Wow. It’s been a minute. What has happened since our last post in June of 2019? A baby, a global pandemic, a cross country move, and a 5 year hiatus of international travel almost to the day!
Skipping past all that and here we are in Portugal, a family of four, and re-learning the highs and lows of stepping outside our comfort zone.
High – it’s amazing to be traveling again. I felt euphoric seeing my kids taking in the sights and sounds of a new culture and country from the moment we grabbed the metro at the Lisbon airport. Excitement at things as simple as the different garbage cans (and highly convenient recycling cans available everywhere!) is what travel is about after all.
Low – holy moly traveling as a family of four is a different endeavor entirely. A family of four with a young kiddo in tow is, simply, not the same as our jaunts abroad with two, or even three of us. Picky eating, jet lag, no nap schedule and, simply, being out of your own rhythm takes a toll on younger kiddos and subsequently on everyone. We felt it.
Our first day was one for adjusting, adapting and re-calibrating our expectations for travel. We did our fair share of belly aching to our own parents (sorry moms and dads!) and gratefully climbed into bed after forcing everyone to tour the town on foot taking in the bridge, the river, and the seemingly vertical streets on less than ideal amounts of sleep. We were full of doubt as parents after our first demoralizing day but hoped we could rebound after some well deserved sleep. Tomorrow after all, is another day.