Après-Midi Recap

KJ and Tony first fell in love with France when they visited about 10 years ago and have been back many times since then to various parts of the south of France. They had never been to Paris until May 2022, which is when they decided to leave their high-stress jobs and 24/7 work lifestyle in the US and move somewhere in France.

They spent the first year of their travel journey (maybe less, maybe more) to discover where in France they would like to settle as American expats. After all, there are so many incredibly beautiful areas in France that they wanted to experience as many different French regions and departments as possible before making a final decision. Their YouTube Channel “KJ and Tony Move to France” and their travel blog document the journey of giving up all their belongings in the USA to make our dream of living in France a reality.

We opened the session by running their first video, which has since gotten more than 270,000 views! Then, they told the story of how we met—how the New York Post wrote an article titled “How an American couple’s dream of ex-pat Paris life became a grande nightmare,” how I wrote a response to that titled “Don’t Let Your Dream Turn into Your Nightmare,” how they responded by telling me that the journalist lied about 90% of it, and how I wrote a follow-up retraction titled “No Nightmare for KJ and Tony.”

More than their move to France, they talked about their work helping people overcome substance abuse and how important that is to them and why they will continue to work in that field, long after they have moved to France. When one person asked them about the mistakes they had made, Tony answered with, “How much time have you got?”

Everyone in the room could relate to the challenges they have faced…it was comforting to know we’re not alone in it!

Click here to watch the session on our YouTube channel.