Hi friends,

This past week I took my first trip overseas to Portugal with stops in Porto, Lisbon, and Albufeira. People always say that you learn from traveling and I now see why. Here are some of the takeaways I learned from the trip.

There’s beauty in slowing down and savoring moments.

Having no phone service for the majority of the week was a blessing. Some days I needed my phone for directions, but for most of the trip, my phone was in airplane mode. From this experience, I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I was truly bored. Boredom is unpleasant, but necessary in order to fully appreciate life and to be able to think clearly. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it's easy to forget the simple joy of slowing down and savoring the moment. Europe's relaxed pace in cafes and beautiful gardens reminded me of the importance of taking time for oneself and appreciating life's small pleasures.

Every country has its own nuances.

Road signs, lightswitches, unlocking doors, and operating microwaves were a few things I wasn’t expecting to have to google in Europe. The first night we arrived in Porto we weren’t able to unlock the door to our Airbnb for 4 hours only to find out that we needed to pull and then turn the key a little bit more before unlocking the door. It was nice to get out of my routine and rethink some of the daily habits I take for granted.

Portugal takes their wine very seriously.

On a per capita basis, Portugal has the highest wine consumption per person at 67.5 liters of wine per year. If you enjoy good wine and breathtaking views, I highly recommend taking a wine tour in the Douro Valley. This was my favorite experience we did in Portugal and it consisted of tasting different wines from multiple small-family vineyards. We also learned about the vast history of the region and its relation to becoming one of the most prominent wine countries in the world.

When in doubt, default to public transit.

We decided to rent a car to be able to drive the coast of Portugal, but if we were to do it over again, we would have taken the train or used a rideshare app. Renting a car in a foreign country was more difficult and expensive than anticipated. It was convenient to be able to get groceries and drive right up to each destination, but it was not worth the cost financially or mentally. The train system and public transportation across Europe can get you to most places you'd want to go and are likely the best option for getting from place to place.

Sitting by the ocean and doing nothing can help you appreciate how small you are in the world.

Finally, one of my favorite things that we did was sit on the cliffs in southern Portugal and stare out at the Atlantic. It was incredibly humbling to watch twenty to thirty-foot waves crash upon the shore every few seconds. I felt incredibly small as I tried to picture my tiny part in the vast universe and was relieved of my trivial worries and problems. It can be liberating to sit by an immense body of water and remember that our day-to-day problems aren’t really that important in the grand cosmic picture.

Until next week,

Kevin

P.S. If you love cats, visit the city of Albufeira where they have hundreds of cats roaming the streets that the community looks after.