I fulfilled my lifelong dream of moving to Paris. It's not always the fairytale I imagined.

"I Googled - probably not the wisest thing to Google, even 15 years ago - 'how to get paid to go to Europe.' That's when I found out I could become an au pair. I flew to Madrid in the summer of 2013 and worked as an au pair for four months, and I loved it."

"I wanted to stay, but had to return to the US after the job was over because I was on a temporary visa. For some time, I forgot about living in France entirely. It took another 10 years before I found a company headquartered in France that would hire me and move me there."

"I'm not sure if they would love me saying this, but Paris is like the New York City of France. It's a big international city. So there were some cultural differences for me in adapting to a big city, like the pace of life."

Sarah Pardi, 35, pursued her childhood obsession with France despite growing up poor in rural Oregon. At 18, she discovered au pair opportunities and moved to Madrid in 2013, then to Toulouse in 2014 to teach English. After returning to the United States due to visa restrictions, she spent a decade working toward her goal. In 2023, she relocated to Paris with her husband after securing employment with a French-headquartered company. Now living in Montmartre, she describes Paris as an international city comparable to New York City, with distinct neighborhoods each possessing unique characteristics and atmospheres.

Read at Business Insider