Lisbon and Sintra,Portugal

We are recovering but not yet fully recovered from the upheaval of uprooting from our former home and living our of a suitcase for the foreseeable future. We are fine with living in hotels and rental houses/apartments (we’ve  been doing it half the year for seven years already) but we are not yet completely relaxed this time around.

So I don’t have much to say yet about our travels except that we spent a few days in Lisbon.  It Is very nice, as everybody said it would be, but a little crowded for me even off-season.  I thought I could escape the bus loads of Chinese tourists that seem to be everywhere on the planet these days by coming to Lisbon rather than a more major city but I was wrong. So we headed outside of Lisbon to the beach at Cascais. This turned out to be a terrific choice with charming cobblestone walking streets, quaint restaurants, nice people, great walking, and terrific architecture.

I’d  like to share some photos here of Lisbon and Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage village  nearby with a whole lot of castles and palaces.  Feel free to email me with any comments or questions. I just don’t have the energy yet to write a lot of descriptions about these places on the blog right now.

I would like to post some photos of Cascais as well but am having trouble posting them here and now so they will be in the next post.

Below this post is a second post which I didn’t send out previously. It is more of an essay or philosophical rant on my observations that many people seem to be experiencing their lives through their cellphones.

Cascais Stormy Seas

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Sintra streets, castles, and palaces

Be Here Now

I like to post photos of my travels. But this website has changed the method for posting photo and i am having trouble figuring out how to do it. I do want  to share my travel experience but don’t care to share a travelogue of what I did today. So that leaves me with a chance to share what I am learning on my travels. Franklin says no one cares. Maybe that is true. But what is the point of gaining wisdom if you don’t share it? Hopefully soon I’ll gain the wisdom to figure out once again how to share photos. In the meantime here are some thoughts.


Be Here Now was the title of a book - and philosophy - by Ram Dass, formerly Richard Alpert, Tim Leary’s associate in the early days of the psychedelic movement, and a major influence of many early hippies like me. Oh yeah, also on Steve Jobs.

The phrase Be Here Now is one I say to myself frequently. I have a mild case of Attention Deficit Disorder and focusing on the present it’s not always as easy for me as it is for the rest of you. So I need to remind myself every so often to focus on what’s going on around me and not get distracted.

But now, I see so many people are so addicted to their cell phones that I am more present than many people around me. Indeed, I find my attention span to be doing pretty well compared to the consensus reality.

At first I though it was a joke. Or maybe a coincidence. All these tourist and travelers who went to so much trouble and expense to reach this beautiful place. But instead of enjoying the view or the vista, they are on their cell phone checking their mail, Facebook, or whatever sites young people follow. Anyway, they are not In The Now.

The other day in Lisbon I took a tram ride advertised as the most scenic ride in the city. I stood at the back of the tram so I could take photos. I was next to a Chinese family. But the man never interacted with his wife or daughter or looked up at the views.  He was on his cell phone the whole time looking at pictures of new cars for the entire trip.

I’m using him as an example but he was in no way unique. So many people are totally addicted to their cell phone and cannot disengage and Be Here Now. I started to do a photo shoot of people taking selfie‘s but it stopped being funny quickly. Apparently I’m the only person on the planet who doesn’t take selfie‘s. Or even own a selfie stick. Those African guys you used to see in Southern Europe selling knock off designer purses? Now all they sell are selfie sticks.

I signed up for an online course to take better iPhone photos, because I don’t want my pictures to look like a postcard. But apparently that’s a old fashion point of view. Because no one‘s taking postcard style pictures anymore. Everyone is taking selfie‘s. Me in front of this monument, me in front of this sunset, on and on and on. The postcard shot would probably be a novel change for most people.

Too bad Ram Dass is gone.  His message is very current. Experience your life. Be Here Now. It’s not about showing your friend where you went, it’s about you having the exceptional life experience of this moment in time. And being there now.

Almost Gone

It is my last night in Seattle, I fly to Lisbon in a few hours. Actually, it is the middle of the night in Seattle and I am wide awake, unexpectedly already on Lisbon time. All the stress of moving and endless packing has given me insomnia lately. Tonight when I woke at 2 am (despite a sleeping pill) I checked with Siri who told me it is 11 am in Lisbon. So I decided to stay awake, updating apps, downloading maps, and buying an app to help me sleep. I don't use a lot of apps but boy, I need something to get me back to sleeping through the night. Sleeping pills, even prescription ones, don't seem to be working for me.

With the exception of a week of dancing in Portland last week, we have done practically nothing but pack for more than 6 weeks. And it isn't over. I am having trouble getting a lifetime of possessions down to one suitcase. Ok, that is a little bit of an exaggeration. I am leaving another suitcase or two here in Seattle but I am taking only one with me to Portugal for the next three months and I can't quite close it. I have more or less six hours to solve this problem then off we go.

I have already registered for meetups and an expat group in Lisbon and have a couple of events on the horizon. But Lisbon is a modern city and Porto, the second largest city in Portugal, seems to be calling out to both of us so we might settle there instead. There are so many people traveling these days (think busloads of Chinese tourists.I saw 30- yes 30 -busloads of them on my last visit to the Grand Canyon) that we are thinking of giving up on major cities and exploring less popular destinations.

If you don't already know my background as a traveler, Portugal will be something like my 91st country. I have lost track but that number is close. Under 100 anyway. Franklin has definitely lost track but must be in the 70s or low 80s.

I went around the world for the first time when I was 23. I traveled on my own and was gone about 2 years. Those were the Nixon years, and just like today, I felt more comfortable as an expat than I did at home. I tried to immigrate to Canada last year but Canada had other ideas. I had immigrated there in 1970 (again, the Nixon years) and Canada was a little huffy that I had not stayed and paid taxes during the past 40 years. I still love Canada and spend the summers there but we are exploring Portugal this winter and spring instead. It sounds very nice and I have yet to meet anyone who didn't like it. I'll  share my first impressions in a few days.

How To Pack When You Don’t Know Exactly Where You Are Going

You may be wondering, what do you pack for an extended trip like this one?  I was certainly wondering myself. Particularly when we are not exactly sure where we will go.

At the moment we expect to be gone 10 months, during four different seasons, and visit at least three countries, probably more. Part of our trip is a car trip so during that portion we can have more items with us. We’ll be up in Portland and Vancouver Island for five or six months as we've been doing the past few years. But we are heading to Europe soon for around three months and are trying to pack light for that segment. But even then I need room for some tango clothes and shoes.

In the end, I was a little surprised what I chose to bring along. I didn't pack a lot of clothes for the European voyage; I'm not even sure there is more than I would bring for a two-week trip. There are no favorite clothes at all except a few scarves. It is mostly three colors of jeans, a few sweaters, and a whole lot of black, Even my dancing clothes are based on black, something I rarely choose to wear. About half my wardrobe is disposable clothes, things I don’t care about and can leave and replace. I accidentally forgot my camera and I have decided to just use my iPhone so that is one fewer item to pack. I have no winter coat. I’m trying to make do with a just leather jacket, raincoat, scarves, and a down vest. I'm in Portland now. The weather is warmish and these items have worked so far. The winter weather in Portugal should be similar to Portland and presumably warming as spring approaches.

While there are not a lot of clothes, there are a LOT of miscellaneous items, from safety pins to duct tape. I was a girl scout and still like to be prepared. There's a corkscrew, small army knife, a small travel pillow. That pillow has been on the road with me for more than 10 years (Europe Asia, South Ameria, cruises), and it makes strange beds feel like home.

But there is the question of where are we going? I thought we would spend three months exploring Portugal. Franklin, on the other hand, is starting to raise the subject of possible other yet-to-be-named destinations. Keep tuned to this station to see where we wind up. The big plan is 10 months out this time, followed by a brief visit to our storage area in Scottsdale next November to change our clothes, then off again for another year. After that, we'll consider settling down somewhere.

I have packed a new 24” suitcase for this trip,  plus a small carry-on and a daypack. But this keeps both hands full and I have reconsidered. I just ordered a larger rolling duffle bag instead to leave one hand free. There are pros and cons to both bags and I'll decide at the last minute which to use on the European portion of our journey. Yes, one bag leaves my other hand free, but there is the problem of stairs. Many older buildings in Europe don't have elevators. A bigger bag is easier to maneuverfrom one place to another but harder to carry up stairs. I know our first stop in Lisbon has an elevator but I wonder if limiting ourselves to elevator buildings will limit our options.

Packing and unpacking. I have spent the last month doing practically nothing else. But I really want to get it right. I hate it when I know I own the right item (like my camera) and I forgot to pack it.

Moving On and Letting Go

After living in the same house for 25 years we accumulated a lot of possessions. Not as many as some people I know, but a houseful. I see now that when some people say that they want to stay in their present home forever, what they are really saying is they can’t face getting rid of things they own and loved.

Every item requires a decision. Keep or let go? Sell or gift? Offer to a friend or family? Is it beautiful? Does owning this item increase the quality of my life? Even if this object has nice memories, can I be comfortable and happy without it?

In the end I was a little surprised what we wound up keeping. We stored most of our art collection, about half the furniture, jeans in a rainbow of colors, my mother’s wedding dress, and a whole lot of flower vases. Dozens of vases. I sometimes teach flower arranging and I really could not part with more than one or two of them.

I started the process of letting go of stuff more than a year ago and sold things online right until that last week. I  was not looking for high prices. I was just trying to find a good home for beloved possessions rather than sending them all to a second-hand store. But in last few weeks I admit I was dropping carloads of stuff at Goodwill every week.

In the past, I often wondered how a fabulous item wound up in a second-hand store. Well, now I know. Someone was moving and one day they-or their heirs-just packed up everything- the good along with the bad.

Ultimately I found the process exhausting but very interesting. There is a zen quality to the process with many thoughts about the nature and meaning of attachment and detachment. Some objects pass into and out of your life really quickly. Others stay around for decades for one reason or another. I think I just stored a sweatshirt dating from 1964 yet some nice new items come and go in days.

But I am really glad this experience is over for now and look forward to spending this next phase of my life living out of a suitcase.