Retirement: I did it! It feels like it has been months since my last day as a 911 dispatcher (instead of just over three weeks). I’ve spent a large portion of that time doing first hand research into becoming an “international shipping and packing consultant”. Thanks to my great friends (and Michelle who stopped in) my last day at work flew by – we had an awesome bagel party!
Food: Michelle took me out to MÄS for a celebration meal. It didn’t disappoint and ended up being extra special since we were the only guests for the night. We savored every bite and had an amazing visit with Chef Josh Dorcak.
Our friend George had arranged a brunch at Downtown Market Co in Medford. A group of us went and we had a great time visiting, except George who was taken down by illness and couldn’t make it.
We also went our with our (former) coworker Andrea and her husband Mike to Bambu, it was a lovely time!
To facilitate packing and a hectic few months we signed up for a DoorDash pass which is supposed to give free delivery and monthly discounts. Although it has worked out for a few meals I have to give it a thumbs down since multiple times our orders just stuck in a pending status and never submitted to the restaurant (maybe no drivers available?). It’s doubly disappointing when the thing meant to make life convenient just wastes a bunch of your time!
Activities: We got out for a grand hike at Forest Park where we got to see a great variety of spring flowers in bloom.
I also dragged my friend Tommy out for a round of disc golf, the course was crowded but it was totally worth it. As far as I can tell Portugal has no disc golf courses which is a bummer, but there are some in Spain.
Packing: Most of our month has been about packing up our belongings so we can hand them off to an international shipper in the upcoming days. We hired a local company to pack all our glassware and most of our unusually shaped items but have taken on the bulk of the job ourselves.
The task is made so much more difficult as it forces us to constantly reminisce and then immediately tape those feelings up into bins and boxes. We know that many of our boxes may stay packed for years since we expect to move a few times as we explore Portugal.
Thankfully the pets are on hand to help us out!
Our current “big” packing stress is volume. We have a 20 foot container which SHOULD easily accommodate our stuff, but as the boxes accumulate (about 180 at last count) it is worrisome. We are also bringing some furniture and have those large items ranked so we can quickly make cuts on pickup day if needed.
Our First Utilities: We signed up for internet, cell phone SIM cards, television service, and a landline at our rental in Portugal. I know some of you are interested in costs and comparisons so I’ll break down what we will get for €63.99 monthly:
* Two cell phone sim cards with coverage throughout Portugal including 10 gigs of data. 3500 domestic minutes and 3500 domestic texts included.
* Internet with no data caps, 1 gig download, 200 mbps upload.
* 150 channels including a mix of English, Portuguese, and other languages (this will hopefully help as we work to learn the language).
* The landline will include 1000 monthly minutes of free night time calling to the USA monthly.
* No additional fees, equipment is included.
June Plans: We should send off our stuff by this upcoming Saturday. On Sunday we are having a farewell shindig with local friends. Michelle’s parents may be roadtripping from Minnesota for a visit. Our house and car sales should both finalize. We’ll be frantically hoping our visa approvals come through before our flight dates but if not we have multiple convoluted backup plans (we’ll keep you posted). We should arrive in Portugal!!
4 responses to “May Retirement Status”
Have you actually purchased your tickets to Portugal yet? Or do you have to get your passports back in hand? Aunt, Peggy
We have purchased tickets, two sets apiece (since we each had to buy seats for two animals). IF we aren’t going to receive our passports with the visas in time we are looking at two options:
A) We can request duplicate passports from the US passport office if we don’t have ours back and have tix to travel internationally within 14 days. This would require a trip to San Francisco and a few hundred dollars. Then we could use our initial travel tix. BUT we would each have to come back to the USA and then return to Portugal so we get a stamp in the passport book that has the visa mark in it AFTER the approval happens. We can stay in Portugal on a 90 day visit with our passports, however, we need the visa stamp to get enrolled in healthcare before the end of June (when our existing insurance runs out) – or extend that time frame by paying COBRA rates for July.
B) We reschedule all of our travel tickets and find short term accommodations for two weeks or so here as we wait for the visas. Since this likely doesn’t save money over option A, I don’t think we’ll do it – we are paying rent and utilities in PT already and would also still have to buy a month of COBRA coverage.
Keep crossing your fingers for us regarding getting our visas back before 6/17! It’s not the end of the world if we don’t… but either option to resolve that will be a pain the the tushy.
I have a strong feeling you will have your passports back and everything will run smoothly for you. Have a wonderful visit with Mike and Robin. Take care and have fun. My fingers are crossed. Aunt, Peggy
Aunt Peggy, I want to bottle up your optimism and take a swig when I am feeling down. You are so amazing.