by Jeanne M. Eck

Several months ago a reader in France sent me his review of my book. Little did he or I know how prophetic it would be when he wrote: Jeanne Eck's book I Am Happier to Know You should be a first in a series of books about living abroad. Jeanne should be sent around the world to live in different societies and write about her experiences.....

His wish has been granted, at least the moving part. If there is to be another book about another country and culture, the muses will surely propel me to my keyboard.

While in my head I know that change is always an opportunity to land on the sunny side of the street, it is my heart that has to embrace it.

When Chuck (my husband whom I met in Cairo) was asked by his boss if we'd be willing to relocate to Mumbai (Bombay) India, he called me to share the news. I was in the United States working on book marketing events.

The request wasn't unexpected, but the depth of my distress over leaving Cairo was. As a longtime friend in the U.S. reminded me, Cairo represents so much to me on every level. It is where I have blossomed as a woman, a human being and a journalist. Although I've been in Cairo nearly five years, in the past year, the cadence of my life has marched gently with the synchronistic rhythms of the commitment I made to Chuck, our marriage and to the production and marketing of I Am Happier to Know You. I've formed friendships that enhance and support my growth, and released those that no longer could.

Upon hearing the news, I rearranged my schedule and flew home to Cairo. After fulfilling speaking commitments here, we then headed off for a company sponsored recon of Mumbai. Chuck wanted to take the job, but I was the trump card. If I couldn't live there, we wouldn't go.

My first major issue had to do with time zone and travel distances. Writing a book is like planting a fully grown flower in rich soil; marketing it is akin to sowing a single seed without benefit of water or soil to give it roots.

I was furious that an additional 3 and a half hours would disappear from an already diminutive window of opportunity to communicate by phone with my marketing staff in the U.S., that trips home and abroad would be extended by as much as 12 hours and I would need to expand each stay to maximize as well as justify the additional expense.

I hated the feeling that I was losing my personal autonomy and right to choose where I would live and when. Chuck married an independent woman who has a life and dreams separate and apart from our marriage. He unconditionally supports and nurtures all of me as I do him and although the move would be hardest on me, he needed a change, the opportunity to do the work he really loves and we needed to get out of our seven-day-per-week work schedules. So while it was 'up to me,' I felt pressured to accept the transfer because it was right for him and for our marriage.