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life: examined is an invitation to get curious—a collection of ideas & thoughts about living a creative, intentional life — written from my perch in Portugal to you.

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Celebrating Sixty in Spain

photos of Madrid & Córdoba

Mar 9, 2023

life: examined is a compendium of ideas, thoughts, and questions about living a creative, intentional life—written to you from my perch in Portugal.

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Córdoba, Spain (view of the Roman bridge & historic town center)

Well, hi.

If you've wondered what I've been doing since my last letter, I've been trying to endure the excessively wet and gloomy winter without giving in to despair. And now that the holidays have come and gone and blooms are emerging from their buds, I'm back to share my birthday with you.

Sixty. How did that happen?

If you live long enough, sixty years to be precise, you will reach the age of sixty like I did in February.

I don't usually talk about my age. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed, there’s just a disconnect between the number and how I feel. Some days I feel seventy-five, but most days, forty-five feels about right. I feel lucky to have made it this far, and I’m looking forward to a playful next chapter.

I'm excited to begin this new decade—one filled with love, good friends, and adventure.

Celebrate

My sweetie and I traveled to Spain to commemorate my descent into olderhood.

Flying to Madrid takes about two hours from Lisbon, but intrepid travelers that we are, we took the bus. To be clear, that was the eight-hour bus ride through various rings of hell. The ride was long, claustrophobic, and uncomfortable—and did I mention long?

We want to avoid flying as much as possible, opting for train travel as our preferred mode. But Portugal lacks a robust train network like Spain, France, and other EU countries have, so buses will continue to be part of our slow travel method. But after this trip, we agree that four hours is our limit.

The drive to Madrid is a mere five hours, but like many friends in Setúbal, we’re committed to a car-free life. This may change in the future, but I don't see that happening. So, we take the upsides with the downsides of no-car living.

Madrid and Córdoba

We spent the start of my birthday week wandering for a few days in Madrid, then we took a high-speed train to Córdoba to enjoy the laid-back Andalucian city.

The high-speed AVE network is a part of the Spanish national railway, RENFE. AVE trains can reach 310 km/h (195 mph). Now that's my kind of slow travel!

Instead of writing about the trip, I will stop here and share some photos. Consider each picture to have the value of a thousand words :)

MADRID

CÓRDOBA

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