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The Importance of “Home”

The concept of “home” is something that should be seriously contemplated by anyone considering moving to another country. I’ve placed “home” in quotes as home is more than just the tangible, physical structure where we grew up or currently live. There are other attributes that have intrinsic value as well. Home is traditionally where family is, where we entertain friends, the people we trust and rely on most. Where we feel most comfortable and safe. It’s where we keep and hold onto the things that are most valuable to us. It provides a foundation on which we build our lives, for life is easier when there’s a strong bond between us and “home”. All of these add up to give the home a sense of soulfulness.

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Journey back to Puerto Vallarta

It’s been over three years since we’ve been back to Puerto Vallarta, the place that was our home for nearly thirty years. But in late February we made the journey to attend a wedding and reunite with old friends. 

We broke the trip up by landing first in Cancun spending a few days, allowing us to avoid Mexico City immigration, (especially after what happened on our last visit), and provide a bit of a reprieve from the inevitable jet-lag that seems to bother us even more these days. 

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Portugal here we come (2017)

The night sky exploded into a shower of color and light, silhouetted against the dark waters of Banderas Bay in the distance. To our left the golden dome of the church of the Señora de Guadalupe glowed bright, intermittently covered with long shadows cast by her iconic crown from the erupting show of light. Below the streets were crowded with spectators enjoying the spectacle and welcoming in the new year.

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Lifestyle Changes

It has been a while since I last posted. Well, we’ve been a little busy. Some years ago we started building a home in a lovely area about 45 minutes south of Lisbon, Portugal. And it has been quite the ordeal, providing us with an array of experiences, some good and some, well, some we’re still trying to work through.

I’ll be writing here about this journey which has proven to both humorous at times, (although it wasn’t always so at the moment), as well as educative– we’ve learned a lot along the way. I think that’s partly what’s saved us–seeing what we were undertaking as more of a journey rather than an end-point. Finally receiving the home when it was finished (is it really ever finished?) was just as important as what we learned and experienced along the way..

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A visit to Extremadura Spain

Extremadura is a region in Spain that runs along side the Portuguese border, directly east of Lisbon, so in the central/west region of the country. From Lisbon it’s 200 km, or just a couple of hours drive away. We decided to do a short circuit tour of this region that would take us first to Merida in the south, then north taking in the towns of Cáceres, Trujillo and Plasencia, and then further up and then back west to La Alberca and Cuidad Rodrigo, before heading back to Lisbon. 

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Cruising the Cyclades – Santorini

I had no expectations going into Santorini, and perhaps that’s the best way to first get to know it. I had done very little reading about it prior or during our trip, just knew it was our last stop before flying back to Portugal. My education on Santorini began when Hariz, who we rented our car from, picked us up at the ferry port and brought us to his office, a few blocks from our beachfront hotel. On the way he told us about Thera, the volcano, and what we should see and do in Santorini.

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