I thought I would start this little journal off by answering the question many of our friends and family have been asking, but that I’ve had a hard time answering shortly: why did we move to Portugal?
First, for some travel background: Josh and I have wanted to move abroad ever since our first trip to Europe together. I had been to Paris for a week when I was 13 years old and then studied abroad in Torino, Italy after my first year of university. Since that point, I was determined to get Josh as hooked on travel as I had become. After becoming burnt out at his first job in public relations, I convinced him (being the great influence I am) to quit and explore Italy for several weeks. We had an incredible trip and my plan had worked. In the four years following that trip, we visited Canada, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Greece, Japan, Spain, and Portugal.
These two-week trips introduced us to a whirlwind of new languages, people, cultures, foods, smells, and views. We had an incredible time and saw so much, but always left feeling like we had only experienced a taste of the heritage, values, and each country’s way of life. We wanted to fully soak them up. To get to know the people, to walk to the market every morning or eat traditional meals with locals, instead of fluttering quickly from one site or city to the next.
After the last trip we took to Spain and Portugal in 2019, we started to get more serious about moving abroad. The biggest question was not why, but how? Three months was the limit for non-citizens to travel in the Schengen Zone without having a long-term visa, so we figured we could bounce in and out for an extended period of time and fulfill our intention of “slow travel” by renting longer-term Airbnb’s for a month or more at a time.
Then COVID hit. We were incredibly lucky to have the option, just as our Seattle lease was up, to rent the apartment above my nana’s house (and neighbor’s to my parents) in Gig Harbor. The apartment is beautiful, Josh joined me in working from home as I naively thought it would last…three months? We lived on the water surrounded by family. We bought paddle boards, spent time with my parents and their pets, did all the quarantine activities like spending too much time focusing on our plants, having zoom calls with friends, and going on lots of walks.
When it became increasingly obvious that cases and deaths were not going to subside any time soon, the idea of a travel year seemed not only far off, but unimportant. What was most important was making sure everyone was safe and healthy. Three months lead to a year of not seeing friends, being scared to get too close to Nana, and holding the collective pain that the world was feeling in our hearts.
Beginning in 2021, things started to look up. We had new, capable leadership in our country, vaccines were on the way, and the warmth of a hug from a friend seemed like it may be in sight. Our minds were burnt out from all the bad news of the world and the long grey winters in the Northwest. We were holding each other close, knowing how incredibly privileged and fortunate we were when so many were suffering an immense loss during this dark time. We both still had jobs and were able to socialize with my family (a great quarantine pod). Once we all were able to get vaccinated we jumped at the chance, yet still found ourselves experiencing a mix of feelings. Our country was one of the first to have a large roll out - but what did it look like for the rest of the world? Was a post-COVID world on the horizon? How long will it take to see a new normal? Will it ever go away? What will that world look like?
Through answering those questions personally, professionally and within our relationship, we re-configured what we wanted our own future to look like. We talked with each other about what we wanted in life. But truly, my ambivert clean-freak personality had never wanted so badly to be in a packed european bar with a glass of local wine in my hand and being able to lick my fingers after eating the tapas.
A homemade Portugese meal (by Josh of course) and Rick Steves Portugal guide book in April 2021, a couple of months before we applied for our visa.
We started researching our year of travel again and re-imagining what that would look like. Thats when Josh and I re-visited our memories of the very last country we had visited pre-COVID: Portugal. Where I laid on the beach topless in the sun covered in SPF 70, and we sipped vinho verde and ate sardines celebrating our one year wedding anniversary. We could feel that last trip in our bones. Its influence on us was impactful. Obviously, if you put travelers in a no-travel box for a year they will get itchy, but this felt different. An ache for something new, of having our money go a little further, and not having to sit through another dreary Northwest winter again (...or rather, for the next few years). This brings me, finally, to the more practical reasons as to why we decided to move to Portugal:
People - The locals are so kind and welcoming and with a large immigrant population, Portugal is full of diversity. People from all over the world are experiencing the culture of Portugal alongside us.
Weather - Usually skiing and snowboarding keeps us feeling alive during the Seattle winters, but because of the limited capacity at most resorts due to COVID last year, we kind of missed out. Go figure, the northwest gray rainy season hits harder during a global pandemic. With the country of Portugal having an average of about 300 days of sunshine per year, we were enticed (and we can still take a mini trip to the nearby (insert any European Alps here)) to get our skiing and snowboarding fix.
Cost of Living - Portugal's cost of living is about 30-40% cheaper than that of the United States, which means our money will go further, as will its impact on the local Portuguese economy compared to say, if we decided to live in another country like France, Ireland or Germany.
Coastal - Being born and raised by the sea makes it difficult to ever move too far away from it. There’s something about the salt in the air. Portugal is filled with beautiful beaches and coastal towns and we can’t wait to continue exploring them all.
Pace of Life - Slow livin’, baby. I would say Europeans in general are so much better than Americans at this. Appreciating life and working to live, not living to work.
Location in mainland Europe - A short train, ferry or flight away from so many different countries and cultures was another big draw for us.
Language - We are so excited to learn the Portuguese language, but moving to a new country without being able to communicate about important logistics can be a difficult adjustment. However, Portugal has a large immigrant population, making English the second most commonly spoken language. Obviously, we want to eventually be fluent in Portuguese, which is why we will be taking an intensive course upon our arrival, but until then, it is a benefit to understand and feel understood initially.
Safety - Portugal is the fourth safest country in the world. The US? Number 121 (out of 163 countries on the Global Peace Index). Contrastly, Portugal has tighter gun control, decriminalized drugs, low crime and a more stable democratic socialized political system.
Healthcare - Another example of how socialized medicine is incredible and helpful to everyone. We will pay little for our healthcare while still receiving world-class services. This includes but is not limited to: doctor appointments, eye care, dental care, emergency and preventative care.
Covid response - The tighter lockdowns benefitted the country early on, but like the rest of the world, Portugal had a delayed access to vaccines compared to the United States. Despite this much later rollout, they have already surpassed the states in their vaccination rate and at the time of writing this, 80% of the population has had their first shot.
There are many other reasons as to why we chose to move to Portugal and many of them are occurring to us with every passing day we adjust to our new life here. We are living in a furnished apartment in the northern city of Porto (where the Duoro river meets the Atlantic sea) for the first six months. We are excited to learn the Portuguese language and to further immerse ourselves in this culture.
So to my family and friends, though I have never been great at being concise, I hope this long-winded explanation answered your question as to why we decided to move to Portugal. And please, come visit!