Dawn asked Janice MacLeod:

Have you managed to maintain your simplified lifestyle? What have you found to be your biggest challenge living abroad? Do you have any plans to roam elsewhere (with your beloved butcher of course)?

Janice MacLeod Yes I have managed to keep my lifestyle simplified. In fact, now I get easily overwhelmed with STUFF. That said, I went hiking recently and spent most of the hike designing the perfect pants in my head. Something I could hike in, but then easily wear afterward to a fancy restaurant... like say if I were hiking the Camino de Santiago. Almost half this hike was dedicated to this process. I mean, I had tear away skirt options in my head, yoga pant material, pockets. Then I realized that I don't live out of a suitcase anymore and can actually buy two pairs of pants. As for the biggest challenging living abroad, it was always the paperwork. Managing paperwork in another language is an exercise in exasperation, patience, and at times, futility. As for plans with my beloved butcher, the other day I said "PORTUGUAL!" and he responded "GREECE!" so perhaps Portugual and Greece are next on the list.

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