The kids’ passports expire early next year, so before we left for Italy I had started getting everything ready to renew their passports. It was easier and more straightforward than I expected. We went to the website to renew passports and followed the instructions for how to renew abroad. There is a list of documents needed, such as birth certificate, passport photos, and proof of payment. They did require everything to be printed on standard American sized paper, which was impossible to find in Portugal. Kyle went to a store and had them cut the paper down to American sized. I’m not sure how picky they would have been at the Embassy if we had the wrong sized paper.
You fill out the regular form and then you have to pay online and bring proof of payment to the appointment. They make everything sound so serious on the website and like you need to have everything completely ready, but that wasn’t the case in reality. They had a photo booth at the embassy that some people were using. People were also paying at their appointment, though they had to go to the same website we went to and show proof of payment.
Sofia turned 7
You have to book an appointment ahead of time. They don’t have a lot of availability, but we were able to get something booked right after we got back from Italy. When you show up at the embassy there is a booth outside. You give them your passport and wait to be called. In the first part you have to wait outside. We waited for less than 10 minutes and then you go through security. On the website it says no electronics are allowed, so we left our phones in the car. The guard told us that since we’re US Citizens we would have been allowed to bring our phones inside with us, but no tablets.
After security we went and waited in a small waiting room upstairs. We took a number and then gave all of our documentation to the person behind the counter. Then we waited. And waited some more. We waited for about 2 hours or so and then they called us up. They just wanted to see all of us and made me and Kyle swear that all of the information was correct. Then they told us that I would get an email once the passports are ready. I got the email a few days ago. It says that we can pick them up without an appointment Monday-Friday between 1:45-3:00PM. So we will be planning a trip to Lisbon soon to go pick up the passports. They’re ready way quicker than I expected. It didn’t even take 4 weeks.
To get the passport for a minor both parents need to be present along with the minor child. When we go pick the passports up only one parent has to be present. Since their current passports are still valid we will need to bring those and relinquish them once we receive the new ones. I always wondered what it would be like to renew a passport abroad and the answer is that it’s really easy. We could have had the passport mailed to us, but getting it mailed to the embassy just seemed like a better idea. Less of a chance of it being lost. Plus we’re always looking for an excuse to go to Lisbon.
I know it has been too long since I wrote a post. I have just been working and trying to save some money for our upcoming plans. Classes for Sofia and Leo officially end in a few weeks. School will be open in July, but there won’t be any classes. We will probably send the kids for a few days a week, but they will stay home a lot too. They are required to take an entire month off during the summer, so they are going to take August off.
The kids have adjusted really well to school. Sofia’s Portuguese is great. She has a best friend and those two are joined at the hip. Unfortunately her best friend will be changing schools next year, so that’s going to be tough on Sofia. She says no one else plays with her, but when we pick her up from school she is obviously well liked by lots of her peers, so I wonder if she is ignoring them for her best friend. Leo has adjusted even better than we expected. He has numerous friends in his class. His Portuguese is coming along well. I think that sometimes he doesn’t even realize when someone is speaking Portuguese or English. He will say that he doesn’t speak Portuguese, but then when he is with friends he does speak it. If we ask him how to say a specific word in Portuguese he will say that he doesn’t know, but then he is able to speak to his friends just fine. He’s shier and more introverted than Sofia, so it’s nice to see him doing so well.
Their school is offering a week of fun activities after classes get out. Things like a trip to the beach and other local places. Sofia’s best friend is going, so we signed Sofia up. It will be nice for her to have a last great week with her best friend. I don’t think that we will see her a ton after that. I feel really sad for Sofia and hope she makes some other good friends next year. Her best friend is not Portuguese and I wonder if that is part of what bonded them at the start of the school year.
I wasn’t planning on taking July 4 off of work, but all of my clients canceled that day. I think I will take Sofia out somewhere fun that day. Last year I wished I had gone to more water parks. There is one about 40 minutes away that looks really fun. I’m excited for some of the summer activities this year. I want to visit a few water parks and maybe I can finally try some river swimming. Every year I see a picture of a river swimming spot that I want to visit. I can’t remember the name, but I know there are quite a few in the area. I guess I just want more swimming in my life this summer.
Since the kids will be taking August off each year, we will probably have to start planning our family vacations for August. This year we are headed to Italy. Somehow I stumbled upon Lake Garda when I was looking at potential trips. It looks amazing and I think it might actually be a perfect place to retire one day. We are going to be flying into Verona and then staying in the Lake Garda area. We’re going to visit Gardaland amusement park and a water park over there too. I’ve heard that Italy gets pretty hot in August, but I’m hoping it will be tolerable since we will be in and around water everyday.
I think we might finally try for a US trip next summer. My parents really want to see us. I need to go to Florida at some point for one of my work licenses. I’m really hoping to fit it into our US trip so that I don’t have to go to the US twice next year. I’m trying to plan the trip with non-stop flights and our own layovers. We would fly from Lisbon to Miami, since that is a nonstop flight. Miami doesn’t have nonstop to Portland, Oregon but Orlando does. So we would take the train to Orlando and then fly to Portland. I don’t love Miami, but it would be okay to spend a night or two. Summer in Florida is miserable, so in Orlando we would try to spend some time at some water parks. For the moment it’s just an idea because it’s too far in the future for me to even book flights.
I would love to take one of the kids on a trip during one of their school breaks over the year. The US trip would cost a lot, so I already need to start saving if we’re going to make it happen. We’ll see how things go, but I really want to visit Siam Park in Tenerife and I know Sofia would love that. I really miss getting to travel with her.
The kid’s passports are up for renewal in March of next year. I want to start the process as soon as we get back from Italy. If there is a chance I can take her to Spain in November she might need a new passport since there won’t be 6 months left until it expires and some countries will refuse entry. In order to get their passports in Portugal we have to appear in person at the US embassy in Lisbon. It’s by appointment only. I keep checking to make an appointment, but August isn’t available quite yet, so I’ll keep checking until we get one. So I guess in a few months I’ll have a post about getting a minor’s passport in Portugal.
Every time there is an election there seem to be more Facebook posts about people wanting to leave the country if a certain candidate wins or a certain one loses. Even before social media became what it is today, we used to read quotes from celebrities in magazines expressing the same sentiment. Since the results of this election I have gotten so many messages on Facebook asking how to move to Portugal or what our experience has been like. The first thing I’ll say is that if you want to leave the US you have to look at multiple sources and opinions. Our experience has been great, which I think has been part organization and decent decision making, and part luck.
We moved to Portugal without ever having visited. We did not speak a word of the language and did not know that much about the culture. Every now and then I wonder why some people enjoy living abroad and others move back to their home country. I read a decent amount on expat boards and one complaint I see time and time again is that youtubers and bloggers paint too rosy of a picture and don’t really provide an accurate picture of what life is like. Another pretty common thing I see is that if you are moving to a foreign country to flee yours, it might not work out. Of course there will be exceptions, but in general it seems that to have a chance at flourishing in your new country you need to have an interest in getting to know that country.
When we moved to Portugal there were a number of reasons we did so. One of them was to leave the US and to get away from what it was becoming. I knew that I could not raise kids there. So yes, a part of us wanted to flee. But that was not the main reason. I have always wanted to live abroad and I love traveling. My original plan was to retire abroad, but luckily I got to move abroad much sooner than anticipated. I did not know a lot about the Portuguese culture, but I did know that they truly value family and that the average Portuguese citizen does not own a gun. That was good enough for me. When we moved here I did not want to move to another version of the US. I wanted to get to know Portugal, the language, the traditions, and the people. If your sole reason for moving to a foreign country is to flee the US then it is going to be a bumpy ride. It will probably be a bumpy ride regardless.
I love living in Portugal and I have no regrets. Even so, it’s not a perfect country by any means. No country is going to be perfect. To me it’s all about tradeoffs. Portugal has a lot of abandoned buildings. It’s difficult to find housing. The language is hard to learn. There are many times when we use a translator to translate something and even with the words in English we still can’t understand what the meaning is. When we have to fill out paperwork we always need to translate it, which takes considerably longer. When we help Sofia with her homework we have to use a translator to understand what she needs to do. Even with a translator sometimes we just don’t understand.
Kyle and I were talking yesterday about how Portugal isn’t a convenient country- they are not really into convenience here. Even if something can be done online, it usually has to be printed out and filled out manually and then submitted. This is not our native culture and some things we just don’t understand. We keep trying to learn, but in some ways this does make daily life harder. When you live in your home country there is a certain ease of just understanding- understanding the language, understanding the culture, understanding why. We don’t have that here and we have to think a lot more. Living in a foreign country is more mentally exhausting because day to day life just requires more focus. I have to really focus when people speak to me in Portuguese so that I can hopefully understand enough words to figure out what they’re saying.
But then on the flip side, Portuguese people are generally amazing. When we first moved here, completely overwhelmed and with two little babies Portuguese people always helped us. I have so many memories of carrying strollers up and down stairs and Portuguese people would always grab one of the kid’s hands to help them go up or down the stairs. Portuguese people hate Trump- at least in our experience. This happened more when we first moved here, though I’m sure it will start happening again. When people find out we’re American some Portuguese ask us if we’re Trump supporters. I’m not sure why they ask, but they are always relieved when we vehemently say no. I have no doubt that most Portuguese people are horrified by the results of the US election. I live in a country that despises Donald Trump and I am grateful for that.
I have anxiety and I notice it in Portugal a lot when it comes to walking into a store. I have this anxiety that someone is going to say something to me in Portuguese and I won’t understand them. Sometimes I avoid going into the store because of this anxiety. Sometimes I go in and they don’t say anything. Sometimes they do say something and I understand it. And sometimes I don’t understand. It always turns out okay. It really is no big deal, and yet that specific anxiety is a constant in my life here and it actually impacts decisions that I make. It wasn’t that way in the US because of course I always understood what was said to me. It sounds silly, and in some ways it is, but at the same time that is something that I have had to adjust to that I did not really consider before moving here.
The tradeoff is that my anxiety over school shootings and mass shootings in general has gone down significantly. My kids are in school right now and I have no anxiety that they will die at school today. None. That is absolutely worth feeling some anxiety that I won’t understand what people are saying to me.
I have lived in Portugal for the past 3 years and I don’t know what life is like in the US right now. I know that for most of the people I care about it’s a sad and scary time. I know a lot of people are looking for a way out. I absolutely love living in Portugal, but it took a good amount of work to get here. It took planning and money. And also some luck. If you really are looking to flee the US then think about what you want in the place that you will call home. And then start researching and planning. You won’t be able to leave today, but maybe in a few months or so. Living abroad is hard. I love it and I would do it again and again, but that doesn’t make it the right choice for everyone.
I can become fluent in Portuguese and I can live here for the next 40 years of my life and I will still never fully fit in. I will never be Portuguese. At the same time, I will never fully fit into the US either, even though I spent the first half of my life there. Once I left the country I knew that I would never fully fit in anywhere. I will never be Portuguese, but I will never quite fit in with Americans who have never lived abroad either. Portugal has influenced me too much. I knew this would happen before we moved and I accept all of it. My kids will have a much different upbringing than I did. At this point they have now spent more of their lives in Portugal than in the US. My kids are US citizens by birth, but they will grow up more Portuguese than American. At some point they will have traditions and beliefs that differ than mine because they will be heavily influenced by a culture that I am still learning about.
I’m not trying to talk anyone out of moving. I feel for anyone who feels unsafe where they are. Moving abroad is hard, but if you’re reading this then maybe the thought of staying in the US is harder. Some of the stuff I have been reading today on social media is terrifying. Before we moved to Portugal we looked pretty seriously at moving to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Spain. Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama had pretty easy visa requirements back then. Spain is not difficult either, it just has a higher income requirement. I know there are some American expat communities around France as well. No matter where you go you will need some kind of job, unless you’re retired or independently wealthy of course. It’s always going to be easier if you can bring a job with you. If you want to leave your best bet is to find a virtual job. I know it’s tough to find work in Portugal, and most countries give priority to their citizens over immigrants. So if you’re wanting to leave the first thing you need to figure out is how to earn money.
If you’re looking to move to Portugal specifically then feel free to send me a message. The visa requirements and application process have changed since we moved here, so I won’t be a ton of help with visa info. Go back to my 2021 entries to get an idea for what applying and moving will look like. If you want to meet up with someone for a scouting trip or when you make the move just let me know. It’s about time I push past some of this anxiety and get out there and start socializing and meeting people. And if you’re fleeing the US because of the election results then you are my kind of people.
The kids started school a few weeks ago. They began going to school about a week and a half before classes officially began. That was nice because they got to adjust before having classes and a bunch of extra students. Not all of the students started early, so on the official start day things were much busier. The first day dropping them off was a bit rough because of course they were nervous. Sofia is in first grade and Leo is in pre-school, so they won’t spend time together and will only see each other in passing.
Leo actually loved school right away. At his old school a big complaint of his was that they made him eat soup, so we used to practice how to say “nao, obrigado” but he still complained. Every day we pick him up at the new school he ecstatically tells us that they don’t make him eat the soup. They just take it away and give him chicken instead! He loves his new school and apparently all it took was the option to not eat soup.
Sofia did not like school the first few days. We thought she would have an easier time because her teacher and some of her classmates speak English, whereas Leo’s teacher and classmates do not. Also, Sofia is much more extroverted and loves being around people. For about the first week she had a tough time and didn’t really like school. A few days before classes officially started she began to enjoy it more as she made some friends. Ever since classes began she has really enjoyed it. She loves math class.
Their school offers extracurricular activities, which we’re excited about. Somehow going to school has given the kids even more energy and they’re more crazy than ever when they’re home. So maybe some extra exercise will wear them out. Each of the extracurricular activities take place once per week after school ends and we will pay a monthly charge. We signed Sofia up for dance class, which will cost 22 euro for the month. They have yoga which I really wanted to sign her up for, but it costs 40, which is a bit steep, and the brochure didn’t say which day of the week it is, which we really need to know for planning purposes.
Leo is going to take judo class and that will cost 16 euro. They also have a class about understanding emotions which we really love for Leo, but since he is still learning Portuguese we’re not sure that he would really understand it quite yet. There’s also a chess class, which Sofia would probably enjoy.
You can also sign them up for swim lessons through the school and the school will transport them to swim class, but we decided to just do that on our own. The swim school was closed in August, so we signed them up to begin again in October. This time they will just take classes once a week (for now at least). So they’re already in school 40 hours a week now and come October they will be even busier. They seem to really love their new school, so Kyle and I are obviously really happy about that.
So we have been back to the grind for a bit now. We were planning on going to Disneyland for Christmas, but when I booked it I didn’t know the exact dates of the kid’s Christmas break. It turns out we would be going the week before. Sofia can only miss 10 days of school without a doctor’s note and we don’t want to use up 5 for a vacation, so we’re going to have to skip Disneyland this year. I’m really hoping to take Sofia to the Netherlands in spring to see the tulips, so that will be our next big trip.
In a few weeks I’m taking my solo trip to Seville, Spain. I’m really excited to see the city. It will be weird without kids but will also be nice getting to see palaces and other places on my timeline and without worrying about being too loud. My first day there I’m going on a two hour walking tour. I don’t think I have ever gone on a walking tour. Kyle just got back from his solo trip to Vienna. He had fun, but he ended up missing a connecting flight home so the trip turned out to be a bit longer than expected. But he made it home eventually and I survived almost a week taking care of the kids by myself.
Right now Kyle and the kids are in Castelo Branco and I finally get a little bit of peace and quiet. I took the kids to Castelo Branco for a day trip a few weeks ago and it’s nice there. I need to go back and see more because we barely got to see it.
Castelo Branco
Summer vacation has been kind of rough, but we’re making it work. It’s so much easier when the kids are split up, so I’m taking Sofia on one more trip before school starts. Sofia has been wanting to go somewhere where the kids will understand what she is saying. I have been wanting to go to London for a long time, so that’s finally on our agenda for August! Obviously the language will be easy and I think that Sofia and I will like the food. I love palaces and gardens and London seems to have plenty of those. I love natural history museums and really miss them. London has one so we will definitely visit. Even better is that it’s free!
Barrocal Parque Castelo Branco
When the kids are in school we won’t be able to keep pulling them, so traveling will drastically slow down (for the kids anyway). Kyle and I agreed that we can each go on a 2-3 day trip by ourselves during the week while the other parent stays home. We will probably each take a trip every few months. In September Kyle will be going to Vienna to visit his sister. I’m excited for him. Vienna is on my list- really everywhere is on my list!
My first solo trip is going to be to Seville, Spain. I have been wanting to go but have heard about how hot it is during the summer, so the timing hasn’t been good. I think October or November will probably be a good time to visit. I’m excited to go but it will also be weird. I traveled before I met Kyle, but we met when we were 26. Then we had Sofia and Leo in our mid thirties. Things have been pretty loud and hectic since Sofia was born 5 years ago. It will be really strange to have so much silence and to not be showing the kids stuff. Whenever I go out without them I notice things that they would like and that I wish I could show them. I haven’t traveled completely solo since my early to mid twenties, which was a few decades ago now! I’m a little nervous about solo travel just because I have really come to appreciate the company of my family even though they drive me crazy sometimes.
Castelo Branco
In a few weeks I’m taking Leo to a Centerparcs in the Netherlands. Leo and I haven’t gotten a trip together, so it will be nice to spend a week with him. I loved Efteling, but that trip was hectic and busy so I am happy for a more laid back trip this time. Then I will have another hectic and busy trip when Sofia and I go to London. The Centerparcs Leo and I are staying at will be really close to a train station and only a 30-minute train ride from Amsterdam. I’m planning on going into Amsterdam for at least a few hours and hopefully we will be able to check out a town or two nearby.
Jump Yard Lisboa
This year has been absolutely insane travel wise. Once the kids are back in school I will have to start saving money, but that should be pretty easy. We have been bleeding money this summer. Entertaining kids is expensive! Kyle has been taking them out while I work and we have been paying a babysitter once a week so that Kyle and I can go out for a few hours. I suppose that all of the travel isn’t helping my savings account either, but after paying the bills I will almost always prioritize traveling. We have finally gotten used to living in Portugal, but it does still feel surreal how much we are getting to travel Europe and that we will get to do so for years to come. Especially now with Kyle and I planning on taking trips for 2-3 days at a time. I will get to see a lot of different places next year.
Alcobaça Monastery
It has been different splitting up to go on these trips. It’s weird making memories with only half of my family, but I also think these trips can help future family trips. Now Sofia and I have a pretty good feel for Efteling, so when we all go as a family we will know what rides we’re excited to take Leo and Kyle on. Sofia and I will get to know London, which will definitely help in future trips because we will know which neighborhoods we do and don’t like. Kyle will know a bit about Vienna so whenever we all go together he can show us around. It has been an adjustment to go with only one kid, but it does make the trips a lot more affordable!
I’m still trying to figure out the Portuguese schooling system, but here are a few things I have figured out so far. School becomes mandatory the September after they turn 6 years old. For Leo this is pretty easy since his birthday is in February. So Leo will turn 6 in February of 2026. That means that school becomes mandatory in September 2026. For Sofia it’s a little more complicated, but not much. Her birthday is in September. She is only 5 years old right now and will turn 6 just a few weeks after the school year begins. They do have an exception if the birthday falls between specific dates. I can’t remember the exact timeline, but it’s something like if the student turns 6 between September and October then they can begin school when they are 5 instead of waiting the entire year until they turn 6. I’m not sure if school becomes mandatory this year for Sofia or not until next year, but she is definitely ready now and everyone I have talked to has said she can start when she is 5.
Mandatory school here starts with 1st grade. They have cycles and I have only really learned about 1st cycle, which includes grades 1-4. Prior to 1st grade kids can start with pre-school and then kindergarten. Here is our experience with enrolling them for kindergarten and 1st grade.
We registered them for private school, so the process might be a little bit different than public school, but I imagine it’s probably very similar. It all started by contacting the school. I think it was around March that we emailed them for a tour. We showed up and they told us that the next step would be to come back on a specific date to register them. We showed up on that day and they gave us a folder full of paperwork and a list of the requirements for registration and they told us to come back at a specific date in 3 weeks.
They asked for photocopies of documents (residency permit for student and guardian). Since they’re a private school who bases tuition on income they also asked for a recent rent receipt as well as our IRS tax return. They asked for the student’s residency number and utente number. They did ask for social security numbers but since the kids don’t have those yet I just left that part blank. They also had us fill out some of the usual stuff like who to contact in an emergency, if the kids have any allergies, and who is able to sign them out of school. There were a few things we had to plan out a bit, like getting their vaccination records from the Centro Saude and a letter from their doctor saying they are fit to attend school.
While doing this we also had to register them online at the Portal das Matriculas. I thought that this was only required once school becomes mandatory (at 1st grade), but the school told me I need to register Leo too. Through the Portal you have to submit a lot of the same information that the school asks for- residency card, proof of address, and approve or decline some releases. You also have to choose your school- I think you can pick up to 5. Our school told us to just pick them as they will approve our kids. I think the selecting up to 5 is more for the public schools just in case your top school is full you need a backup or two. Registering Sofia was a bit of a pain just because I had to translate so much, and even once translated not everything made sense.
The school and Matrículas wanted passport sized pictures of the kids. There are tons of apps that will convert pictures to passport sized ones. I found one with a bunch of different countries (since passport photo sizes are different in Portugal than in the US) and a 3 day free trial. I took a couple pictures, uploaded the digital ones to Matriculas and Kyle printed out two copies of each kid. Then I cancelled the trial.
We showed up to school yesterday to complete registration. Apparently I was supposed to make an appointment, which I completely missed during our last conversation. The woman doing regisration at the school does not speak any English, so I have been trying to get by with my super limited Portuguese. Luckily she is amazing and said she would do the registration. Once she entered all of the information she had me pay a fee for each child. Overall it was pretty easy, but a little bit tedious. The first day that we decided to tackle the paperwork took us a few hours to translate and get a lot of the documents together.
I am so happy that they are registered and just about ready to go for September. The only thing left to do really is order their uniforms from the website the school gave us. The woman in the office told me that there is a parent meeting the night before school starts. Hopefully we can find a babysitter and learn a bit more Portuguese by then. When we did the tour there was a woman who spoke English and she told us that the parents go to school with the kids 3 days during the school year and we’re hoping that the first day is one of them. I’m sure they will have a lot of helpful information at the meeting, we just need to be able to understand it!
So much has been going on the past few weeks and everything just feels like such a whirlwind. I’ll start with my favorite update- travel is back on! I guess I should take a few steps back first. So we heard back from the guy doing our taxes (he charged 185 to file the return) and it turns out I owe quite a bit less than I expected. This year work has been slow, so I have been trying to work as much as I can and save money because I thought we would owe way more in taxes. Work has been picking up the past few weeks and I even got a new contract that I’m really excited about. With that contract comes a lot of training, so I have been busy trying to get training in as well as learning the ropes of the things I will be doing in this role. So now that I’m not having to save so much money each month we can afford to travel again. I’ll talk more about that in a second.
The accountant we used charges 75 euro per month to do everything tax related. He will file all of my green receipts and social security. He will tell me how to pay my social security (and how much), and I can prepay some of next years taxes if I want to. We decided to go ahead and work with him because I still have not looked at how to file social security and clearly I need some help as far as taxes go. I signed a year long contract and that price will also include filing my tax return next year. I am relieved because the last 2 years that we have had to file taxes we scramble around in January/February tying to find someone who can help us file. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders to barely even have to think about taxes anymore.
I guess I should touch on the title as well! Kyle got pulled over a few days ago. We have had the car for a year so I am kind of surprised we hadn’t gotten pulled over until now. Two police officers were standing on the side of the road looking at cars and he said he knew he was going to get pulled over because they looked at his plate and then did a double take. They waved him over to the side of the road. They were pretty upset that he still has his US driver’s license, so we’re going to try to get started on the license exchange again soon. That’s going to be a huge headache. Kyle got pulled over because our inspection expired in December. We had thought we had more time but were wrong, so we got a 250 euro ticket. Ouch! Kyle schedule our inspection for next week.
The school closest to our house had a spot open for Leo. We went and got all of the paperwork and will have to bring it back to the school on May 6. We need Leo’s residency card so Kyle went back to the place I originally applied for it in Lisbon. The lady there said that they are really, really backed up and it will probably show up at some point. She gave us a paper and said to give it to the school. I didn’t translate it, but I’m assuming it says something about us paying and having to wait for them to send the card. I’m hoping that providing that letter as well as our receipt will be enough. I finally registered Sofia online today at the Portal de Matriculas, which is required from 1st grade on. It wasn’t too bad, though it did take me about 45 minutes or so because I had to Google a lot of things to understand them. Sometimes even when they were translated into English they still didn’t make sense. Once we (fingers crossed) get them officially registered I’ll make a post all about that.
We finally got the kids signed up for swim lessons, which is something we have been meaning to do for a long time now. They’ll stop going to school next week and won’t go again until September 1 at their new school. Hopefully they will have tons of fun this summer. They will go to swim lessons twice a week. Kyle just went to our local public pool and they had tons of options to choose from. I think it cost something like 128 for the both of them for 1.5 months of classes 2 times per week.
I have been busy getting back to vacation planning and have 3 booked for the year. In early June Sofia and I are going to Efteling. I have been wanting to go there ever since I heard about it. This will be our last trip together for a while. Leo and I will be going to Amsterdam in early July. There is a CenterParcs about a half hour outside of Amsterdam that we will stay at. He really loved CenterParcs and it makes things easier for me. For the Christmas holidays this year we are going to Disneyland Paris! We will be there the week before Christmas and we’re going to stay on site. I’m really excited because the kids are going to love it and it will be great to see Dinsey all lit up for Christmas. We haven’t gotten their school schedule yet, so fingers crossed they actually have the week before Christmas off. I have been trying to find out how many days of school kids can miss in Portugal but am not having much luck.
So that’s what we have been up to. And now I have to get back to my ever growing to-do list.
I know it has been a few months since my last post, but we have finally gotten to a point of just living our lives and I guess it has been too boring to post about. 😂 There are a few blog posts I am going to make once things are done, but for now I can give updates as to the things we have going on.
I guess I’ll start with the title. The kids got sick a few weeks ago. They have had a lingering cough but nothing too bad. Kyle got sick and then he just kept getting sicker and sicker. By Friday it was looking pretty bad. Thanks to Doctor Google I figured that it was probably an pneumonia or maybe bronchitis. In the US we wait until we’re on death’s door to go to the doctor because of the cost. I knew Europe wasn’t like that, so this morning I convinced Kyle to go to the hospital to see what they say. I have been essentially a single parent for the last few days and I’m ready to have a partner again. I don’t know how single parents do this.
Anyway, we decided to go to the private hospital that takes our insurance. They don’t have an emergency room, so we found the information desk and she was able to make Kyle an appointment for 45 minutes later. Kyle paid 17 euro for the visit. Kyle went to visit the doctor, who quickly confirmed that it is in fact pneumonia. He gave us a prescription and we went to the pharmacy where we paid 20 euro for 4 medications including an inhaler and antibiotics. It has been 3-4 hours later and Kyle is already starting to feel way better than he has in a while. So overall it took just a few hours and 37 euro to get treated for the pneumonia! We are still working on shedding our American mentality and getting to the doctor sooner out here. I’m so happy that we were able to get that taken care of so quickly and cheaply.
On to update #2, which would be our residency cards. So I renewed mine, Kyle’s, and Sofia’s online and Leo’s had to be done in person. Everyone’s has arrived except for Leo’s. They said that if his does not arrive in 60 business days that there is a problem. It has been 67 business days, so we have emailed them and hopefully they can get this sorted out.
For update #3, we have been getting ready for school registration. Elementary school registration opens April 15. Originally the plan was to enroll Sofia in the public school right next to her current school. That way we could park and drop Sofia off at 1st grade and Leo off at kindergarten. Since Leo has already been going to his school for a year he probably wouldn’t be too upset about having to go without Sofia. Sure, it would kind of suck, but it wouldn’t be scary as he already knows the place. Well, his preschool recently announced that they are closing down on August 31, so Leo can’t go there next year.
Leo’s Birthday Cake
We know that Leo and Sofia will be fine no matter what, but it would be kind of nice for them to be at the same school. It will also make things easier for us. Since we are looking for a combined kindergarten and 1st grade, that means private school. So I was expecting our expenses to go down by a few hundred euro a month since we were going to transition Sofia from private to public school, but now it looks like our school expenses will go up quite a bit instead. Arg. We found a great school somewhere in Leiria (I’m not familiar with the area) and we went to tour it. We love it but unfortunately they don’t have any openings for kindergarten or 1st grade. There is a school we always used to walk past and Sofia always wanted to go there. We see kids all over Leiria with their uniform, so we went to tour it and we like it a lot too.
There are pros and cons to each school. The one further away reminds us a lot of what an American private school would be. They even have a swimming pool and have lessons there included. They take regular field trips to the beach. The curriculum is very much to let the students take control and decide what their strengths are and what they need to work on. The school closer to our house means we would probably walk them to school a decent amount of the time. Their curriculum is more strict- actually the kids are a bit behind (especially Sofia) and they begin teaching them to read in kindergarten. Sofia has been learning a bit at home, but not enough to know how to read yet. Also if we go to the school closer to home we would walk into downtown quite a bit more as the school is on the way downtown from our house. The school further away would cost 415 euro each kid, and the school closer to us would cost 399 euro for 1st grade and something like 300 or 350 for kindergarten. I can’t remember.
Parents of enrolled students are currently having to sign contracts for the next year, so by the end of the week most schools will know what their fall openings will look like. The further away school has a waitlist and it’s doubtful that we will get an opening. The school closer to us already knows they will have openings for 1st grade as many of the parents put their 1st graders into public school. We’re not yet sure if there will be a kindergarten spot so we have to go next week to sign Sofia up and see if there is a spot for Leo. Obviously we hope there is a spot for him as he needs to go to school and we were hoping to keep them at the same school, but we just have to wait and see.
Our last update is about taxes. Maybe next year I will get everything right…? So last year I learned that I am supposed to be filing green receipts with the finincas. I learned how to do that and got it done last year. I also was able to get a social security number for myself. Now my next step is to learn how to pay quarterly social security taxes. Last year we found a big company to do our taxes for 400 euro. Their price this year is something like 600 or 700 euro. This year I really wanted to pay less as most accountants don’t charge that much. We dug around some Facebook posts and Kyle was able to find someone recommended that charges…I can’t even remember. I think it was around 200 or so, so that’s way better. He will file the return next week. I really want to see what we owe. Last year I used a bit more of savings that I should have and am a bit stressed about what we will owe for taxes this year. It will all work out fine, but I’m wondering if I owe what I think we will or it could be more, but it could also potentially be thousands less. Another thing to wait and see.
So that’s our life right now. I’m working and we are waiting to see what happens. No travel on the books right now unfortunately. We can’t afford it quite yet. I’m hoping that once taxes are paid we can have one last hurrah before the kids start school again in September. Oh, and we decided the kids will just finish out this month at their school, so they won’t be in school May-August so things are about to get a lot more hectic!
I renewed my residency card online back in November using the old SEF website. It says concluded but nothing else has happened so far. It wouldn’t let me renew Leo’s online so I had to schedule an appointment. It took a while to get one. The site always says there are no appointments so I checked multiple times per day and one day in December it actually showed some appointments in Lisbon so I grabbed one. It was on January 3.
Coimbra Christmas Market
I took both kids with me. We left a good 2.5 hours early but arrived late. First there was an accident on the freeway and we got stuck in traffic. Then there was an accident on one of the one way streets in Lisbon and we got stuck for at least 20 minutes. When we finally got to drive by we saw something had happened to a trolley and they were trying to repair it. Because of the accident the parking garage we planned to use wasn’t accessible.
I found a parking garage that was a 15-minute walk away. We finally made and the security guard helped us get our ticket to wait. This time was different than Setubal because the security guard wasn’t checking names. Anyone can walk in or out- you just use the machine to pick a ticket for whatever you’re waiting for.
Wonderland Lisboa
We ended up waiting for about 3 hours. I thought about leaving because we missed lunch and were hungry, but the longer we waited the more it seemed like a waste to not go to the appointment. We finally got called back and luckily the woman processing us spoke perfect English. She apologized and said that their systems were down for much of the day and everything was taking so much longer than it should.
She asked how we originally got our residency card (D7 visa) and then asked me what documents she needs. On the AIMA site they say proof of address, proof of income, proof of tax activity if applicable, and proof of social security if applicable. I gave her my lease but she said she didn’t need it since we haven’t moved.
Leiria Market
For proof of income I brought my 2022 tax return, but it’s not accurate as that year we lived largely off of savings. I brought all of my green receipts filed from last year to show that we do qualify. She said she didn’t need all of it, so I probably should have just brought 6 months worth. She copied everything and then took a picture of Leo and got his fingerprints. We paid the €170 fee by bank card. She asked for Leo’s NIF, utente, and social security numbers. I told her that Leo doesn’t have a social security number so she just took the other two.
She told us that we would hear back within 60 working days. If I don’t hear back in 60 working days I need to contact the AIMA headquarters in Lisbon. Obviously I’m really hoping it doesn’t come to that. I still haven’t heard anything back from my online renewal in November. I’m a tiny bit worried, but not too much since it hasn’t been 60 working days quite yet and of course things are going to be backed up with the holidays.
Fórum Coimbra
The whole experience felt a bit messy, which I guess is to be expected since the company has changed. In theory 2/4 of our residency cards are renewed. I still need to do Kyle and Sofia’s. I had planned on making a fun day out of the Lisbon trip but there were so many delays that we were there pretty late. On the way back to the car it was raining, so we all got soaked and just wanted to go home.
Caldas
I’m adding some pictures from the Christmas markets we went to this year. We made it to Leiria, Coimbra, and Caldas da Rainha. Coimbra was pretty nice- it was big with a lot of rides. Caldas only had a bouncy castle setup and some pedal cars. Kyle took the kids to the big Lisbon market when I was working. Christmas felt like it came and went so quickly this year. We did finally buy a Christmas tree and some ornaments this year! It was nice getting a tree again.
Well, everything moved a lot quicker than I expected. Within a few days of submitting the accident report to insurance they called us. I hate answering numbers I don’t know and I was also at work, so I got to use that as an excuse for not answering. Luckily the guy from the insurance company sent me a text through WhatsApp. I wish everyone would do that when I don’t answer! 😂
He had already scheduled an inspection for us two days later and the insurance adjuster was going to meet Kyle there. Luckily the date and time worked for us…I’m not sure what happens if it doesn’t. The paperwork was reviewed, the shop ordered some parts and that was that.
About a day later I got a text and email saying that we are approved for repairs and the claim is now closed. The estimate was for 1500 euro! That’s way more than I thought it would be. Luckily we won’t pay anything. We’re just waiting to hear back from the shop about the parts. They said it will take about a day to repair. If all goes as planned then this will have been extremely easy.
Our kids’ school is closed this week for summer break. They are going through a frustrating phase where they intentionally annoy each other and then hurt each other. Leo has been biting Sofia a lot and Sofia scratched him hard enough to draw blood on his face. There has been tons of screaming and crying. They’re both having a tough time with emotions right now. We’re getting through it but some days (like today) it feels like our heads are barely above water. I know we will all get through this, but this is probably one of the toughest times we’ve had and it definitely makes us miss having family nearby.
Anyway, I’ve been doing what I do whenever I get stressed- planning a trip! Kyle and Leo are a bit more traveled out than me and Sofia, so Kyle suggested I take Sofia on a trip somewhere. I was thinking Spain or Italy, but then I read a blog post about Center Parcs resorts. I have never been a resort kind of person, but these places look amazing! They remind me of the sleep away camps I loved when I was younger- but instead of sending Sofia away I get to go with her!
Fun at the mall
We’re going to one of the Center Parcs in Belgium in late November. I imagine they will have Christmas lights up by then. So Sofia and I will be freezing for 5 days this winter 🥶 I guess it’s good Leo and Kyle will be staying in warm Portugal. I’m really excited. I loved having an indoor playground and pool at the hotel when we went to Disneyland Paris and the Center Parcs resort will be like that but so much bigger. They also offer activities, like pony riding, face painting, and all kinds of other fun things.
I have been trying to stay home and save money but it just isn’t working out 😂 Next week we head to Northern Portugal and in November Sofia and I head to Belgium.
Growing Up Expat 