My first video! Why Did I Move to the South of France?

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Welcome to my channel! In my very first video, I’m excited to introduce you to what it’s like to live in Perpignan, France, as a US expat in my 60s, navigating life on my own. If you’ve ever wondered about relocating to France or living abroad later in life, you’re in the right place!

Throughout this channel, I’ll be sharing my personal experiences, challenges, and joys as I embrace life in a small, vibrant French city. From exploring the charming streets of Perpignan, tasting local food, learning the language, to managing the day-to-day intricacies of being a solo expat, I’ll be documenting it all. Whether you’re curious about the expat lifestyle, moving to France, or simply want to see what it’s like for someone my age making a fresh start, I’ve got you covered.

I’ll also dive into what it’s like adjusting to a new culture, making new friends, and finding your way in a foreign country while navigating life on your own. It’s not always easy, but it’s definitely an adventure!

I hope this channel becomes a window into my life here in Perpignan, and provides insight, inspiration, and a sense of connection for those who might be considering a similar journey or are just curious about life abroad. Be sure to subscribe to follow along with my story and join me on this exciting new chapter of my life in France!

Thank you for watching, and I can’t wait to share more with you in future videos. Feel free to leave comments or questions — I’d love to hear from you!

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AFFILIATE LINKS: Using the links or emails provided here may result in me receiving a small compensation, which does not cost you anything additional and helps support my channel. I will only provide links to products or services I have used and purchased myself, and they may include items from brands I work with outside of this video.

Language Learning
👉I use italki to improve my French but they cover many languages—1-on-1 w/a native speaker and scheduled at your convenience. You get a $10 credit if you sign up using my link: https://www.italki.com/affshare?ref=af27926719

Expat Insurance Needs in France
👉 I used this company for my initial 12-month expat insurance policy required to obtain a long-stay visa to enter France. I also use them now for my mutuelle and other insurance needs. They handle home, auto, and rental insurance, too. They are a great group of folks, and they guarantee that their health insurance packages will be approved for your visa application.
👉 Fab Insurance – Email JEFF@FABEXPAT.COM requesting a quote or to talk with someone about insurance options. No fees are associated with getting insurance quotes. And they speak excellent English. To clarify, you are not emailing me, and I do not work for them. This was the simplest way for them to track where the request came from.

Official French Translation Needs
👉 Several documents need to be translated into French for obtaining your Carte Vitale and exchanging your driver’s license, and potentially other tasks like setting up a bank account (needs vary). This company is one of the officially licensed translators accepted by the French government and local government agencies. And they also speak excellent English. My necessary documents were translated with no issues.
👉 Go to https://www.trad24.com and use the coupon code “ExpatJeff” for 3€ off your translation quote.

Real Estate Concierge in France
👉 Send an email to Valérie Jenkins at VILLAIN623@GMAIL.COM. Val speaks excellent English, and she has been my resource for finding rental properties here in Perpignan. She knows the trouble foreigners can have with obtaining a rental and works hard to find something that will work for you. She can tap into her network around France if it turns out that you are not looking for this region of the country. All I ask is that you mention that Jeff the Expat sent you so she knows I am working to help her grow her business.

Insta360 GO 3 Camera
👉This small camera has made filming my vlogs much easier – it has a detachable small lens attachment that is magnetized and can be attached to your shirt (and possibly a jacket) so you can record whatever you want to record handsfree. You can keep the camera in one piece and use it as a “normal” handheld device. It has an app that allows you to download directly to your phone. My affiliate link provides you with a free accessory (w/purchase). I bought my Insta360 GO 3 on my own, it was not sent to me. https://www.insta360.com/sal/go-3?utm_term=INRFZFW

🎶 MUSIC:
The music in my videos is from Epidemic Sound, a royalty-free music sharing site, which you have to pay a monthly fee to be able to access.

#expatlife #expatinfrance #jefftheexpat
#perpignan #france #southoffrance #expatfrance #myfirstvideo #movetofrance

howdy My name is Jeff Welcome to my channel Um I’m an expat uh from the United States and have moved to the south of France Um I live in a a small city called Perpin Uh it’s very very very south uh uh of Fran on the southern side of France uh in the Pyrenees Oriental uh department and it’s um uh very close to the border of Spain So it’s only a 2hour train ride to get to Barcelona It’s I think a three or four hour train ride might be a three or four hour train ride to get to Marseilles Um you know it’s maybe a two and a half hour train ride to get to Tulus So um you know lots of accessibility to to some other major cities and certainly for flying back to the United States you know going in out of Barcelona is pretty pretty simple and straightforward So any case um you know welcome to my channel Uh this is my first video I had actually uh recorded the video beforehand just and then when I went to look at it for editing which I’m not going to do that much editing with this It’s not you know it’s not that important the uh I noticed I had something on my lip the whole time and for some reason I didn’t see it on the camera So when I was going through the edit I’m like I cannot I I I can’t put that I know hardly anybody’s going to watch this I know that they say that the first you know 50 videos that you do for your channel nobody watches you know nobody cares So but I was like that the whole time I’m like what do you got on your mouth on that It’s like so in any case I’m trying to watch that to make sure that you know I don’t have that same problem again So any case um like I said I moved here last year It would have been in um May May 1st is when I arrived in in France was supposed to be a week beforehand but thanks to UPS uh deciding to misplace we’ll put the misplace my uh health certificate for my pet cat uh somewhere in Atlanta and I’m leaving from Atlanta Um somewhere in Atlanta the day uh the day before I was going to be taking off Um I had to completely reschedule my flight my my flight and and dealing with getting a pet on the flight and all that sort of She’s a seven pound cat so I mean it’s not it it certainly wasn’t anything huge to deal with but you have to make sure there’s space available in the cabin and yada yada and had to extend the hotel I had to redo the uh vet veterinary certificate which is a a kind of an oddly arcane system in for for bringing a pet uh and probably anywhere but into the EU Um you know and I’m sure they have to do it for any any place you go whether it’s Asia Australia you know wherever you go But particularly since you have to have it within 10 days prior to your departure and you know the veterinarian you go to the vets’s office you get them they check them out they check the pet out and all that sort of thing and they electronically send everything off to the USDA or whoever you know I think that’s the organization that that approves it and then but it has to be a you know USDA approved veterinarian who signs off on the certificate and then that’s what’s sent to uh you know sent back to me and that’s what I bring so I can get through passport control and all that with with my cat And uh but any case I’ll make another video about you know how that process went Uh but I’ll tell you it’s very arcane for you know you you you pay all this money to have this stuff taken care of and some random vet somewhere in the United States that it’s it’s not even in Atlanta It’s not you know the first one was I think out of out of Massachusetts And uh but they signed off on the document sent it off and then UPS at the facility in Atlanta decided that they were going to not be able to find it in time So I think it was like 2 weeks later it arrived at my house there I was like “Okay well not very useful.” And then plus I had to go to the expense of redoing it and then they FedExed the hotel that I was staying at and and I got it like the day before um I was going to take off So it it worked out It worked out But in any case I landed May 1st um and then just started this journey of a new life here in in France And and uh I will say that you know there you was more inclined to start doing this channel just because you know a lot of the YouTube channels that I watch and there’s a lot of them there I I I do a lot of YouTube consumption that um they it’s a lot of people who are doing like a digital nomad existence or they’re doing the Shenzhen shuffle where they’ll go to France or Italy or Spain or somewhere Portugal or whatever type thing and be there for the 90 days and then go to some non- Shenzhen area for 90 days Maybe it’s Asia excuse me Maybe it’s Asia Maybe it’s back to you know the UK Maybe it’s to the UK Maybe it’s back to the United States you know whatever it is type thing And then they’ll go back again and and they’ll go from town to town and and show you like okay well you know here’s a grocery store and and here’s this town center and here’s this and and uh the people are super nice And I was like well you’re not really you know you’re not really living there you know I mean there’s there’s slow travel There’s some slow travel channels where they’re there maybe for you know they’re there for 3 months but they’re like in a city for three in a place for 3 months And that’s a little bit better to kind of show what it what it’s like But it’s not often that people talk about um you know actual living there you know where it’s like okay I you know going to you know I need to you know what’s my access to grocery stores What’s my how do I do a pharmacy How do I get prescriptions How do I you know go to doctors How do I what do I especially as we get older it’s like you know there’s there’s a there’s a lot of maintenance that goes on you know type thing And so it’s just it’s like okay and I and I and I’m not going to profess to know anything about how to deal with families and kids and all that sort of thing That’s that’s not my you know that’s not my my bailey wick I you know I’m a single person in my 60s and um you know I I had seven or eight years of French uh back in high school and I took French in college as well like business French and all that but but that was you know 45 years ago So it’s not you know it’s like 40 plus years ago So it’s not like you know oh blah blah blah blah blah blah No no I I you know and you know so I can understand people talking to me usually I can usually read things better than I can speak it And uh but now of course they’ve got all these translation apps so that that helps out a lot But honestly if you are planning wherever you’re moving to whether it’s you know France Spain Portugal you know but you know whatever whatever country is starting to kind of float your boat um you know learn some of the language I mean you’re going to have to just to to to make everyday existence kind of easier you know type thing Um you know and and as far as my what I’ve encountered with the French so far as I mean everybody’s been so kind so nice Well let’s not say everybody It’s not that’s a bit of a hyperbole but it’s you know certainly a vast majority of the people have been very kind and very helpful and and uh um you know it’s it’s been good It’s been good I had my primary reasons for looking to to move was one I had spent quite a few years um kind of taking my taking care of my parents through their end of life cycles and uh um and I would do it again I there’s no complaints about that Um but it just was like okay that that took a lot of that that took a lot out you know type thing It’s like that was and and neither of them had particularly pleasant uh end of life cycles My father had Parkinson’s for 17 years Although you know never once complained about it Never once you know just always up for whatever studies were available things like that But um but you know it’s still not a great not a great end of life and Leah and my mother had chronic pain that was brought on primarily because of her being stubborn about making sure that she would help help them get up and do all these even though we had people that would help and all that sort of thing But nonetheless um both of them had a relatively poor end of life cycle experiences type thing So we’ll say we’ll put it that way We’ll put it that way And so as I was getting older it’s like I don’t know that you know I I want to at least try this you know and see see what it’s like And and uh so I sold everything gave away things sold everything you know what whatever Well I shouldn’t say really selling It was really primarily giving away things to uh family and friends and and uh you know neighbors and whoever whoever was interested in the stuff was just a matter of like I didn’t want to bring any furniture I didn’t want to bring any any of that stuff cuz you never know how it’s going to fit and then we’re going to spend all that money on shipping it and you know I didn’t want my car I didn’t want any of that stuff So it’s like just you know just kind of purge everything which was remarkably uh freeing freeing because it’s like I realized like I don’t really need all that stuff It’s not you know it’s not that important to me you know And so I kept things that obviously were important to me if it was going to be you know uh family memorabilia and some you know photos and some other um ephemera and things like that that you know are important and of course like documents that I need for wills and yada yada But the um but really for the most part it was you know and I got rid of so much of my just clothes I wasn’t going to wear I don’t need suits and ties I don’t need any of that stuff and and uh you know and so what you’re going to see on the videos typically by the way before people want to make comments about this is that I probably have at least five of these you know kind of dark blue t-shirt sort of things and it’s it’s kind of my uniform that I wear and so you’re going to see it a lot uh you’re going to see these a lot and actually it’s not the same shirt and it’s not you and I do do laundry so before we have any comments about you know you have any other shirts Other than that it’s like I I do but I primarily have these So in any case um my my primary motivation for actually making the move was the cost of living in the United States and healthcare Um I did have a bout with cancer when I was in my early 50s and uh you know through 47 radiation treatments and two chemo treatments and and it’s all in remission and I I will have it but it’s in remission right now And so um at some point it may come may come back but it uh it makes me unable to just get regular health insurance And so if you know with the political environment that’s going on now if they get rid of the Affordable Care Act um you know insurance for me would be completely unattainable I mean it would be I think I think the quote that I had one time for a personal policy um having had cancer uh was like $4,000 a month with like a $20,000 deductible and and it’s like who can afford that you know who can afford that And so now here um I just got on to the French healthc care system uh which I should have done that earlier on but the initial apartment that I had uh I really did not like at all It was not a it was not good for me It was a fourth floor walk up which in the US would be a fifth floor There’s no lift Um it just was just and in a noisy area and convenient for the bus schedules but not great for just wanting to exist And so and no air conditioning no anything like that So now where I am now and I hope the light’s still doing all right here is that um I’m living in I’m living in a town which essentially in the US would be considered a townhouse And um um but it has you know this nice back uh back area here which is a deck area and and on a video I’ll do a a house tour uh type thing but it’s it’s maybe 1,200 square ft It’s like three bedrooms 2 and a half baths Um but very open plan very the the the uh family who owned it or who still owns it uh my landlords um uh they they renovated it probably two or three years ago So a lot of the stuff looks practically brand new in here So um but in any case it has a has a garage which is great for storage and you know things like that But um and it’s convenient to a bus stop And so for the first time in 45 years um if I’m doing my maths correctly um it been like 45 years I haven’t had a car I haven’t had a car since I got here And um um and I have to say I don’t miss it I don’t I would I love to have a car and the convenience of being able to go over the grocery store and do a kind of a big shop if I needed to and and all that or you know if I wanted to go to a store and buy something that was bigger and deal with trying to get it back Absolutely Has that been a hindrance to me No No No it has not It’s a um as a matter of fact it’s just it’s less of an expense I don’t you know I have to and of course as we know in everywhere else other than the United States gas is very expensive and so you know fueling the vehicle insurance all that type of maintenance and all that just it’s very it costs a lot so I don’t have that I don’t have that I take the bus I’ve got a year a year pass for the bus um here in Perpin it’s um €245 uh for the yearly pass and of course that can go up or down I suspect every year type thing So um once I hit 65 it drops like €9 for the for the yearly pass So uh so soon it that uh you know I’ll be able to get the discount rate on on that uh on that capability But but for €245 a year it’s like unlimited travel on the bus It’s like uh that’s okay you know that’s okay So um but I’m going to do videos of like you know how do you how do you how do you live here you know what you know what what what are you know how do you how do you do a pharmacy How do you get prescriptions How do you get a doctor How do you um you know kind of the important things that are going on So especially as we get older it’s like doctors prescriptions um you know what do you what do you do to get around How’s it using the trains Uh what’s going on with you know using the bus system all that sort of thing um I’m going to go over in different videos and I’ll and I’ll show you how they’re how they’re done and and some of the things are very simple and and some of the things are just a little bit more like a kind of a a slight twist to what what we deal with in the United States So you know like the grocery stores and the different size stores that they’re here and you know because there are um and probably like every you know major city in the United States I mean they’re going to have you know like bodeas or things like that that are going to be smaller places that don’t have the huge selection of things and and probably the biggest culture shock here um at least initially is like doing laundry It’s like you know they have washing machines but dryers are very rare Now this place has a dryer It’s not a great dryer It’s not a great dryer but honestly you know especially in the summertime you know you put the the long I mean this is a real throwback to like in the you know 60s and 70s well up until like the 60s and 70s in the United States you know you put your you you buy these laundry racks the drying racks and you put your laundry out and you know it just dries naturally And of course that’s because you utilities here are expensive as well So it’s not you know you can you can get a dryer but that’s going to run you quite a bit of money for utilities to to run it and all that sort of thing So you know it’s very much more environmentally conscious to do it the way with drying The drawback is like especially with towels is that um they get a little crunchy and so you know I haven’t figured out yet how to um make them not crunchy but if you um you know fabric softeners helped um but typically you know and they’re not that bad I mean they they they they open up and all that but it’s not it’s not the same as being in the United States where you know you just throw your load in the washing machine Once it’s done you throw in the dryer pull it out flap it up it’s all good fluffy ready to go you know type thing So but do I miss the dryer No not really you know if you if you needed to like you know oh my god I’ve got something to go to tonight or whatever type thing and this is the only thing that you know I can wear but it’s dirty you know that sort of Well they have laundry mats so you can go you know you can go do that So I just I I’ve just seen videos of people typically the ones especially ones that get on to like CNN and all that sort of thing where it’s like you know I tried it for a year or I tried it for two years and it just wasn’t for me I didn’t like it you know that like the produce is bad or the you know whatever other kind of excuse they have with it And it’s like I just wish people would be really honest about it I mean you’re in France What kind of what what bad produce do you have It’s not everything is practically everything’s organic and it’s you know it may not be the beautiful perfect stuff that you might see in Whole Foods but it’s perfectly fine You know it’s not it’s not like it’s damaged just not like so so I don’t know I mean the food quality here is just beyond belief with the things and the and the pricing really has been very reasonable And supposedly what I’ve been told by people is that Spain’s even less expensive just going So a lot of people if they’re doing a large grocery haul will go to Spain to to do it from here And um but I don’t have any real need for the you know certainly don’t have a need for a large grocery haul So but in any case the whole point of this is that I want to showcase the villages that are nearby Um how does one get around especially if you don’t have a car um you know and what are what are the processes you go through as an expat you know for like dealing with immigration and dealing and you know people will go on about the the um uh you know the the bureaucracy and all of it but um honestly it you just have to be patient you know just have to be patient with it and and yeah there’s some things that happened where you know even when I was doing the initial for the for the cart batal to get into the French healthcare system you I submitted some documents that weren’t the right the ones they were expecting and but nothing was rejected It just you know you just you wait for snail mail and you get the notice and they tell you what you’re missing and you know you just resub you submit some more stuff And so it’s not it hasn’t been this you know like oh my god pull my hair out sort of thing But it also hasn’t been nothing’s been fast So so there but again I’m not I you know I’ I’ve never been an immigrant so I don’t know even for the United States I don’t know if it’s a problem there where you know people just you know when they come into when they immigrate to the US is it you know the same sort of problem I’m sorry I’m just checking to see I hear my cat meowing at me but uh but I think she’s inside I’m in a threeseason room right now that’s here but uh in any case um hopefully you all are interested in joining me on this journey um you know new life in France Um I I so far I’ve been here for like 10 months and um I love it You know I just so far it’s been great You know I don’t I don’t have any real complaints It’s not you know there things that aren’t the same but that’s okay You know I just I’m not you know I’m not trying to not trying to buck the system here So um but you know the people have been super friendly you know met some really nice people Met some you know some English speakers uh you know and uh but just trying to get along and you know my journey of learning French kind of relearning French and uh um just improving all of that And I hope you all will you know join me in this as we kind of go along But uh anyway thanks so much You know I don’t know that anybody’s going to be watching this video but you know this is uh this is my first one and I’m going to be trying to get these things out at least once a week So until the next one