Before you go … things to think about

Find someone to take care of the cat and dog! This was the hardest part for us, although we have a WONDERFUL friend who lets the Siberian come live with her. Make sure they know who the vet is, etc. We left information with the vet about who was caring for the animals and that they had permission to have them treated and that we would pay. Since we have spent LOTS of money with this vet, they were very cooperative.
Phones - After several trips in Europe where getting phones to work can be a problem, we decided to buy cell phones that will work in Europe as well as work in the US. We ended up with Motorola tri-band phones.Had to get the chips unlocked since we planned to buy chips in Portugal and just use the local service. Using Tmobile from Europe is about $1.00 per minute to call the U.S. Using Portuguese Telecom cost us about $0.19 per minute on weekends. Another alternative is to buy cheap phones in Europe, add time to them as you need it, and then just give them away when you come home.
Another possibility is to subscribe to Primus (a US carrier) and use their international service from overseas. It is much cheaper than the cell phone carriers. Check what countries they cover.
Utilities - Figure out how you’ll pay these bills while you’re gone - automatic withdrawal, friend will write a check, someone stay in your house. Don’t forget
- Electric
- Water
- Gas
- TV, Cable or satellite
- ISP
- Cell phone
- Regular phone
- Garbage
If you are renting out your house, make sure the utilities are changed to the renters' names. You can get your phone number with Qwest put on "vacation" for some monthly fee if you want your phone number back when you return.
Drugs - Take enough of your regular prescriptions to last the whole time. We got some prescriptions filled for antibiotics - just in case. I didn’t think my Portuguese would be up to dealing with a sinus infection! We also took 3 months of vitamins because vitamins in Europe are expensive to buy. Other things to take along
- Immodium
- Tums
- Aspirin
- Pepto Bismol
ATM Cards - make sure your ATM cards will work out of the U.S. I called our bank to let them know we’d be using it for three months out of the U.S. so a security issue did not come up. I deposited my euro check from the Fulbright Commission in my U.S. account and just used my US ATM card in Portugal to withdraw money. It cost $2 for each withdrawal so I always took out 200 euro at a time. Some days the ATM machine didn’t work and I’d have to try back in a few hours. When we were in Australia, on the other hand, I opened a bank account there because we would need to write checks. Then we had an ATM card for that bank. If you don’t use all the money before you come home, you can use that ATM card in the US to clear out the account.
Credit cards - contact each one and make sure you know the PIN number for getting money from them JUST IN CASE. Also tell them you will be using it overseas for several months and what countries. This prevents them from thinking someone stole your card. And make sure they don’t all expire while you’re gone. Find out how to pay the bills online from the CC websites. This way you don't have to have the bills sent to the other country. I use MBNA accounts and can find my bills online and then pay the bills from the website.
Toiletries - You can find pretty much anything you want but if you are picky about your toothpaste (I am) or deodorant, take some along. I figured out that one package of Arrid stick will last almost 3 months for one person! Also, contact lens cleaner is about 2 times the cost in Europe and Australia than is it in the US. And one large bottle lasted slightly less than 3 months. You may not be able to buy contact lense cleaner in some remote countries so check before you go.
About clothes - Take far fewer that you think you will need. We each took a minimum of clothes - about 2 pairs of dress pants, two pairs of khakis, 3 pairs of shorts, a swimsuit. Then I added some t-shirts, 2 blouses, 2 sweaters, 2 blazers and 2 dresses. Shoes - one pair of dress shoes, tennis shoes, and a pair of Nike sandals. That was it! And yes, I was sick of those clothes by the time we left. Make sure you account for possible temperatures. We had everything from 35F to 105F temps in 3 months and I wore the same black fleece pullover for 2 weeks solid (500 year old convents and monastery buildings are COLD!)
And yes, you may be able to buy what you need if you’re desperate but Mark is 6’4" and taller than 98% of all Portuguese. He could not buy anything that fit except for soccer jerseys and that required a hunt all over Lisbon!

Check with the Fulbright people in Lisbon to see if there is anything you might need a suit for. We were there for their anniversary dinner in April and were invited. This meant we had to take a suit along.

The Portuguese faculty wore anything from suits to jeans to teach in. I always wore pants and a nice shirt and sometimes a blazer if it was a cold day!
Small suitcase for weekend trips
Gifts - university mousepads, university magnets, pens, postcards make good small gifts for students and colleagues. I made business cards on the computer with all of our home info - addresses, email, phone numbers - to give to people we met. These are easier than writing on the backs of regular business cards.
Books to read Go to the used book store or library and buy cheap books. You can read them and then throw them away or trade them with other English speakers. I gave mine away to people who wanted to practice their English reading skills.
Maps and guide books - You can find great road maps in the country but bring the English language guidebooks along. We like the Lonely Planet series. It has some history, cheap eats (most of which are good) locations of ATM’s and, most importantly, Laundromats! There are NO self serve ones in Portugal. I swear by Michelin maps for navigating around.
The bills at home - Sign up to make your mortgage payments on line unless you already have them automatically taken out of your checking account. You can also sign up to pay your credit card bills on-line with a lot of credit card companies. MBNA, American Express both let you pay online. Sign up for all of the utility bills to be paid automatically if they’ll let you - unless someone is staying in your house and paying the bills.
Checking account - I set up my checking account on line at the bank so I could balance my account from the Internet. I didn’t worry about getting the bank to mail me anything.
Legal issues - don’t forget to get a will made and give power of attorney to someone you trust who can act in your behalf. You don’t want to have to fly home to deal with a house issue if someone else can take care of it for you.
Health insurance - The Fulbright paid for mine but we did get a medical health insurance policy for Mark - just in case! It would have worked with the major medical we already had. Also, think about whether you want insurance to get you home in case of death or a medical emergency. The International Teachers Card and Student Card include repatriation of bodies (pleasant subject!).
The house - give several people keys to your house so they can check on it and arrange for someone to shovel the snow (if you’re from a cold climate!). We arranged for someone to cut our lawn and check on our sprinkler system since we were gone for the summer.
Drivers license .. make sure your’s is not going to expire while you’re gone if you want to rent a car.
Luggage weight I took lots of books and papers and thought I could replace that weight when I came home with souvenirs. (Portugal has great pottery.) But we ended up with 2 VERY heavy suitcases and they were overweight even by the weight limits a year ago. Make sure you check on the weight limits and break up your luggage into smaller pieces.
Computers - I'm an information systems person so I took my own laptop computer with a charger and floppy disk, etc. I'm glad I did. The university does not provide a computer per person so I was able to keep working even when the other people in the office needed to use the office computer.
Electrical appliances - If you take any from the US, you'll need to make sure they run on alternative Current AND you'll need a plug adapter. Check out Magellan on line for a great selection. You can just use the ones they sell for continental Europe. I didn't run into any of the "old Portuguese" style that they have.
Film - You can buy film there, of course, but it is more expensive. I took lots with me along with a digital camera.

Arriving in Portugal
In Evora!
Where we lived
Places we went
The University
Lisbon ideas
If you have questions, contact me at susan.athey@business.colostate.edu