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This past month has been mostly about seeing opportunity in the challenge of geographic independence or, more properly, building that skill. As I call it – going to the mindset gym.
Fair warning, this post is a bit longer than most of my geo indie posts…there’s a story to tell.
When we came to Portugal on 30 December 2025, we did not yet have our “Long Stay” visas, meaning we’d be able to stay in Portugal, or anywhere in the European Union for that matter, for 90 days as “tourists.” No problem I thought because the Portuguese authorities had, under the law, 90 business days to act on our visa applications. The 90 days were up on 6 February 2026, leaving us plenty of time to have our visa-filled passports sent to Boise then forwarded on via DHL to us here in Lagos. So, damn simple. Unless…
“They” say the hardest part of dealing with the Portuguese immigration process is, well, the process. Think of having to deal with your local DMV, things simply do not typically go according to plan. At least not for me. Turns out, the 90 business days is treated more like a suggestion than a hard-and-fast actual rule. 6 February came and went with nary a word. As did 6 March.
Emailing the Portuguese San Francisco consulate was no help. Checking my FedEx label for the mailing of my visa-filled passport to Boise was no help. On day 75, I mentioned the fact I was losing sleep about what to do (it would have been no problem had I lived in a different reality without Olive with me here in Portugal) with Victoria, my nomadic executive assistant. Her view was there was still plenty of time. When I reached out to a Portuguese immigration attorney I know, she too was of the view we had plenty of time and, besides, the situation was what it was. Michelle and I began planning our exit and Olive’s care because I have vowed to never place her in the cargo hold of a plane again.
My mindset shifted, and my sleep improved, once I came to an understanding between myself and, well, myself. Michelle, Olive, and I had taken a risk by coming here as tourists with absolutely zero control over the process. Now, potentially, that the payment for taking that risk could be coming due. Once I made that shift, things felt a bit lighter.
At first, I thought of going to London. Then, speaking to Ray, a friend from the Netherlands I have made here, I settled on going to Tangier until I could legally return to Portugal using my visa. Michelle’s exit was already planned, she is leaving Portugal and going to El Salvador on a medical mission with Walk Idaho, where the team performs 40 – 50 total knee or hip replacements for Salvadorans whose lives are changed as a result. She would just go to Boise to wait it out, she’d bring our visas to London where we’d meet, then we’d enter Portugal together.
Turns out, my 72 hours of worry about a future I didn’t control was wasted. The worry disrupted my sleep and my focus. The catabolic energy I created with the story of doom and gloom I was telling myself was pointless.
On the afternoon of my third day of worry and planning, Allie called. Our visas arrived.
Now I’m off to NYC to meet Allie for the weekend and get our visas. I will re-enter Portugal and hand Michelle her visa. She’ll go to El Salvador and be able to return to Portugal using her already-purchased ticket.
To celebrate this, and Michelle’s birthday, we took advantage of our European home base and drove to Seville for a weekend filled with the sights, sounds, and tastes that wonderful city had to offer.
The opportunities I was afforded will, I trust, come in handy in the future: becoming exposed to the infamous Portuguese bureaucracy, which I will be encountering again and again; the reminder that all risk carries a price; and a deeper understanding that I can only control what I control, nothing more.
This life we’ve chosen comes with opportunities masked as challenges. It is only when I create the mental space – which my daily journaling activity and conversation with others provides – I can change the frame and see opportunity.
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