I'm Leaving My Career in American Healthcare to Move to France

In the fall of 2025, four happenings occurred in succession that were a tipping point for me. The first was an event which caused me enough fear that I considered purchasing a gun, learning how to use it, and storing it in my home. Finding myself at this threshold, which I recognize would not bother many Americans, was disturbing to me. A few weeks later, the shooting of a conservative figure in Utah took over the US news cycle. Three days after that, while at a movie theater with friends, a road rage shooting occurred less than 1/4 of a mile from where we were, the gunman fleeing the scene and the victim in the hospital. Finally, two weeks after the above, a gunman slammed his vehicle into an LDS church in Michigan, shot 10 people, killed two of them, and then set the church ablaze, killing two more.

It sounds and is, at times, romantic: “Where are you moving to?” people ask. “I’m moving to France,” I reply. This is usually followed by stunned looks and then bewilderment. There are times I have asked myself just exactly what I am doing. Me, a woman smack dab in the middle of mid-life, leaving a financially stable job I’ve enjoyed, packing up the majority of my belongings so that I can rent out my home, while saying goodbye to a city I love, full of friends I adore? All to pursue a dream of living in France?

I can see how it would be easy to mistake our decision to move to France as a knee-jerk reaction, fleeing the US because of gun violence or other political events and situations. And while that isn’t entirely false, it also isn’t the whole picture.

I mentioned that last fall was a tipping point, which means that something had been building long before the events occurred in quick succession. This move was by no means made on a whim. It was a thought that had existed for years… decades really, and has been building slowly, sometimes with little growth, until enough of a push came and the desire to make it happen overcame the fear and doubt I had that it was possible. And while no list is completely exhaustive, I thought it might help to share why this move is happening now.

My Teen is Coming with Us

I have one child, a teenager who graduated high school last month and is heading off to college this fall. The timing for this move could not have been much more perfect. When the tipping point events occurred last year, my teen was just starting their final year of high school. We had plenty of time to adequately prepare for how a move would be possible, to think through decisions like renting out our home and where college might take them. Lucky for me, they will be attending university in Europe starting this Fall, about a 4-5 hour train ride from our new home. While we could have moved to Europe without them, it is a relief and quite exciting to be doing this move (in some ways) together.

The desire to pay into a system that offers more social support has grown stronger

Different countries have their strengths and weaknesses, and when it comes to tax contributions towards social systems, I feel the US has a long ways to go. Having lived in Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, and France at varying points in my life, I have witnessed universal systems of healthcare, seeing how — in general — Europeans recognize the importance of healthcare access, how it ought to be a system that benefits all, and not a business run for profit.

I have worked in healthcare for the last ten years of my life, the last five of them as a provider and prescriber of psychiatric medication. I feel lucky to have been advocates for my patients and strove to listen well and work to find solutions with them, as a team. I have had many patients lose access to healthcare when they or a partner changed or lost their job. I have seen medicaid patients dropped from their plan with no explanation, having no access to seeing their provider (me) or any way to get their medications filled. And the prior authorization process that health insurance companies require to access care or medication? Infuriating. Over time, the system can wear you down. I, for one, am worn.

And it isn’t just universal healthcare that I admire, France also has a shorter work-week, subsidized childcare and early childhood education, paid sick-leave, paid parental leave, and the list goes on. I know that this is paid through taxes. And I look forward to paying into a system that supports its citizens more than I see the United States doing.

I’m Listening To The Universe. And It’s Telling Me To Go To France.

Does that sound a bit woo-woo?

Tell me about it.

But it is exactly what is happening and I have no other way to explain it. This long-held dream has been beneath the surface, waiting for its moment to grow. For so long the certainty of how to make the dream a reality was unknown to me, and honestly, it felt impossible. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and that lack of knowledge prevented me from stepping toward my dream.

The thing is, once the knowledge came into view (which for me was understanding what visas France offers and which I could apply for), the timing and the financial means to navigate such a move slipped into place. That was followed by a dear friend being interested in renting our home, one more piece to the complicated puzzle of an international move. That was followed by another concern working itself out, and another, and another, gaining positive momentum, falling into place. There have been a few brief moments where I have felt a physical pulling within me, leading me along the pathway, in the direction of France. I am leaning into this feeling as much as I can, whenever I feel it.

I admit that in the earlier days of this decision I waffled, still in the space of uncertainty with more nerves than excitement, wondering whether this pathway would stay in view or die slowly like other ideas I’ve had that had once glowed bright. I’m an excitable person and it’s not new for me to have an idea that I later change course on. But that isn’t this.

I am 45 years old, in the prime of my career as a nurse practitioner and I have thoughtfully made the decision to step away. To leave the US. To see if living in and taking part in a society that aligns more closely to my own values is possible. I am leaving behind friends and family and familiarity, to chase a dream, in the hopes that I will discover… what… my inner purpose? My true desires? More wholeness? While I can’t put it into words, it is visible — albeit fuzzy — on the horizon. And I know that it requires me to take the leap, make the move, and give it everything I have.

I never bought that gun, if you are wondering. I bought one-way plane tickets to France instead. The boxes are getting packed, the cats are practicing being in harnesses and my best friend is lined up to rent our home. I don't know exactly who I'll be on the other side of this — but I know what I'm choosing, and it isn't fear. I’m choosing France and my hopes and my dream. And in thirty-two days, finally, I will go.

Hi, I’m Abbie. I’m currently a psychiatric nurse practitioner in the United States and am in the process of closing my private practice in preparation for a move to France this July. I’m living out my dream: move to France, be a photographer. And I’m writing about it here. Thanks for being here.