Four Years In
and counting
They say that time flies while you are having fun. If that is true, then we must be having a lot of fun! By this date four years ago, we had signed a lease on our apartment (May), sold our home in Washington, packed and shipped two 4x4x6 crates of all that remained of our worldly possessions, sold my beautiful black Jeep Wrangler, and were less than two weeks away from my official retirement day and the many farewells to friends and a church community who had been family to us for seven years.
Would we do it all over again? Absolutely. Life here in Portugal is not always easy. Is it anywhere? There is the broken immigration system (seems to be a world-wide theme, doesn’t it?), the difficulty of learning a new language at 60+ years old (we’re making progress), and, now that we’ve been here for a few years. the inevitable changes that occur when you’ve lived someplace for a few years. The shop up the street where I bought most of my vegetables during the week has closed. The owners, an older couple, retired and moved. The pharmacy where we considered loyal enough to get a 10% discount closed. Friends and acquaintances have moved. One of our dear friends here died after a short battle with cancer. My beloved wineshop, which was just two blocks away has moved down the hill, making it not so convenient to just drop in. (If you’ve been to Lisbon you’ll know how significant it is to “move down the hill.”) No place, however, in this world is perfect, trouble-free, and immune to change. If change and difficulties are just a part of life (which they are), then this is not a bad place to experience it.
If you’ve been reading this so far, you may be asking what we’ve been up to since my last post. It has been a minute or two! The first half of 2026 has been jam-packed with travel in our own backyard—Europe. That is, after all, one of the reasons we moved here! In February we took a 2-hour flight to Dublin for a destination birthday celebration. That was a first! Yes, it was cold and rainy. We’ll go back when it’s a bit warmer. In March, we went to Braga to spend some time with friends we made during our second year in Portugal. In April, I flew to Glasgow, made a pilgrimage to Iona, and walked the West Highland Way. The hike was one of the most physically demanding things I’ve ever done. There are tons of videos on YouTube—check it out!
In May, I led another group from the USA on the Camino de Santiago. This was my 6th group to lead since moving to Portugal. I think I spent most of June out of Portugal, this time in France. I returned to the French cooking school I went to last year for pastry week! I am still in shock that I only gained a pound. See some of the pics below for what we created. Afterwards, David flew up to meet me in Bordeaux. We spent a few days in St. Emilion and then drove out to the Dordogne River valley. The Dordogne department, akin to what would be a county in the USA or UK, is not a huge tourist attraction—yet. Please don’t tell anyone about the spectacular chateaux, fortified towns, old churches, and natural beauty of the place. One of the highlights for us was visiting the prehistoric cave paintings in the Vezere Valley. Just amazing!
Our only travel in July consisted of an overnight stay in Figueira do Foz to see Sting in concert. The venue was on the beach and he came on stage right at sunset. Magical!
I’ve got to wrap this up and get to a wine-tasting, which is another reason we moved here! Before I go, it seems that after four years, we’re becoming a part of the neighborhood. We were warned before moving here that it took years to be “accepted” as part of the community. In our case, it helps that we have a dog! More about that in the next post.
So, yes. Four years in, and counting on more.
It's Dejavu for me. We retired here 35 years ago and enjoyed learning Europe while settling in.
And you're right: where is "better" ?
Glad to see this new letter. I was just thinking last week that you hadn’t written lately, and wondered what you were up to. Having a full life, and being too busy to write, seems like a very good indicator of having made good decisions!