Our Sabbatical Life

We are, once again, trying to settle into a new city, this time in Montreal.  Since we are here for quite a while—just a bit over 2 months—we are all the more aware that LIVING in a new place versus just VISITING brings with it a whole host of challenges and opportunities.  Over the next few weeks, we’d like to record some of those challenges and opportunities here—if for nothing else, it would be a good reminder for if and when we do decide to MOVE to another country. Our first challenge: we cannot treat our stay in Montreal as a “vacation” for any longer than about the first 24 hours or so.  Typically when we travel about and enter a new city, we are like every other visitor.  We want to see the sights, eat at well-reviewed restaurants, and make the most of the little bit of time on earth we might be given to explore these new sights, possibly even a different culture.   However, when we are staying put for a month or more, it’s import...

It's been almost 3 weeks since I finished the Southern Tier coast-to-coast bike ride, and I'm finally getting around to posting the packing list I promised.  The delay is owing, in part, to the fact that we're also busy getting ready for our next adventure, a two-month stay in Montreal to take French lessons.  But more on that later.  Right now, we're l ooking backwards first. I have to admit that there were times, especially during the period of logging in excess of 1000 miles (over 1/3 of the journey) in Texas and seemingly not getting anywhere, I did feel somewhat Quixotic, tilting futilely at windmills...  That's perhaps why I thought this Texas ranch (pictured above) was speaking to me! In any case, I'm hoping this post will help someone else be a bit better prepared for their own adventure.  I had put together a packing list of items I was bringing before I started.  I'm including it below (with editorial comments) to indicate what items...