Blog Post 1: Saying Goodbye

So this is it - We’ve begun! In the very (very) early morning on Friday, October 25th we locked the door of our cozy apartment in Paris, got on the metro, went to the train station Gare du Lyon, and left Paris for Marseille at 6am. But saying goodbye to our apartment and putting a lock on our lives in Paris was only one of the goodbyes we’d already done and would have to do before leaving for this adventure.

For myself, Julie, the goodbyes actually began a long time ago. Already living far away from my family meant that I actually did some of the goodbye, I guess I’ll see you when I see you’s several months before. The idea for this trip had actually come to fruition when Jo and were in Canada for two weeks back in August visiting my friends and family. So at the end of August, I was already saying goodbye to many of my loved ones (my siblings, my dad, aunts, uncles, friends, my dog) for a lot longer than I’d ever had to before. I was lucky enough to have one of my brothers and my sister-in-law come visit at the end of September, and then my mom mid-October, so I at least got to see them not too long before we left.

For Jo, however, this will be the longest he will have ever been away from his home and his family. Me, I’ve already been living abroad in different countries since 2021. Jo did an internship in the UK for three months back when he was a student, but otherwise has lived his whole life in Paris. Saying goodbye to that is, to the say the least, a strange and confusing mix of emotions.

This is all to say, there were many, many goodbyes that needed to happen in the lead-up to our departure. Of course, there’s the saying goodbye to family and friends. This is always difficult, no matter how exciting the adventures to come are. I’ve always said that having a wanderer’s spirit would be much easier if you didn’t have friends and family that you loved so dearly. That being said, how beautiful is it to have so many people that we love so much that it almost makes us not want to go at all. Goodbyes are hard, but living a life with no one you ever felt you needed to say goodbye to would most certainly be harder.

Another goodbye that has been full of complicated emotions has been the goodbye to our time as captains of Midnight Runners. Myself, I’ve been involved with this community since the 2018 launch of Midnight Runners in Barcelona. From there, I have been a captain in 7 different cities, worked for the organization for 2 years opening cities and helping others. I have lived and breathed MR for nearly 8 years, and it has become part of my identity. Handing in my captain badge feels like a very definitive slam shut of an incredibly formative chapter of my life.

Jo has been a part of Midnight Runners for nearly as long, as well. Starting out as a community member, he’s been a captain for MR Paris for nearly 4 years, was the city lead of Paris for one year, and even did a stint as the global Midnight Runners president. Midnight Runners helped him come through a challenging time in his life, helped find his love for running, and provided him with friends with whom he has travelled to incredible places, done plenty of marathons and even ultra marathons, and of course, danced away the night with.

Midnight Runners is also what brought Jo and I together in the first place. Though we both knew we were closer to the end of our time as leaders of this movement than the beginning, neither of us felt completely prepared to leave it behind, either. Truthfully, however, I don’t know if we ever would have. But everything has it’s time, whether it’s by choice or design.

The final goodbye, as we left our apartment when most of the city was still sleeping, was saying goodbye to our life in Paris. For Jo, it’s been his whole life. For me, it has been one beautiful year of comfort, stability, and joy. This is the city where we met, where we first lived together, and that we still very much love. Our life in Paris was comfortable, our apartment our safe place, so leaving that behind for uncertainty, instability, and moments of discomfort is no easy thing. We know, however, that it is now or never - so with that goodbye, for now, to our friends, family, community, and life that we had. With perhaps some tears in our eyes but feeling surrounded by love and support, we are taking on the world, one train, bus, boat, and step at a time.