As a general rule, it’s preferable not to get deported. And so, after 85 days in Poland (the maximum stay in Europe for Americans without a visa is 90 days), I left Poznań. The following day, 20 February 2019, day 86 of my stay in Europe, I boarded a plane and crossed the Atlantic back home to the U.S. of A.
I got absolutely nowhere with my search for jobs in Poznań, but my search for U.S.-based jobs is showing some promise, so in addition to avoiding deportation, my purpose in returning now is to be well-positioned to interview in person or start a new job in the States on short notice.
But just because my “first retirement” may be ending soon doesn’t mean my travels have to. My US job search has included remote work opportunities that, in theory at least, would allow me to choose where I want to live (and travel). At this point, my plan is to re-establish a home base in the U.S. (Portland, ME, Philadelphia, and Chicago are the leading contenders) but to continue to spend as much time overseas as my budget and work schedule allow.
But all that has yet to be decided. Here’s a look back at my last month in Poznań, in pictures:
The dude on the right looks pretty perky for an old-timer. I can’t say the same for his twin on the left, unfortunately (28 January 2019).The restaurant on the ground floor of the onion-domed building there, a block from my Airbnb apartment, did quite the roaring business in January and February. I saw people lined up outside like this around 5:30pm every day when their dinner service started (14 February 2019).Some fun (and very well restored) Art Nouveau flourishes (13 February 2019)At first glance, I figured this dirty Skoda parked in my building’s driveway was associated with a business that caters little girls’ princess birthday parties or some such. But I had a look at the front, back, and passenger side of this car and there’s no indication that it’s a commercial vehicle. I guess the owner just decided that a rainbow-maned unicorn decal was the way to express her (or his; I don’t judge) individuality. And that piece of paper in the window? Yes, this sweet ride is for sale, people! (13 February 2019).This looks like my kind of bar, comrades (16 February 2019)I would be remiss if I ignored Poznań’s communist architectural legacy. The building in the center, dom książki (“house of books”), looks all the more ugly juxtaposed with the elegant building to the right (16 February 2019).Believe it or not, I didn’t eat my first restaurant meal of this trip to Poznań until my final night in town. I went to Chłopskie Jadło, a nationwide chain that, as I understand it, is sort of like the Polish equivalent of Applebee’s. I immediately regretted not having moderated my supermarket-shopping thriftiness a few other times during this trip. This meal was just as orgasmically delicious as the incredible Polish food I enjoyed last summer. The above is the complimentary appetizer of brown bread, cream cheese-like gzik, lard, and pickles (18 February 2019).My (first) main course: Kielbasa with onions and dill mashed potatoes. I followed this up with a pierogi sampler platter. Amazingly delicious (18 February 2019).And to drink: grzane piwo (mulled beer). Hot beer is unlikely to join mulled wine, a hot toddy, or hot buttered rum among my favorite wintertime tipples. But it’s not the abomination that cold beer purists would have you believe it is, either (18 February 2019).And the following day, the trip home: To Warsaw by bus, to Lisbon by air… (19 February 2019).…an overnight layover in Lisbon, a transatlantic flight to Boston, and a bus to Portland, Maine, and I was home, or the closest thing to home at the moment. Aside from the Alps, Europe wasn’t particularly snowy when I left. Looking out the plane window at this frozen wasteland, I assumed I was viewing Labrador, say. Then I checked the plane’s GPS map. Nope. Way off. You’re looking at mid-coast Maine here. Yikes! What am I getting myself into? (20 February 2019).
