Settling into a Year of Travel
What to expect in your first few weeks
We’ve now been living in Sintra, Portugal for two weeks which officially marks our longest family vacation ever.
We’ve had a chance to get settled in our new apartment, sample the local cuisine, get the kids settled into school, learn more about our new community of families, and explore our city.
We are grateful for the opportunity to experience something so new and different, and we’ve also struggled with what to spend our time on, how to carve out time for ourselves, and how to stay fully present.
Whatever baggage you have at home, comes with you on a trip
Having read a lot about sabbatical years, and extended travel before we left, we knew that travel doesn’t instantly change who you are as a person, what weighs on your mind, or whatever mental roadblocks you might be facing.
This reminds me of a Saturday Night Live skit with Adam Sandler as a tour guide:
You are still going to be YOU on vacation.
We can take you on a hike, we cannot turn you into someone who likes hiking.
We can bring you on a wine tour, we cannot change why you drink.
I use this skit as a way to emphasize that changing a location doesn’t change the person you are. Whatever baggage you have at home, comes with you on a trip.
We actually love the life we’re creating back “home”, but we want to enhance it. I’ve written about what our goals are on our trip in a previous post: we want to gain new perspectives, be closer as a family, be the best partners to one another, grow professionally, start new habits and create space. We want to come back with clarity on the next chapter.
Here are the best parts of our trip so far
Beach Trips
Our first trip to the Atlantic ocean was a late afternoon visit to Azenhas do Mar. Gone are the days of hopping in an Uber with a backpack full of snacks and a bottle of wine for a picnic. As a family of 6, beach trips involve shoving two car seats, a stroller, snacks, diapers, wipes, and whatever else we can carry in an Uber XL.
When we arrived at the coast Jack’s eyes lit up as he got to see surfers for the first time. The tide was high and waves were up so we had to physically restrain our kids from running into the water on our first trip.
We opted for a fancy dinner with fresh Sea Bass, Cod, and a generous order of Sangria for the parents, and iced tea for the littles (Emily had milk).
Our second beach trip was to Praia das Macas. After the kids saw the ocean, they had to actually “play” in it, so we packed up our gear and set out for a day at the beach as a family. The beach was large, not overly crowded, guarded by lifeguards, and the waves were big enough to be fun for the kids but not so big that they couldn’t play safely. The water was brisk, but tolerable for swimming. Emily even got to dip her toes in the ocean for the first time (but wasn’t too happy about it). Jack spent the day tossing his Woboba bouncing water ball into the waves, and chasing it as the waves tossed it back at him.
We finished the day with beers, iced tea, and tostis (ham and grilled cheese sandwiches) beach-side, and took the Sintra tram back to the city center.
By the time we got back to the apartment, the kids had enough sun and play to crash.
The third beach trip was for Jack’s first surfing lesson!
After school on Thursday, Jack loaded up onto a bus for the 40-minute trip to Carcavelos. We tried to chase the bus but after several unsuccessful Uber calls, we ended up about 30 minutes behind them.
We did end up tracking them down and caught Jack fully wet-suited up, boogie boarding in 5-foot waves with about 20 other kids from his class.
Cay and Grace happily played in the sand with the other spectators, while they waited for Jack. After the lesson, we had a seaside dinner while we watched the sunset on the Atlantic.
We’ve decided that our best days are beach days so far.
More of those are in our future.
Exploring the City
On a normal day, Jack, Grace, and Caleb get dropped off at school between 8:30–8:45 am, which leaves Emily, Justine, and I a chance to explore the city. Some of our best mornings have been spent going on long walks up the Sintra trails, exploring the city, and stumbling on fantastic little coffee shops and bakeries.
One rainy day we stumbled upon a café in the tourist district called Casa Piriquita right when it was opening. After we sat down and ordered, within 5 minutes the place was full, and we soon found out why: we tried the Pastel de Nata, and local delicacy the Piriquita, and they were both incredible.
For about $7 we each had coffee and pastry and decided that this is going to happen multiple times a week!
We’ve found some great local cafes, bakeries, lunch spots, and grocery stores.
Alternative “Workouts”
Last week, Justine, Emily, and I decided it was time to tackle the hike up to the Moors Castle. We only logged about 10,000 steps, but almost 100 flights of stairs. The walk was stairs almost straight up to the top, and with a weighted, heated vest (Emily) strapped on, it makes for a real workout!
One morning, Justine took part in a yoga class while Emily and I explored the Sintra foothills, discovered a castle with some wonderful views, and hiked a backroads trail. We met up with Justine for lunch at the apartment and felt energized after logging our 10,000 steps before noon.
Our workouts are different than at home, but moving our body in different ways and giving a bit of a break from traditional heavy weightlifting actually feels good. In the coming weeks, we’re both looking to layer on either more yoga, surfing, rock climbing, or some light lifting. In the meantime, walks and Eric’s “kissup” routine are keeping us in shape.
Seeing the Kids Make Friends
The best part of Boundless so far has been the community. You hear concerns from other well-wishing parents concerned about kids being able to make friends, or missing out on social time when not in “traditional” school. Within the first hour, our kids made friends and were playing wonderfully and they instantly bonded with the other children in their respective classes.
Our apartment is in “Casa Azul” (The Blue House) which houses three families: a family of six on the main floor, a family of five on the second floor, and our family of six on the third floor. In the morning, you can hear the kids running up and down the stairs, and at night while we make dinner the kids run between the apartments playing non-stop. Parents yell down the stairwells to call kids up for dinner, and as soon as we’re done, the kids are right back at it.
Meeting Other Families Who are Living Alternative Lives
Not surprisingly, Boundless has brought together families who are living their lives different from the norm. There are digital nomads, first-time travelers, recovering workaholics, retired athletes, entrepreneurs, and investors. There are people from around the world, who have worked in all sorts of industries and businesses and they’ve all got unique and interesting stories to share.
Justine and I are trying to make a point of grabbing coffee, or a meal with every family to get to know them a little better. We want to learn from these people and get closer to them during this shared experience. We also want to keep in touch as we all continue our journeys.
We’ve already met with a few couples and have learned a lot.
Some of our favorite nights have been our impromptu meetups — they start as kids meeting up to play and end up with parents sharing bottles of wine in the alley.
Finding Local Shops
Inevitably, when we first moved in we needed to go on some large grocery runs. There were some household staples we needed to add (cutting board, dish towels, dish soap, laundry detergent), as well as all groceries to feed our family of six.
We discovered LIDL (similar to a small Superstore) which had a lot of the staples, but not everything. No one in the store spoke English but we muddled our way through with broken Spanish, some Portuguese, and Google Translate.
Later we found Auchen (like a full-sized Superstore) where we stocked up on everything else we needed. We’ve been trying to cut out “fake” or pre-packaged foods, and want to use local bakeries, butchers, and markets whenever we can — supplementing at the larger grocery stores only when we have to.
A Slower Pace
Overall, we’re appreciating the slower pace. We’re trying to balance our “want” to do work, and blocking out the “shoulds”. We want to use this time (in part) to work on writing, and deeper thinking projects that lay the foundation for what’s next professionally, but also want to enjoy not “pushing the rope”. Not over-scheduling allows us to meet families, enjoy each other’s company, notice our kids, and take time to just “be”.
We’ve been a bit tied up in the evenings and some days with a few projects related to our home renovation taking place in London, but we’re optimistic that in the coming weeks we’ll be a bit more settled into our life in Portugal, and our project at home will be well on its way.
