* I enjoyed writing this post just for fun so much that I started a separate blog to tell my story about moving to Portugal and talk about life here. Here’s the post where the story starts: Onde esta história começou

Today is Thanksgiving in the US, but it’s just a regular degular Thursday here in Portugal.

I’ve never been all in on the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday. I read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee in high school, and that got in the way of uncritically buying into the mythology.

But gratitude is important. And, giving thanks is just a regular everyday thing for me here.

I’m so incredibly thankful to be here.

Every day, I’m thankful for the incredible luck that made it possible for me to even consider this move. I landed a tenure track job before I even graduated with my library degree, and made it through to tenure and through the ranks to full professor. I was able to buy a house and build some savings.

I’m thankful that I made it through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness process while that was still viable. That cleared $116K of debt off of my plate. And no, I don’t believe anyone should have to pay back student loans, because no developed country should do that to its young. The cost of education should not put anyone anywhere into debt servitude for decades. But that’s a different soapbox!

And I’m thankful for my dad. When I first started looking at moving abroad, I told my dad something along the lines of “I’m not in any hurry to say goodbye, but when you do go, I’m probably going to gtfo the US”. His immediate response was “don’t wait”. He’s where I get the ’tism from and he has more time to watch the patterns. We both recognized the risks and wanted me safely out of the US before the 2024 election.

Of course, the decision to leave is only the beginning. The next step is to decide where to move TO.

That’s a whole other story that deserves its own post. The super short version is that I happened to have a conversation with a neighbor at a serendipitous time, and she put Portugal on that map for me. And then I spent some time exploring, and fell in love.

Now, I live in a suburb of Lisbon. That’s another little bit of luck to be thankful for. After my visit, I wanted to move to Setúbal, about an hour from Lisbon. I loved my time there when I visited.

But, I worked with a consultant that my former neighbor recommended to rent an apartment, and she knew of one that wasn’t actually on the market yet in Benfica.

I hadn’t been here before, but I took the risk. I figured I could always break the lease early if I didn’t like it. And it would be easier to find a new place when I was actually here.

Instead, it’s almost everything I wanted. It’s just further from a beach than I had hoped!

Everything I need on a regular basis is within walking distance. I regularly walk to the municipal market, where there are fresh produce vendors, fresh fish vendors, butcher shops, bakeries, and shops selling smoked meats and cheeses.

And when I need to go to a regular grocery store, there are two options in less than a 10 minute walk away, and at least two more within 15 minutes.

And then, of course, just about every corner store has a selection of fresh produce. That was a stark contrast from the southwest Atlanta neighborhood food desert that I lived in for 6 years before I moved here.

I could ramble on and on for several thousand words about all the reasons I love where I live, and just come across like I’m bragging.

But after living here for almost 2 years, I still am struck by something at least once a day that makes me pause and thank the universe that I’m here.

My camera roll is full of sunsets and photos of my dog, Mocha, and different parts of our hikes in the Monsanto Forest Park. And murals and other public art all around town. And food.

Portugal isn’t some magical place full of nothing but sunshine and roses. There are plenty of assholes here, too – tho, they don’t generally have guns, so that is a big improvement!

The neighborhood facebook group is as full of people complaining here as any neighborhood facebook group I ever saw in the US… Maybe even moreso.

And the bureaucracy… Plenty of people have gotten frustrated and either moved on or moved back home.

But Portugal so far has been a great fit for me. And I’m thankful every day to be here.