very early 2024.
Mm-hmm. And I feel like it took us almost two years, but it's been really cool to like, share with you guys on Instagram. Like, we pretty much have it like. Done the way we want it to, and it's been a combination. I'm, I'm a very big believer, you know, my background stuff
Jordan: likes
Sophie: to
Jordan: nest
Sophie: interior design and I'm a very big believer in like, curating.
So it's been so cool like taking you guys along with me to the antique markets where we've like found all [00:21:00] these really beautiful pieces, or even if we have to like, buy new furniture, it's like we're, I'm, I'm doing a lot of research and I'm figuring it out and they're all from different places. You know, I've told you guys about like the, the furniture because furniture's a little, it's a little funky to buy in France.
So there's other companies that I've used that are from like Portugal and Spain to get a lot of our stuff coming in and
Jordan: yeah,
Sophie: all those things. Anyways, it's just been fun 'cause this is like our home and it's like one of my favorite parts about living here as our apartment. And it's been,
Jordan: yeah, I mean it's pretty special.
And it was, it's a big difference from like the first apartment we were in that like, you walk into that hallway and it was like this dark, dank, smoke-filled hallway. Yeah, with your twin babies. And we were like, yeah, we
Sophie: weren't expecting that. I don't
Jordan: think. You were like, oh, fuck this. And then, you know, Sophie like scoured for this place and now like, this is where we get to come home to every day.
And it does not slip by us ever. 'cause we're like, this is, this is just cool situation.
Sophie: Yeah.
Jordan: So we're grateful for it.
Sophie: It's been really fun to share with you guys. And then I think at the end of the day too, it's just [00:22:00] having more time in the country that you know, you're moving to. It just means that for us, like.
We have just been able to strike so much more of a routine and a cadence with our family in the last year. Like, you know, you think about like the family, the work, like all the things that you have to do in a new country. Like it does take a while to get your footing, especially if you're moving with a young family.
My God, it's like a whole different, we have friends that are retired and I'm like, this is the best way to do it, but we decided to make it hard on ourselves and move with a young family. So there you go. But, um,
Jordan: but cool things that we've been able to like build these little like rituals Yeah. Around, which is fun.
You know, like getting pad ty at the market on Saturday and you know, on this Saturday morning we're like, guess what day it is? And like, Saturday, what do you want to like Pat Ty? And it's like, you know, we get to see our friends who have the little booth and just cool stuff like that or
Sophie: Yeah. Listening to the musicians and picking out [00:23:00] food and just like.
Creating these little rituals every single week that, you know, our whole family can look forward to. Or if we're like, you know, we, we love, we've been loving to like take our kids to Chateau Lacoste, which is like a 25 minute drive because it is, has so much grass and greenery to run around on and so it's great to bring kids to,
Jordan: yep.
Sophie: Um, just things like that, that we've really found and explored and yeah, it just, it just takes time to discover all that and to also figure out what your rhythm is. So it's been great and it's been great to like share all of those things with you guys. And then in terms of just man, like thinking about the podcast over the last year and just the growth, like, I'm so proud of the guests that we've had on and the connections that wild man, I know the connections that we've made.
Like there have been people that I never knew that came on the podcast and now I consider dear friends. There have been [00:24:00] people that I knew enough and once we did the podcast together, like it just strengthened our bond and like deepened our friendship as well.
Jordan: And we just got like access to these really interesting stories.
An interesting thing that. These cool people have done or are doing, or in the middle of, you know, it's like some of the conversations that have like been felt like such a, like a big, I don't know, like mountain for us to climb to be able to like get to have conversations like that with people and everybody's been so down to earth and like provided such cool perspective that.
You know,
Sophie: it's been, it's like completely inspiring.
Jordan: What's been cool is being able to get all these different.
Perspectives and experiences based on where people are at in their life. You know what motivated them to do stuff I know [00:25:00] resonates differently for different people. And so it's been cool to get this variance of like all doing something similar, which is just. Kind of uprooting in a way and moving to a new country and just hearing all the different stories about that.
It's just been really fun. It's fun to think about. It's been fun to reflect back on everybody we've gotten to talk to over the last year.
Sophie: Yeah, it's been amazing and I'm so thankful to everyone who's been a part of it, and I'm so excited about obviously who it's gonna be a part of it. But the other thing too is.
Just the people that we have met that have messaged us through the podcast and people that mm-hmm. Like we've either just messaged with for a long time or we end up zooming with and you know, helping out with a consult or people that we've literally been walking down the street in X and we hear, Hey, Sophie, Jordan, the Epton.
And we turn around and we have this like amazing conversation and we've actually like started. Several [00:26:00] friendships with people because it's just, it's community and it's conversations and it's just a, gosh, it's just, it's so cool to meet people who are kind of on a similar wavelength and have connected with us through this podcast,
Jordan: and some of these people have even saved our asses in certain instances.
Sophie: Oh my gosh. Let's, let's talk about this for a second. So shout out to our friends, Carl and Cheryl,
Jordan: what up,
Sophie: who have only moved here about a year ago and they, so the week that Jordan was gone and all the care fell through with my mom when she was sick and I had an ENT appointment and like. I don't know if you know this, but like when you have these initial consults in France, they are so serious about you have to be there for the first one.
If you aren't there, if you have to cancel for whatever reason, like you're dead. You're gone. Like you can never come back. That's essentially the vibe. So I was so worried about it and [00:27:00] luckily Cheryl was able to come over and watch the kids, you know, on a Thursday for me and just totally saved my ass.
And it's like, I don't You think about that, you think about like. You know, if we hadn't like started this podcast, we wouldn't have met all these people who have become this community. And it's just, it's super cool.
Jordan: We've really been able to build a relationship with them. You know, shout out to, to Jeremy and Jen and their fam who've like, become like really dear friends who've just gotten to hang out and, and connect. Play music and, and just like build awesome friendships and like, and, and there's a bunch of other people too that, it's just been really fun.
It's really fun to like see that established and get feedback and, and just like, yeah. Connect and message with people. And, you know, we've prompted to hear some of your stories that you've shared with us, you know, that, that relate to things that we're talking about and it's just like. It's cool to be able to have that conversation with people and just talk about stuff and I love it.
Sophie: Yeah, it's been great. [00:28:00] I think we probably should move on to the thorn, which is not as fun to talk about, but I
Jordan: mean, it
Sophie: kind of is, kind of is, let's be real. It's the real,
Jordan: like you wanna hear the fuck ups, you wanna hear the shit like, like Instagram can be for like, here's what everything looks like.
That's lovely and that's what we're gonna share. Podcast. Fuck that man. We run into some fucking rainstorms without shoes on. Like,
Sophie: yeah,
Jordan: it's there. There's some shit. So I don't know, like,
Sophie: well, the one thing I wanted to say is, you know, we, we talk about a lot of the real things, and if you're new here, like just listen back because we've gone over so many things.
I'm not gonna beat a dead horse in this episode, but I did wanna talk about like, especially two specific thorns that happened this past year that I think. Are gonna be hopefully like really eye-opening to people that we have experienced. Just to give you like the reality. So one thing that we talked [00:29:00] about living here is that we were having a really hard time deciding where our kids should go to school because school starts at three years old and we visited all these different places and we were hemming and hawing.
And eventually we decided, and we settled on them going to an international school, which. Does cost. It's a private school, so you're not in the public system. But for us, like we felt like, you know, the community and just the outdoor space and just feeling like we were able to meet more parents and we loved the school and all those things.
Like really, you know. It was everything and more to us, which ps it still is everything and more. All of those things now that they've been going for, what, six months now? Something like that about, um, all of those things have rung true, like it's amazing and our kids are thriving and we've [00:30:00] met incredible.
Jordan: It sounds like a rose.
Sophie: It is a rose in that way
Jordan: until you slide your hand down the fucking stem.
Sophie: But the biggest problem that we've found that we are going to have to figure out what to do about, and it's just something to think about, is that we love living in the city center of X and the school is not very far away.
It's probably only a 15, 20 minute drive. And so how they get you is that when you go for the initial appointment, they, you are going at 10 what? 10 30 in the morning?
Jordan: And so maybe on, maybe on a Wednesday when,
Sophie: right. And you're not, pulls
Jordan: out on Wednesdays here for the most part,
Sophie: and you're not running into traffic.
Jordan: Oh man. Listen,
Sophie: so what
Jordan: to, to the degree that I. Sit in my car and say to myself, why the fuck am I living in LA right now?
Sophie: Yeah. It's, that's been a, it's been really tough because [00:31:00] essentially what has happened is that even though we love this school, because we live in the center of X, by the time that we walk out the door, there's
Jordan: no parking at our apartment.
Really? There's no parking. I mean, we can do it occasionally, but it's not like, no, we don't have a parking spot or a garage or anything like
Sophie: that. No. So you gotta park on the street. So it's always a walk. And if we park at our garage where we charge our car, it's at least a 15 minute walk. And by the time you walk out the door, get the car, go to get the kids, get them back, park and walk back in the door, it is at least two hours.
And I feel
Jordan: So you're just talking about when you go to pick them up in the afternoon, that's two hours?
Sophie: That's two hours, correct.
Jordan: Not including. Drive in the morning.
Sophie: Correct. Which is another two hours.
Jordan: And while we alternate, there are times where it's either you doing both or me doing both,
Sophie: which, and that is
Jordan: four.
I'm no mathematician, but that's a lot of my fucking day.
Sophie: That's four hours. So that is something that we have been [00:32:00] absolutely shocked about and we've, you know, of course, talked with other parents who live in X and it's. You know, it's very draining. So let's talk about today. Two, shall we? Jordan parked the car in our garage because we needed to charge the car today.
Sorry for
Jordan: laughing.
Sophie: Um, and yeah, you should not be laughing. It's too soon. Too soon, buddy. And I went, so today I, you know, was like, okay, I am leaving early. I'm gonna go get the kids. I wanna beat the traffic. All the things. I walk out the door not thinking about the fact that I had just switched over what I thought was everything from one purse to another.
I walked out the door, walked 15 minutes over to the garage, and as I'm literally getting to the entry door, realize I don't have my fucking keys to ask. I have my house key.
Jordan: No, there's a key fob to open all the gates
Sophie: But I don't have my key to access the garage. So I had to, after walking 15 minutes there, [00:33:00] had to walk 15 minutes back, another 15 minutes there. So that was 45 minutes and I came just to get to the damn car. Just to get to the car. And yeah, then the whole rigamarole. So I think by the time I got back, that was like two and a half hours of my day.
So anyways, all that to say. That has been an unexpected thorn. That is a reality and something to definitely, definitely think about. If you are a parent, you're gonna send your kids to a school you're trying to figure out. Where you wanna live, what kind of commute you want, do you wanna walk? Because for us, when we first moved here, we always envisioned walking our kids to a school.
But then I think when the reality hit there really like wasn't what we needed in town, we just thought we're just gonna go for it. But it's really bitten us in the ass.
Jordan: Yeah. Well, two, two quick things. One, I made the same mistake with the keys, except my keys go in my pocket, so I'm even dumber. For walking that far, not [00:34:00] realizing it.
Plus, I had the twins with me when I did it and I got not as far as you did, but I got about three quarters or more of the way there and like, and this was in the morning when like I have a hard enough time getting them out the door on time myself and I'm always late. And then I walked like almost all the way there and realized I didn't have the key fob to open it up and I was just like.
Screaming Fuck at the top of my lungs because I, it just like came out. I was like, on the corner, and fortunately that's not abnormal here, but I was just like screaming like, fuck, oh my God. And London was like, dadda, you're frustrated. I was like, yes, I am. Yes, I am. That's great. Glad that I just did that and totally blacked out the fact that my children were with me.
So, whoops. Same thing. Had to walk back. Sophie threw the keys to me out the window and, and then I ran back and was super late for school. Also, I very vividly remember the conversation with a buddy who was a French guy. You know, one of the guys at the coffee shop that we go to [00:35:00] all the time. And I told him that we were gonna that school and he just did like face palm.
I was like, what? He's just like, man, can't you just make it easy on yourself once?
Sophie: No. And
Jordan: I was just like, nah. And this was in the summer. This is before they started. I was like, nah man, it's gonna be great because of X, Y, Z. Oh, I hate when he's right about shit because know.
Sophie: Well, and again, like we love so much about it.
I mean, we've met incredible people Yeah. That we become friends with and the kids love it. But, but essentially what's gonna happen is we kind of have to, the rubber is starting to hit the road. It's February. We have to figure out, out, like what we're doing, because this to me is just not sustainable. It's just not,
Jordan: I mean, the, the balance comes down to just like.
How you spend your day. Right. And you know, we are collectively spending four hours commuting,
Sophie: which is insane. 'cause I'm like, I've never ever, ever
Jordan: thought
Sophie: this was gonna be the
Jordan: reality.
Sophie: And we
Jordan: moved, like, not, we didn't move here for this, but one of the perks was it's so walkable.
Sophie: Right?
[00:36:00] So,
Jordan: and we could put them in a public school in the city center and we, we kind of opted for this English and French.
And you know, again, just being able to like being in nature, really connect with people. Yeah. The location of the school, it's great. But there are definitely costs for that. And I think one of the things that somebody had mentioned, I was chatting with a couple guys the other day and they were like, it wasn't until the, it's called the TGV, the, the train station.
That's like high speeded train. Yeah. In French they say Tej Bay. It's the high speed train station that was only built in X, like, I mean, less than 20 years ago.
Sophie: It's
Jordan: crazy. And that's significantly changed access to X. So a lot more people have moved here and they've been able to build out from like even close to city center, which, you know, infrastructurally has added so much congestion.
Sophie: Yeah. Truly the traffic's pretty bad,
Jordan: you know, and, and so it's, it's that kind of like. [00:37:00] Yin and yang, whatever. We're like, we can hop on a train and be in Paris in three hours, but that means that so can everybody in Paris. They can get the fuck down here for like a little weekend trip or, or drive or whatever.
And so, uh, so
Sophie: two, we'll
Jordan: balance it.
Sophie: To be determined what is gonna happen, but that is our reality. That is something that's been a big thorn and it's just, you know, it's, it's real. And something else that I haven't been able to talk about because I just wanted to keep it close to the chest until I knew more.
But we have had, I certainly have had a hell of a time with the bureaucracy this year, or like I should say, over the last year. So essentially, I don't know what is going on with the prefect yours that are issuing the teacher, this is yours, the visas, all of the things, but essentially I think they might be bogged down or being inundated right now.
The lead times on getting a Visa back [00:38:00] is insane, and I'm not the only one. No one's getting their visa back on time, but this is like, this has been. Quite the thorn in my year because I applied, you know, you have four months to technically apply. I applied right at the four month mark as early as I could, and.
Officially just got my visa back and it was 10 months
Jordan: after, only 10 months.
Sophie: 10 months. Yay. And it's, it's just something to really think about and something just to know that it's somewhat normal. It really is. And it's not, but it's also like not fun. I have. Like I said, so many friends who have not gotten their visas on time.
I had one friend who waited two years to hear back about a visa that was stuck in, you know, the. Like the, what do they call the [00:39:00] investigating part, whatever process
Jordan: in progress at
Sophie: some point in progress and had to get her lawyer involved and sue the prefect. Like that's, that's like a last, you know, a last ditch effort.
It sounds
Jordan: like a fun day.
Sophie: And, and they got it to her, but it's like that is. Cuckoo crazy. And so
Jordan: it's, and it's the, it's kind of like the, the ripple effect because of that.
Sophie: Absolutely.
Jordan: That like, it wasn't just like frustrating like, oh, I just want this document. It's like,
Sophie: no, no, no.
Jordan: I'm trying to plan
Sophie: no
Jordan: to do these other things.
Sophie: Yeah. It's, it like, essentially I won't get into like everything, but it made the year so much more challenging and tricky for travel. And it just honestly felt like there was a cloud hanging over my head. Not that it affected me every day, but it was just something that was kind of out there in the ether constantly, like nagging me and something I thought about a lot.
Of course, because you're like,
Jordan: well, you're like, what can I do and what can't I do? [00:40:00]
Sophie: Yeah. Limb. I mean, let I, I will, you know, if anyone wants to DM me about it, like I'm happy to kind of tell you more. If you're in a similar situation, I'm happy to tell you more. But it was a lot of like, a lot of persistence, a lot of like sending forms in bugging the prefect chore.
And then of course, the most important thing, which we always talk about, and I cannot state it enough, you have to have an amazing immigration attorney because it's times like these that they come in so hot in the best way and like, and save the day like they know. How these prefect work and they are essentially someone that you can lean on so much for answers and solutions and I felt so much better, at least knowing that I had someone in my corner who like.
New, the craziness of all this. But the other part take,
Jordan: take away is get [00:41:00] yourself a hot immigration lawyer.
Sophie: Um, but the funny thing too is, and there's again no rhyme or reason because this actually happened to Jordan, gosh, two years ago when you were applying for your visa and they. You know, the time, like lapsed and they were super late with it.
But what they did was they said, okay, well you got it, but we're gonna start it from the day you got it. Versus the day that you applied for, since we were so late. Oh, no, no, no. This time for me, uh, I have to apply again at the same time, even though they took an extra six months to get it to me. So now that I just got my visa, guess what? It's time to reapply for it again. Oh, joy. So, you know, it's just something that you have to know. Like if you want to be here, you have to really, really want to be here because it's.
Jordan: Not easy. God,
Sophie: it is
Jordan: not easy.
Sophie: Yeah. Just the bureaucracy of it [00:42:00] all.
And I think this
Jordan: goes back to episode two. Know your why.
Sophie: Know your why. Go listen to that episode if you haven't. So, uh, so yeah, those, those are just like the reels that we haven't been able to really like talk about as much, but we thought we'd bring them up today, but. And then two, you know, when we talk about kind of reflecting on the podcast, would say 90% of it was so fun, so enjoyable. But there were a few weeks that we felt so bad that we had to miss because of just travel logistics and sickness.
Jordan: You know, you get, we started building up this momentum and the consistency and like feedback and it was feeling really good. And then all of a sudden it like shifted to like, oh no, like if we can't do this, like I'm gonna feel bad.
Sophie: I know because we would have people that would message us and be like, I'm so sad.
Like, you know, if, I mean, we only, we truly only missed I think a few weeks during the year One was when we were in California and literally something. Like happened on [00:43:00] Riverside side. Oh yeah. Like where we record our
Jordan: podcast. Oh, I remember that time when I spent an hour recording and it didn't record.
Sophie: Yeah, that's fun. That was, that was cool. Yeah, all those things. Um, and tell you that, and then of course less, we forget the holidays. We were always planning to take off, like, you know, the two weeks for Christmas and New Year's, but then. I got so incredibly sick over like at the end of tail, end of, you know, Christmas, I was stuck in bed with a little bit on my death bed for Jordan, such a saint taking care of me.
We know this like, but I was, you know, sinus infection, ear infection, bronchitis. Like I was so bad and I just like, I don't have anything in me.
Jordan: She had to make the judgment call. I don't want you guys hearing me cough and hack up a lung every other sentence. So it was for your benefit?
Sophie: Yeah. It was
Jordan: for you.
Sophie: Yeah. And I, you know, and it's, it. Things like that happen. And that's okay. I mean, but of course we still feel bad because it's something that so many of you look forward to every week and we look
Jordan: forward to it every week, of course. And we were like doing a lot of planning and it made, you know, made us have to like postpone certain things and shift things around.
It's, [00:44:00] it's tricky but like it's worth it because it's been fun. But I would, I would definitely say like.
Sophie: Shit happens. Shit happens.
Jordan: Going through those moments, it was like, it's kind of a thorn.
Sophie: Yeah. And so that was, that was probably the one thorn that we had with just podcasts is just knowing that like sometimes, yeah, life just happens and you have to roll with the punches.
And then I wanna talk about our bud
Jordan: Boy, but real quick, I think the, the thing that's like still cool about it though is like we've missed. A few here and there, but I think you know, a big accomplishment for us like we are. Like a couple episodes shy of hitting like 50 episodes.
Sophie: This episode is number 49.
Yeah,
Jordan: you can believe that it's 49.
Sophie: Yeah.
Jordan: And I, you know, that's fucking cool.
Sophie: It's the coolest. It's like, I can't believe that. Like how did that happen?
Jordan: I still don't know how that math works out that we hit 50 in a year and we've missed as much as we've missed. But like I said, I'm no mathematician. I don't know how that shit works, but [00:45:00] we are, we are, we're damn close to hitting 50 and that just feels.
That feels cool. Feels cool because it, it really went from us kind of talking about our experience and kind of documenting what we've been going through and it blossomed into like great conversations. I think we quickly realized like, obviously we're going to share our stories and our experiences, but like it's way more impactful to hear from like so many other people.
That have a unique story and to share theirs and just kind of like those conversations and find the similarities and find the unique points and different places around the world and yeah. Super cool. So here we go. Turning a thorn into something. Cool.
Sophie: Yeah. And you know, I want to end with our bud, which is what we are looking forward to next.
And I think one of the things, we're gonna
Jordan: start three [00:46:00] more podcasts.
Sophie: No, that would kill us, but I'm
Jordan: just kidding. I can't do that.
Sophie: But I think when we really reflect on almost three years in France, which is a wild thing to say, there's so many ups and downs, but it is. Overall made us so much stronger, so much more organized with our time, way more open to adventure and challenges and kind of just going against the status quo and being okay with that.
And we feel like everything that we've experienced in the last three years is only training us for what is to come.
Jordan: Yeah. I love the, the like reflection points that we've had. Especially, it's like after like a metaphorical rainy day when we like go through some shit. We go through a dip, we go through like a hard time, hard week, hard month, and like we're still here [00:47:00] and we're still doing it.
And it just, it's a really, it's a really cool thing and I think it just. Reminds us as we're going through it, like it's totally worth doing. The hard thing
Sophie: always.
Jordan: Like
Sophie: the good thing is the hard thing that is they go hand in hand.
Jordan: Yeah. And, and I just think like, you know, we made so many fucking mistakes and had so many fuck along the way and you know, when you are considering.
Doing something big, there's so much fear involved because it's unknown. Like you just, you know,
Sophie: you're walking into the unknown and there's generally no
Jordan: playbook, not plan for things that you don't know yet understand, haven't experienced. And that's just, you know, it can be really fucking scary. And even with all of the fuckups and we've continued to like push through and support each other and get help from [00:48:00] friends and family and everybody.
It just, it's like a, I don't know. It's, it's a good reward in a way to just be like, yeah, it's totally worth. Doing this and like creating the experience because you know, there's cool people that we've met where like when we meet them, we already feel like we got a seat at the table, that we can talk to them about our experience and they can talk about theirs.
And like there's this confidence about approaching somebody and like talking about that. That feels amazing. And you can't replicate that if you don't take a risk. Right. And push yourself through hard shit. And I, I think that's, that's been a really, really cool kind of reflection point, so
Sophie: For
sure.
Jordan: Um, do the hard thing.
Sophie: Do the hard thing. Exactly. And I think because of everything that we have experienced, I feel like we're starting this year off with just getting way more organized than we've ever [00:49:00] been before. We have some really big goals that we're working on behind the scenes, but in the meantime, like. We can't wait for more connections, more laughs, more travel and just, I think at the end of the day, living somewhere where we're appreciating the small and beautiful moments in life because that is like really what it's about.
Moving somewhere that you, you know, have to slow down and, you know, find these beautiful moments, whether it's going to the markets or. Taking your kids to the beach or
Jordan: sitting down for a long coffee.
Sophie: Oh, yes.
Jordan: And not being kicked out
Sophie: or, yeah, a nice glass of wine. Little apparel in the afternoon. All of the things.
And you know, when it comes to the podcast, like we cannot wait to keep growing it. And connecting with more incredible guests, tell their own stories and just, you know, hopefully for you guys creating a show every week that remains inspiring and heartfelt and real for all of our [00:50:00] listeners
Jordan: and real hell.
Yeah.
Sophie: And speaking of our listeners, we also just wanted to take a moment to say thank you so much. We cannot thank you enough.
Jordan: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the support, for the comments, for the dms for. You know, either congratulating us, calling us out on our shit, being funny, sharing stories, like becoming friends, like Thank you.
This is, this is wild.
Sophie: Yeah, it's
Jordan: so fun.
Sophie: You know, just you being part of this community and all of your love and support, it truly is what like gets us excited every week to get on the microphone and talk through. You know, our feelings, our experiences, what we're going through, and share that with you. And it's, it's just been an absolute joy.
Like whether, you know, we meet you out in the street or we're helping [00:51:00] members of our community, like whether it's like a dm, like whatever it is, like it's just, it's so wild to realize that people are listening to this while they're commuting or trying to plan their own dreams. And we do really do feel like we have a big responsibility to you as the listener and just creating something you know, above and beyond for you every week.
So thank you, thank you, thank you. You energize us. You make our week so fun. And we are beyond grateful to you.
Jordan: Thanks y'all.
Sophie: Yeah. And on that note, I think we are going to. Leave. Make a go
Jordan: The fuck to bed.
Sophie: No, no. We're cheersing first. This is a big deal. I
Jordan: know.
Sophie: We're gonna have a, we're gonna have a little nightcap.
Celebrate and be ready to go next week with a brand new episode for you.
Jordan: Love y'all.
Sophie: Thank you so much. See you next. See you next week.