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Evil Cats Destroy Lives In Europe

Category: Retirement

  • Navigating Healthcare Abroad

    Navigating Healthcare Abroad

    Access to quality healthcare that is also affordable was an extremely important factor when we started considering early retirement and a move abroad. Our 911 occupations in Oregon provided us with a “Cadillac Health Plan” and our employer paid the lion’s share of the expenses. We had become exceedingly spoiled, especially since we were double…

  • House Hunting For The Geographically Challenged

    House Hunting For The Geographically Challenged

    I had seen the listing for the house in Olhão which we toured and talked about in Oh, Olhão!?!. Michelle wanted to cancel the tour because we hadn’t been thinking about buying a house and didn’t want to waste the real estate agent’s time. I persisted and immediately after the tour it felt like our…

  • Oh, Olhão!?!

    Oh, Olhão!?!

    “How did you choose Olhão?” is an all too common question we are asked by friends and other expats. We were looking back through our blog posts and realized that we never really answered that question here on FinazzoFun. I’m going to give the easy and mundane answer and then want to delve into our…

  • We Made It 1 Year

    We Made It 1 Year

    June 20th marked 1 full year in Portugal and the time blasted by like a bullet train. Maybe that means we have been having plenty of fun (“day drinking” European style is next level – even our background in emergency services did not prepare us for this), or perhaps we are just oldish now and…

  • To Lisbon And Back In 37 Hours

    To Lisbon And Back In 37 Hours

    Andrew had successfully navigated his residency appointment in October, and now it was my turn. We still haven’t found a house sitter in Portugal, so I traveled solo to Lisbon and back via train while Andrew stayed home with our furry kids. My primary goals were: pack light for easy travel, find something delicious to…

  • Another Journey On The Road To Residency

    Another Journey On The Road To Residency

    My journey through the bureaucracy of becoming a legal resident in Portugal has been a series of physical trips, often covering long distances and being more stressful than the actual appointments involved. Trips to San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Orlando have all been intense journeys. Fittingly today’s post will focus on my journey more than…

  • Converting Our Visa To A Residence Permit

    We chronicled the saga of obtaining our visas through the San Francisco Portuguese consulate in several previous posts. The visas which we received in June are temporary and allow us to stay in Portugal for 4 months or until our assigned appointment with Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF) which is the equivalent of immigration/border…

  • We Got Here With A LOT Of Help From Our Friends (And Family)

    We Got Here With A LOT Of Help From Our Friends (And Family)

    We have been living quite a whirlwind for at least a month and a half. From packing up our home on Sarah Way where we lived for 17 years, to saying our goodbyes to the familiar and trading it for the unknown, to getting our furry friends ready for a lengthy journey. Days blended, time…

  • Chaos!

    Sorry about the lack of updates, life is complete chaos. I’ll give a very brief update now, but we should be back on track next week. At our farewell party (which was a BLAST thanks to everyone who hung out with us) Michelle sprained her knee which put her on crutches for just about a…

  • May Retirement Status

    May Retirement Status

    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)…