Enjoy where you are on the way to where you're going.
I'm Kristen - my husband and I are working to leave the United States and move abroad, specifically to France. Welcome to our journey of simplifying life, enjoying what we love in the U.S. before we go, and creating a slower, more intentional way of living and doing business once we're France. On this channel, I'll be focusing on just that. Getting rid of stuff here, fixing up the house, and building my business to take with me to France.
I'll also post the occasional walking (and maybe sketching) video, as well as studying culture and slower living no matter where we are, starting here in North Carolina, and eventually creative and informative walks in France and beyond.
We don't want to wait until retirement to build our new life abroad!
Whether you dream of moving abroad yourself, or you simply want to live with more courage, creativity, and calm—you’ll find inspiration here.
The Creative Path to France
Hi Y'all - I will NOT be doing a livestream today. I am not feeling well at all (hopefully just a chest cold with a mild fever), but I'm exhausted. So, I'm drinking my electrolytes and getting in my collagen and nutrition as best as I can, and taking it easy. I hope you all have a fabulous week ahead and I invite you to check up with me on the vlog on Monday afternoon.
I'll give you the final results of our whole plumbing issue and it turning into a money pit.
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 13
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The Creative Path to France
Hey everyone!
As we get closer to our move, I've been thinking deeply about how this journey is shaping up. For me, moving to France isn't just a change of address—it's a complete lifestyle transformation. And as an artist, the way I experience this move is through a creative lens.
To better reflect this adventure, you're going to notice a slight name change around here. Welcome to The Creative Path to France! Cuz, I'm a creative and I'm on a path to move to France.
Don't worry—absolutely nothing you might enjoy is changing or being taken away.
* Mondays will still be our raw, behind-the-scenes vlogs of house repairs and visa updates.
*Fridays will still be our deep-dive "Could We Live Here?" French city evaluations using our 6-point criteria.
*Saturdays remain our "two-shores" community livestream.
But, I am adding a brand-new video every Thursday. Thursdays will be dedicated to slow living, mindset, and creativity. I’ll be taking you along as I revisit historic spots, nature trails, and local cafés around North Carolina (and maybe soon in my home state) to speed-sketch favorite spots and the world around me before we leave, sharing cultural comparisons and brain-health tips along the way.
This move is a massive undertaking, and my sketchbook is how I'm keeping my sanity through it all. I can't wait to share this richer, more mindful side of the journey with you as I practice my motto: Enjoy where you are on the way to where you're going.
Thank you for being part of this family. Check back tomorrow for my formerly Tuesday, now Monday vlog!
4 weeks ago | [YT] | 13
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The Creative Path to France
Editor crash! Arrrrrgggghhhhh! I just finished the vlog yesterday, and spent a whole lot of time using my phone's YT Create editor - it crashed. It won't export the fully edited video. I'm so annoyed. So, I'm loading my videos from my phone onto my laptop and doing all my editing in DaVinci (I usually edit on Create, then load the video to DaVinci in order to add photos, b-rolls, and clean it up. Now, I guess I need to learn to do it all. Bah.
I promise, friends, I'm still here and I have filmed videos (the vlog and Pau Part 2) - now I just have to change my editing process.
See ya soon!
1 month ago | [YT] | 7
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The Creative Path to France
Hey there, community and friends - I've gathered the research on Pau, part 2, but I am down with a wicked headache today, so the filming and editing will likely not be ready for posting today. It will be there soon, though! Here are a few beautiful photos from Pau in the meantime:
1 month ago | [YT] | 14
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The Creative Path to France
Sorry in advance, y'all, but I will not be getting my latest French City exploration video up today. I've had a lot on my plate of late, and my research on Pau, the city I am currently researching, has taken a back seat. I want to do it justice, so I'm not going to try to throw together some AI slop just to get a video out - I don't like it and when I hear other people using it (I can always tell), It's annoying and feels vacuous. So, in the interest of NOT doing that, I need to finish researching myself about the city before I film the video. I'm also having a difficult time finding many photos on the city that are free, but here's one for you (it really is a gorgeous place).
1 month ago | [YT] | 15
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The Creative Path to France
For those of you in the US, Happy 4th of July tomorrow, y'all. My husband and I will be going to celebrate with friends during my usual livestream time, so I won't be having a livestream tomorrow. It will be 100 degrees F here, with even higher "feels like" - everyone, take care of yourselves and stay cool!
2 months ago | [YT] | 6
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The Creative Path to France
As I'm editing my Bordeaux, Part 2 exploration video (I'll post it later this evening), I'm realizing something about myself. I was trying to make things more efficient when I got to the editing process, so I tried out a teleprompter - just plugged my own handwritten script into it and let it roll. Problem is, that means I'm looking at that rather than looking at the camera, which makes it seem like - well, like I'm reading from a dang teleprompter!
I also realized that the very act of reading some of the script meant that I was kind of boring myself with my speech patterns. I am NOT going to sacrifice my natural way of talking to help ease my editing process! Forget it. So I'm ditching the teleprompter and going back to simply talking to y'all as if you're sitting there in my living room.
I'm not going to re-do this one - it still has good information in it - but I'll leave it up as a lesson to myself of the difference between relying on a teleprompter instead of just talking to you.
2 months ago | [YT] | 7
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The Creative Path to France
Yesterday's video about Cap d'Agde and it's attached naturist resort was great fun. I wonder if it would be fun to do a series of digging out the "weird and wonderful" places in France and researching them.
2 months ago | [YT] | 6
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The Creative Path to France
I've scripted but not filmed tomorrow's video, which is about the US tipping culture and its deeply racist roots contrasted with France's lack of tipping culture due to its egalitarian changes historically.
I might film something shorter to say hi, but right now, I am sick. Apparently my flu shot this year did not stop me or my husband from getting a different strain of the flu. Stay safe, y'all. I'm going to take a nap.
3 months ago | [YT] | 8
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The Creative Path to France
Currently editing my exploration of Strasbourg, France, part 2. I'll have a special guest (thought not live), who lived in Strasbourg for several years, along with his husband. We'll get first-hand information. I'll post it later this evening, so stay tuned!
4 months ago | [YT] | 12
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