MEREDITH
[ 00:00:07 ] Welcome back, Portugal Junkies! Hello. And we're post-Thanksgiving holiday already. We're into December, which...
Mark
[ 00:00:15 ] I feel that even though we weren't in full Thanksgiving family mode, I still feel that we ate a lot. I ate a lot, I know that.
MEREDITH
[ 00:00:25 ] You mean we weren't in America for Thanksgiving.
Mark
[ 00:00:26 ] Right, but we still ate a lot because we went to, went back to England. We did, we've been travelling; we've been traveling, went to see my mum and Meredith came over as well, she had some friends coming in from America that were visiting through, so we'll tell you about that. And then she made a Thanksgiving dinner, which my mum absolutely loved. And given that my mum has gone to the States numerous times, I mean, like thousands of times, she was never there for or enjoyed a Thanksgiving traditional dinner. Which blew my mind. I thought she would have done at least once. But there you go.
SPEAKER_2
[ 00:01:06 ] That's a shame.
Mark
[ 00:01:07 ] That's a lifetime of missing. You pulled it out of the pot, and she's now an absolute lover of the sweet potato casserole.
MEREDITH
[ 00:01:20 ] That's so Southern, I love it.
Mark
[ 00:01:22 ] But, so am I, so, you know, I think that's very, I think I get the sweet potato. A sweet tooth from her? I think that's probably where it's from.
MEREDITH
[ 00:01:29 ] Oh, probably.
Mark
[ 00:01:30 ] Well, I don't know. That was a sweet tooth as well. Sorry.
MEREDITH
[ 00:01:34 ] No, I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday. And so I was wondering how not being home for Thanksgiving for the first time was going to affect me. I did pretty well. I mean, I think when it comes down to it, I mean, you guys are listening because you're interested potentially in moving abroad and all that comes with that. But I feel like, you know, sometimes the holidays are the hardest times, right? Because your traditions are uprooted. You're not with your family, all the things. And Thanksgiving is my favorite. And so I was a little bit anxious about, like, it was honestly, maybe it was a distraction for me. It was a distraction for me a little bit to be like, oh, we're going to London. Oh, we're going to see the lights in London. Oh, I'm going to see my bestie Ryan and John. And then I'm going to make Thanksgiving dinner. I think it was just like keeping myself busy so that I wasn't in my feelings.
Mark
[ 00:02:32 ] It was like looking for the shiny thing over there.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:33 ] And I made it. I mean, we had such a lovely Thanksgiving. We did. It was fantastic. But I did WhatsApp-ed, videoed my family. Not WhatsApp-ed. I WhatsApp-ed, videoed my family. And of course, it was like 8 p. m. London time and 3 o'clock. 3 o'clock. We were there. And they were all together. And we always used to eat, like, mid-afternoon for Thanksgiving. And I was great. And I was great, you know, talking to everybody and saying hello and loving. And my mom goes, 'Oh, my child, I will love you forever.'
Mark
[ 00:03:03 ] It's like, what a world.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:04 ] And I just, I got to go.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:03:08 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:09 ] So it was, I mean, there were times that I got a little teary and a little upset. But, you know, it's.
Mark
[ 00:03:16 ] I think ultimately it's the reality of. Of moving away. And whether you move away cross-country or cross the pond, the reality is that if you're not. Okay. Well, thank you, Siri.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:34 ] Siri is boring.
Mark
[ 00:03:38 ] Siri is a pain in the backside. I didn't even know what the question was. I thought you said Siri.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:44 ] No. Okay.
Mark
[ 00:03:46 ] Stop it.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:47 ] I think it just. It comes with the territory. You know, when you move abroad, there are certain things and times that, you know, will be painful because you're away from your family or you're not being able to participate in things. And holidays are one of them. And it's, we talked about this with our friends the other day who are also immigrants and have left the U. S. and moved here. It's like, there's just, there's certain sacrifices that you need. And you know that you're going to make when you decide to do this. And this is one of them. And most days, it's totally fine.
Mark
[ 00:04:27 ] Yeah. But it's some of those moments where you had a tradition or you, you know, family-wise, you always have a gathering or whatever it is. Yeah. And it's those special moments that you know that are coming that you're going to miss. So in some way, you've got to try and be ready for that and combat it in the way of like with WhatsApp or whatever other means. It's possible.
MEREDITH
[ 00:04:48 ] Yeah. And try to create your own new tradition somehow.
Mark
[ 00:04:52 ] Just because it was doesn't mean to say that it can't be something else as well. That's right. So, yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:04:57 ] Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving. We hope that you guys who celebrate that did as well. Absolutely. Now we're moving into Christmas. And so last year, when we moved, so we moved December 1st. So we had Thanksgiving at home with my family. Yep. And then moved December 1st. Waiting for our visa. So we did not have Christmas at home with my family. And he didn't have Christmas at home with his mom and his family because we were in the States. So that was, I mean, that was interesting.
Mark
[ 00:05:33 ] What do you mean? In the States? Are you talking about your family?
MEREDITH
[ 00:05:36 ] We were in the States for Thanksgiving. Yeah, for Thanksgiving. I can't remember. Whatever I said. Basically, you're not with your mom for Christmas either. No, we're not with our families for Christmas. And that was, it was hard sometimes. Like, I felt like, I think the challenge is I don't get into the Christmas spirit as easily at all.
Mark
[ 00:06:00 ] And I think the difficulty with being in the alcove today is that it's 70 degrees. Yeah, 70 odd degrees, beautiful blue sky, and everyone's walking around in a t-shirt and shorts. It's, you know, it's a different style of Christmas. Okay. Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:06:17 ] Yeah. Yeah. Christmas is in Charlotte. We have. No, that's also true.
Mark
[ 00:06:20 ] But then you've got family close by, and, you know, all of those things are not missing from the equation.
MEREDITH
[ 00:06:26 ] Yeah. I feel like that's one of the challenges for me. So this year we're doing the opposite. So we were here for Thanksgiving. Or this side of the pond. Yeah. And then Christmas we are spending with our families, but we are actually splitting up for actual Christmas, which I'm sad about. Which is not a good thing. But unnecessary. Yeah. It's not a necessary thing because I need to be with my mom and he needs to be with his and that's just how it goes. So we're doing that and then we're going to meet back in the U. S. But it feels like this year we are. We're doing the opposite of what we did last year. So the anticipation of getting ready to go home for the holidays, I don't know. It's affecting me weirdly.
Mark
[ 00:07:16 ] And I don't even know. I don't even know how to name it. Right. But I think a lot of it is down to, well, I mean, sort of anxiety of going home, of traveling on your own because you're traveling with the dog on your own for the first time and that brings its whole different self to the equation as well.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:07:38 ] Yeah.
Mark
[ 00:07:38 ] You know. I'm anxious about you doing that on your own. I know that it's, you know, it's the only way that we can do this year. Yeah. But it is in that sense.
MEREDITH
[ 00:07:49 ] It is what it is.
Mark
[ 00:07:52 ] And yeah, it is what it is.
MEREDITH
[ 00:07:55 ] Well, are you anxious about going home for the holidays? Either to the U. K. or the U. S.? Are you anxious about any of it?
Mark
[ 00:08:03 ] Yeah, I'm anxious about going into the U. S. if I'm honest for obvious reasons. Not going to spell them out.
MEREDITH
[ 00:08:09 ] What are the obvious reasons? No wonder you're spelling them out. Okay.
Mark
[ 00:08:11 ] Well, the obvious ones are, you know, you're walking back into a new world. You've got a complete set of unknown values other than what you see reported on mainstream media or independent media and what you've learned and heard from friends and family. So you've got a really, really small sort of piece of information that you can rely on from friends and family because that's a trusted source about how they're feeling, about where they're living, about what's going on around them post-election. But just the whole walking into the States after a whole year of being out of it, it's ...
MEREDITH
[ 00:08:56 ] You haven't been back, have you? When's the last time you were in the States?
Mark
[ 00:09:03 ] When we left? I haven't ... I've not been back. Have I? I'm pretty certain I've not been back. No, we haven't. These moments ... No, we haven't. Because we would have thought we'd have had to have done something with the dog. And we haven't done anything with the dog. Okay.
MEREDITH
[ 00:09:18 ] Okay. That makes sense because I went home in May and you weren't with me. Correct.
Mark
[ 00:09:22 ] Okay. Gee, I thought I was having a mad moment there. Me too.
MEREDITH
[ 00:09:27 ] Oh my gosh. Anyway... Okay. Yeah.
Mark
[ 00:09:30 ] We do so much traveling. We just forget where we're going. We do so much traveling. We just...
MEREDITH
[ 00:09:35 ] I will say, I'm going to come back to what we started with, which was how amazing is it that we can be in London in two and a half hours? Two and a half hours from far of the airport. It's crazy. Yeah. It's a whole other subject, but it is one of those things that you realize in the moment where you're like, we have such proximity to so many cool places. Yeah, to everywhere else. Especially things like going to London for Christmas time and seeing the lights and the markets and stuff. It's just amazing. But ... Yeah. I digress.
Mark
[ 00:10:05 ] You do.
MEREDITH
[ 00:10:05 ] I want to go back to what we're feeling about going back. So you are ... you have anxiety on my behalf. I do. You're also anxiety-ridden a little bit because you're going back to the States for the first time in basically a year. Yeah.
Mark
[ 00:10:22 ] It's going to be ... I just think it's going to look ... maybe not look, but it's just going to feel different. And I think that's because of post-election.
MEREDITH
[ 00:10:30 ] Yeah, absolutely.
Mark
[ 00:10:31 ] But I don't know if that's because of other people or if that's because of my mindset.
MEREDITH
[ 00:10:35 ] No, I get it. It makes me quite... so I have the same concerns.
Mark
[ 00:10:38 ] It would be interesting to... sort of for me to sort of... brief myself on it after the event. You know, actually break down... How do I actually feel versus how did I think I was going to feel?
MEREDITH
[ 00:10:50 ] And I think, too, you know, I try to level set, too, because it's easy for me to sometimes let things like this, you know, let my anxiety take over about certain things. And I am also saddened by that because it is my home and it will likely always be my home no matter where I am. But it's very hard for me right now to be proud of it and be excited about going there other than to see my nearest and dearest. Yeah, absolutely. And so there's that and then there's like... I don't know. I guess I just am a little bit worried about the safety issue. You know, we left... Right... and we came over here. And, you know, it's not like... I don't think I have truly any reason to worry about my safety going into Charlotte and then... I mean, not even Charlotte, going into RDU and then into Littleton, North Carolina.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:11:55 ] Right.
MEREDITH
[ 00:11:56 ] But there is something about it that because we have experienced what the seventh safest country actually feels like for a year and not once had to worry about like who's packing and who's got a gun on them in a public . . Right. . And, you know, things like that that we've taken for granted now because we've experienced them and that's kind of life for us. Right. I feel like I have to revert back to something that I don't want to have to mentally . .
Mark
[ 00:12:29 ] Mm-hmm. .
MEREDITH
[ 00:12:30 ] in order to keep my guard up. Right.
Mark
[ 00:12:32 ] But again, it's no . that's . . I wouldn't say it's no different. It is different. But when we were going back to the UK the other day, you know, one of the things that I'd said to you as we were walking around . . Yeah. . Yeah. is, you know, just . Yeah. be careful of people in London. . . . You know, just be so aware. Aware of your belongings. Aware of your surroundings. You know, and some of that is just because of me and knowing what London can be like in certain areas. Mm-hmm. I'm not going to sugarcoat that, you know. Yeah. It's not that it's...
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:13:02 ] yeah. ...
Mark
[ 00:13:02 ] the unsafest, but by no terms is it the safest. Right. And we're going from this, you know, from Porto and/ or the Algarve to a... yeah... huge city. Of course it's going to be different and you're going to have your wits around you, hopefully. But all of those things add to the anxiety of travel... mm-hmm... for me. So I just, you know, just . . I don't know, just making myself aware of how I feel now so that I can ...
MEREDITH
[ 00:13:35 ] And look back and see ... ... analyze ... ... if it was warranted or not.
Mark
[ 00:13:37 ] Yeah. ... was I sort of way off the ... Yeah. ... and was it absolutely nothing like it? Well ... well ...
MEREDITH
[ 00:13:42 ] yeah. ... and I'll be honest with you, we're returning way before January 20th ... Oh, yeah. ... so I am happy for that because I don't want to ... I really don't want to be anywhere near anything in the U. S. ... ... during inauguration and I ... that's just the truth. I don't know what to expect from people in general and it's just ... and that's what's sad about all of it. So that's where I'm feeling it and I'm also feeling... emotional about seeing my family. Again, it's been like six months. It's been a long time. I mean, we talk and all that all the time but... I'm like... I'm... I don't know. I feel different somehow and it's hard to describe why I'm different in like a couple of sentences to people like when I'm seeing them and I'm sure they're going to go, 'How are things?' And yeah, you're just like, 'How do I even tell you?' That's right. How do I even tell you? I'm not the same person that I was a year ago. Right. And...
Mark
[ 00:14:47 ] But travel will do that for you.
MEREDITH
[ 00:14:48 ] Travel will do that for you. Yes. So, the other thing is, and you mentioned it earlier, is that I am traveling with the dog . . Yes. . for the first time since we moved over here and . . Yeah. and flew her with us . . . Very successfully. . . from Newark to . . Very successfully. .
Mark
[ 00:15:05 ] . . and we're going on the same premise that it was a very successful and easy . .
MEREDITH
[ 00:15:09 ] Uh-huh, it was. . And so, in my worst moments, I can catastrophize and think of all the terrible things that could go wrong with the situation with getting her on the plane. Yeah. But . .
Mark
[ 00:15:20 ] That's the thing, once you're through checking . .
MEREDITH
[ 00:15:22 ] Yeah, you're good.
Mark
[ 00:15:23 ] . and you've got that label on the back . .
MEREDITH
[ 00:15:25 ] You're good...
Mark
[ 00:15:26 ] the rest is easy.
MEREDITH
[ 00:15:28 ] So anyway, I am a little bit nervous about that because there is some preparation involved about making sure you have the right paperwork and what... because we've never gone the other way. I mean, what I've known and researched, you know, massively leading up to our move here and then actually getting her over here was all the things that you had to do to get her from the U. S. to Portugal. Right. And so, now going back the other way, from what I understand, it's literally just an online form that you have to fill out. Uh-huh. And she has to have her updated rabies... documentation. Um, she also has her pet passport, which the U. S. doesn't have. The U. doesn't care about because it's an EU pet passport. It's an EU, but when we come back with her, that should make the process easier...
Mark
[ 00:16:16 ] Even easier...
MEREDITH
[ 00:16:17 ] because that's... or they're going to...
Mark
[ 00:16:19 ] they're not going to give the dog an exam. They're just going to check. Well, I don't think they will. I have to double-check all of this. I don't know. Yeah, I say that.
MEREDITH
[ 00:16:25 ] Oops. So there's all this anxiety leading up to that, too, that is... it's her and it's the element of, you know, if something goes . . . tits up, which is the way you like to say .
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:16:37 ] .
MEREDITH
[ 00:16:37 ] . . . Then we'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Everything is figure-outable, but I'm not going to anticipate that something bad is going to happen.
Mark
[ 00:16:43 ] Right, because we're both flying out from Lisbon on the same day. You've got a slightly earlier flight such that if there's an issue with you slash the dog getting on board, I just won't take that flight to the U. K. We'll regroup, figure it out, and do whatever we need to do. Right. So that's our tentative... And so that's at least some strategy that we've put in place to make sure that nobody is... nobody's left behind. Right. You know. No dog left behind.
MEREDITH
[ 00:17:09 ] And I think the other thing is .
Mark
[ 00:17:11 ] Maybe that's what we call this one. No dog left behind. Maybe.
MEREDITH
[ 00:17:15 ] I think the other thing is knowing that we're not traveling together for nine or ten days of it. Right. And that is ... that's hard as well, just in general, holidays away from you... From you.... traveling with the dog. Blah, blah, blah. It just feels very like, oh, my God. I'm not like ... I'm not heading into some relaxing vacation. I will once I get there, but then I'm going to be worried about getting the dog back. Right. So ... I mean, there's always going to be some things ...
Mark
[ 00:17:38 ] Yeah... that are a worry ... ... because it's the fear of the ... well, it's the unknown. And the fact that you're relying on, you know, some person in a yellow high-vis jacket .
MEREDITH
[ 00:17:51 ] Being nice to them. .
Mark
[ 00:17:52 ] being nice to you that day because . . I know. They're keeping me. you know, they got out of bed the correct side and they had their coffee . . Yes. . and whatever it is. So . . . Yes. I don't know. Again . . Yeah. . you can go down these roads, and we do. There's no doubt. But I think things that we've learned along the way . . Yeah. are that you can only control what you can control. And you can put other things in place to make sure that if something does go tits up . . Yeah. Then we can deal with it, you know, together. Yeah... So nobody's sort of... Oh, crap. Right... I'm going... I'm on a plane to England, and you're still set in Lisbon. We're lucky.
MEREDITH
[ 00:18:29 ] Well, and we have built a very core group of people here... even over the past 60 days that I could call tomorrow and be like, 'I am in an emergency.' What can we do?
Mark
[ 00:18:37 ] Can you come to Lisbon? Can you meet us halfway?
MEREDITH
[ 00:18:40 ] Or, you know, I just... I do feel that way. And in Porto, we didn't have that, and it always felt like this liability. Absolutely. Like, if something were to happen, what do we do? And that always made me uncomfortable. And I feel like here we've been so lucky to meet people that I already trust . . Yeah. . . . that I feel like have our back about things like this that would step in and be like . . Oh, sure. . . we'll figure it out. Because some people don't go home. Some people over here . this is their home now. And that's . . this is what they . this is where they are.
Mark
[ 00:19:08 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:09 ] So, we just . . Yeah.
Mark
[ 00:19:11 ] It's . . . I don't know. I think the . . having the ability to be able to lean on somebody now in an emergency . .
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:19 ] Right. . .
Mark
[ 00:19:19 ] is . .
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:20 ] You can take a breath.
Mark
[ 00:19:21 ] Yeah. It really is helpful.
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:22 ] Right. And you have multiple of those people here that I feel like we could call. Yeah. So, that makes me . . Yeah. It's a different level of support, I think, that... or it's almost like this... I feel the same way about them. Like, they all have pets, too, or if they had an emergency with their spouse, or what... I used to worry about that in Porto. What if he dies over with a heart attack, or is having a stroke, and I call 112? I have no one else for support. I didn't feel like, at the time, I had anyone else, truly, for support. Here, I could call eight or nine people, right now, if I needed something like that. And that is what community is. Yeah. And I'm just very... I feel very, very lucky... Yeah with the people that we have surrounded ourselves with here. Absolutely. And I'm sure there'll be even more. I mean, we're just . we've just started, but I'm just very thankful you know who you are. Yes, you do. It just feels good to have that kind of . Support. . structure, and . . . Yeah. . and community here.
Mark
[ 00:20:23 ] Yeah. And just to pick up on that, if I do kill over from a heart attack in the next four to six weeks, it wasn't a heart attack.
MEREDITH
[ 00:20:35 ] You watch too much True Crime.
Mark
[ 00:20:38 ] You started me on it, for sure.
MEREDITH
[ 00:20:40 ] Yes. Anyway.
Mark
[ 00:20:41 ] Anyway.
MEREDITH
[ 00:20:42 ] Well, we are hoping that you all have great holidays. We're going to have . . We think we've decided we're going to have one more episode next week.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:20:51 ] Just one more.
MEREDITH
[ 00:20:52 ] Yeah. And then we're going to take a break for a week or two. Yeah. We're going to take a little break, and we'll be back sometime in January, with all new ideas. Yes. And things to talk about. Now, I will say this. Please, if we have missed a big topic that you've been watching or listening, and you're like, why don't they ever talk about this, or why don't they ever talk about that? We are right now brainstorming things that we want to talk about on this podcast in 2025. Please send us those recommendations. Absolutely. Comments, email. I don't care how you get it to me. Right. That is gold to us. Because we will definitely add those to our list of things we want to talk about in 2025, as we're experiencing what year two looks like for us as immigrants to this country. So, we're really excited. But we are probably going to do one more next week, take a couple weeks off, because we're going to be traveling and be traveling separately, some of that. So...
Mark
[ 00:21:54 ] Sadly.
MEREDITH
[ 00:21:55 ] We will come back in 2025. But we'll see you next week.
Mark
[ 00:21:58 ] Yes.
MEREDITH
[ 00:21:59 ] And...
Mark
[ 00:21:59 ] It's going to be... it's going to be a sad Christmas.
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:04 ] Hey, don't say that.
Mark
[ 00:22:05 ] Well, no, not sad Christmas, but it's just going to be sad not being together.
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:08 ] We just have to focus on . And it's just the reality of... We're happy to be with the people that we're with. Yeah. And I'll miss you. I'll miss you, too. Okay. It's all right. I was just worried... You look gross.
Mark
[ 00:22:18 ] I know. I was just worried you might have... I might have a heart attack. That's...
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:21 ] Mark?
Mark
[ 00:22:23 ] Yes?
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:26 ] Don't say that to your wife. Anyway... Anyway... See you next time.
Mark
[ 00:22:30 ] See you in... yeah, next week, and then after that, 2025.
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:35 ] 2025 is crazy.
Mark
[ 00:22:37 ] All right. Absolutely. Take care. Thanks, you guys. We'll see you next time.
SPEAKER_2
[ 00:22:40 ] Thanks very much. Bye. Cheers, y'all. Listen up, future expats. For more content about our move, the visa process, Portuguese culture and destinations, and tons of support resources for your own decisions and potential move abroad, follow us on Instagram and TikTok, at Portuguese Culture and Destinations.
Mark
[ 00:22:58 ] Stay in touch and help us reach more people by subscribing here and following us there.
SPEAKER_2
[ 00:23:05 ] Cheers, y'all.