The week we barely thought about Porto

This week, we barely thought about our move to Porto.

We were all busy and excited to head to the Northwest to check out some colleges with our daughter. And the best news of the trip came before we even reached the hotel.

The look in the back of the Lyft

Our driver was taking us from the airport when Caroline looked over at our daughter, who was staring at her phone. That is not that odd for a 17 year-old. The look on her face was. Pure puzzlement.

When Caroline asked about it, she just handed Caroline the phone. After a bit, Caroline had the same look.

It was an acceptance letter from one of the six colleges on her list.

She was already the first in her school to finish all of her chosen applications. She had just become the first to get an acceptance. None of us expected it this soon! Once the surprise settled in, we were all very excited, and the next few days went to exploring the area, an on-campus interview and tours. As I write this we have two more campuses to go before we head back to Texas mid-week.

The one time Porto came up

The one time we did think about Porto was on a walk with Caroline by the Willamette River. It was about 75 degrees in the late afternoon. In Texas it would have been at least 90 to 95. We both said it at the same time: this is weather we can get used to.

That is life about a year out from the move. Other things happen, and they should.

The Overlap Lease

The move still crept forward, even in a week we were not looking at it.

We found some alternatives to Airbnb for those first one or two months in Porto, and we will check those out alongside it.

And we made a decision about the Austin end. We will take a short-term rental in Austin that overlaps the end of our long-term lease. Call it the Overlap Lease. Everything going with us on the suitcase move goes to the short-term place. Everything else gets sold, gifted or put into storage (I just cannot part with my comics yet). So when we are ready to go, we just GO. No last-week scramble packing a whole house around ourselves.

Next week

The end of next week is catch-up week, making sure we have not missed anything for our clients. Then, as we start the countdown to less than a year, we start looking around the house with a critical eye. Do we really need "this"?

If you have done the overlap trick, or found a better way to run the last month before a move abroad, tell me about it. Leave a comment below or just reply to this email.