Is it worth it?

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*Oh my god, you left France to come to South Africa? But why? Oooooh WHY did you do this to yourself?

*You moved to South Africa ALONE, with your child? You are SOOOOO brave!

*You live in South Africa? That must be scary! Do you have a weapon? Did you have to kill someone already?

You would not believe how many times I had to answer to this kind of questions since I've moved to South Africa. Most of the foreigners find me very brave, but weirdly, it also comes from locals! South Africans who do not understand how I dared to choose South Africa over France!

So let’s be crystal clear, I am not that brave and a real anxious! I still grab my phone when I hear noises by night before realising it is just my cats fighting in the living room; I ask my son if he wants to sleep with me when there is a thunderstorm, and I pretend it because I don't want HIM to be scared; and I plan meticulously my trip to a big city (any big city of any country...I am a sissie!), so I don’t have to ask my way to strangers.

But yet I moved to South Africa, which has a very bad reputation for safety, and the reason why I could do that is because

I live in the South African Bush

I recently spent 2 weeks in Paris. Policemen and heavily armed soldiers all around, security officers checking the contents of your bags at every malls (but only from 8am, before that you can easily get whatever you want inside the mall), helicopter flying over the city several times during the day (ok apparently it was just for Tom Cruise who was visiting, but Hey! looks like He didn’t feel safe neither), and in the subway, constant reminders that you may be sitting next to a pick-pocket (as I was always seated next to my son, I started to have serious doubts about him)... well that's exactly the same in Johannesburg!

Yes the all world is dangerous! Terrorism everywhere, poverty in every corner, and inequalities are equally distributed throughout the world! No South Africa is not more dangerous than any of our occidental countries (except if you read this post from Iceland…well done guys!)

Here is the thing, I don't live in a big city, but in the lovely little town of Hoedspruit. 4000 souls, and lot of travellers coming around to discover the Famous Kruger National Park and see the Blyde River Canyon.

***We enjoy a tropical weather, with sun 88% of the year (real stats! an average 43 days of fully-clouded sky, for 189 days of blue sky!)

***In 3 years I never experienced being attacked (except by a tree full of thorns), assaulted (yes there was that non-venomous scorpion once), or robbed (No, attempted robbery of my eye-balls by an emu doesn't count).

***We are surrounded by nature and wildlife. I enjoy my morning coffee listening to the birds, I spy bushbabies when they wake up at dusk, I drop some fruits around for the monkeys. and I sleep listening to the beautiful sound of hyenas.

South Africa caught my heart and dragged me into a peaceful state of mind. Here we live following the rhythm of the wood burning in the Braai.

Let's take a minute to talk about BRAAI! It means barbecue, but for South Africans, it's a real way of life! Being outdoor, enjoying the moment and the nature around you.

Don't get me wrong, I do have deadlines, taxes, charges and worries, I do! But here I can LIVE.

I have been contacted by several persons who dream of quitting everything to move in an exotic country, looking for advises or just wanting to know if it was worth it. Well it is a lot of work, I had to face many of my fears, and I still struggle with some aspects of an expat's life (visa applications for example is a real pain!), but IT IS TOTALLY WORTH IT.

#wildlife #southafrica #hoedspruit #nature