The train networks in Spain and Portugal are improving, but there still isn’t very good connections between the countries. In order to travel from the Portuguese Algarve region back to Spain, it would be easier to travel by bus. We don’t like long travel days so we decided to break up our trip from Portimao…
Author: Bill
Semi-Nomadic Travelers
The Algarve Coast in Portimao, Portugal
The Algarve is the southern part of Portugal and is famous for its beautiful coastline. We stayed in the town of Portimao which is just East of the bigger town of Lagos. There is a stretch of condos and restaurants on top of the cliffs that are popular with Europeans as a vacation spot. The…
Lisbon, Portugal
After being shocked by the amount of tourists in Porto, we arrived in Lisbon and saw more of the same. At times it felt that the tourists outnumbered the locals. But, it is getting close to the end of the busy season so we were able to navigate the city by playing it smart and…
Overtourism in Porto, Portugal
We have heard a lot about the difficulties that popular tourist cities are having with the massive number of tourists. We have seen it in several places but it was really apparent during our stay in Porto. We were in Porto from October 8-10th in 2018 and it was a different atmosphere than our stay…
Underrated Zaragoza, Spain
We couldn’t find an easy train or bus from San Sebastian to Zaragoza so we decided to rent a car. Spain’s train network is vastly improved but still “in work”. We are still traveling with Paul and Kara and it makes a lot more sense to rent a car when traveling with 2 couples. This…
Basque Country with Paul and Kara
Yep, it isn’t just the 2 of us for a couple of weeks. We are 4 once again – Meg’s brother Paul, and his Spain-loving wife Kara, are joining us for a couple of weeks exploring the Basque Region of Northern Spain. We really like traveling with people and were excited that they wanted to…
Our new favorite Spanish town- Castro Urdiales
The more we travel, the more that we are drawn to smaller towns. We have been to a lot of Spanish cities and have enjoyed them all, but we have missed out on a lot of the smaller towns. Now is the time that we are becoming more focused on the out of the way…
Dublin, Ireland
We are back in Europe!! Well… at least Ireland to start. We just finished up 4 days overcoming our jetlag and seeing the sights of Dublin. This is a new country for Meg, but I had been here 35 years ago for a long weekend, during my study abroad experience in college. That was before…
Off Again!!
Our summer in Seattle has come to an end. It seems like time flew too fast but we were able to see a lot of people and do a lot of things in our 2 months here this year. We are ready to take off again. This time we are heading to Ireland, Spain and…
Eating in Columbia City, Seattle
Columbia City is our favorite neighborhood in Seattle. We love that so much of what we enjoy is within walking distance. There are so many great bars, breweries, restaurants and music venues to try out. We are also served by light rail as well as some really frequent buses so our car can sit in…
Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
We spend most of the year on the road but return every summer to the Pacific Northwest to visit friends and family. Just because we are retired and have the whole summer free, doesn’t mean that our whole family is free as well. Our sons are busy with jobs, girlfriends, and navigating early adulthood, so…
Do I book too far out?
Apparently, I have a problem. I have been told by multiple people, including my spouse, that I am booking our travel plans way too far into the future. We are losing spontaneity and somewhat confining us; possibly resulting in missed adventures and lost meetups with friends and family. I understand those criticisms and do feel…
We tried HomeExchange.com
One of the biggest decisions that new retirees make when they decide to live nomadically is if they want to keep their home. There are many factors that go with that decision. Selling will probably bring the least stress to retirement, but we wanted a place to return to Seattle in the summer. We actually…
Biking the Oregon Coast- Part 2
In May of 2022, we were newly retired and waiting for our new house to be finished. We were eager to start our nomad traveling life but couldn’t leave the country because of the delays going on with our house build. So, we decided to do something I have wanted to do for a long…
Just Like Bath Water??
We have all heard the water temperature of tropical beaches described as “Just Like Bath Water”. But I don’t really know what that means. How hot is bath water? How hot are the beaches? How hot does the water have to be before I will swim? What places in the world have the best water…