Moving Out of Geneva, and Landing…

Welcome to the Worldwide Weber’s trivia game, where you find out all sorts of fun facts and end up in a new city of our choice! It’s the latest expat craze that all the young kids are raving about. There’s no prize besides gleeful entertainment, useless facts and the joy of not being the ones packing up your house for the hundredth time. So, let’s get this party started! Batteries and booze sold separately.  

Trivia Question #1: How did I not let this slip until today? 

I’m what some would call a secretive person. While this benefits everyone who tells me secrets, at which I’m pretty solid at keeping, it doesn’t always benefit friends and family who are generally learning of things way later than they’d appreciate. Like for example, that we’re moving again…tomorrow. According to my mom, I’ve always been annoying like this, and according to my past bosses, it’s definitely one of my qualities that lands in the “weakness” section of my review. Contrary to public opinion, I personally enjoy my introverted nature. I love being the only one to know something, not being asked questions I don’t have answers to and generally living a bit more of an undercover life than one would think from my 24/7 broadcasting on social media. My parents have learned not to ask too many questions for fear that I’ll retreat and stop answering their calls, and my friends understand that I’ll share when I’m ready which are usually in random moments that generally make no sense in time or space.  

Trivia Question #2: Just how much do the Worldwide Webers move? 

Chris and I have both moved houses every year for the last 17 years. Some of those years separately, some of those years internationally, some via corporate relocations and, thankfully, only a small percentage with kids getting in the way. Because nothing puts the cherry on top of a moving cake like a kid unpacking a bag you just packed. I guess you could call our lean towards a nomadic lifestyle a shared hobby, though I think we need to shift towards something a little easier, like tennis or badminton or competitive eating. If you’re wondering what led to our move to Geneva in the first place, you can read all about it in my post leaving London a year ago, or you can refresh your Worldwide Webers trivia facts in our full rundown in The Making of a Worldwide Weber.

Trivia Question #3: Do I hate Geneva?  

It usually takes me two times of living somewhere to actually like it. I’ve lived in London and Geneva twice at two separate times in my life, and strongly disliked both my first times on the merry–go–round. I even wrote some good passive aggressive articles about the Dichotomy of Expat Life during my more challenging moments. But like a good designer bag, secondhand can be just the right amount of expectation and know–how. For all the smack I talk about Geneva, the damn place has really grown on me after 2 non-consecutive years of living in this glorified Swiss village. Don’t get me wrong, it’s inconvenient, unwelcoming, expensive and straight up difficult to live in sometimes. But it’s also gorgeous, historic, quaint, delicious, clean as a Swiss-made whistle, centrally located and comes with one of the best expat communities you’ll find in Europe, which has given me some great friends. I’m leaving Geneva with a good taste in my mouth, and not just because the amount of chocolate I’ve had will never leave my cavity filled molars or my ass for that matter.  

Trivia Question #4: What does Nala think??  

At 3.5 years old, this will be Nala’s 4th move across 3 continents. In my opinion, she won the brave award of the year. She attended a school where she was the youngest in her class, taught half in French and half in Australian English, from which she’s come out with an even stranger accent than before. She’s taken ballet class in Russian, went to birthday parties in French and somehow understands whatever language her brother is speaking far better than the rest of us. She took a nasty spill on a bus during our very first week here landing her in the hospital, yet jumped right back on public transport for the rest of our time here like it never happened, let’s chock that up to positive amnesia. This is the second move where she’s semi-aware, asks about her friends and her change in routine. So far, she’s only gotten upset when she thought someone stole the TV when the movers took it off the wall and is wondering when she gets to go on the next airplane ride. The 58 countries she’s traveled to so far have apparently prepared her for moments like these and I’m sure a therapist will be paid lots of money to unpack all that later in her life! 

We’ve now come to the final round of the Trivia game, worth double points in whatever currency is in your wallet. Pesos and shekels included. Where in the world are the Worldwide Webers moving to?  

If you guessed Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA, you’d be correct! For those who don’t know, Chris was raised in sunny Fort Lauderdale and still has family and friends there. While you might think that we’re finally coming home for good from our 6 years of adventures abroad, you’re only partly correct. We’re moving for the same reasons we’ve moved in the past, which is for Chris to be in a better spot for his business in the commodities industry. Fort Lauderdale is in a good time zone and location for him to see clients and comes with the major extra bonus of being close to his family and friends and tropical weather year-round, as well as my family being just a couple hours away by plane in the Washington D.C. area. Travel–wise, Southern Florida is an awesome base to fly from for the Caribbean, as well as Central and South America. And it’s even gotten really well connected over recent years to places abroad thanks to carriers like Norwegian and Emirates. So, are we hanging our expat hats up for good? Unlikely. We’re looking at this as our next move, not our final move. Basically, the opposite of how retired New Yorkers look at their moves to Florida. We may be there a year, maybe 10 years, we have no idea. We both still have a strong desire to continue an international life but also desire for more than a one-year lease at this stage.  

I’m overjoyed at the conveniences that living back in the U.S. brings with Amazon, Target, Whole Foods, delivery EVERYTHING and generally just an easy way of life. But just like everywhere in the world, the U.S. has its negatives. I went to Syracuse University which has an Orange as the mascot (yes, it’s an actual orange, with legs and a baseball hat, strange I know), and let’s just say I never would have pegged our mascot as earning the “most likely to become president” award in the yearbook. And after over a decade of city living in places like New York, London, Madrid, Johannesburg, Singapore, and Geneva, suburbia with its cars, malls, and chain restaurants gives me anxiety. But I’m sure I’ll fall for the conveniences that suburban living offers and I won’t miss doing the school run on foot with two kids in the rain. The world is a nutty place and being so close to family and friends is a large part of what this move is all about, like actual Face Time for our kids so they know their families outside of the two-dimensional world.  

Here’s to another move, one that doesn’t involve visas or language immersion programs, and one that I’m sure will be just as hectic but worthwhile as all the rest. So we move…tomorrow and will be homeless for a few months working, traveling and living a life that doesn’t look all that different from our normal.  Au revoir Geneva! You’ve been grand and see you soon America. We’re bringing Metta the Hurricane to town, so you should probably go shopping now before he clears all the food off your local grocery store shelves!  

What’s that sound? It must be the bonus round of the Trivia game! Where you get my number one moving tip. Here it is…. NEVER PACK THE BOOZE OPENING DEVICES. They will come in handy and after a little incident that ended in Chris tearing through a dozen kitchen boxes during our last move, that item now travels in my purse. Because packing or unpacking sober is not a hell anyone should endure. Now to continue with some of my favorite pictures from this past year in Geneva. Because of course, emotional nostalgia is exactly what I have time for with 12hrs until the moving truck gets here.