Abroad

Moving to Paris was an eye-opener. But I learned much about myself and the life that I wanted

Claire Gallagher, originally from Cavan, says shyness was not an option after she moved to France and didn’t speak French while starting a small business

Claire Gallagher-Ghiglione (right) her husband Thomas Ghiglione and their children Zoé and James. Photograph: Claire Gallagher-Ghiglione

Claire Gallagher
Thu Jul 20 2023 - 05:00

Living abroad challenges you to step out of your comfort zone and realise the importance of community.

Originally from Cootehill, Co Cavan, I headed to Paris for “a year” in 2009 to learn the lingo after meeting a lovely French fella.

Fourteen years, three cities and two children later we’re now learning to navigate Barcelona as an expat family.

Moving to Paris was an eye-opener. While I’d spent time out of Ireland before in London and Melbourne, there was something about being “the foreigner” who didn’t speak the language that pushed me out of my comfort zone.

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Speaking a new language made me feel very self-conscious at first. I think that in my first year in Paris I spent more time quietly listening than in my entire life up to that point.

But it wasn’t just about grammar and vocabulary. I realised the importance of body language, reading the room and understanding the culture and style of communication.

As someone who had a more self-conscious verbal diarrhoea presence up to that point, this pushed me to shift the focus to contributing to a discussion with a meaningful point of view, rather than just filling the silence.

With this new found confidence, I started a small business and began networking my tail off. I wish they’d offered a module on this during my design studies in AIT (Athlone Institute of Technology). It would have come in very handy.

Starting a business coincided with the birth of my first child.

I wanted the flexibility and freedom to be available for my children and the simple French “auto-entrepreneur” status for small businesses and freelancers allowed me to do this with as little French admin as possible.

After five years in Paris we relocated south to Montpellier, to be near my husband’s family, and seek a more balanced life.

Anyone who works independently will tell you it can get pretty lonely. Especially if you’ve just moved to a new city and you have nobody to grab an in-person coffee with.

If you’re new in a place and you spend your days in the company of your screen – you need to become a person who goes to things! You need to actively seek people out and make a connection. Shyness is not an option.

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Montpellier was a perfect environment to create my own community.

It is not as sprawling and intimidating as Paris, but still has a large number of English-speaking business owners and digital nomads. I met so many inspiring people with their own tales of relocating and reinventing themselves.

It’s easy now to summarise this whole experience neatly now, but there were many challenges along the way and I learned so much about myself and the life that I wanted to build for my little family.

In 2022 we had the opportunity to move again. This time to Barcelona. Being self-employed meant it was a pretty simple transition work-wise.

As for building a new community, this time around I know that the key to loving life in a new city is the people you meet along the way.

Claire Gallagher lives with her family in Barcelona where she runs her content marketing business www.clairecreative.com She studied Design Communications at AIT and left Ireland in 2009

  • If you live overseas and would like to share your experience with Irish Times Abroad, email abroad@irishtimes.com with a little information about you and what you do
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