As I start writing this, my 2-year-old is running around yelling "Todu bem! Todu bem!" (which means "All good?") in Portuguese. She's picking up every Portuguese phrase we practice like a sponge, and I can't wait to see how she learns it alongside her English skills this coming year.
We're just a few months out from our move to Portugal. We're still waiting for visa approval that will allow us to stay for six months (versus 90 days, which any US citizen can do). The Visa people told us it's taking about 60 days right now. Which means, we will have actually left on our trip before we find out.
How do I live in this uncertainty? I don't see it as a negative or a hurdle. I see it as part of the adventure. There will be many years of my life that are well-planned and predictable. This year is not. That is fine. We'll make it work, no matter what it looks like.
The other reality here is that this is just 6 months – something we're choosing to do as a fun experiment. It's not a necessary immigration. And if we get rejected, we have backup options. I know so many friends and coworkers who have been through insanity trying to get their visas or citizenship. This is not that. I'm keeping it in perspective.
Of course, it would reaallly be ideal if we could find out about the visa before we leave on February 1st, since we'll need to get our passports to the consulate to be stamped.
But, I digress. I wanted to share what we're doing to prepare for time away from life and home.
Getting our house ready to rent: We VERY FORTUNATELY found some great renters for our place that will be living here 5 of the 6 months we're gone. They are taking it furnished but we need to get all of our clothes, toys and personal items out of the house, including clearing out the girl's room. To do this we rented a storage unit and are taking trips every weekend over there with our crap. This has been the greatest thing because we've purged (donated, sold, thrown away) a lot of stuff we don't need.
Finding childcare: We haven't done this yet, but it's a big one on the list. We can't really do this until we find out about the visa. So we're literally going to be looking for a nanny weeks before we need it. I'm not thrilled about the childcare situation in general – I'd rather have Inara in a preschool. She really thrives with other kids. But it wasn't going to be realistic to do this. WHICH IS WHY their needs to be better schooling and childcare options for digital nomad parents. I definitely predict this as a space that will blow up in the next five years because we are certainly not alone in our desire to travel with our kids.
Getting some degree of language awareness: We've been watching YouTube videos for common Portuguese phrases and we implemented an old strategy Johnny had used when he traveled abroad in high school: Labeling everything around the house with the Portuguese word for it.
Figuring out our packing strategy: We've decided to bring 4 very large suitcases, two backpacks and two car seats. So, I've been making a little Portuguese capsule of my clothing and figuring out what I can live without. There will be some hard goodbyes among my many beauty products and accessories. We've both been hoarding and stocking up on medicines the last few month (in a legal manner lol), so that will need some space, too. We'll be doing a dry run of our packing in early January to see how it all comes together. It's so dorky to admit but I've working out much more than before, trying to improve my cardio health so I am better able to carry the girls and luggage and stuff. Travel with two little kids is so physical.
Anyhow, just wanted to capture a snapshot of this moment in time – more to come!