2026 – Plans and challenges

Not necessarily a post fully about Tera and me, however she is a big part in the plans for 2026.

Emigration

The central theme for 2026 will be my emigration to Portugal. Emigration has been a wish of mine for at least 13 years, and I am finally in the position where it is now or never. I have the funds to make the trip and pay the bills for about a year, I do not have a job that I need to cling to and– somewhat regretfully– I am still single, which otherwise could have complicated things.
Needless to say, I will need to prepare for a whole lot of things, and there is never enough time to properly prepare.
Preparing Tera for the trip is a major priority, since she will have to stay crated in the car for hours and hours a day, for days on end. Not only the trip itself, but the constant change of environment could be either intimidating or exciting for her, so I will have to prepare her for that.
I have chosen not to fly to Portugal, since I do not want to put Tera through that. Besides that, a road trip is part of the adventure!
I will take my small caravan with me, so I have a place to sleep on the road, and a place to put the stuff in that I want to take personal responsibility for getting there in one piece.

Zaragoza, here we come!

This Sunday, 28 December, I booked a place to stay on a camping in Zaragoza, Spain for early August. The reason I booked this stay so far in advance, is because on 12 August 2026 there will be a full solar eclipse in that region, and I feel it might be fully booked pretty soon. It is a little detour, but it is roughly en-route to Castelo Branco in Portugal. I was already planning to go look in Portugal for rentals in that period, so that solar eclipse set the date. It is a bit later than I would have liked, but for an eclipse I will change my plans a bit.
I have booked two nights there; I will arrive the day before the eclipse, and leave the day after. This way I can relax for the whole day without stressing for time. I can take my time to look for a good vantage point as well.

Seeing a full solar eclipse has become sort of a life mission for me; I did not see two of them, due to cloudy weather: one in Germany in 1999 and one in Australia in 2012. The last one was the most painful– you plan a trip to the other side of the planet, only to have the eclipsed sun hide behind the only cloud of the day.
At this time of year, Zaragoza is unlikely to be cloudy, so I really hope I will be lucky enough this time. A destination closer to the coast, that is more on the route to Castelo Branco would save me a few hours of travel, but due to the coastal location, the risk of clouds is too high. The detour is interesting as well, since I will get to see Zaragoza, and will drive around Madrid as well when back en-route to Portugal. Depending on the planning, I could make a stop there.

Castelo Branco

In August, my 'base of operations' will be near Castelo Branco. This area has affordable housing, and is popular amoungst expats.
Central Portugal has hot and dry summers, and the winters are similar to the Netherlands, but a few months shorter.
My ideal in Portugal would be the Algarve– due to the slightly better climate– but the prices for housing there rival those of the Netherlands– not something in my budget.

Money, money, money

Speaking of budget: I need to have a steady income to survive long term. I can use my reserves for quite a while, but I would rather use that for my retirement, and savings to eventually purchase some property.
So, I will have to be able to make money online, since jobs in that part of Portugal are scarce– especially for non-Portuguese speakers– and the pay is quite low.
2026 is also the year where I will start my freelance business in ICT. My preparations for this have been messy to date, so I will have to start taking it seriously as soon as possible, or I will only make things harder for myself.

Half a year

I realised today that I will only have roughly until June-July before the emigration goes into full swing. Since I will go rental-hunting in August, and will move probably somewhere in October – assuming I find a nice place to rent – the packing would have to begin in July at the latest. I have to say, the thought is somewhat unsettling. Things are moving fast.

Tera

How does Tera fit into all of this? Quite simple: training. She needs to be comfortable traveling. This is partly developmental, but I have to keep practicing with short rides to let her know that driving does not mean you get sick.
She also needs impeccable impulse control; not doing what she wants, when she wants. For her age, we are doing great as of now. Luckily separation anxiety is no issue currently, so I will have to keep it that way.
What needs to go is her jumping up at me and other people, and her wanting to meet everyone. This is a socialisation process that will go properly once she learns to properly heel walk. She is quite hyper at the moment, so obedience training is going slower than I want to in that regard. Heel walking is my #1 priority for her obedience– I sprinkle other things in to keep it fresh and fun for her.
Another thing I will focus on is leadership. I have the feeling she sees me too much as a play mate. She is just a baby, so everything is a play mate or a toy, but I feel I am lacking something myself– this is not training Tera, but training myself. I don't want to use the "she is just a baby" excuse for too long, though. A point comes when my commands are absolute and playtime is over.