Moving to Portugal

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.

I gave my notice at work tonight. My last day of work will be Friday, October 1 and moving day is hopefully going to be Monday, October 18. Less than six weeks until we leave. Putting in my notice has made it more real and also kind of scary. I’ve been at that job for 4 years and it’s a good job. It’s really because of my job that I was able to have my two kids and now move to Portugal. A little part of me wonders if I did the right thing, but I know that’s just the fear talking. Of course getting to spend more time with my kids will be the right move. But still, it’s scary to lose my main income source.

Since being home we’ve gotten a ton of things done, though there is so much more to do. Now that we’ve started, I realize how many moving parts there are. Hopefully everything will line up as it’s supposed to on moving day. We decided to hire a pet shipper after all to help us with Bailey. We tried calling Lufthansa a few times to book his flight, but the system said that it’s too busy and to call back later. And then it disconnected. We can’t even talk to someone to book his flight, so we decided that we need some help. We just got his crate today, so tomorrow I’ll put it together and start crate training him again. He used to be trained, but it has been years since he has been in one.

I emailed the Portuguese consulate in DC to find out how to get the letter I need to exchange my driver’s license. The form is called the certificate of authentication of driving license. They said that I needed to send a notarized copy of my driver’s license, a money order, and a self address and stamped envelope. I sent those out yesterday. Hopefully that part is as easy as it seems!

I booked an apartment in Lisbon for October. We thought that it would be fun to stay right in the city, especially since we’re moving from a smaller town. We’ve been watching some YouTube videos called 3 minute Portuguese and they are really helpful. I actually know a few words now, lol. We also put a deposit down with upakweship, and we’ll schedule a pickup soon. We’re shipping over a few pallets of our things. We thought it would be worth it to have some familiar things, especially for the kids. This is already such a huge move and we’re getting rid of so much. They will love seeing some of their favorite toys in Portugal.

Our landlord is selling the house and we have our first showing scheduled tomorrow. We’re really not looking forward to having a bunch of strangers roaming through our house. One of the requirements to enter into Portugal is a negative COVID test. Even though Kyle and I are vaccinated, we still want to avoid COVID and are being really careful until we leave, so it’s frustrating that we’re going to be exposed to so many people in our own home. Luckily Sofia and Leo won’t need a test, but obviously we don’t want to expose them either.

Kyle and I are both feeling anxious, but also excited. I know it’s normal to feel some anxiety right now. This is such a huge move and there is so much to keep track of. I have a huge to do list in my phone. It helps me to have it all written down somewhere. Now that I’ve put my notice in at work I’m definitely feeling more anxiety because we’re leaving what we know. Yeah, I have moved around a lot, but always in the US. I’ve never lived abroad. I’ve never even been to Portugal. I am still 100% sure it’s the right decision for our family, but I also get why some people don’t end up making the move. It’s definitely nerve wracking. But in 6 weeks our nerves will be calmed because we will be there!