Excerpt from You must only to love them

PREFACE — NOT ME!

Who would have thought I’d live in Turkey? It evoked an image of mustachioed Bedouins galumphing out of the desert on camels, and I could barely find it on a map. 

No, thank you.

I yearned for adventure, an escape from a world that was imploding on me. A painful divorce had left me on the perimeter of social gatherings, keenly aware of my image as a divorcee. Not really a pariah, I felt like one. 

After a few years  alone I succumbed to a whirlwind romance, a stomach-churning, heart-fluttering relationship that survived a mere four months. This bleeding-heart liberal was no match for the wealthy conservative I’d fallen in love with. We’d have been a disaster together, so I was lucky it ended early. Devastated, but lucky. 

But I digress. Travel had always intrigued me, and I wanted to spend a year or two in Europe. I fantasized strolling to a coffee bar in my Paris neighborhood, meandering through the Musee d’Orsay with time to admire each bronze ballet dancer, or climbing a mountain path to an alpine meadow above Salzburg. I fed my travel bug by sponsoring student tours overseas, and one afternoon I found myself chatting with a chirpy British woman on a beach in southern Spain.

“How do you like the Mediterranean?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s gorgeous. Do you come here often?”

“I live here, dear. Well, part of the time. I rent an apartment just a few blocks from the beach, my sunshine get-away from the dreary London winters.”

“Really?” I said. “Is it expensive?”

“Oh, it’s nothing compared to London rents. My husband and I aren’t wealthy, but this is my priority. It’s my sanity, you might say. Anyone could do it. What brought you here?”

“I’m on tour with students. I enjoy their enthusiasm, and we’re loving it here.”

“I’m sure,” she said as she set up her beach chair. “The sun always shines, and there’s plenty of action.”

As I meandered down the beach I pondered renting a studio apartment in Europe. Could I manage it? 

Not a chance. As a divorced woman sitting on $25,000 of debt there was no foreign apartment in my stars, at least not without employment. 

But then…

My mind started churning. My English degree could be my ticket overseas, and I also held degrees in theater and counseling. Why not? I was single and my sons were grown. The world was my oyster. 

I started the wheels in motion, setting my sights on Paris (I speak French) and Salzburg (my favorite city in the world).