Hello from Portugal!
A little late with my monthly update, but such is life! We’ve been traveling in Portugal for the better part of this month (currently in Lisbon) getting some much needed beach time and enjoying navigating a new country. The explorer in me is thriving.
I feel like the past few months have been a whirlwind. Rewinding a bit, when we got back from LA at the end of March, we were hell bent on selling our house and doing so before leaving for Europe, which, at that time was schedule for May. We ultimately decided to push our trip back a month to give us a bit more time (and to attend a friends wedding that we didn’t want to miss!), even though it still felt like we were rushed and scrambling. We managed to list our house before the last weekend in April and had accepted an offer by May 1st making our close date June 1st, 6 days before leaving for two months. It was go time!
After lots of sorting and donating, we moved all of our stuff out of our almost 3,000 sq ft house into a combination of an off-site storage unit and our 900 sq ft condo. We still have a small project of reorganizing our storage unit when we get back, but man does it feel so good to have that chapter done and closed. I still get teary-eyed when I think about leaving the home that we created together and all of the lovely ways we were able to bring friends and family together, but I also know that we’ll have that again soon.
I wouldn’t say we have the clearest picture of what’s next for us. We know that Portland isn’t it right now, but don’t necessarily know where we want to go next let alone feel comfortable putting down roots and buying a house. We really enjoy LA (West LA specifically), but/and/also have reservations about the cost of living and lack of water. We’re also open to the idea of living in Europe, but struggle with being so far from family, especially as we are thinking about starting our own family. So we shall see. Right now we’re enjoying our time in Europe and being open and optimistic about the future. There’s something both exciting and terrifying about now knowing what’s next but I always try to lean towards the excitement, listen to my intuition and trust that we will figure it out when we need to figure it out.
Hope your summer is off to a wonderful start!
xx
Intention
My main focus this month has been to simply enjoy the moment and unplug. So often when I travel I get so excited to share all of the things, which, absolutely brings me joy, but it also has a way of taking me out of the moment. I’ve also been focusing on being more present in my relationship. Chris and I are both passionate about our evolution and growth both personally and professionally. While we both absolutely support each other in that journey, we’ve also noticed that sometimes we reply on the solidity of our relationship and forget to give the same care and attention to our quality time and simply having fun.
On The Calendar
A very full calendar for the first time in a while! Our first stop in Portugal was Porto where we spent 4 nights before heading down to Comporta for 3 nights. We then we moved on to Algarve for 5 nights, setting up shop at Casa Mae in Lagos. The last leg of our trip is Lisbon, which is where we are now and where we will be until the end of the month. In July we head to Paris for the month! I absolutely love the excitement and adventure of moving around, but I’m not going to lie it’s exhausting unpacking and repacking all the time. I’m very much so looking forward to settling in a bit more in Paris.
Reading
The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo – I binge read this when we were at the beach and it was so good! There are so many parts of the story and characters that I think a lot of people can identify with. If you’re a sucker for a good romance that’s not super corny I highly recommend.
Things of Note
Even though the weather has been on the cooler side for in me Portugal, I’m doing my best to manifest sunshine and 80 degree weather with my clothing. I packed for it after all!
I’ve been loving all of the vacation wear lately. I’ve curated a few of my favorites here!
