So you want to flee the US…

November 7, 2024 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

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.

Pneumonia in Portugal & Other Updates

April 8, 2024June 22, 2024 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

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.

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!

AIMA residency card renewal

January 8, 2024May 11, 2024 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Residency Renewal and Center Parcs resort

November 26, 2023May 11, 2024 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Recently SEF has changed to AIMA. Our residency permits are up for renewal in December and things have been a mess. I have been following posts on Americans & Friends (the Facebook group) and many people making appointments have been getting emails that they’re cancelled and to wait for further details. Some people have had success using the old SEF online renewal portal, so I gave it a try.

It was really easy. I just click renew and then they review it and 48 hours later you pay the fee- €170 as of right now. It says concluded and in theory my residency card should arrive in 5 or so weeks. I just did mine for now to see if it actually works or if I donated €170 to the universe. It says Leo’s is not eligible for online renewal so I will still have to navigate the new AIMA system to renew his. Things are a mess right now and lots of people have expired cards, so I expect the same to happen with Leo but hopefully it gets sorted out soon. It’s almost impossible to get an appointment right now.

Yesterday Sofia and I made it to Center Parcs in Belgium. This place seems amazing for small kids. They have fun stuff like a huge indoor pool, big indoor playground, a farm, and then they have planned activities like pony rides, arts & crafts, and kid’s disco. Some are free and some you have to pay for. They also have some restaurants and a small market on site.

Today we checked out a lot of the indoor stuff. They have an amazing Aqua Zone with a bunch of different pools. My favorite was the lazy river and the indoor/outdoor pool. The outdoor setting is amazing.

There is a huge indoor play area. Our favorite was the foam ball area. You gather all the balls to fill a thing in the top that eventually spills over. There is so much we haven’t even done yet. There is a farm and pony stables that I want to go see. Sofia is scheduled for pony rides on Tuesday. Today she made a stuffed animal which she really enjoyed. This place is amazing and has been a lot of fun. Tomorrow is supposed to rain but hopefully Tuesday and Wednesday will be clear.

SEF appointments in Setubal

December 21, 2021August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

On Sunday we took the train from Leiria to Setubal. We took one train from Leiria to the Lisboa Sete Rios station, and then from there a train to Setubal. The train from Leiria to Lisbon was 3 hours, and Lisbon to Setubal 45 minutes. A long day, but the 3 hour train isn’t so bad. It’s not at all crowded and we got our own car. The seats are pretty comfy and there is a bathroom.

Our AirBnb was right in the city center. That’s the one thing we don’t get with our apartment in Leiria. It was great getting to walk to everything in Setubal. It does come with a cost though. The apartment was at the top of a steep staircase and it wasn’t well insulated at all. We could hear the people above us a lot. Not a big deal for a few nights, but it really makes me appreciate our apartment in Leiria.

My SEF appointment was Monday at 3:30 PM. I was pretty nervous. This was arguably the most important meeting of my life. We love Portugal- we just signed a 3 year lease and spent thousands furnishing our apartment- obviously we want to be able to stay. I haven’t heard of anyone actually getting denied, so the logical side of me was trying to convince the anxious side that it would all work out.

Our AirBnb was only an 8 minute walk from the SEF office. Unfortunately it started raining right as we set out. It was forecast to start raining Sunday night and pretty much rain straight through the next two weeks. When we got to the office, the guard asked for my name and consulted a list. I’m not sure what happened because he couldn’t seem to find it and left for a few minutes, but then he came back and handed me a number.

Kyle and the kids were with me. Their appointments were not until Tuesday (9,9:30, and 3:30), but people have said that sometimes SEF will process the whole family at one time. When they called my number they let Kyle and the kids come with me, but they sent them back to wait in the front waiting room.

A woman who spoke English asked to see my passport. I was holding all of my documents and she asked for the whole stack. Included was my SEF application, our lease, proof of our lease registration, proof of our health insurance (with Medis), NIF paperwork, and 3 months of our Portuguese bank statements. She made some copies and then did the fingerprinting and pictures. I asked her if we could process my family and it seemed like she was going to, but then she said that they would just do them tomorrow. I asked if we could just do Sofia’s since Sofia’s appointment was so much later than everyone else’s, but she said no again.

We were about to leave, but there was a woman there who had been really kind and empathetic towards us. Kyle asked her one more time if they could process everyone else’s so that we could head home. She convinced her coworker to do it. We were so excited. She was so nice and we really appreciate her help. She didn’t speak any English, which always makes me nervous, but obviously we all got by. All together it took about 2.5 hours. We’re so excited to have that done. We’re officially residents! 🎉 🥳

Originally we were going to stay in Setubal until Wednesday, since we had 3 appointments on Tuesday. But it’s now 13:00 on Tuesday and we’re on the train back to Leiria. We actually miss Leiria a lot more than we expected. We miss our apartment. We have only been there for about 4 weeks now, but we’re really getting settled. We have so many boxes to unpack and we want to get back to it.

Plus, the weather has finally turned. We got so lucky our first two months here, but now it’s grey skies and rain. It’s forecast to rain most of the day, and I would rather be stuck in a train than an Airbnb. Side note- Airbnbs with toddlers are stressful. Sofia is 3, so she is somewhat past the age of breaking stuff, but Leo is just shy of 2 and he loves looking for things to break and ways to kill himself. Staying at an Airbnb with a 1 year old pretty much means chasing them around to see what they try to break or use as a weapon. It’s exhausting

So now we’re on the train, on our way home. I am so happy that we feel like Portugal is home. The place we miss is our apartment in Leiria. The place we miss is Leiria. Setubal has its charms and it’s pros, but it’s not home.

Kyle and I agree that we want to spend a few months at home, taking some day trips, but sleeping in our apartment. Then in a few months maybe we will take some overnight trips somewhere. For now I am nice and warm, riding on the train, watching the rain fall outside. I love riding on the train. It’s much more comfortable than flying or driving, and I have more freedom to move around.

One day we will go back to Setubal and give it a fair visit. We were only there for two nights and it was gloomy and rainy the whole time. I would love to see more of it some day. For now, we’re really excited to sleep in our own bed. And to see Bailey again. Sofia really misses him.

Caldas da Rainha

December 16, 2021August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / 4 Comments

Our pallets are here! They arrived today. Our apartment building has a steep driveway down to the garages. We were really hoping they would be able to put the pallets in our garage since we really have no other way of moving them. It was a bit dicey, but they were able to do it. It’s a huge relief having the pallets in the garage. We can take the boxes out as we’re ready and they’re not in our way. We have already unpacked some of the kids toys and books, so they’re very happy. The pallets arrived in good condition. It kind of feels like Christmas!

Yesterday we decided to take the train to Caldas da Rainha. It was on my short list of places to live, so I was excited to go check it out. The Leiria train station is a bit out of the way, so we took an Uber there. We bought tickets using the CP app. It was just over 5 euro per adult- the kids were free. When we got to the train station we saw that there is a spot for Line 1, Line 2, and Line 3. We looked everywhere, but we couldn’t find anything to indicate which line to take. In Lisbon they have an automated screen that tells you the destination, the time of departure, and the line. We had to ask and were directed to Line 1. It was the same when we came home- nothing to indicate which line to take. We can always ask, but no one else has to, so we’re definitely missing something.

Anyways, the train ride took about 40 minutes. The train was really comfortable and we got our very own car since not many people were on the train. The train also has a bathroom! We have a 2+ hour train ride to Lisbon on Sunday and it was nice seeing what the train ride would be like. Sofia and Leo did great.

We got off the train at Caldas and almost immediately ran into a playground. We let the kids burn off some energy and set off to find the main square. When we got there, they had a market set up. That’s something we haven’t seen yet in Leiria, though I’m guessing they must have one. Kyle got a giant orange, Sofia a banana, and Leo an apple for 80 cents total. Kyle says the oranges out here are the best. I don’t like oranges, so I’ll take his word for it.

After the market we walked around the park a bit. I can’t remember the name, but it’s a beautiful park with the abandoned hospital. Caldas da Rainha felt smaller and more compact than Leiria (which it is), but not as small as Batalha. I think we saw all of Batalha while we were there, but we definitely did not see all of Caldas.

We could definitely see ourselves living in Caldas. It seems a lot easier to manage without a car. It’s cute and has its charms. I love the market. The food we had there was really good (though that has been true of everywhere we have gone on the Silver Coast). It’s nice to know that my judgement was correct- I thought Caldas was somewhere we might like to live and I was right. At the same time, visiting Caldas made me more aware of what I like about Leiria. I like the main square in downtown Leiria. I love the river and the walking/biking trail that goes along it.

Also, Caldas was the first place I really noticed the dog poop. A lot of people complain about dog poop on the sidewalks in Lisbon, but we didn’t really notice a lot. In Caldas I noticed it more. And it smelled like dog poop fairly often. I kept checking my shoe, sure that I must have stepped in some, but I didn’t. Kyle pointed out that, apart from the big park, we didn’t see any other green space in Caldas. There seems to be more in Leiria. But we could still seeing ourselves living in Caldas. There are a lot of pros there.

On to Sintra

November 1, 2021August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

Today we leave Lisbon and head for Sintra. We are ready. We have loved Lisbon and we will always have fond memories, but it has become exhausting. We have mostly been stuck at home the past three days due to rain, so we have been going a bit stir crazy. We feel really lucky that we got so many beautiful days when we first got here. We have figured out that the quickest way from our rental to the metro is down a big hill. Going down isn’t so bad of course, but the thought of climbing up that hill one more time makes us want to cry.

We’ve been having some bad luck with the metro lately too. At least half the time we take it there either isn’t an elevator, or the elevator is broken. That means a lot of carrying strollers and kids up and down stairs. The metro has served us well, but we are ready for a break. We love Lisbon, but we are not big city people and we’re ready for somewhere smaller and hopefully better suited for toddlers who want freedom.

A few days ago we took a trolley up a steep hill to a gorgeous view. I think the trolley is called Elevador da Gloria. The view from the top is the most beautiful we have seen. We found a playground and stopped at the botanical gardens and natural history museum on the way home.

On Saturday we were supposed to have a 4 hour break from the rain, so we decided to take the train to Cascais. We made it to the train station 10 minutes before the 10:00 train was scheduled to leave and we settled in for the 40 minute ride. Unfortunately 30 minutes later an announcement was made in Portuguese and everyone got off the train. The plus side is that we met a great couple from Florida (hi if you’re reading this! 😊) who told us that there was a problem with the train and the next one would come at 11. Unfortunately the one at 11 was cancelled, so at that point we just decided to do something else. The kids had been in their strollers for two hours and we were all ready to walk around.

Time Out Market was right there, so we went to check it out. We knew it was essentially a big tourist trap, but I always think that touristy things are worth doing at least once. It was expensive, and really hard to find a place to sit and eat, but the food wasn’t bad and it was interesting waking around seeing what they have to offer. Now we have it out of our system and it’s not somewhere that we would go back to. I would have preferred Cascais, but at least we were able to do something with our short break from the rain. It started raining again, so we headed back to our rental.

We have started looking for a long term rental. I have researched quite a few places this past year- Braga, Porto, Coimbra, Setubal, Sintra, and a few others. I think we could be happy living in any of those places, but we have never quite been able to narrow it down. I’m very drawn to Braga for its beauty, walkability, and pedestrian only area, but the weather makes me nervous and it seems so far from all the other places I want to check out. I happened upon a website that mentioned Leiria and I started looking into it.

As soon as Kyle saw a YouTube video he said it felt like home and he wants to go there. So that’s where we’re looking for an apartment. Everyone we have talked to has said that Leiria is great for families, and right now whatever we can do to make life easier with two toddlers is a win. I think I could be happy for the next year or two pretty much anywhere in Portugal as long as there are some playgrounds and we can walk everywhere. I have zero interest in getting a car anytime soon. Our rental in Sintra is paid for through November, so hopefully our next move will be into a long term rental in Leiria. Until then, we are excited to see what Sintra is like. Like I said, we love Lisbon but it’s all that we know of Portugal so far. I’m excited to see some other parts of this country.

First two days in Portugal

October 20, 2021August 2, 2023 / bashleyf / 3 Comments

Today is our second day in Portugal, but our first full day. And our first day with sleep. Kyle and I didn’t sleep at all on the plane, so yesterday was especially rough. Today felt a lot better. I can see why people fall in love with Lisbon, and we haven’t even done anything fun yet. Almost everything we have done has been errands. Tomorrow we have another day of errands, but one of these days we will go check out some of the touristy places and see some of the places I see in pictures. Yesterday was definitely overwhelming- first with trying to get all of our stuff and our kids through the airport. Kyle went back to the airport yesterday to pick up Bailey. We expected it to be hard, but it was so much more ridiculous than either of us ever anticipated. in the end he did get Bailey though. Bailey seemed much less traumatized than I expected. I know that’s a great thing, I just didn’t expect him to be so normal so quickly. He’s already adjusting to life in Portugal and he seems to enjoy it. We have a garden at our rental unit and we just leave the door open, so he can go outside whenever he wants. Kyle took him for three long walks today, which Bailey seemed to love.

There is a gorgeous park near our rental. I don’t know the name of the park, but I love it and will miss it when we leave. It’s only about a three minute walk from here. There is a small playground, a fountain where pigeons bathe themselves, and a coffee kiosk. There are always people sitting at the tables, talking and drinking espressos. The pictures I took of the park don’t do it justice.

As part of our D7 visa process we had to open and fund a Portuguese bank account. We received the cards back in the US and I activated them through the app. When we got here they didn’t work. We tried using them at the multibanco machine, but that didn’t work either. We tried a different pin number and were able to get Kyle’s card to work, but the multibanco machine ate my card and spit out a message saying that the wrong pin was entered 3 times. So I guess if you put the wrong pin in too many times it just eats the card without warning. Good to know. Luckily I was able to go onto the app and deactivate my card. I already needed to go to the bank to change our address, so I guess now I’ll just have them send a new card. Until then we’ll just use Kyle’s card and I’ll use cash. I’m scared to put any more cards into the multibanco though, lol.

We went to a mall today called Amoreiras Shopping Center. We tried our fist pastel de nata there. I don’t like custard, so I expected not to like it much, but I actually really liked it. And it was just from a random bakery in the mall. I can’t wait to try one from Pasteis de Belem.

We did a lot of walking today and I love it. There are so many reasons we moved to Portugal, but one of them was to be forced to be healthier. I think that I’ll eat healthier here and I will definitely get a lot more exercise. The kids are also getting way more exercise. You might assume that they would sleep better, but they are currently in their room playing and running around, even though they are exhausted and had a few meltdowns today from being so tired. I know there are so many huge changes going on though. In a few weeks things will settle down. And then we will be moving again, lol. In a few weeks we will be staying in Sintra, which I’m really excited about. I like Lisbon a lot so far, but it’s so massive. Big cities already make me feel kind of overwhelmed, and moving to another country makes me feel a lot overwhelmed, so the two of those things together is pretty intense. I think Sintra will feel more manageable.

I feel a lot better with everything that we accomplish. Since we got Kyle’s bank card working at least we will have access to our money. We also made it to the grocery store today and got some basics, like toilet paper, fruit, and laundry detergent. I figured out how to do a load of laundry. I cooked a quesadilla for Leo, and then it took us literally 20+ minutes to figure out how to turn the stove off. It’s not like one we have ever seen before. I expect the first few weeks living here to be all about relearning things. We knew how to do laundry, cook, and buy stuff in the US, but now we have to learn how to do those things here. It’s really overwhelming at first, but once we learn something then we don’t have to learn again and everything gets easier and less overwhelming.

I do understand why people dream about moving abroad but don’t do it. It’s scary. And very overwhelming. I don’t regret it at all though. Like I said, we haven’t even gotten to do much fun stuff yet and I already love it here. I came to Lisbon knowing that big city life is not for me, and I still love it here. I’m excited to see Sintra, and I’m excited to see Coimbra. I do think Coimbra will be a good fit. Right now I want to live in a medium sized city that we can really get to know. I also want to find some pedestrian only places so the kids can have more freedom. I’m also excited to get to explore Lisbon more. Even though we won’t live here, this is somewhere that we will visit over and over again.

Today’s the day

October 18, 2021October 18, 2021 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

We’re finally feeling excited, but today has been stressful too. It was nice not to have to drive today, but there was still a ton to do.

Kyle dropped Bailey off at the airport for his flight. It’s sad seeing him go and we hate putting him on a plane by himself, but we really don’t know how else to do it. He weighs 80 pounds so there really aren’t many options. I’ve been trying to convince myself (and Kyle) that it’s only one day of his life and that tons of other dogs make the move and they’re fine. I’ll feel a lot better when we see him tomorrow though. And I still feel awful because I know he will be scared on the plane.

We had to drop off the Uhaul and rental car. I picked Kyle up from Uhaul and then took an Uber back to the hotel after I dropped of the car. Then we had to split up and take two Ubers to the airport. It was a lot, but we made it work. We have two toddlers, two strollers, two car seats, seven boxes, two backpacks, and two suitcases. Whew!

In between all the ubers we made some time for a little fun. We were planning on going to the zoo, but according to our GPS the 23 mile ride would take an hour, so we tried to find a playground instead. When we got there is was roped off, so we eventually found an outdoor shopping center and walked around and got some ice cream.

I’m writing this last part from the plane. We’re about an hour into our flight. We are exhausted but so excited to be in this flight. I feel really grateful that everything came together as we needed it to. Bailey’s flight left hours ago- actually he will be landing in a few hours. Hopefully he’s doing okay. We are all exhausted but happy. Both kids are sleeping, which is exactly as we had hoped for.

Well, we’re off to start our new life! This still feels so surreal. I wonder when it will feel real.

On the road

October 16, 2021October 16, 2021 / bashleyf / Leave a comment

What a day! What a week! We just settled into our AirBnb for the night in Greensboro, North Carolina. I am so glad to be on the road and on our way to Portugal. It still doesn’t seem real. We haven’t had a lot of time to really process it because we have been so busy. This week has really been a rollercoaster of emotions and we haven’t been this stressed out in quite a while.

It was kind of hard leaving the house for the last time today. We only lived there for 2 years but so much has happened in that time. When we first walked into that house I was pregnant with Leo. We had one kid, one on the way, two dogs, and a cat. And we were so innocently blissful because the pandemic had not hit yet. The last two years have been hard- for everyone, I know, not just us. Raina and our cat were put to sleep by a vet in our living room. My last memories of them are in a room that I will never go back to. It kind of felt like I was leaving my pets behind and that makes me very sad.

The things that have gone good this week- we sold both of our vehicles to Carvana and it was the easiest part of the week. I’m so glad we were able to do that because we were really counting on the money from the sale of our cars. We got our rental car and the Uhaul. The SUV we sold was pretty comfortable and we miss it, but I also really like the one we rented, so that’s good. It has a third row seat, so Bailey has been riding back there and is way more comfortable, and safer, than he would be in the Uhaul.

The bad things this week- well, the vet messed up our USDA paperwork three times. We were pretty sure that it wasn’t going to come in time, but somehow it did. We’re still pretty shocked and obviously extremely relieved. Our pallets were supposed to be picked up Wednesday, but no one called or showed up. That caused some stress for a while, but they did get picked up, so all is well.

Today as we were leaving the house the Uhaul got hit by a tree branch and broke a mirror clean off. There is a road by our old house in Greenville with shrubs that don’t get trimmed all that well. Normally it’s not a big deal, but since the Uhaul mirrors stick out it turned out to be bigger deal today. We duct taped it on and made it here, but it’s not safe and we’re not sure what to do from here. We have to call Uhaul tomorrow to see if they can exchange it for one with a mirror, or what they suggest.