This is Part 2 – if you haven’t read Part 1, click here

The ride from Portugal to Spain was easy and the change in landscapes was a warm welcome after three weeks watching the Portuguese views brush past us through the windows of our rented Fiat 500. I had been in awe at this point by the weather. We had just celebrated Valentines Day only 10 days ago and the sun managed to beat down on us, having us too hot to wear the winter coats we had brought with us for obvious reasons. Having lived close to the French Alpes for 10 years and Nana having lived in the Swiss Alpes for the same- we were confused and excited for the change.

Only a couple hours later, we found ourselves hopping off the Flixbus and grabbing the backpacks we had tossed under the carriage. Once out of the bus station of Sevilla, we were greeted by a slap across the face of the smell of oranges. Like what? The city REEKS of oranges. It’s like the tree’s have perfume dispensers and you’re completely intoxicated by the smell- it’s amazing. We started our 25 minute walk to our hostel that we had booked via Hostelworld (if you know, you know). I swear on my life, on the walk to the hostel, we came across people literally dancing in the streets to the music only in their ears. We admired the chitter-chatter of the dozens of people piled up on the different plaza’s, sharing pitchers of sangria and plates of hot and cold tapas. The sun was bright, the streets were clean, the air was fresh and fragrant and the people were genuinely happy. Their intoxicating happiness brought me almost to tears. In all honesty, I still have a little form of PTSD from the French, and still do to this day, so I am very wary of people in the streets, their intentions and general safety. I was just blown away by the calmness of it all. We made it to the hostel and immediately were both anxious to get back out and discover the city. Now, Nana had come here on her solo trip at the start of 2023, so she had a little idea of the things she wanted to show me. We got showered and changed and made our way back out.

Listen, I am going to save my stories of Sevilla for another day. The fact that Sevilla is now my favourite city is not the point of this post, and I promised to announce my now current home and I am taking forever- I know. Let us get to the point, shall we? The city was freaking amazing. I was seeing myself living here. Riding a bike to work, having picnics in the parks we rested in. I felt it in my bones that I loved this country. We continued on to Malaga after a few days and liked it much less- but only because it has that ‘Big City’ vibe that we don’t like.

We left Spain after maybe five short days with serenity in knowing that we could see ourselves living there. The next 100 days were going to be spent in Brazil and The United States… so the question was- could we see ourselves living in either of those two places?

We left Spain to go back to Portugal to fly out of Porto to go back to Switzerland- ouf. Once there, back in the cold cold Swiss winter- we spent one week getting our affaires in order. By that, I mean we did laundry and saw a few friends before we packed suitcases full of summer clothes to spent the next 12 weeks in North and South America.

First stop- Brazil to see my wife’s (then fiancée) family. We spent six weeks travelling to four different states- discovering big cities down to villages so secluded they didn’t even have roads or street lights. I often think back on the nights of us walking down those sandy and dirt roads in the dark of night, listening to the frogs croak as we watched the fireflies light up our way. I devoured her culture and the landscapes, but no matter how much I loved the food, the views, the language, the people- I just couldn’t see myself living there. My stomach would beg to differ- I had never felt so healthy in my entire life. The exotic fruits and regular rice and beans had me feeling in great shape and the humidity had my skin glowing. That being said, the cultural shock was still quite intense and I felt it was hard for me to blend in. Nana and I would spend nights thinking back on to our trips in Portugal and Spain, questioning if America was going to change our opinion or if we had already made the decision in our hearts. Maybe Portugal would be nice after all, just to continue learning the language? Maybe not speaking Spanish was going to be a trial for both of us? It was like a constant question mark floating over our heads about the future.

The six weeks unfortunately passed quickly and we found ourselves saying our goodbyes in Brazil and taking off on a flight to Dallas. Once in The State’s, we spent another six weeks visiting my family, travelling to five states throughout the trip with a schedule that was packed tight. We spontaneously got married, we did a road trip, and we had the best time running around all the streets of The Big Apple. Our questioning doubt remained, and even got worse. You see, Nana had never been to America- I grew up here. I have been fighting the idea of coming back because I know how hard it is to get over to Europe and get settled- I have done it. That being said, I am always so happy in Texas, I love the people and I love that I can be myself over there. However, there are some downsides to the country. We would be waving goodbye to our beers on beautiful terraces on cobblestone streets. We would kiss health coverage goodbye as well, and be forced to embrace Capitalist America. Being able to walk and bike everywhere would be a thing of the past, and we would be forced to commute everywhere- something as simple as the grocery store or pharmacy included. America was the most comfortable option though- including the toilet paper! All amenities are just straight up comfortable, with air conditioning, amazing service, soft carpet- but we just aren’t ready for that yet. Therefore, we were brought back to our two options of Spain and Portugal.

After those six weeks came to an end, we closed the chapter of our 130 day trip around the world and made our way back to Europe, through Paris. France almost didn’t let me back into the country by the way, which was ironic because I was running from them as well- but that is a whole other story. We stayed a couple rainy and cold days in Paris before heading back to Switzerland to figure out what to do next. It was quite strange to be back in Europe and back in France. We went from 12 weeks in hot and humid countries back to late-spring Europe, where they hadn’t yet seen the heat of summer or sunny days. The architecture that once felt so familiar felt one again from another world and though France was my home for 10 years, I felt like a tourist. When we finally made our way back to Switzerland, we locked ourselves up in a room and worked on our plan for the future.

We made the decision on the choice of country and started making the necessary steps : finding a home, looking into immigration, etc. At the same time we organised ourselves for two months, we continued to be homeless and travelled around Switzerland via train, bus and boat. Our quench for travel wasn’t satisfied, so we added Belgium, England and The Netherlands to the list. All while we jumped from house to house, hotel to hotel, we planned our next steps in our future home and country. If that wasn’t enough, Nana continued to work and I started this whole blog/social media while also searching for work.

How we made the decision to move to our next home is a whole other subject and absolutely ridiculous-and I will share that story in the next post. I promise, one more story and I tell you where we landed!

Until then,

All my love.