Nothing to Declare (a travel blog)

The balcony door is wide open, like it has been since moving in a month ago. From outside drifts the squeals of children playing in a nearby school at recess and the now familiar sound of streetcars gliding down rails, soothing as white noise. The curtains ruffle slightly with the breeze. It’s true, there’s something special about the light in Lisbon. The city’s omnipresent pastéis de nata pastries and creamy gelato are my favorite fuel for the cobblestones that relentlessly climb uphill around every corner. Photo by Emily Byrski It’s only because I’m leaving soon that these words are spilling out. Thanks to Remote Year here I am, at work in a foreign country, starting my Austin morning workday in Lisbon’s late afternoon. It’s a funny thing to catch the sunset on your lunch break. I didn’t know I could be a morning person. When we first arrived, past midnight that first night, the various shops blended into the Pombaline-style buildings’ ground floors, hidden behind deco