Why Move to Portugal

We’ve lived in Massachusetts for most of our lives, except for our college years. Now that we’re retired, it would be great to do something different. Moving to another country is probably the extreme solution, but it is exciting.

Everything is new. We need to adopt new habits and activities. We need to find new solutions to doing our old activities, often related to managing the technology we’ll be using. We’ll get to travel, first all over Portugal, later other places in the EU.

Reasons to move…

  • an adventure,
  • something new and different,
  • really learn another language with the immersion method rather than just reading,
  • stop agonizing over US politics and wondering when the country will really deal with gun violence,
  • stop agonizing over climate change deniers too

Another benefit was the awful effort of downsizing our belongings and cleaning out things that have waited years for us to finish with them.

Reasons for Portugal…

  • friendly people,
  • English spoken (but less than advertised even in our close-to-Lisboa suburb),
  • almost no violent crime,
  • good health care,
  • amazingly inexpensive travel all over Europe (if you minimize your luggage).
  • an accepting visa process rather than huge hurdles (at least when you have enough money),
  • beautiful and varied landscapes,
  • new birds to watch,
  • photo opportunities,
  • fresh and tasty produce

We’re also close to new travel destinations, the Portuguese islands of Madeira and the Azores.

Are there any drawbacks?

It’s not all perfect. There’s an inefficient bureaucracy, a slower pace if one is an impatient person (I’m working on retraining expectations), slower internet, more smoking (but now banned inside restaurants and public places, soon to be banned in some outdoor public places), a meat-oriented culture with weird-tasting sausages but fascinating vegan/veggie options especially in Lisboa, fish served whole with all the bones but really good fish if you find the right restaurant.

Weather-wise, I’m wondering how hot it will be in the summer. Portugal, and all of Europe, had a really bad heat wave, and fires, in 2022. (I always wondered why people live in the California fire danger zones, but now those zones could be anywhere in CA with so much drought.) I think Portugal is similar to California, climate-wise, certainly different from New England. There is rain this spring, which they didn’t get last year. 

New winter weather experience

Winter though will be totally delightful. It is Portugal’s rainy season, but that’s no big deal. Our New England winters are long and cold and often gloomy. I love a beautiful snowstorm, and I’ll miss cross-country skiing, but slushy ice and old dirty snow are less inspiring. 

All year, here in Portugal, we’ll have opportunities for hiking in less buggy, less humid situations than in the New England woods in summer.

Biggest drawback… We’ll miss family and friends, but these days, we can still keep in touch with phone and video calls. We’re hoping family and friends will visit!

Caxias sign at night, between the Estrada Marginal and Rio Tejo

This is night-time view from the hotel balcony where we stayed before we got set up with a bit of furniture in our Caxias apartment.

Comments

  1. Nancie warner

    What an amazing and energizing thing to do! Inspiring!

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