Flight Time

The day had finally come.  My last bit of administrative work before leaving America was to sell the car.  I had already arranged for Hennessy Honda to buy the car since I’d purchased the car from them in January 2020.  Having only driven it a few hundred miles before my company went into lockdown in the middle of March, the car didn’t have too many miles on it.  Other than a couple of road trips to Hilton Head in 2021 and 2022, I rarely used the thing.  The low milage and minimal wear and tear contributed to me getting a great offer of $18,000.

I met with the same guy I’d seen weeks ago.  We’d had a nice discussion about my plans and why I was selling the car.  When I showed up again, he was shocked to realize that the day had finally come.  I waited as he coordinated the sale with his boss, who was equally shocked to hear what I was doing.  I know that selling a house, selling a car, and travelling out of the country in the same week is unusual for me – I didn’t realize how much it would shock other people.  Surely, I’m not the first person to chuck it all and leave for another country? Military personnel alone had done the same for years.

I severely underestimated how long it would take to get the car sold.  I had to send away the first Uber driver I’d called because the wait was so long.  Not ten minutes after she left, the sale was finalized.  Instead of leaving with check in hand or a wire transfer like with the house, the dealer said they’d pay off the loan with my bank and mail me a check to the PO box.  Kind of a pain but at least I’m not travelling on that money.  Not a big deal if I don’t see it for a while.

My driver got me to the airport with some delay.  I hadn’t realized how long it’s been since I’ve travelled internationally from Hartsfield.  Delta had built a new terminal in the 12 years since my trip to Italy and we ended up taking the long way to get there.  But I was proud to say that booking my first trip with Uber was a success.  Paid with Venmo (thanks to the movers) and got the airport with plenty of time.

I flew out of KLM, another new experience for me.  I liked the service on the airline as well as the fact that I was seated on the edge of a 3-seater in the middle row with no one in the middle seat.  Made up for the only so-so leg room.  Still, I didn’t get much sleep as it was hard to get comfortable.

Being that KLM is a Dutch airline, we had a layover in Amsterdam, the airline’s hub.  I do want to visit the city proper one day, though not in March.  It is still very cold there and had me hoping that Portugal was warmer. 

We went through passport control at Schiphol, but it surprised me that there was nothing in Portugal’s airport.  No customs or passport check getting off the plane which was kind of strange.  I kept looking around to make sure I wasn’t slipping by customs as I headed outside to contact an Uber.

Thinking myself cute that I’d set up Uber the day before, I wasn’t happy to realize that Venmo doesn’t work outside of the U.S.  OK.  Instead of just catching a taxi, I was determined to get the Uber to work.  I hastily set up my primary credit card for the billing (more on that later) and was finally able to get a driver to come.  Being unfamiliar with the airport, it took a while to even find the guy, but eventually I was able to flag him down and we were on our way.

As Vitor, the driver, barely spoke English, we had a quiet trip while I looked out the window.  I knew from my research that I wouldn’t need to rent a car and I’m glad I didn’t – the Portuguese are very aggressive drivers.  There were a lot of people cutting others off and honking horns as we navigated from the highway to the very narrow and congested side streets.

Does this look like the entrance of an apartment to you?  Is it any wonder that both my driver and I were confused?  But the host was kind enough to send me a picture of the entrance along with the code to get in.  I also had the help of a nice man who poked his head out from the apartment next to mine to point me in the right direction.  Despite the unassuming front, the apartment is narrow but surprisingly long with a single bedroom, two baths and a little sitting room in the back.  The way it’s set up means it gets a little natural light, but doesn’t have proper windows. A very nice (if chilly) place in a location that can’t be beat.

Once I got settled, I was ready to explore.  The weather was a sunny 60 degrees.  Perfect conditions to experience a new city.