 |
| Molly, Swami, and Juan Carlos |
We've been traveling for a long time and have always kept half an eye on where might be a good place to move, to make a base outside the US. In 2015 we settled on Bangkok but it's so polluted there that M. got a terrible lung infection and nearly died. After that, we made our way back to Europe but didn't get serious about Portugal until 2017. That's when we decided it could be the place, and by extension the EU. A lot of questions had to be answered, problems resolved, and a lot of changes to deal with. It's been more like changing lives than just moving somewhere and today is a long awaited plateau along the way. Well, not exactly. I'm not there yet. We'll see if SEF accepts my application. If they do, it's one more thing we can check off the list. After that it will still another five years until we can actually apply for Portuguese citizenship but this is a milestone. Between now and then, we'll have to learn Portuguese, which I'm not looking forward to, but it will be a good mental exercise to become at least transactionally literate.
6 comments:
Nice looking place! Wow. I am totally amazed and impressed that you two are doing this. I hope your residency stuff goes smoothly, then. I'm not sure I have it in me to learn a new language even though the Army said I had language aptitude. I think the high-frequency hearing loss makes it all much more difficult, as I can't distinguish consonants very well. I would have to ask everyone to write it down.
Anyway, best of luck on this adventure!
Thanks, Roy. :) I don't know how I'll fare with a new language myself. There are rumors Portugal is going to do away with the language requirement so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I do want to learn some level of functional Portuguese though. People hear are very accommodating and more than willing to use their elementary English when they hear me floundering and I feel I should return the favor. Besides learning languages is good for the brain so there you go. Two reasons for the low low price of none.
What an amazing adventurous thing to do! My dad's second ex wife (who was a stepmother to me when I was a lad) moved to northern Spain for a few years of her 70s and I always thought that audacious but she didn't commit to a permanent shift and had to come back and eventually die of alcoholism, a fate that should surprise no one who's moved from Europe back to the States. Careful, now. :-)
It has been like a death to move here but, other than family, I wouldn't care if I ever went back to the US again. I wish they all would move here. As for the booze, I'm in a good groove. If I don't drink or die before March 14, I will have been clean and sober 34 years.
Waiting for the opportunity to pay the back taxes on Villa Di Gregorio (4.5M USD) and update the stable of Moto Guzzi motorcycles in the carriage house, and move in, and I'll be right down the Via Appia from you. At least until you hear the ringing of the A.R.G. alarm over the ice machine.
Yes, and I'm hoping we'll get an invite to visit you at Villa Di Gregorio. I hear it's amazing. I'm glad you tuned up the A.R.G. after the last time. That was an adventure!
Post a Comment