This page is dedicated and written to all those out there looking to make the move to Chile in the name of love. There are many of us like you down here and there are a number of stories that accompany the steps taken that you’re looking at imitating. The love is real and that’s the silver lining to all the backwards tales that go hand-in-hand with a leap of faith.

Joss Stone tells us she fell in love once and almost completely.

In my case, I fell in love with a boy to such a degree that I uprooted my life in the San Francisco Bay Area and hauled my ass down to Santiago Chile in July 2009 to begin my life with him.

Do I sound like a crazy person with no regard for her personal accomplishments that she would leave it all for the sake of love?

The fact of the matter is that this story is so common in Chile, that Sernatur (Servicio Nacional de Turismo) produced a television spot that puts the abundant prospects of a blooming romance front and center, hoping to entice young American college girls to travel to this narrow country, in search for the same.

This video focuses on the college student who chooses Chile as her study-abroad option because, of all the options available in Latin America, it’s most likely the safest. This is a very common story, the study abroad one. I like it, too. It’s really cute and moreover,  it’s romantic.

Love stories come in all shapes and sizes and perhaps it’s true that love can move mountains and cause changes that otherwise seem impossible. I know that in my case, love is what keeps me motivated to find the good in this day-to-day living in Santiago even if I have to bend over backward to locate it. I know that of all places in the world, Chile is probably one of the best, at least in Latin America (would I have liked it if G lived in Paris or New York? Why yes I would have.)

The main reason for my move to Chile was G. Because of that, sometimes it’s hard to find my footing alone. There are times when I forget who I am    and what it means to be me, aside from me as G’s wife. The majority of my life has been spent as no one’s wife and I pretty much nailed an amazing life during that time. No complaints looking back. This period of my life, from 2009 onward, has been about me, hard at work, shoveling and laying new ground so as to make my way here. It’s not easy because I’m not necessarily the most patient, most optimistic person around. Frankly, there are times it seems that I just didn’t get the memo that I’m no longer in California, and so the idiosyncrasies of life here seem to come as a huge shock to me.

And then I remember. After the cursing, the stress, the elevated blood pressure and when the overwhelming urge to punch someone in the face subsides, I continue to navigate my life here. I moved here for love, because I fell in love with a boy (as Joss would say it), but by no means did I move to a perfect life. Part of it is me, my expectations and my fear of change. But I’m working on it.