Laundering Memories

Oh boy! Today the sun is shining and I jump out of bed, knowing that I need to take advantage of the morning sun. It’s a great day to wash the sheets! (Yes, the expat life is downright exhilarating.) My AirBnB has a fantastic, state-of-the-art washing machine, but like most of the places I saw…

Stairs in Albufeira

Little Victories

I wake up to the sound of gulls jabbering. A thick, muffling fog rolled in overnight. The construction on the building in front of me hasn’t started yet. It’s much better to wake up to the sound of gulls than jackhammers. Motivating, even. It is cold again, but still warmer than a month ago. This…

Setting Routines

I like being five hours ahead of the US east coast. I can do a day’s worth of work—or play—and still take care of business. For the most part, I don’t…but I could. I am still working out the timing on some meetings. 8:00 pm EST is 1:00 am here. Any evening meetings are not…

No Matter Where You Go…

It may be a bit telling that one of my favorite movies is a weird cult film from the ’80s: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Peter Weller with hair. Yum. Actually, it seems like everyone was in that movie: Christopher Lloyd, John Lithgow, Rosalind Cash, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum (and the…

Albufeira Hills

It’s All Uphill

Albufeira: Portuguese for everything is uphill. Yesterday, I made a new rule for myself: Don’t walk downhill until I know for certain I won’t have to walk farther uphill. Some neuron in my brain fired the other night and I remembered that I was supposed to register my presence with the local authorities. I went…

Expat in Portugal

It’s an Adventure

The Adventure Begins… I swear to you, I have an almost completed post on the visa process, but I need to slip this post in as an update. Yesterday, January 4th, was my departure date from the US. Today, January 5th, at approximately 4:00 pm Portugal time, I should have landed and by 6:00 pm,…

ExPat Life

Uncertainties

This is a week of uncertainty. Another strain of Covid has been found and countries are shutting border again. Brexit is not helping—with the UK pulling out of the European Union, I don’t know if EU countries are allowing flights from England to land. My flight goes through Heathrow. A person on one of my…