Yes. We won the lottery. But read on for the qualified answer.

During this preparation phase of our trip to France, we want to use this blog to answer a few questions that people have put to us when they hear about our plans, or that we think people would like to ask but haven’t. Please post any questions you would like us to answer. (About the trip, that is; this isn’t an agony aunt service.)

One question that deserves an honest answer came from a workmate of mine, who said Did you win the lottery? It’s a sensible question, since in the normal scheme of things, who could afford to take three months to go and live in France?

It’s true that the whole trip will cost a lot of money. We estimate the biggest costs are

• Loss of income
• Long-haul flights
• Rent in France
• Vehicle lease

The total net cost will be around NZ$50k.

We do not buy lottery tickets and have zero winnings from that, but we have won the lottery in the sense that a window of opportunity for this trip has opened and we only need to leap through it. That’s pretty lucky, don’t you think? We believe that the benefits of doing this adventure are greater than the financial cost. Our kids especially will benefit from getting up close and dirty with an unfamiliar language, culture, environment, people, and attitude to snails. We think it could be better than winning Lotto.