It’s time for another update from Nomadtopia! It’s been a busy week.

I realized recently that one of my ATM cards expires this month, so I grabbed the card and sat down at the computer to call the bank via Skype. I happened to check my email first, though, and was amazed to find an email from my bank saying that my new card had been sent, and should arrive within 5-7 business days—enough time for my parents to receive it and bring it down with them in a few weeks! Perfect.

I got lucky, but the lesson here is to stay on top of your expiration dates, especially for passports, driver’s licenses, and credit and ATM cards. If possible, schedule renewals for a time when you will be in the States or someone will be coming to visit soon after. I was once able to call and ask for a new card to be sent early since I’d be out of the country when it expired. Or, plan a visit home to coincide with an important renewal, like I did a few years ago to renew my driver’s license, which had to be done in person.

In other news, Roberto was in touch with a consulting agency this week about a job in Brazil—ooh! Very intriguing. Now isn’t quite the right time to take on such an adventure, but it’s good to know these opportunities are out there. A year from now, we’d be all over that.

I’m working on a story that I’ll be presenting at a live storytelling event in Buenos Aires tonight. I’m enjoying writing again, both on the blog and for events like this (haven’t written this much since college), but it’s nerve-racking to imagine myself presenting this story live in front of a big group! Wish me luck.

I’ve been reading lots of thought-provoking stuff lately, including Seth Godin’s Poke the Box and this recent post by Tanja at Minimalist Packrat. I’m processing it all and figuring out exactly where to begin—I have a feeling some big changes are afoot!

Nearly five months after it began, the window-replacement project in my apartment seems to have finally come to an end. I can hardly believe it! To give you a little taste of what we’ve been through, here are photos from before, during, and after. The pictures hardly do justice to how bad the old windows were—leaking, rusting, cracking, and falling apart. Now that I see the pictures, I realize how far we’ve come. After we get through another major rainstorm without any water coming in, I’ll know it was all worth it!