Nine years ago today, I moved to Switzerland (for the second time). So what has happened over the past 12 months? In short, a lot.
(Previous posts after one, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight years in Switzerland.)
The Past Year
Last Fall shortly after I wrote the previous year's summary post, my son moved to the UK to start his first year of university and my wife and I finally decided to separate. The Fall was spent dealing with all the details of the separation and hunting for a new apartment.
Initially I looked in Unterägeri where we had been living for the previous eight years, but after having no success (it's a very tight housing market), I expanded my search to include various Swiss mountain cantons (leaving Switzerland was not something I even considered). In late October I saw a listing for an apartment in a very small village in the Graubünden Alps, traveled almost 5 hours by public transport to meet the landlord, had an amazingly positive interaction, and agreed to rent the apartment the same day (with a little nudging from a good friend).
I spent January arranging the final details of my upcoming move, and at the beginning of February I moved to the mountains with one small panel truck of belongings and no car. For the past six months I've been settling in and enjoying the outdoors here (more on that later).
I visited my mother in the U.S. for three weeks in May and visited a friend in Greece for three weeks in July. That's been my year.
Goals for my tenth year in Switzerland
I'm not in a goal-setting mood this year (being more focused on the present), but here goes:
- Stay employed (despite AI)
- Pay for (my share of) my son's university
- Visit my mother twice
- Visit my son in the UK
- Enjoy the Alps
The Future
My only plan is to stay right where I am for as long as possible and enjoy the mountains.