Tag Archives: spain

Ten Days of Limbo: Living Between Two Homes

Arriving in Valencia felt like the hard part was over. We’d made the drive, survived a day in the car with Lexie and the birds, and had the keys to our new apartment in hand. All that was left was to wait for our things to arrive. In my boyish optimism, I thought a weekContinue reading “Ten Days of Limbo: Living Between Two Homes”

Road Trip Wednesday: Lisbon to Valencia in One Day

We rolled out of Lisbon for the last time at 6:45 in the morning, the city still quiet, the summer light just starting to stretch across the rooftops. We’d come over from the hotel around 6:00 to get the car loaded: small bags, one guitar, the cat carrier, the bird cage, and a few miscellaneousContinue reading “Road Trip Wednesday: Lisbon to Valencia in One Day”

Moving Day: Two Days, a Cat in the Bathroom, and a Road Trip Ahead

Moving is supposed to be a single day of chaos. Ours? It turned into a full two-day production. But after a lot of cardboard, and one very patient cat, we were officially in motion. The move was set to begin at 8:00 AM Monday morning, 21 July, and we were as ready as possible. WeContinue reading “Moving Day: Two Days, a Cat in the Bathroom, and a Road Trip Ahead”

This Is It!

The boxes are packed, the internet’s about to go dark, and we’re almost ready to hit the road. After months of dreaming and planning, and a couple of preliminary visits to get things ready, it’s finally happening: we’re leaving Lisbon and heading to our next adventure in Valencia. The move itself is a mix ofContinue reading “This Is It!”

The Emotional Logistics of Goodbye

I’ve said it before – I love Portugal, and I will always be grateful to the country for allowing us to pursue our dreams. Portugal is the country that initiated the Sephardic Repatriation programs in Iberia, and it’s the one that honestly wanted to make amends for past injustices. Without that, I doubt we wouldContinue reading “The Emotional Logistics of Goodbye”

Portability is a Myth: Why I’m Still Paying for a Portuguese Phone Number

In my last post, I mentioned this briefly, but it’s worth diving deeper. When people talk about moving to different countries, there’s always lots of conversation about house-hunting, and residency bureaucracy, and the costs of moving household belongings, and so on. But something that gets little attention is that your entire digital identity is chainedContinue reading “Portability is a Myth: Why I’m Still Paying for a Portuguese Phone Number”

The Financial Impact of Moving

One of the immutable truths of being an expatriate is this: it’s going to make a difference to your bottom line. In our case, we knew decades ago that we probably wouldn’t be able to afford to retire in the US and have any kind of a decent lifestyle. If nothing else, the cost ofContinue reading “The Financial Impact of Moving”

The Long Drive

We’ve just returned home from a round-trip road trip from Lisbon to Valencia. We had several goals in mind: According to Apple Maps, the fastest route takes about nine hours. We left Lisbon at 06:30 on a Monday morning and crossed into Spain by 09:00, which instantly became 10:00 thanks to the magic of timeContinue reading “The Long Drive”

Our Anthem of Departure

As you may know, Kristie and I have moved around more than most people. We met in LA, where we lived in two different apartments over the first year and a half that we were together. We then moved to Portland Oregon, where we lived in two apartments and one house over five years. NextContinue reading “Our Anthem of Departure”