I began this post a couple of months ago, but never finished it. We are now back in the States (Bend, OR) and digging into the next chapter of our life. I intend to keep this blog going both for the experience and for family/friends to follow the non-traditional lifestyle we have chosen. I will post soon about our great experience in Amsterdam, the culture shock of returning to the States, and what we are doing in Bend. Stay Tuned!
Here is what I wrote in July before we left Portugal:
So we love Portugal and traveling, but… the end had to come. I have discussed previously that our current lifestyle is not sustainable. I just looked back at the how are we funding this page and realized I never did complete it (oops!). In short, we decided to sell everything and live on savings. The trick is not spending too much and exiting before we have nothing left.
That exit is now in ink. We head back to the US the beginning of August (with with a pass through Amsterdam on the way out). The trip back will be interesting because we will be traveling with all of our stuff again (see traveling with a baby about how much we brought over). I will try to add a post of our travel experiences.
Anyway, a little bit on our direction: We intended this trip to be a travel experience while spending time on health, learning (reading, language, websites, etc.), and “exploring” business opportunities/options. We chose Portugal because of the cost and weather. The trip has not accomplished all of these goals, but overall it does feel like a great success.
For me, experiences rarely end up where I expect or imagine they will. For this adventure, the business, language, and health left some to be desired. The business and health were put on the back burner as the stresses of managing a one year old in a foreign country took more than expected. Our Portuguese language skills are embarrassing. The Portuguese are too helpful and speak English in most situations. We didn’t get much chance to learn!
We have, on the other hand, learned a tremendous amount about ourselves and our lifestyle preferences. Living in a new culture helps to critically analyze the culture we grew up with.
For example, one of my recent realizations was about eating in the US. In Portugal people don’t necessarily eat better food, they tend to eat less. I think this has to do primarily with snacking. In general, the Portuguese eat three meals a day. Breakfast typically involves “um café” (an espresso) and a pastry. Not health food, but not very big either. Lunch and dinner tend to be medium to large meals with decent food. In the mall, for instance, the most common meal is grilled meat with vegies and rice or fries. Sounds decent, but the real difference is we the Portuguese rarely snack. In the US, a cooler of food and beer/soda is a common sight at the beach. Here, you can see hundreds of people at the beach and no one is eating. No beer, no bag of chips. You do see a bottle of wine on occasion, but there is a complete void of consumption like we feel in the US. I think this is one of the reasons obesity is less of an issue than in the US.
When I find more time, I would like to write a blog post, or possibly a full web page about Portugal. In hindsight we have had many thoughts about the culture, what we are missing, and how we want to make a way to live over seas part of the time.
Here are some pictures of our last days in Portugal.
This is a ridiculous amount of stuff to travel with (the picture is missing a travel crib, a handbag, and who knows what else).
