Is Moving to Paris a Good Idea?

It’s been almost 7 full months since I packed up everything and decided to make Paris round 2 happen for myself. Since the move, I’ve gotten the same question(s) pretty often: ‘How did you make it in Paris’, and ‘Is moving to Paris a good idea?’

For those of you who are reading this as your first post on here, I’ll recap a bit. I already spent one full year as an expat in Paris in 2015. Then, I moved back Detroit to give American-office life a try, and although I loved my work, I couldn’t get Paris out of my head or my heart. To cut down an extremely lengthy story, I decided to packed my bags one day, and headed out.

I had 0 plan. No job prospects, no apartment lined up. Not even many contacts left here in Paris. I even emailed the family that I used to Au Pair for, just to get in touch with them since I was back in the city, and they pretty much blew me off.

So, how did it happen for me? How did I ‘make it’ in Paris? I get this question so often I knew I had to write a blog post about it. And here’s the truth:

I just fucking believed in myself. 

And that’s the honest truth about how it happened for me. Recently, someone told me that things work out for me here because I am just lucky. But that’s exactly what everyone said the last time I lived in Paris, when I found an apartment that was completely for free, a quarter mile away from the Eiffel Tower. Was I just lucky then, too?

I could name a million other occurrences like that that prove that what’s happening to me is not just luck, and although some people might laugh at this, I’m going to share my idea on why things tend to work out for me.

You are in control of your destiny and the energy that you put out into the universe. If you tell yourself ‘I can’t afford to travel, traveling is too expensive.’ then it is likely that you will not travel. If you don’t want something badly enough, it’s not going to happen for you. You will never find the time or earn the money for something you don’t want badly enough.

I wanted Paris so badly. I wanted to succeed here and make it on my own more than anything. Hell, I was willing to leave everything behind just to give myself that shot. And the universe rewarded me for it. Within 3 weeks of moving here, I had a full time job offer as a writer and a cozy apartment with those big gorgeous Parisian windows I’d always dreamed about, right on the Canal St. Martin– the area that I always said would be my ideal spot to live. (I’d already lived by the Eiffel Tower before, and i’ll save the pros and cons of that for another post, another time.)

The point is I believed in myself. And believing in myself has always been something that has come easily for me, in part because I was raised by such a strong-willed, resilient woman like my mother. If you’re lacking in that arena, I recommend reading “You Are A Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” by Jen Sincero. When I read it it was like I was finally able to understand why things seem to work out for me, especially in situations where people are highly concerned about the outcome and have many doubts. I also learned a lot too.

I could go into so much greater detail, but that is the essence of it. Moving to Paris without any plan whatsoever does not mean that I didn’t ever face any struggles. I felt lonely, homesick, and super angry at French culture at times. But I pushed through. And I’m so glad I did.

Is moving to Paris a good idea? That all depends on you. For me, it was. If you have any questions about the specifics on how I landed the job and the apartment, or any questions on Paris in general, feel free to drop a comment below.