I came back from the trash can on the street when I saw a mother and her kid getting in the car the other day. It was early in the morning and they were likely to have to go to work and school. What made me head was the little girl’s loud giggle. This also made her mother laugh, and to be honest, it also made me laugh. The woman turned around and saw where the other laugh came from, we all laughed together, I said, bom dia, with a bright smile on her face.
I have to say that it was one of my best mornings in a long time. The laughter brings us together for a moment.
Since we live in Portugal, this morning means waking up from all over the Atlantic Ocean. Recently, this has not been good. It’s full of frightening, anxious stories that I often don’t know if we should believe it.
Four years and count
us move arrive Cascas, Portugalon April 25, 2021. We don’t know when we booked the date for a national holiday in Portugal. Bloodless days Carnation RevolutionThe so-called marks the beginning of Portugal democracy. It turns out that this is the best day to arrive in our new country, new home.
That we didn’t know that would be a good decision. After Biden won the election in 2020, like many others, we are happy, but don’t know what will happen in these four years. No one can expect the United States to be where it is. Without further participation in politics, let’s say we’re glad we decided to move to Portugal while we did so.
Not all rainbows and unicorns
In the four years we’ve been here, we’ve seen a lot of articles/videos/social media posts about how easy, fast and cheap it can be moved to Portugal. None of these are true. I’m not sure what motivated me to make these incredible claims. Click bait? Money income? perhaps. We even sell a book,”101 tips for moving to Portugal, once arrived,“But honestly, we didn’t make much money from our friends on Amazon, we mainly wrote this book to help others decide whether the huge decision to move to another country is really for them. It’s full of useful information, especially at the $4.99 price. We also offer some consulting services for those who want more help.
But we have gotten rid of all of this. Over the past four years, we have changed like people. Living in Portugal, we value our time more, realize that we don’t have all the answers, and frankly don’t want to spend these days studying others. This is not our jam. When it fits us, we will share our journey, hope people enjoy reading it and learn something about us and the decisions we make. This doesn’t mean that when people reach out, we won’t help them. It just means we are not helping people move to new countries. We never had it.
The main reason for moving to Portugal for us is that among those who accept our identity and any gift or talent we bring, we can move somewhere to the “golden years” where we can live. This is not about running away, but about entering a new stage in our lives. We are lucky to be able to do this.
We’re not retired
We both are still working. The threat of losing social security has made us focus on making money and saving our abilities. I’m still teaching, we’re all writing, and Diana is still running her consulting and hypnotherapy business. We are not retired, but we are not working full-time either. It’s a great fusion for us now.
We are still writing about food travel agencies here, but not often. As we all know, the Google Empire switched its algorithms a while ago and made many of us small publishers absent, evacuating web traffic and refreshing our content to further build their kingdom. We spin again and again to try to regain the rankings, but it was a failed game. Now, we are here to share our stories with our fans, friends, family and others who stumble upon us by chance (others remember Stumbleupon?).
Portugal is Portugal
The Portuguese bureaucracy continues to be slow, and those waiting for their residence cards or AIMA meetings can prove that patience is still the most important thing you bring to Portugal. Now, we are used to waiting in line and daydreaming while we wait. We are used to the occasional water supply or broken garage doors that may sometimes change the best plan.
Overall, we are still glad we took action. The reason we did the initial moves, our love for Portugal and its people is still the same. Some Portuguese are frustrated by the increase in immigration and the rise in housing costs. We understand. But most people welcome us and know that we have brought money and, most importantly, more people enter this small country with shrinking population.
We respect others. We’re not those loud Americans here “cheap” everything screams (spoiler alert: no). It is very important to understand culture and people and help us where we can.
A question everyone asks
What is the hardest part move And absorb Portugal? For us, this has always been the language. Even though we took several classes and passed the A1/A2 Portuguese test, it was still difficult for us to have a real conversation in Portugal. Despite our efforts to keep up with the lessons and practice, we just don’t have enough Portuguese to have the opportunity to learn. A Portuguese friend talked to us in English and although it was very inclusive, it didn’t help us learn more languages. The owners and clerks in Portugal noticed our struggle and immediately turned into English, hoping to practice their language learning skills.
We live in an area full of English-speaking people, even more than we did when we first arrived. We noticed that even local grocery stores have more English speakers roaming, and now some clerks speak English.
This is a difficult problem. We have promised that this year we will improve our language skills, come to hell or high water levels, stop saying, “Estou Apreender Português” and knowing what someone is asking or saying.
There’s another thing
People ask, what do you miss the United States when you live in Portugal? As time goes by, we are getting fewer and fewer. We found alternatives to old favorites at the grocery store and created new favorites here. As we have talked about in the past, the fresh market is full of wonderful produce, fish, meat and spices. Seasonal food is delicious and more sustainable. Certain items are only available in certain stores or markets, but you can quickly learn where to find something by asking and discovering yourself.
When people ask what they can bring us, we find ourselves saying “nothing”.
Most importantly, we do not live in Portugal, only “things” with family and friends. We were lucky to have a lot of family and friends to visit. We hope this will continue. Portugal is an amazing resort. If you plan to come, please let us know. We are happy to share our favorites with you and meet in town.
Like everyone else, we don’t know what the future will bring. When living in Portugal, we try our best to stay healthy, visit new restaurants, travel as much as possible, take care of our cats, and do what we love to do.
Costs like the world are rising in Portugal. The housing was tight and more expensive when we first arrived. Health care costs are higher and some specialists (dermatologists, pulmonologists, etc.) are more difficult to access than before. However, the care we received was very good and we were very satisfied with the doctors, hospitals and health care in Portugal.
We are lucky to have made many good friends in Portugal, who have become families. We share new and old vacations with a wide variety of people, providing a rich experience for a rich cultural experience. Facebook Groups We Created Queer women and friends in Portugal Has grown to over 1,000 members. Building a community here makes our lives full of fun.
We plan to travel more, explore more Portugal and taste everything there. We will see more of Europe – Spain, Greece, France, Italy, Germany – and anywhere else we may roam. As we age, we continue to learn more ways to make it easier for ourselves to travel and Earth.
We often think about moving to another part of Portugal to experience other areas and cultural changes. Who knows? All I know is that we enjoy the best we can achieve every day. I can’t think of a better way of life.
Fix it for preparation
