On 5 December I’ll leave the U.S. to spend an undetermined period in what may become my new home in The Netherlands — Rotterdam. I’ll live in temporary housing until their immigration department finalizes my residency permit, which I hope will happen within a couple of months. I’ll rent out my house in Oberlin, Ohio for short stays and will continue to serve my existing American clients. However, I also plan to focus Tom Geller Productions on European opportunities.
I’ve lived mostly in two places since graduating from college, and left both for the same reason: I felt I’d gotten what I wanted from the place and was itching for something different. (I wrote three years ago about my move from San Francisco to Oberlin, Ohio.) This time is no different. I moved to Oberlin almost nine years ago to do some “adulting” and to enjoy a quieter, more-easygoing place. Now it’s time for me to be back in a city, and Rotterdam is a fun place that I know from two previous months-long visits.
I expect people to think I’m moving because of the current political climate in the U.S.. That’s not among my top reasons. Like a thinking citizen of any country, I feel pains and joys about my own. This is a topic for another time.
I’ll be back in the U.S. for a bit in April (and traveling in Europe sometimes before then.) For now, my Twitter account is probably the best way to keep up. More later.