Peter_S_Aus

And a shameless plug for Phil's Magnum Opus:

http://www.amazon.com.au/Venice-Proj...venice+project

Which is a good read!

MmePerdu

Looking for the book mentioned above, a correction, author is Kathryn Walker (not Parker):

http://www.amazon.com/Stopover-Venic...over+in+venice

caroline_edinburgh

Thanks for the kind words, everyone, and thanks Peter for the plug! Grandma, Philip hadn't had time to write anything on the blog for a while but has recently posted a wee update.

DonTopaz

Thanks, MmePerdue ... sorry for the bogus reference.

progol

I just began to read this - love your wonderful adventure! How exciting (and scary) to pick up and start over somewhere else, especially when it's a place that is not your native tongue. I just started to look, too, at the blog. You're actually living what many of us dream of doing! Thanks for sharing your experiences along the way...

Paule

annhig

Hi Caroline - so glad you found your way back here; my next step was indeed going to be Philip's blog, [thanks for the link, Peter] so I'll go there to send you an e-mail.

i hope that we can sort something out too!

ciao for now.

MmePerdu

DonTopaz, thanks for the title. It isn't at my library so I ordered a used one from Amazon for 4¢ plus 3.99 shipping, "very good" condition. I do a love bargain and also books about Venice.

annhig

I'm doing the same, Mme P. In fact it was the librarian who suggested that's what I should do!

gertie3751

Me too!

MmePerdu

I should also mention, having just noticed this thread, I'm looking forward to catching up with Phil's blog and future posts. I think often about running away from home, but now having been so many places, I can't decide to where. I had a job in Paris once for 6 months when I was very young and it changed me. I want to be changed again before it's too late! Thanks Caroline.

MmePerdu

Ladies, we'll clean them out! Good for us. Discussion to follow (or not).

annhig

Mme P - DH and I have had semi-serious discussions about moving abroad over the last 5 years or so, but we never get further than that, for all the usual reasons - children, elderly relatives, money, etc. I agree that it would be a life-changing experience [hopefully in a good way] and that we should do it before it's too late, but somehow, the time is never quite right.

Perhaps the time never will be "quite right" and we just ought to do it anyway!

MmePerdu

Annhig, yes, sometimes I think we must force a time to be "right". I've been reluctant to leave a new (to me) house for any length of time and also hesitate to have a stranger house-sit. So I've invited a friend (and former husband) to return to the US, as he'd like to do, and cohabit with the ulterior motive that if he's here, I can leave. Sneaky, I know, but not entirely self-serving. I know his habits, trust him entirely and I think he'll like the solitude here, as I do. In other words, take an opportunity to set up the possibility to leave. But leaving needs to be the priority and we know it isn't when we allow circumstances to prevent it. As I've allowed until now. We'll see how it goes.

annhig

I like the plan, Mme P.

where are you headed, if the plan comes off?

MmePerdu

That's the problem, as mentioned, I can't decide. My fallback position would be a leisurely round-the-world, which I've done twice, but may do again but, this time, without an itinerary. I certainly like the idea of just one place, as this thread is about, but I'm not sure I like anywhere I've been (lots) enough to commit to a lengthy stay. Months, maybe, but I like home too. So I think the thing to do is to head for places I know I like (Hanoi, N. Thailand, maybe India although I haven't found the spot yet, there may not be one...probably not Europe) and just keep the idea of a longer stay in mind as I go. It occurs to me sometimes that I've seen too many possibilities and it precludes choosing one. But there's no place it says I must choose one, is there?