Friday, February 24, 2017

Four weeks in the sling and I am officially over it! I'm define doctors orders for the first time and I am walking around at the apartment without it on, doing laundry. How liberating! Frank had a shitty day. And we only had a short amount of time before he and I had to rush off to the theater tonight. But I'm glad that we got a chance to go to Betty's for a while. We saw some friends but we also had a chance to talk about the future. I told him that I had looked at some Portugal sites today. Especially looking at the costs. There's a site that compares the price the cost of living in various cities around the world. So I compared Faro, Portugal with San Diego. It came in at about 50% of the cost, which is what I was thinking. Made me feel a little better about our plans. We are meeting with a Financial planner next week and I want to make sure we have a plan ahead of time. I know there will be a lot of resistance. I felt it when I move to Spain 25 years ago. I remember my brother asking me what if you don't find a job what if you can't make any money? I told him, I guess I'll come back. Or go somewhere else. We have a nest egg and that is what allows us the freedom to take our time. We agreed that we won't even consider working for the first six months. I want us to have time to acclimate to explore possibilities to see if it's really where we want to be.


I had a wonderful hour-long talk with John Zerfas tonight. It was so nice talking to him about our proposed adventures. He told me of his dreams also and we pushed each other to go for it. I remember him and I talking about my departure before I moved to Spain 25 years ago. And also when I returned when he was in a relationship and I said "I want what you have!” Thinking about my new adventure, he said "I want what you have!” Why can’t we have it all?? So many possibilities out there.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

The Hardest Part

Looking out at the ocean in Mission Beach, I can't help thinking I'll be doing the same in Portugal in a year and a half or so. So many adventures awaiting. I wish I could get more into writing about our move. I want to get started on my nexpatriates blog. I have a lot in my head, but I just have to take the time to transfer it into words. So many unanswered questions remain, but we're at least looking at the possibilities. Money, of course, is the big one. Timing is another. Residency requirements, health insurance, language issues. Where we're going to end up isn't as much of a concern to me. If we try a place and don't like it, we'll move on! Of course the biggest issue is leaving our friends and family. The hardest part.