We don’t lack for things. What we lack is margin—time, energy, and flexibility. As we sell and gift away our possessions, we’re designing a life built around experiences instead of inventory.

As we get older, time doesn’t speed up — it disappears faster because our days stop feeling new. Life is short. We’re moving to Portugal to break the blur and make the time we have left feel longer.

Moving to Portugal isn’t as simple as packing a box and hopping on a plane—it’s a multi-step obstacle course of paperwork, passport photos, bank accounts, FBI checks, and purging decades of belongings. But each step, even the messy ones, feels like a step toward the life we want. And getting to do it together makes the whole process worth it.

My adult life has unfolded in three chapters; first as a soldier, then as a father building a blended family, and now preparing for a new beginning in Europe. Life #3 is the first chapter I’m creating entirely on purpose, driven by adventure, freedom, and time with my wife. If there’s one lesson in all of this, it’s that you don’t have to wait for life to change—you can choose your next chapter and build it boldly.

Two truths at once: excitement for Portugal and a sharper love for the Pacific Northwest I’m leaving. Choosing presence over logistics—savoring skies and mountains, lingering with family and friends, treating time as precious—even as I accept imperfections on both sides. That same daily practice of attention and gratitude is what I’ll carry across the Atlantic to start life in a new home.

We’re excited to move to Portugal—but not wearing rose-tinted glasses. We’re trading one set of challenges for another, on purpose, to build a fuller life.