The Idea Becomes a Plan

By the time we returned from our vacation in May 2018, our whimsical “what ifs” had been replaced by “ok…how can we really do this?”.  We were completely enamored with France, which seemed quite remarkable to me considering that prior to our vacation the year before, I wasn’t even interested in going to France!  Now, we couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to actually live there.   We now had these new amazing and encouraging friends – Anne and Bruce – making us feel like we had “people”.…a very good place to start thinking about a new life in France.

We started talking casually about it with our friends and family – probably unconsciously testing the waters to see if it was something to really consider or if we were just plain crazy.  There was a lot of interest and curiosity and also some skepticism – to be expected.  A bunch of people said they could never move so far away from their kids and grandkids, yet it was our kids that were the most encouraging.  Wait just a damn second!  I just thought of something! Were they encouraging us to go live our dream?  Or maybe they just wanted us to move far, far away? God knows I try hard not to be too annoying as a Mom, step-mom, mother-in-law, but one can never be too sure! Ha!  Seriously though, having their support was a huge factor in making the decision.  (Later, as the time to leave got closer, the reality of leaving them – especially the grandkids – was gut-wrenching torture – but more on that later.)

There was still another giant obstacle before we could seriously consider a big move.  The dog, our Parker Boy.  How to get that pampered, anxious, over-indulged pup to France?  Flying, of course would be the logical choice, but as I mention in my last post, a crate in the cargo hold of a plane was absolutely out of the question.  I’m pretty sure it was actually more of my anxiety problem – I know I would have to be heavily medicated – like medically induced coma medicated – to be able to sit on a 12 hour flight, knowing that the pup was in a cold, hard crate in the belly of a plane!

So, what to do, what to do? Get a fake emotional support animal certification?  That definitely wouldn’t work.  Aside from the airlines cracking down on bogus emotional support animals, Parker could never pull that kind of sham off! Parker needs plenty of emotional support himself – Skip and I would have to wear the vests!  How about a private chartered jet? Ummm….no.  And believe me I did check it out, but winning the lottery or an unexpected inheritance didn’t seem likely. There just didn’t seem to be an easy solution.

Then one day, our daughter Trisha said, “what about a boat?”  Hmmmmm….…a boat, you say?  Like a cruise ship?  A quick bit of research led me to Cunard Cruise Lines and Queen Mary II. I learned that the Queen Mary II is the ONLY ship with kennels and ONLY on their transatlantic crossings, and ONLY a handful of times during the year.  I continued to obsessively scour the internet for any information I could find for these crossings – YouTube videos, travel forums, Cunard, etc, etc, etc.  Amongst the many things I read, I learned that the kennel space was very limited and that it could be up to 2 years  to secure a reservation.  

When I finally gathered my courage, I called Cunard.  I had 10 million questions, which the agent was very kind to answer.  YES – they do  have kennels, YES  – the kennels do fill quickly, YES – reservations had to be made far, far in advance, NO – the dogs do not have access to the cabins or the rest of the ship, YES – the dogs are allowed out of the kennels, YES – you can spend plenty of time with the dogs, and then a very surprising revelation….…wait for it….…YOU CAN TAKE AS MUCH LUGGAGE AS WILL FIT IN YOUR CABIN!  Wow…some serious information to take in.  This could really be another huge step toward propelling this crazy idea into reality.

I chewed on this for a bit and called Cunard again, but this time it was serious business.  Once I was assured of the costs, deposit and refund policy, I made the reservation.  I can still remember looking down at my shaking hands as I was taking my credit card out of my wallet.  Was I actually doing this? I was indeed – I made a  reservation for the next crossing with available space –  January 3, 2020.   

OK…January 3, 2020, – now we had an actual date to leave – a true deadline.  This was in July 2018, so just 18 months to be ready to embark on a whole new life.  18 months….…seemed like a long time and also not nearly enough!

 Oh… my… god….…shit was getting real.  We were really going to do this thing!

A little side note:  (I do this a lot – I find it very challenging to stick to a story without veering off the path, adding more details which seem pertinent – but maybe only to me!). Anyway one of my first phone calls after making the reservation, was to my smart, sane and rational friend, Pattie – a fellow nurse. I was excited  to share my latest news with her.  I recall that she wasn’t exactly jumping up and down with excitement for me when I told her I made the reservation.  It did give me some pause, but I pushed it to the back of my mind.  It wasn’t as if she wasn’t supportive, she certainly was, but she’s also not afraid to ask honest questions and share her thoughts. This particular phone call stands out in my memory because my brain was shouting “full steam ahead!” and I was simply not willing to entertain any feelings of doubt. Later, she asked me if I would miss working.  Once again, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.  I did have plenty of concerns, but I wasn’t prepared to fully consider them at that time.  But, believe me – I totally felt that later, like a lot. (I’ll talk more about that another time.)  She’s a smart one, that Pattie, and I appreciate her immensely.  

So, just a short(ish) entry for now.  Later, I will talk about the next nutty 18 months.  Preparing for this journey became like a second full time job. When I look back on that frantic time I wish I would have stayed more present.  I know  I missed too many sweet moments while I was so single-mindedly focused on our goal.

Until next time….much love to anyone who is reading my story! 

❤️ Lisa

PS: I’m trying to be a big girl and post this all by myself with out my Webmaster Haley! 😆 So bear with me people….I have got A LOT to learn!