If last week was about leaving the place that started to feel like home, this week was about figuring out what comes next when your plans need to shuffle!

Quiet Days

We had a few more days in Comporta before heading south. And they were quiet. Really quiet.

But I’m not complaining. We needed some quiet time.

We went on beach walks. Cooked at home. Worked. Napped. Watched shows. Talked to a couple of kids. Watched sunsets.

It sounds dreamy when I write it out like that! And, of course, parts of it were. Especially the sunsets, as I really do love them.

And we do feel like we are living a bit of a dream.

But we are also learning what our “ideal” dream is.

Comporta is a driving community. You drive to the beach. You drive to the store. There are no real walking paths. No sidewalks to walk on. Nowhere really interesting to walk.. And for two people who love to walk, it was hard!

I didn’t realize how much I depend on movement as part of my daily routine. And how much I enjoy my multiple walks a day! At home, we step outside and we walk. It’s built into the design of where we live; one of the benefits of living downtown. We had that benefit in Lisbon too. We would walk multiple times a day. We developed our favorite routes.

In Comporta, the only real option for walking was the beach and it’s a 7-minute drive just to get there. Walking outside the community we were in was walking in an area filled with construction, and otherwise a lot of nothing.

It may sound silly, but when walking is one of the main ways your system stays regulated, losing easy access to it is a bigger deal.

So it was a good reminder that regulation isn’t just about what we do. It’s also about what our environment allows us to do. And we love our walkable environment. So all future locations need to have some good walking options!

The Plan Falling Apart is the Plan

Mid-week we ran into a bit of a snag. Or at least a snag that we needed to plan to avoid.

I was researching the new e-visa that Europe is implementing, partly for my retreat participants in September, and I came across something I had forgotten. It was a rule I had encountered when my son was travelling in Europe. Basically you can only travel in the Schengen Area for 90 days. Now he’d worked around it by visiting countries outside the zone, and I’d assumed that reset the clock…But I had forgotten that he ended up going to Thailand.

So, being in countries outside the Schengen zone don’t count as time, but they don’t reset the clock.

The rule states you can’t travel more than 90 days within any 180-day period. And not only did our current trip count, but the 4 or 5 days Rob and I had spent in Portugal back in January (scouting locations for my retreat) counted too.

We started doing the math. And we realized we were going to go over with our “new” original plan (because remember our original, original plan was to head to Lisbon for a month and maybe a bit extra in the Algarve, but we figured we’d be home by end of April, or very least beginning of May).

But our new plan was to travel until June or July. But we had to rejig everything from this “new plan” …we had to start looking at countries outside the Schengen zone that we’d never even considered. Places that weren’t on our radar at all. Ever.

And for me, looking into countries I had never considered tipped me into Team Hyper. But I also noticed that once the initial hyper spike passed and we started actually looking at options, it got kind of exciting! These are places that we never would have considered. My son even said, “it’s good for you – it’ll get you out of your comfort zone”. (Like this whole thing is not already out of my comfort zone. Ha!)

Travel is seriously one of the best nervous system amplifiers. It stretches you. Add on travel surrounded by some measured impulsivity and uncertainty, it definitely pushes you. So we shall see.

It appears to be yet another example of “the plan falling apart is the plan” (at least we hope so!)

Heading South

Because my birthday was on the Friday, I wanted to head to the Algarve a little early so we would have more options of things to do, and there is just not a lot left to do in Comporta.

Our first stop was Albufeira, which everybody warned us about. “It’s so touristy. So trashy.” We don’t usually listen to that kind of thing. Most places that are touristy got that way for a reason. They have something people want to see.

And sure, Albufeira isn’t somewhere we’d want to stay long-term (or even short term). But we walked the back pathways, saw the beach (really pretty), and found a great Thai restaurant off the beaten path for lunch.

Then we drove to our accommodation we had booked last minute for a just couple of nights (we had to scramble for these early days – and I needed a place with a washing machine. These logistics become important when you are slow traveling like this). Luckily we found a super cute place. We arrived and headed into town (Carvoeiro) We went into town, and had a nice meal at an Italian restaurant.

My Birthday

The next day was my birthday.

Rob had booked me for a Japanese head massage (amazing!) and hair treatment (while he got a haircut!)

And then we went to a fancy beach club right on the ocean. Gorgeous. A Bali bed overlooking the water, a beautiful pool, and we just totally lounged. It was a great way to spend my day!

For dinner, we drove to a place that was supposedly highly recommended. Luckily we walked along this gorgeous path to get there and were oohing and ahhing over the view, because dinner was one step above “meh”.

And although I was tempted to go down the “this was supposed to be special” path, we just shrugged it off and walked back along the beautiful path, soaking in yet one more sunset. We finished the evening with me bawling during the final episode of “Love Story”. Heartbreaking. But I went to bed feeling oh so grateful.

I do think there’s something about being on this trip for well over a month now where the pressure to make every moment count has lightened up. Some things are amazing. Many things actually. But some things are just “meh”. And both are just part of it.

Cliff Walks, Caterers, and the Westin

The next morning, before we left, we did this cliff walk to a lighthouse near the resort. It reminded me of the Walk of the Gods we did in Italy a few years ago. It was stunning. You could even hear the waves slamming against the cliffs below; they sounded like thunder!

Then we drove up to meet my future caterer who’s going to be doing the food for my Portugal retreat next year. She was lovely! She’d made us a bunch of food to try including this incredible snack grazing box ( like a charcuterie box)

We checked into the Westin, where we’re using some points we’ve been saving for a while. I actually took the week officially off so we could have a down week (and we need less space if I’m not working).

Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we walked down to the beach and had a picnic with our amazing box. It was so nice. We spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool. They actually play spa music around the property which is actually pretty nice!

That evening we drove out to explore the area near the villa where my retreat will be held. We ended up finding a great Indian restaurant right next door. Really good food, super casual, and the owner was so friendly. We’ll probably do at least one night there during the retreat.

To finish off our week, we spent Sunday just hanging out on the beach and the pool.

My system is getting better at learning to slow down. And getting better at just rolling with what comes up.

It’s hard to believe that we have been here for 6 weeks! It is the longest we have ever been away! It for sure is an adventure we are excited to be on.