Leaving, and the defaults we carry
Does This Rule Still Work for You?
Hilda and Jack write down five money rules they inherited and test each one. Two stay, two are rewritten, and one goes on a list to try.
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All articles in Leaving, and the defaults we carry
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
The First Empty Day
Gordon wakes in a new city with nothing on his calendar and a rising feeling that he made a mistake. Three small anchors changed his week.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
Your Habits Have a Price Tag
Pat and Lou price five habits at home and after a move, and the difference is $31,500 a year. The list helps them tell what they love from what they merely kept.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
Taking Your Dog Abroad, or Finding Him the Right Home
Colleen takes her retriever abroad, and Rita finds her old dog a home with her niece. The questions are the same, and so is the love.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
The Storage Unit That Cost More Than Its Contents
Ines and Paul add up four years of storage fees and find they paid almost four times the value of what was inside. A list of monthly charges helps them decide what to end and what to keep.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
Being a Good Guest in Someone Else’s Neighborhood
Beatriz has watched her street change since newcomers arrived, and two of them handle it very differently. One asks what to know, and the other expects the street to know what he needs.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
The First Hundred Words
Marcus lands knowing forty words and builds a habit small enough to keep. A year later he is not fluent, but he is a neighbor people can talk to.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
When the Family Comes to Visit
Fatima and Oscar have eleven visits in their first year, and the nicest part of it is also the most tiring. Saying the plan out loud made the second year easier.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
The Birthday Party and the Open Door
My wife had a birthday party with a DJ until ten, and two neighbors from home asked me to turn the music down. What I wanted to say, what I said, and what the noise ordinance had to do with it.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
The Day You Stop Being a Tourist
Anders gives a tourist directions and realizes he used to be the one with the map. The wonder fades and something calmer replaces it.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
The Logo Nobody Is Impressed By
Why the same famous logos are on a market table in every country, and why a symbol of status at home may say something else abroad.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
The Electrician Who Tended Bar
An electrician says he has tended bar for seven years, and a lawyer-bartender ends up trimming my beard. What it means to live among generalists.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
Keeping Your People Close From Far Away
Maribel leaves four friends, a sister and two grandchildren behind and gives each a rhythm: a Sunday call, a first-Friday call, a monthly letter. A fixed day on the calendar keeps each one going.
Leaving, and the defaults we carry
Finding Your Tribe Without a Shared Language
Oskar knows a hundred words and eats most dinners alone. He stops looking for people to talk with and starts looking for things to do with people.