"The Move" (Background)

This blog will chronicle the stories about my journey from being a Canadian girl who has lived her whole life in Canada to being the wife of a Portuguese man and our move to the Algarve in Portugal.  It will be funny and it will be thought provoking, but it will never be dull, that I can promise, because if what has happened up until now is any indication, then the rest of this story will no doubt be just as funny and thought provoking.

So since I really don't want to bore you with the years that it took to get 'the move' to become a reality, I'll just give you the highlights. 

All the rest of my posts will be about 'what's happening now' with 'the move.' 

And just to clarify, I call it 'the move' because for me this 'move' is really profound. It's a move from one place to another, yes, but it is also a 'move' from one lifestyle to another.  This has far reaching implications since my life in Canada is my only reference, and my husband does not face these same issues.  He has lived in several places in Europe and Canada and for him the 'move' is not as 'daunting' or maybe it is, but not for the same reasons. 

I have lived as a Canadian in the Province of Ontario my whole life and while I have travelled through Europe and parts of Cuba and Mexico, I have essentially led a 'lifestyle' that is Canadian influenced, and I am accustomed to all the things that go with that.  For example I experience Winter for 6 months of the year.  That's -15degrees Celsius most days and snow that can reach a meter.  Just look at last years winter in Toronto if you don't believe me.  So I have clothes, and boots, and coats, and so on as a large part of my wardrobe, because 6 months is a long time to be cold.  

'The Move' will mean I can get rid of a large part of that wardrobe, since the Algarve doesn't experience snow and temperatures don't get below 13 celsius let alone -15 in the winter.  So my lifestyle will change, and don't get me wrong it isn't changing for the worse, in fact I can see it changing for the better.  More about that in other posts though.
 
So moving to another country, will definitely impact my 'lifestyle' and I think right now, aside from the tons of paperwork, I feel pretty good about this.

So the Reader's Digest Version of the story to date:

• Met my future husband 8 years ago and found a common passion for holisitc living (truth be told we started dating 8 years ago, but we've known each other for 14 years).
• Moved from a small town (50,000) to Toronto (2.5 million) and started working in the Non-profit sector as a Holistic Counsellor for marginalized populations.
• My husbands a doctor of Natural Medicine and his practice expanded in both Canada and  Europe during our time in Toronto.
• We got married and decided that developing my husband's European practice was the next 'chapter' in our story.
• Spent a couple of years back and forth in Europe (Portugal) making contacts and finally establishing a location to live and work that supported our philosophy of living in a community that would support our Holistic way of Living. 
• Decided to make 'the move' to Portugal
• Decided that not only will my husband continue to practice natural medicine when we move, but he and I will be developing and growing Health and Wellness tourism in the Algarve, starting in the Spring of 2010, at a resort close to Albufeira.
• Began the task of 'preparing to move'

So I can tell you that, that list covered all but the last year of our story. 

Right now we have gotten word that I can apply for my residency permit despite the fact that some legal documents have not officially been registered in Portugal.  This is significant because over the last year we have been 'wrangling' with the lawyers and legal system in Portugal trying to complete a process that was started more than two years ago and up until this bit of news, was starting to threaten my moving to Portugal when my husband did, this coming Spring.

So now you're all caught up...next post(s) we'll talk about the last year and the tons of paperwork we are doing, the bureaucracy of Portugal, and the task of getting a Tourism Project off the ground while still here in Canada.
  
The journey begins with just one step.