It all starts from Rouen, France

Old architecture of Rouen, France.

I am a freelance photographer from Helsinki. Me and my husband got tired of a flat and easy life, we want our life to be exciting and full of new experiences and moving to a country whose language we don't yet speak guarantees that. So, in August 2023 we left Finland behind for the time being and embarked on a journey throughout France for the coming years. We chose France for its diverse culture, excellent cuisine, stunning landscapes, and artistic inspiration. The fact that we have a lot of previous experience in France, due to our Abandoned Nordic project, was also one reason - we've always had a lot of fun here.

Initially, we thought about settling into a rental property permanently. However, we soon realized that it's not that straightforward in France, even if we could afford it. It's much easier to get a €400,000 mortgage for a property in Finland than to rent an apartment in France for approximately €1,000 per month. When we realized it might not even be possible, we decided to travel around the country, living in Airbnb apartments for a few months at a time.

So now we are practicing the lifestyle of digital nomads. My husband has a permanent remote work to Finland, while I am self-employed as an entrepreneur, working in photography and graphic design.

Rouen became our first place of residence in France. If we were to settle in one place in France permanently, it would most likely be Normandy, perhaps even Rouen specifically. The city's history is fascinating, and the architecture of its historic center is beautiful, partly medieval. Its proximity to Paris is also important to us since we need storage space for our belongings and travel with only a limited amount of clothes and essentials. We found this storage facility in Rouen, and it's easy to visit it even if we fly out of the country.

We wanted to live in the historic city center and chose a small attic apartment in the Palace de Justice district. From this apartment, it's easy to venture out and capture the city at any time of day. There's no insurmountable effort required, even in summer, to capture the sunrise and sunset in France, unlike in Finland, where it demands considerably more determination.

We have now lived a month and a half here Rouen and there is two more weeks to go before we move to Modane in the Rhône-Alpes region. We stay october there and we have plans to hike and capture nature and landscapes, focusing on the autumn colors and fog.