While we were in Seattle last April getting our vaccines we had time between shots to update a file we call “Where Things Are”. It’s a detailed document that we update annually and leave with our adult kids. It’s something we started several years ago in the event of one or both of us passing away. But it became more detailed when we began our Senior Nomad travels.

It contains all the information they need in case we become incapacitated, or worse. We include access codes for all of our financial accounts. Passwords for our computers, phones, and social media accounts. Names and contact information for our doctors, dentists, financial advisors, and our lawyer. Our Social Security numbers and benefits. Details on our health insurance coverage both in the US and while traveling. Copies of our passports and driver’s licenses. And finally a copy of our wills, and funeral directives including the longitude and latitude of where we’d like our ashes sprinkled in the San Juan Islands near Canada. Leaving this detailed document with our kids gives us peace of mind.

That brings me to “Where we are” After being fully vaxxed we returned to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico via Palm Springs. Our oldest son and his family live in Hermosa Beach but recently purchased a very cool second home they list on Airbnb. If ever you need a stunning five-bedroom (including two separate casitas), mid-century home with a pool check this out. It was fun to catch up with the LAX Campbells and see our teenage grandchildren - I’m always a bit uncertain about how to interact with “young adults” but when you are the grandparents, you get a break. So even if we were occasionally lame, we were loved. Our oldest daughter Kelly joined us for a week and we spent a day exploring Joshua Tree National Park.

Next, we settled back into San Miguel de Allende, Mexico to wait until Americans were allowed to visit France so we could reunite with our youngest grandchildren!

I picked up where I left off volunteering at the Animal Shelter where I played with kittens and cats twice a week, and took home another adorable foster kitten named Lily. We played Scrabble every Sunday with our dear friend Rene and made several new friends as well. Every time we return to San Miguel we feel more at “home”.

Michael was diligent about studying French for at least an hour a day on duolingo - and we found a delightful woman named Anabel on the SMA Civil List (a site for ex-pats) who was willing to volunteer to practice conversational French with him. Best of all, our good friend Nancy Eastham joined us for ten days - our first out-of-town guest in San Miguel.

Finally, on July 8th, with vaccine cards and negative COVID tests in hand, we became Senior Nomads once again. Ironically, we left on the exact date we became Senior Nomads eight years earlier - when we also went to France.

Before we could board our American Airlines flight to Paris from the Leon airport near San Miguel we had to show our negative test results. That was the only time we were asked for any kind of physical proof we’d been tested or vaccinated. I was actually disappointed because I thought you had to be vaccinated before you could enter France and there would be fewer visitors who were potentially contagious. Oh well - we were just happy to be heading in the right direction. We flew economy class in a Boeing Dreamliner with an empty seat between us so we had lots of room and arrived with minimal jet lag. Maybe that was mind-over-matter because we didn’t want to waste a minute of family time.

Over the years we’ve gotten the RER from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Paris, then a one-stop metro to the Gare de Lyon train station where we search the massive departure board for the commuter train heading to Bois-le-Roi, a village near where our daughter lives and then arrange for them to meet us…down pat.

But this time, since it had been so long since we’d seen them, and I was in a particular hurry, I suggested we splurge and take a hired car to drive us the hour and a half to Samois-sur-Seine.

The Chief Travel Planner approved this bold, budget-busting move so we were whisked away from CDG in less than an hour after landing. Lest you think we loaded our tattered rolling duffles and overloaded backpacks into a sleek black town car, we were met instead by a burly French man who did not speak English and drove a less-than-Uber-clean Peugeot. Who cares? As far as I was concerned it could have been a Rickshaw as long as it was heading straight to Samois-Sur-Seine without delay.

Four years ago we found a house with a yard on Airbnb that is a five-minute walk from the kids. After a few stays we became friends with the owners. Beatrice and Frank. This time they were there to meet us with a chilled bottle of Rose and the keys. At last, we settled into “our” house and then beelined for the Bouron’s.

Since we hadn’t seen our grandchildren in person for almost two years I was a little worried we might not pick up where we left off, but once we were together it seemed like yesterday. There were hugs and kisses, and pulling us this way and that, talking over each other while vying for the first game of Backgammon with Grandpa, and to see what Mooma had in her purse. Presents? Maybe. Gummy Bears? Always.

After two weeks of sharing meals, family games, walks in the Fontainebleau Forest, and a full day in Paris that included an A Scavenger Hunt in the Louvre Airbnb Experience, we moved into the Bouron’s home and sent Mary and Gregoire off for a week of R&R. They chose to go “Glamping" (that means fancy tents with a queen-size bed, a mini-fridge, and a great restaurant on-site) in Collioure, France, a beach town near the Spanish border. They haven’t had time away alone in almost four years!

I know for a fact that Michael and I raised children, because four very good-looking, well-mannered adults call us “Mom” and “Dad”. However, after looking after three children ages 7, 9, and 11 for seven days I wasn’t so sure. Did we really do this? Was there a time we fed, bathed, potty trained, and entertained (let alone instill table manners) in four children? While at the same time keeping them from choking on small objects, chasing balls across the street, and never talking to strangers?

I vaguely remember that we moved to London for five years when our three were 2, 4, and 6, and Michael's son Alistair who was almost 14 at the time joined us. Fortunately, we were in a country where Au Pairs are easy to find. We went through five!

So, where to next? After all that family bonding we left for Croatia, one of our favorite countries - and one of the easiest for Americans to enter with either a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination. We had our vaccination cards, but since it was easy to get a test at the village health clinic we thought it wise to have both.

Unfortunately, the test was the “way up your nose until it feels like the end of the swab is poking at your eyeball” kind. Ugh. We both hope to never, ever have to do that again! I’ll write about our fifth visit to Croatia with stops in Zagreb, Pula and Rovinj soon.

Thanks for following along,

Debbie and Michael Campbell

The Senior Nomads