It’s been about a month since I posted anything. I needed to take a break from the politics partly for my sanity and partly because I felt like I was saying the same thing over and over again. That said, I am going to try to change gears a little bit and use this blog to chronicle the next few months which will hopefully culminate in moving overseas to start another adventure. I won’t promise to not occasionally interject a political opinion or polemic, but I think with people like Heather Cox Richardson1 posting daily, well researched, and scholarly pieces on today’s political climate, those interested in politics can follow her. The link to her blog is below.
I have made no secret in some of my previous blogs of my desire to move overseas for a couple of different reasons. The current political climate and what lies ahead for 2024 and beyond is certainly a factor. However, a desire for a different lifestyle and just undertaking a new adventure are also very strong reasons.
The first question that I had to wrestle with was ‘where?’. Where should I move? My ex-wife, Francine (still a good friend), and I lived in France for 7 months many years ago, so France has always had a soft spot in my heart. I also looked at Costa Rica, Panama and Portugal. Costa Rica and Panama were both appealing for different reasons but I’m not really a ‘hot, humid, tropical’ kind of a guy so that was a concern. After thinking about everything, Portugal seemed like a good choice.
There were a number of things that ultimately led me to think Portugal might be the best place to at least start. First of all, getting from Western Europe to Boston where my daughter, Jordan, is going to school is about as easy as getting from Bozeman to Boston. That was important. Secondly, once one becomes a long-term resident of Portugal, you have easy access to all 26 countries in the European Schengen zone. That seemed like a nice plus. In addition, Portugal has world class, affordable healthcare and is rated as one of the safest countries in the world. There are also several places in Portugal that have robust expat populations. Although costs have been increasing there, it is still affordable, and it just seemed like a good place to start.
This plan had been gestating in my mind for a while and I had actually made plans to travel to Portugal to check it out a couple of years ago – and then COVID hit!! My life, like everyone else’s life was put on hold. When things started to open up again, I decided to get serious about making this move so I did two things. I rescheduled my scouting trip to Portugal for April 2022, and I decided to attend a conference sponsored by the organization, International Living, in Las Vegas in February 2022.
The International Living conference took place over three days and there were speakers who were living in many, many different countries talking about the pluses and minuses of where they had chosen to call home. It provided a great opportunity to get information about a lot of different countries in a short amount of time. In addition, there were experts who talked about overseas medical insurance, banking, and just about any topic you can imagine having to do with moving overseas.
It just so happened, at a cocktail reception sponsored by the organization one evening, I began talking to a lady from Arizona, Barb, who was also contemplating moving to Portugal when she retired in the next couple of years. We didn’t talk for a long time but had a nice chat. I saw her in the convention hall the next day and at lunch time, I asked her if she’d like to have lunch. We had lunch and I told her I was due to go to Portugal in April and would be blogging about my experience. She said she was also planning a trip and would like to hear about my experience. I gave her my blog and we exchanged emails. She had to get back to Phoenix later that afternoon and we parted company.
Subsequently, we exchanged a few emails and about a month before I was due to leave on my trip to Portugal, I injured my knee quite badly and required surgery. The trip to Portugal was once again postponed. During this time, Barb and I continued emailing and then we started having Zoom calls. The more we talked, the more it seemed like we had a lot in common. In July I had planned to take a trip to Southern California and as Barb and I talked more, I decided to detour through Phoenix to see how we got along in person. We had a great time.
I invited her up to Montana since she’d never been. She flew up here the first week of September and spent 5 days here. We had a great time. She had originally planned to go to Portugal with a friend in October and it looked like our trips were going to overlap so we had agreed to get together in a place called Caldas da Rainha in Portugal. As we got to know one another we thought it would be fun to spend more time together in Portugal. Ultimately, she made the decision to change her plans for Portugal and now we are going together.
It just goes to show that sometimes you just need to take that first step because you never know where it is going to lead. Had I never gone to the conference in Las Vegas or decided to take a detour through Phoenix, the upcoming adventure would be much different. Now I am going with a beautiful lady who has very similar thoughts and values. Where will this adventure lead – no idea! We are meeting at the Lisbon airport in a little over a month for the beginning of what will technically be our third in-person date!! (Although the first two lasted for multiple days each!) Fortunately, we’re both old enough to where we don’t really give a damn what anyone thinks. We plan to have a great adventure – and who knows where it will lead. The goal for both of us is to be living in Portugal in about a year and use that as a base for more adventures to come. Stay tuned!
Hopefully this blog will chronicle this adventure with all of the ups and downs and twists and turns. Perhaps it will even inspire someone else to take off on their own adventure, whatever that might be. It’s never too late!
- Blog for Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American
OK, so this is the blog I was looking for – how you and Barb got together! Apologies for being nosy, but I see your Facebook posts and am always so happy for you, plus I saw a reference for those wondering about this relationship. I applaud you, Mike, for actively pursuing a good and ever productive and satisfying life. I am cheering you on!