My Why: Portugal

Something about me, I love a detail.  Especially in a story. Whether I’m listening or narrating, I want to cover it all. So when thinking about sharing my trips here on Lianne on Leave, I knew I wanted to include not just the places themselves, but the origin stories too. Because trips don’t just begin the day you board the plane. First there’s a dream, a saved inspo photo, a story from a friend, maybe a quiet nudge from within. Sometimes it makes sense, other times it doesn’t. In any case, to me the why matters. It’s part of what shapes the trip. So today I want to tell you that I booked a trip to Portugal. And my why.

It all started with a pair of tomato shorts…

You see, I have this pair of shorts that are natural linen and covered in a tomato print. They’re admittedly kind of ridiculous, but from the moment I saw them in an ad online last summer I knew I had to have them. A week or so later they were mine and I’ve held them in high regard ever since. Every time I see them hanging in my closet I smile. I struggled to style them at first, then this spring discovered the maker of the shorts also sells a matching top. I bought it and my tomato set was born. Styling challenge be gone.

The combo is now my go-to when I have the itch to wear my shorts. And after getting the set I wore it out to dinner for the first time with friends, a girls night. It was perfect. I snapped a pic to document the joy. Later I sent it to another friend to share. Later still I posted it on my Instagram stories. The sentiment for the messages being: this outfit happened. It’s ridiculous and, yet, amazing, right? I feel like it deserves more. Maybe a moment on a trip?

A visual of my tomato outfit, the pic I snapped while out 🍅

From then on it kind of became a thing. Like where could I go that would do my tomato outfit justice? Lol. Enter: Portugal.

I know it sounds flippant and frivolous. Honestly, it kind of is. Sometimes it’s the little things though you know? Small things with big importance. I had been wanting to take a summer trip, disappear and disconnect for a while somewhere beautiful. I just wasn’t sure I could swing it. I had a busy and expensive first half of the year, oil prices were surging. Finding the time and money to go somewhere didn’t seem like it was going to happen. But my tomato outfit gave me the inspiration to at least try. And it worked. Looking back, it was the nudge I needed to dream again.

In search of a place I hadn’t been to before, preferably in Europe near the Mediterranean for the sake of the shorts, I considered splitting time between Portugal and Spain, Morocco, Croatia with Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro, Albania, Greece. I wanted a place where I could wander without an agenda, sit by the sea, soak up the sun, linger over coffee, take picture after picture. Eventually, Portugal on its own felt right. Like the kind of place that would meet me where I was. The time opened up. I found a ticket to Lisbon I could work with. And my trip became official.

Dreaming of Lisbon, Porto, Lagos, Madeira and the Azores at that point, I debated how many places to try to visit while in the country. But I remembered my aim and, in true summer fashion, slowing down for the amount of time I booked seemed like the better option instead of rushing through. So I decided to settle myself in the capital city the entire time. With a day trip or two sprinkled in. The more I research, the more that seems right. That Lisbon will be my vibe. The kind of place I’ll want to soak up and really explore, enjoy.

I can’t wait. To see a place I’ve never seen, experience a place I’ve never been, cross another country off my list (#36, eeee!). The tiles, the architecture, the hills, trams. A new coastline. Fado. Cafés, pastries, flea markets, the world’s oldest bookstore and the pleasure of wandering. Giving my tomato outfit its moment!!

Whether Portugal becomes one of my favorite places or not remains to be seen. I love dreaming of, planning for and anticipating a place almost as much as I love experiencing it though. Seeing the way it all unfolds. So either way, it’s all part of the magic for me. And at the very least, I can remember how a pair of shorts inspired an entire trip.

Now for what comes next: planning, sewing, packing and going 😊