II love to talk about all the amazing reasons we love living in Europe. I could blabber on about this topic all day, but I do not often touch on the dark side of the journey.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and it is an American holiday not celebrated here in Portugal. Now to be fair there are a lot of American expats living here, and they do get together but it is just not the same experience.

This is our third Thanksgiving living in Portugal. The first year we went to a big expat potluck and it was fun but it was a nightmare trying to navigate the buffet line trying to avoid gluten. We enjoyed the night but it was not the same. They do not cook a lot of turkey (the word for turkey in Portuguese is Peru) in Portugal nor do they have stuffing and cranberry dishes. Of course, this is not a complaint but even when you get a bunch of Americans together and try to make a Thanksgiving dinner it just can not be the same, do not get me started on trying to find dill pickles here. On our second Thanksgiving, we were sailing on a Transatlantic cruise. I do remember having a lovely turkey plate that night on the boat but the table was not surrounded by family. I was thankful for the American nibbles but missed my family big time. Last night was Thanksgiving number three and we decided to create a new tradition while living in Portugal, we went out to Indian Food lol

The food was fantastic and my dinner date was so handsome but it still left a hole in my heart. It was hard watching social media show all the families getting together and seeing all the fantastic dishes on the tables but we made a choice to move and knew there would be suck-it-up buttercup moments, yesterday was one of them. 

I know a lot of you have thought about moving abroad and we have no regrets but do not enter into a move without a lot of thought. I have mentioned this before but you must be ready and be willing to push through the tough times. Christmas is around the corner and I am bracing myself for the hole in the heart again. Mike and I are doing all we can to create new memories and traditions but we also find it important to remember the blessings we have had while living in the States. We spent a lot of dinner time last night reminiscing over our childhood Thanksgivings, the food we ate and the games we played. We laughed together as we remembered the Thanksgivings we spent with our children and all the chuckles we experienced and the love we were surrounded by. 

We are thankful for google voice so we can easily communicate with our family. We cherish the pictures that are kids send us. The pictures help us feel a little connection to the season. Unfortunately, my mom does not have access to take pictures and send them but we love google voice and how easy it is to call up and say “Hey”

We hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and that you were surrounded by people who made you smile. I might not have had all my family with me, but I did have my soulmate and best friend to spend the evening with, and for that, I could not be more grateful. 

Here are a just few pictures from our Thanksgiving, near and far.