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<\/p>\n\n Strolling from her apartment in Southern France\u2019s Occitanie region to Place aux Herbes \u2014 the historic main square in the tiny town of Uz\u00e8s \u2014 for coffee has become a daily ritual for Julie Neis.\n <\/p>\n
\n She loves the simple routine of sitting, cup in hand, while taking in the views of the fountain and arcades. Later she walks around the old town, maybe meeting up with friends for an Aperol, or browsing the twice-weekly market.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cHonestly, it feels magical,\u201d Neis tells CNN Travel. \u201cI just can\u2019t believe I\u2019m living here.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n A Michigan native who grew up in Texas, Neis feels at home among Uz\u00e8s\u2019 narrow streets and medieval architecture, even though she hadn\u2019t set foot in the town until six months ago.\n <\/p>\n
\n So how did she end up moving her life there? Simple: She let ChatGPT choose.\n <\/p>\n
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![\"She](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/img-8079.jpg\")
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\n \u201cI know that sounds crazy, to let AI make a decision about your life,\u201d she says today. \u201cBut it was relieving me from the overwhelm that I felt, and it could just be an adventure.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Artificial Intelligence, she says, \u201cchose well.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Her connection with France began during her younger years, when she studied the language at school. Neis completed a year of language study in the country and later moved to Paris for five years starting in 2004.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s just funny because the decision (I made) at 11 or 12 years old ended up changing the course of my life,\u201d she says.\n <\/p>\n
\n After nearly five years, she returned to the United States and threw herself into her tech career. She eventually built what she calls \u201ca great job and salary, and lots of travel\u201d \u2014 but also hit \u201chuge burnout.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI think my nervous system just got fried,\u201d she says. She pushed through anxiety, depression and chronic fatigue, but symptoms including anxiety attacks and back pain began to worsen. She says she \u201cfelt like a shell of a human.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Neis knew she needed a change. France \u2014 the place she\u2019d always loved \u2014 drew her back.\n <\/p>\n
\n Neis left her corporate job and returned to Paris, hoping to find contentment again, but the city left her feeling \u201coverstimulated.\u201d She wanted to stay in France, but couldn\u2019t decide where.\n <\/p>\n
\n So she asked ChatGPT.\n <\/p>\n
\n After typing in her \u201cwhole backstory\u201d \u2014 her values and a wish list that included a slower pace of life, good weather, markets and an international community \u2014 the AI chatbot suggested two towns: Sarlat-la-Can\u00e9da in southwest France\u2019s Dordogne region, and Uz\u00e8s. Still unsure, she told ChatGPT to pick one.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cSarlat was more remote,\u201d she says. \u201cSo it had suggested maybe Uz\u00e8s is better.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n Neis also consulted friends and online sources, but appreciated how ChatGPT cut through the noise and gave her \u201csuccinct\u201d answers. Once she \u2014 or rather ChatGPT \u2014made the call, she started the move.\n <\/p>\n
\n She applied for a Passeport Talent, a residence permit for skilled professionals, investors, and entrepreneurs, which came through after a few months.\n <\/p>\n
\n As she\u2019d been living nomadically for years by this point, Neis, who was based in San Francisco at the time, didn\u2019t have many belongings to pack up. She quit her job, sold her car and flew to Nice.\n <\/p>\n
\n She arrived in March with two suitcases and a duffel bag, took the train to Avignon, rented a car, and drove to Uz\u00e8s.\n <\/p>\n
\n Neis remembers walking into the \u201cadorable\u201d town for the first time and thinking, \u201cOkay, here we go.\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n The AI\u2019s choice, she says, turned out to be \u201cvery accurate.\u201d She loved that she could walk across the old town in a matter of minutes, and the warmth \u2014 of both the people and the weather \u2014 drew her in.\n <\/p>\n
\n She rented a furnished one-bedroom apartment with vaulted ceilings and a view of the medieval tower and began trying to build a community.\n <\/p>\n
\n Although she\u2019s moved to France alone before, she worried about feeling isolated this time.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cFriendships are important to me,\u201d she says. \u201cCommunity is important to me. And I just thought, maybe I\u2019m not going to have that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n At first, she jokes, she was probably known as \u201cthe American who was always by herself.\u201d But her YouTube channel helped her meet other international residents \u2014 mostly retirees.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen I met those expats, they were like, \u2018Wow, you really bring our age down by quite a lot,\u2019\u201d she says, adding that she\u2019s since met other residents closer to her age.\n <\/p>\n
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\n After spending much of her life in an environment where the \u201cemphasis was on work,\u201d Neis loves the fact that people in France don\u2019t immediately ask what she does for a living.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI mean, maybe eventually they will, but it\u2019s not the first question they ask,\u201d she adds. \u201cBecause that\u2019s not the most important thing\u2026\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Life is cheaper overall, she says, but salaries are lower and prices have risen.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI understand from locals that the cost of living\/buying has really gone up,\u201d she says.\n <\/p>\n
\n Neis says she misses American conveniences \u2014 especially grocery stores open on Sundays \u2014 and sometimes takes a bus to the larger cities of N\u00eemes or Avignon to visit an Asian superstore and pick up \u201cgoodies\u201d like soy sauce.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt would be a full-day affair, essentially, just to go and do that,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause it doesn\u2019t exist here. So being in a small town means you\u2019re really limited.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Still, Neis has fully embraced life in Uz\u00e8s and says moving there has helped her recover.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI completely feel like myself again,\u201d she says. \u201cI just can\u2019t even express what a relief that is\u2026 Because I got to the point where I just thought I was never going to feel normal again.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n She\u2019s launched a YouTube channel, <\/a>French Julie Travels<\/a>, documenting her life in France and now hosts week-long retreats and food tours.\n <\/p>\n \n Neis plans to stay in Uz\u00e8s for the foreseeable future and is even considering buying an apartment, even though property prices have recently risen sharply.\n <\/p>\n \n She visits the US once or twice a year and is planning to be back for Christmas, but while she remains \u201copen to all possibilities,\u201d she doesn\u2019t see herself moving back permanently.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt feels like this little town is where I\u2019m meant to be \u2014 whether for now, a few years, or possibly forever,\u201d she says.\n <\/p>\n \n Letting ChatGPT decide may sound risky, Neis says, but for her it worked.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s scary to leave a full-time salary and not know how things will unfold,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019m so much happier. It\u2019s an adventure, and I feel so lucky to be here experiencing this new life.\u201d\n <\/p>\n