"You should write a blog..."
“You should write a blog” … a suggestion I hear frequently. I’ve toyed with the idea, but didn’t have the space in my head to actually begin this kind of undertaking. After all, it would require maintenance, right? Would it become a burden? I would also have to figure out how to add a blog to my website. Would it be an effort in frustration? And most important, would anyone care to read it? Worries aside, it feels like the right time to start. The right time for me to process my experience in this way. And because there’s a story to tell…
I’m an American expat, living in Portugal. In May 2023, my husband and I left the United States to take up residence in this beautiful country. We sold our house in Pennsylvania where we lived for 23 years and raised our two children. We sold our cars. We sold, donated, and gifted most of our furniture, clothing, and belongings. We cleared out a lifetime of “stuff” and “someday” projects stored in our basement. We emptied art studios and passed along most of the art supplies. We gave big hugs to our family and friends, and said goodbye to the life we knew in the United States to embrace a new life abroad.
Why? And why Portugal? Living abroad was always on our radar, and although we both looked for overseas teaching jobs early in our marriage, nothing opened up. Then life continued, children came, careers grew, and we found ourselves comfortably settled in a suburban community outside of Philadelphia, in a large house, with the possibility of living abroad in our rear view mirror. But the desire never disappeared.
In 2018, we began to nudge the idea of a move overseas. Could it actually be possible? My brother, who has lived all over the world, mentioned Portugal as a place that was getting a lot of buzz around expat opportunities. As we learned more about Portugal, we discovered why. It has a fabulous climate, beautiful and diverse landscape, a long coast with exquisite beaches, warm and welcoming people, amazing food, thriving culture, low cost of living, open and accepting values, very safe cities, and proximity to European travel. As we researched several other countries, Portugal kept rising to the top.
We began to plan a visit, but COVID postponed our trip for 2 years. My husband would have moved to Portugal sight unseen, but I needed to visit before making the leap. We were finally able to travel to Lisbon and Porto in September 2022 and I fell head over heals in love with Portugal. IN. LOVE. On our last day in Lisbon, on the way to the airport, we stopped at the bank and opened a Portuguese bank account. We were all in.
Early retirement became a possibility for me, and my husband was an educational consultant after retiring from a career in education, so we knew this was our window of opportunity. We were more than ready to trade a life of “stuff” for one filled with experiences, to move beyond our comfort zone and challenge ourselves with living at our edge. As we took on the massive task of planning a move, we connected with helpful resources (a future post) to help with the D7 VISA application process, apartment hunting in Porto, banking details, as well as clearing out and selling our house, wrapping up stateside medical care, and prioritizing time with family and friends.
So here I am on the other side of this monumental transition. As I write this, it’s 3 January and the holidays are winding down. I’m sitting in the cozy living room of my Porto apartment after a day filled with trips to the gym, the doctor, the bakery, the grocery store, and the corner market, walking or using the metro to get around. We just spent our first Christmas in Portugal, with new traditions filling our days. Our daughter made her first trip to Porto, joining us for the holiday week. Life is good. I am happy and content. Porto astonishes and delights me on a daily basis. I feel like I was built for this place. It’s not without its challenges, and there are days that have stretched me to my limit, but the wonders far outweigh the worries, the foreign is giving way to the familiar, and this ancient city is beginning to feel like my new home.
Sunset on the Douro River