Anyone here from Portugal?

[I'm.No.One]

So me & the family are sincerely considering making the move to Portugal in the next year.

We will have the capacity to run our business remotely within said year.

We would be taking advantage of the golden visa program via buying a home in northern Portugal.

Of course we would visit first and get a feel for areas before we made such a commitment.

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who's actually living there native or expats in what your honest take is on life there.

We have pretty much watched every video/show etc possible we can find.

Things we're attracted to:

1.) The climate, even in northern Portugal the "low" winter temps are amazing. Where we live now it's often -10°F during our 6 months of winter.

2.) Access to genuinely fresh fruits/meats due to the temperate climate.

3.) Affordable/accessible health care. I mean not that we really use ours a lot but the amount we pay monthly in the US for healthcare is larger than the average persons mortgage payment...

4.) The people seem incredibly friendly & have a good sense of humor. I also admire how proud/connected to their culture they seem to be.

5.) Escaping dictatorship/communism is still fresh in their history. I genuinely believe this makes them far less likely to accept such behavior. I've seen some positive movement there against covid mandates/over reach.

6.) The low cost of living. This is a huge one for me. I have worked myself to death to pull myself/family out of sincere generational extreme poverty. However, with inflation & everything I will literally die if I have to continually push myself 24/7.

It would literally save my life to live somewhere my income goes 2x further & byproxy I could work far less to get by.

7.) My kids are teens (18 & 15) and college is very accessible/affordable there. I would never be able to handle the extra physical work load it would take to shoulder those bills in the US & I would not want to condone them to a life of crippling US college industry debt.

8.) There are a fair amount of English speaking residents there so we'll still be able to reasonably communicate while we learn European Portuguese.


All in all we need such a slower pace of life that the US simply does not allow, we need the sun, the fresh food, the affordable living, & to get out of a crumbling society.


One major thing I can't really find an answer for is the political environment, I mean I know it's rather liberal but is that traditional liberal or ya know... American liberal?

Like how PC are we talking?

I just need to be able to be a human who isn't seen as inherently evil because I'm white & can kinda afford groceries now.

(For context, last week at one of only 3 grocery stores in my area I had half a cart of peaty type food. It cost me fu(king $250 & the lady behind me went off on me for being so privileged & the damn checker started in on me too.

I'm a quiet person publicly, so please know I literally didn't say anything beyond the socially required "hello how are you?" so it's not like I was being all uppity, I was actually looking at my phone to make sure I didn't miss any coupons on the stores app.

In all honesty this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. If I can't even buy food in my country without being made to feel like I'm doing something wrong it's time to think about getting out.

 

[Perry Staltic]

You could contact this guy, who I'm pretty sure is an expat living in Portugal. I've communicated with him before so he is accessible. Seems like a really nice, intelligent and aware guy.

Electroverse

Documenting Earth Changes During The Next Grand Solar Minimum

electroverse.net

 

[I'm.No.One]

You could contact this guy, who I'm pretty sure is an expat living in Portugal. I've communicated with him before so he is accessible. Seems like a really nice, intelligent and aware guy.

Electroverse

Documenting Earth Changes During The Next Grand Solar Minimum

electroverse.net

Thanks I'll check him out.

 

[Rafe]

I just looked this up so I don’t know how active it is. There is a Facebook private group called Expats in Portugal.

Log in to Facebook

Log in to Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family and people you know.

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There is a Telegram channel Expats in Portugal & one called Expats Living in Poertugal. But one has 3 subscribers & the other has 7 so far.

Expats Living in Portugal🇵🇹

Advise in All Maters

t.me

I hear ya on your economic outlook. I haven’t run into anyone calling me out in my area. I don’t live in a big city. But it’s only been about a decade since I haven’t had to put groceries back in the shelf. And it was a toss up whether the work was worth it.

Moving somewhere where my money goes further is looking better all the time.

 

[BonbonUK]

So me & the family are sincerely considering making the move to Portugal in the next year.

We will have the capacity to run our business remotely within said year.

We would be taking advantage of the golden visa program via buying a home in northern Portugal.

Of course we would visit first and get a feel for areas before we made such a commitment.

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who's actually living there native or expats in what your honest take is on life there.

We have pretty much watched every video/show etc possible we can find.

Things we're attracted to:

1.) The climate, even in northern Portugal the "low" winter temps are amazing. Where we live now it's often -10°F during our 6 months of winter.

2.) Access to genuinely fresh fruits/meats due to the temperate climate.

3.) Affordable/accessible health care. I mean not that we really use ours a lot but the amount we pay monthly in the US for healthcare is larger than the average persons mortgage payment...

4.) The people seem incredibly friendly & have a good sense of humor. I also admire how proud/connected to their culture they seem to be.

5.) Escaping dictatorship/communism is still fresh in their history. I genuinely believe this makes them far less likely to accept such behavior. I've seen some positive movement there against covid mandates/over reach.

6.) The low cost of living. This is a huge one for me. I have worked myself to death to pull myself/family out of sincere generational extreme poverty. However, with inflation & everything I will literally die if I have to continually push myself 24/7.

It would literally save my life to live somewhere my income goes 2x further & byproxy I could work far less to get by.

7.) My kids are teens (18 & 15) and college is very accessible/affordable there. I would never be able to handle the extra physical work load it would take to shoulder those bills in the US & I would not want to condone them to a life of crippling US college industry debt.

8.) There are a fair amount of English speaking residents there so we'll still be able to reasonably communicate while we learn European Portuguese.


All in all we need such a slower pace of life that the US simply does not allow, we need the sun, the fresh food, the affordable living, & to get out of a crumbling society.


One major thing I can't really find an answer for is the political environment, I mean I know it's rather liberal but is that traditional liberal or ya know... American liberal?

Like how PC are we talking?

I just need to be able to be a human who isn't seen as inherently evil because I'm white & can kinda afford groceries now.

(For context, last week at one of only 3 grocery stores in my area I had half a cart of peaty type food. It cost me fu(king $250 & the lady behind me went off on me for being so privileged & the damn checker started in on me too.

I'm a quiet person publicly, so please know I literally didn't say anything beyond the socially required "hello how are you?" so it's not like I was being all uppity, I was actually looking at my phone to make sure I didn't miss any coupons on the stores app.

In all honesty this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. If I can't even buy food in my country without being made to feel like I'm doing something wrong it's time to think about getting out.

Hi there,

I'm from the UK and moved to Portugal (Algarve) at the end of 2020. I'm 42 with 2 young children and my husband is 51.

It sounds like you have it correct about the various pros of portugals found in your research, I'd add a couple of thoughts:

It can get surprisingly cold in winter inside the house (because houses here are badly insulated and often don't have proper heating). Our house in the UK was warmer inside despite being much colder outside. I think it's just that the Portuguese are so oriented to an outdoor lifestyle they don't care about trivial things like insulation and heating Maybe in the north it's better though.

People are sticklers for mask wearing. Masks are mandatory in supermarkets, shopping malls etc. People even put them on their young kids. In the UK people can get away with not wearing them and just say they have a medical exemption, but I doubt that would fly here with the "prosegur" guys (security guards) at all shop entrances. I see old people wearing masks on the beach. I've been turned away from places for wearing the "wrong kind" of mask (I had a chiffon one).

We haven't found the cost of living to be much cheaper than the UK, but I think that's just an Algarve thing, I've heard it is cheaper in places like the Silver Coast and the north.

As for groceries, we don't eat a lot of meat but I do find organic grass fed meat even in places like Aldi and Lidl. Usually it will be labeled from the Azores islands, where cows are apparently grass fed all year round. We go through lots of azores butter, cheese and free range eggs, I never seem to find fresh organic milk but there is plenty of long life organic milk available (also labelled grass fed). I don't drink a lot of milk but my kids do. Cashiers in supermarkets don't seem to like if you do a massive grocery shop all at once, I once saw a British guy trying to buy about 2 weeks worth of food and the cashier complained to him, I think it's just the culture here to shop every few days so you'll always have something fresh.

Something that bugs me, there are lots of lovely traditional pastries and desserts that would be butter based like croissants but they are now made with cheap veg oils instead, even things you'll find labelled "traditional" at farmers markets like pao de deus and pastel de nata will be full of sunflower oil. When checking labels, I avoid anything that says "oleo de girasoll" (sunflower) and "oleo de colza" (rapeseed).

I do like the laid back culture here, my observation is that the Portuguese are naturally somewhat reserved like the British, but more relaxed and happy as well as friendlier to strangers. My daughter (7) goes to an international school and is much happier than she was in England, she is in a class of 5 instead of 30! Plus she gets outside in the sun every day.

p.s. Something else I like about Portugal, it is part of the culture that good food eaten at a relaxed pace, relaxation in general and sunshine are essential to health, try to take these away from the Portuguese and they won't be happy! I've seen builders having afternoon naps at their worksite and someone with me said something like "yeah, nap time is sacred here"

 

[I'm.No.One]

Hi there,

I'm from the UK and moved to Portugal (Algarve) at the end of 2020. I'm 42 with 2 young children and my husband is 51.

It sounds like you have it correct about the various pros of portugals found in your research, I'd add a couple of thoughts:

It can get surprisingly cold in winter inside the house (because houses here are badly insulated and often don't have proper heating). Our house in the UK was warmer inside despite being much colder outside. I think it's just that the Portuguese are so oriented to an outdoor lifestyle they don't care about trivial things like insulation and heating Maybe in the north it's better though.

People are sticklers for mask wearing. Masks are mandatory in supermarkets, shopping malls etc. People even put them on their young kids. In the UK people can get away with not wearing them and just say they have a medical exemption, but I doubt that would fly here with the "prosegur" guys (security guards) at all shop entrances. I see old people wearing masks on the beach. I've been turned away from places for wearing the "wrong kind" of mask (I had a chiffon one).

We haven't found the cost of living to be much cheaper than the UK, but I think that's just an Algarve thing, I've heard it is cheaper in places like the Silver Coast and the north.

As for groceries, we don't eat a lot of meat but I do find organic grass fed meat even in places like Aldi and Lidl. Usually it will be labeled from the Azores islands, where cows are apparently grass fed all year round. We go through lots of azores butter, cheese and free range eggs, I never seem to find fresh organic milk but there is plenty of long life organic milk available (also labelled grass fed). I don't drink a lot of milk but my kids do. Cashiers in supermarkets don't seem to like if you do a massive grocery shop all at once, I once saw a British guy trying to buy about 2 weeks worth of food and the cashier complained to him, I think it's just the culture here to shop every few days so you'll always have something fresh.

Something that bugs me, there are lots of lovely traditional pastries and desserts that would be butter based like croissants but they are now made with cheap veg oils instead, even things you'll find labelled "traditional" at farmers markets like pao de deus and pastel de nata will be full of sunflower oil. When checking labels, I avoid anything that says "oleo de girasoll" (sunflower) and "oleo de colza" (rapeseed).

I do like the laid back culture here, my observation is that the Portuguese are naturally somewhat reserved like the British, but more relaxed and happy as well as friendlier to strangers. My daughter (7) goes to an international school and is much happier than she was in England, she is in a class of 5 instead of 30! Plus she gets outside in the sun every day.

p.s. Something else I like about Portugal, it is part of the culture that good food eaten at a relaxed pace, relaxation in general and sunshine are essential to health, try to take these away from the Portuguese and they won't be happy! I've seen builders having afternoon naps at their worksite and someone with me said something like "yeah, nap time is sacred here"

Thanks so much for this!

I am hopeful that in the next year or so much of the mask wearing push will dwindle, especially as many other countries do away with such things. I also wonder if that's the same all over Portugal or if it's primarily in the Algarve area with it being so tourist/expat driven?

We likely have different definitions of cold but it's for sure something we will consider when looking to purchase. I wonder with the North being the *coldest area of Portugal if they're more prone to insulate up there.

Yeah the milk situation is a bummer! As is we've kept milk cows/goats for the last 15 years so once settled depending on the property size we settle on we'll likely supply that ourselves. Especially since raw milk sales are illegal there ?

From our research the Algarve is for sure the most expensive place to live, that's pretty much a result of the tourism/expat industry though.

I also wouldn't have a problem shopping more regularly (although, that half cart of groceries was only 4 bags which seems reasonable for 4 people). We simply love 1+hr from stores at the moment so it's unrealistic to not shop bulk.

I will say it's a toss up between northern & central though, central has the most fertile soil so the allure of being able to put in a large garden in such a temperate climate is a big one. As is we grow a 1/2 acre garden but are limited due to our super short growing season here.

There's for sure a lot to consider, research, & watch for things playing out over the next year or so.

Honestly Patagonia was on our list for some time but you can't even get to it without being vaxed.

 

[I'm.No.One]

I just looked this up so I don’t know how active it is. There is a Facebook private group called Expats in Portugal.

Log in to Facebook

Log in to Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family and people you know.

www.facebook.com

There is a Telegram channel Expats in Portugal & one called Expats Living in Poertugal. But one has 3 subscribers & the other has 7 so far.

Expats Living in Portugal🇵🇹

Advise in All Maters

t.me

I hear ya on your economic outlook. I haven’t run into anyone calling me out in my area. I don’t live in a big city. But it’s only been about a decade since I haven’t had to put groceries back in the shelf. And it was a toss up whether the work was worth it.

Moving somewhere where my money goes further is looking better all the time.

Thanks for this!

What's crazy is we also don't live in a big city, we're in a remote area of NE Oregon. I'd be terrified to buy food in a bit city, like I might get publicly beaten ?

 

[BonbonUK]

Thanks so much for this!

I am hopeful that in the next year or so much of the mask wearing push will dwindle, especially as many other countries do away with such things. I also wonder if that's the same all over Portugal or if it's primarily in the Algarve area with it being so tourist/expat driven?

We likely have different definitions of cold but it's for sure something we will consider when looking to purchase. I wonder with the North being the *coldest area of Portugal if they're more prone to insulate up there.

Yeah the milk situation is a bummer! As is we've kept milk cows/goats for the last 15 years so once settled depending on the property size we settle on we'll likely supply that ourselves. Especially since raw milk sales are illegal there ?

From our research the Algarve is for sure the most expensive place to live, that's pretty much a result of the tourism/expat industry though.

I also wouldn't have a problem shopping more regularly (although, that half cart of groceries was only 4 bags which seems reasonable for 4 people). We simply love 1+hr from stores at the moment so it's unrealistic to not shop bulk.

I will say it's a toss up between northern & central though, central has the most fertile soil so the allure of being able to put in a large garden in such a temperate climate is a big one. As is we grow a 1/2 acre garden but are limited due to our super short growing season here.

There's for sure a lot to consider, research, & watch for things playing out over the next year or so.

Honestly Patagonia was on our list for some time but you can't even get to it without being vaxed.

You're welcome!

I've heard that Alentejo is good for houses with some farm land, such houses usually have their own water supply (bore hole), solar hot water and possible space for solar panels. The more inland you go the cheaper properties get, but there are more risk of wildfires and hotter summer temperatures.

The climate is great for growing fruit and veg here, I've been given homegrown fruits from neighbors on occasion, usually avocados, figs, apricots, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, plus homemade jam. Most of my neighbors have chickens, we would have them too but are in a rented house so can't really have animals destroying the garden

Good luck with your research :)

 

[Perry Staltic]

Thanks for this!

What's crazy is we also don't live in a big city, we're in a remote area of NE Oregon. I'd be terrified to buy food in a bit city, like I might get publicly beaten ?

Karens bitching about you spending $250 on groceries is small town stuff. Really small.

 

[ivy]

Portuguese native here.

In order to fully answer your questions, I need a notion of what your monthly income and expenses are currently. In general, though, cost of living is much cheaper than anywhere else in Europe. The Algarve and Lisbon are exceptions, not the rule, and sadly every coastal city has seen serious real estate speculation.

I'm based in Porto, by the way.

 

[I'm.No.One]

Karens bitching about you spending $250 on groceries is small town stuff. Really small.

I don't think this is just "small town stuff" it's an entire narrative being pushed that anyone with resources is a privileged monster who should be ashamed.

Especially because my story is not a singular event. There are thousands of people sharing similar reactions to various situations where they're attacked for "having".

 

[Perry Staltic]

I don't think this is just "small town stuff" it's an entire narrative being pushed that anyone with resources is a privileged monster who should be ashamed.

Especially because my story is not a singular event. There are thousands of people sharing similar reactions to various situations where they're attacked for "having".

That must be a woke thing peculiar to the west coast then because I have never seen that in the US south, big city or small town.

 

[PTP]

I don't live in Portugal but I did travel across it for several weeks pre-pandemic and might be able to offer a little but outsider's perspective. Beautiful country. You may be overestimating how easy it will be to get by without speaking some Portuguese, yes there are plenty of English speakers, still, you might want to learn, especially if you're staying in a more rural setting.

I can't speak to Portugal's political situation, it's a very white country with the exception of a largish minority of Brazilians and Cape Verdeans, but American political culture spreads globally. Still, European history is far more feudal, any political problems you are likely to face might be more class based and stem more from being perceived as rich American jerks, but if you're pleasant with people they'll respond positively normally. If you start going on and on about hating socialism and BLM etc. it will feel much to them like someone ranting to you about how much they hate white privilege bla bla bla. Portugal has much more experience with fascism than communism, albeit a fairly lowkey and non-racist style of fascism as far as I can tell, you probably don't want to be perceived as a Salazar fan unless you're with Boomers/Silents that liked him.

The idea that you're likely to get mugged shopping in a major American city (outside the bad parts of the worst cities: Baltimore, Detroit, etc.) is I think a reaction to overconsumption of fear-mongering media. While it's good to be cognisant of dangers, if you continuously feed your minds narratives to make you fearful and angry, it won't matter where in the world you are, you will still feel that fear and anger. Believe me, I am no fan of this pro-crime mentality the contemporary left seems to revel in, but that doesn't make the worst people showcased on the news representative of the day to day situation.

With regards to crime, Portugal feels very safe, even though it's one of the poorer countries in Western Europe. The worst you are likely to experience is pickpocketing, which is disorienting, but doesn't harm the body. Wandering around Lisbon at 1 AM the worst I encountered was a Brazilian prostitute coming on to me and then getting offended when I checked my pockets, feels much safer there than midnight wandering around London.

Lastly, Coimbra is a hidden gem up in the mountains, I recommend checking it out if you get a chance, in the summer/spring time.

 

[I'm.No.One]

That must be a woke thing peculiar to the west coast then because I have never seen that in the US south, big city or small town.

Yeah blue states, even in deep red zones are getting insane.

That & sooooo many big city fleers are heading as close to Idaho as they can afford & are bringing their politics with them. Super fun.

 

[I'm.No.One]

I don't live in Portugal but I did travel across it for several weeks pre-pandemic and might be able to offer a little but outsider's perspective. Beautiful country. You may be overestimating how easy it will be to get by without speaking some Portuguese, yes there are plenty of English speakers, still, you might want to learn, especially if you're staying in a more rural setting.

Note the part where I said we'd be learning Portuguese ?

I can't speak to Portugal's political situation, it's a very white country with the exception of a largish minority of Brazilians and Cape Verdeans, but American political culture spreads globally. Still, European history is far more feudal, any political problems you are likely to face might be more class based and stem more from being perceived as rich American jerks, but if you're pleasant with people they'll respond positively normally. If you start going on and on about hating socialism and BLM etc. it will feel much to them like someone ranting to you about how much they hate white privilege bla bla bla. Portugal has much more experience with fascism than communism, albeit a fairly lowkey and non-racist style of fascism as far as I can tell, you probably don't want to be perceived as a Salazar fan unless you're with Boomers/Silents that liked him.

Yeah I would never talk about any of that stuff with anyone. I don't in general, it's draining & solves nothing.

The idea that you're likely to get mugged shopping in a major American city (outside the bad parts of the worst cities: Baltimore, Detroit, etc.) is I think a reaction to overconsumption of fear-mongering media. While it's good to be cognisant of dangers, if you continuously feed your minds narratives to make you fearful and angry, it won't matter where in the world you are, you will still feel that fear and anger. Believe me, I am no fan of this pro-crime mentality the contemporary left seems to revel in, but that doesn't make the worst people showcased on the news representative of the day to day situation.

Weird assumption that I'm feeling this way because of MSM, although I didn't say anything about being mugged so not sure where that came from.

Anyhow, I don't look at any MSM news & only read independent sources when I'm researching something specific.

I'll also note I gave a real life experience (of many), I will also share that I run a MASSIVE social media account & I literally deal with hundreds of thousands of humans half of which are unhinged.

I know that's not in real life but it is an accurate temperature of a good portion of society. Or at the very least a much louder portion that's willing to hurt people however they can who don't implicitly agree with them.

I guess I would also say not looking at the fever pitched left narrative doesn't mean it's not heading your way. Just that you haven't been touched by it in person yet.

With regards to crime, Portugal feels very safe, even though it's one of the poorer countries in Western Europe. The worst you are likely to experience is pickpocketing, which is disorienting, but doesn't harm the body. Wandering around Lisbon at 1 AM the worst I encountered was a Brazilian prostitute coming on to me and then getting offended when I checked my pockets, feels much safer there than midnight wandering around London.

Glad to hear this. Although it honestly wasn't a concern of mine. I had read about the pick pocketing though.

Lastly, Coimbra is a hidden gem up in the mountains, I recommend checking it out if you get a chance, in the summer/spring time.

Thanks we've been looking there but we're having to see if the zone is a qualifier for the golden visa.

I appreciate you taking the time to share ?

 

[darkthx]

Hi, I'm planning to move to Portugal this year, after the summer/autumn and I was thinking of starting the thread like this but you've beat me to it so I would just add some more info.


I live in Prague almost 40 years and after 15 years of corporate bull**** I've finally decided to leave the comfort zone and change my life even that work is ok last few years, thanks to 'pandemic' we've permanent HO so more free time despite of average wage especially for an IT guy, but I don't mind because for me it was never about money, just need to survive so €1k+ is basically enough for my life. I couldn't make this move like 5 or 10 years ago when work has been really stressful because of my health issues (not eating enough (of right foods), mineral & vitamins deficiency, heavy metal toxicity, parasites, low ATP production, low thyroid, steroids all over the place, barely sleeping just few hours for years, stress all my life so about 5 years ago I've started to learn about human body and after spending more than 10 000 hours on this topic and still learning here I am, able to hike all day, ride a bike the way I want to, be able to sleep for 6-7hours without interruption and feel finally like a ‘normal’ human being) and I’m not saying that I’ve fixed all my problems, genetics sux (my mother died at 37 years old and all my relatives (except my father who has many ‘modern diseases’ and take like 10 pills per day) have died when I was still at school of cancer or organ failure. I’m 40 now and I feel more alive and energetic than when I was 30, 20 or even younger and I’ve even helped like 15 other people past 2 years to get their health better at least so I would say the right way to go. I’ve also experienced psychedelics, started with an Ayahuasca (not a good idea if you’ve already high serotonin & low MAOA due to genetics but I didn’t have that knowledge at that time), LSD & Psilocybin (mushrooms - I’ve felt similar issues like on DMT/Aya (mild serotonin syndrome) and found out that just in 2019 through spectroscopy they found β-Carbolines in mushrooms which are MAOI so that why they are able to produce similar effect like DMT without using additional plant to inhibit MAO like in case of Aya unless you smoke DMT of course which is another story and definitely no way to go, definitely not with 5-MeO-DMT which is not the same as DMT and also more dangerous so little advice about potential psychonauts although most people will not have this problem but better be safe than (serotonin syndrome) sorry especially on heroic doses which could **** you up because of blood pressure etc.

Anyway back to the original topic which is moving to Portugal. I just wanted to state that I’m also in a different mindset/consciousness today because of this experience and even that I was leaning more towards nature (again) for the past 10 years of my life, now it’s definitely more profound than ever. I’m not scared of death so I don’t care to take a leap and quit a job + move to another country even I know it’ll be hard but life itself should be an adventure not just stuck at polluted city and slowly die in illusionary world of safety, abundance and comfort. In CZ we’ve 'cold' weather for like 6 months but that’s not the worst part because especially frustrating is the lack of sunshine in winter (if you live in a city like Prague, but if you live in the countryside/mountains you’ll get at least more sun but also have more colder days). So that why I want to move to Portugal, mainly because of the sun, food is good, cleaner air, the sea is a nice bonus as well as grounding at the beach + salty air.

As far as moving to the Portugal, you’ve to get a NIF to be able to create a bank account, make a rent, buy a house etc. As far as I understand it, you can only get temporary NIF (when you provided some bill of utilities on your home address outside of PT) if you’re not a citizen/live in there for like more than 6 months+, after that you can obtain permanent NIF like others Portugal citizens with a local address. More on this How to Get a Portuguese NIF for Non-Residents and some useful info here How to Move to Portugal: the Complete Relocation Guide | InterNations but you can just Google these, plenty of info around nowadays. I’m not self-sufficient so I plant to use some project like Workaway in over 180 countries - give meaning to your travels to be able to get there for a few months, get through the bureaucracy, explore the surroundings, find a job and also my own place to live. I’ve considered north vs central vs south and decided the best place to settle is around Sintra because it’s not too hot (except maybe for the summer), less rainfall & wind opposite to the north & Porto but if you just about the mild weather, it’s fine, it’s like 5 degrees difference max but definitely more rain & wind in the north. I’d really love to live in the mountains but not in a cold weather (and this is not like south of Ecuador) so it’s better to settle near the coast and just visit the mountains in the summer or spring/autumn which is north or central region undoubtedly better for. Sintra also has a nice (bike)park so win win for me ;-) Regardless of quality food, I’ve found Celeiro - they sell & even deliver many organic brands all over the country/big cities for example goat milk Resultados da Pesquisa Por: 'leite cabra' | Celeiro or orange juice Resultados da Pesquisa Por: 'sumo laranja bio' | Celeiro but I bet you can find other brands maybe even cheaper, definitely non-organic version in local supermarkets but I’d be sceptic about added additives.

Hope it helps + sry for a longer post about non related issues & I hope that mask thingy will be gone for good because I don't wanna be fighting that local general

 

[I'm.No.One]

Hi, I'm planning to move to Portugal this year, after the summer/autumn and I was thinking of starting the thread like this but you've beat me to it so I would just add some more info.


I live in Prague almost 40 years and after 15 years of corporate bull**** I've finally decided to leave the comfort zone and change my life even that work is ok last few years, thanks to 'pandemic' we've permanent HO so more free time despite of average wage especially for an IT guy, but I don't mind because for me it was never about money, just need to survive so €1k+ is basically enough for my life. I couldn't make this move like 5 or 10 years ago when work has been really stressful because of my health issues (not eating enough (of right foods), mineral & vitamins deficiency, heavy metal toxicity, parasites, low ATP production, low thyroid, steroids all over the place, barely sleeping just few hours for years, stress all my life so about 5 years ago I've started to learn about human body and after spending more than 10 000 hours on this topic and still learning here I am, able to hike all day, ride a bike the way I want to, be able to sleep for 6-7hours without interruption and feel finally like a ‘normal’ human being) and I’m not saying that I’ve fixed all my problems, genetics sux (my mother died at 37 years old and all my relatives (except my father who has many ‘modern diseases’ and take like 10 pills per day) have died when I was still at school of cancer or organ failure. I’m 40 now and I feel more alive and energetic than when I was 30, 20 or even younger and I’ve even helped like 15 other people past 2 years to get their health better at least so I would say the right way to go. I’ve also experienced psychedelics, started with an Ayahuasca (not a good idea if you’ve already high serotonin & low MAOA due to genetics but I didn’t have that knowledge at that time), LSD & Psilocybin (mushrooms - I’ve felt similar issues like on DMT/Aya (mild serotonin syndrome) and found out that just in 2019 through spectroscopy they found β-Carbolines in mushrooms which are MAOI so that why they are able to produce similar effect like DMT without using additional plant to inhibit MAO like in case of Aya unless you smoke DMT of course which is another story and definitely no way to go, definitely not with 5-MeO-DMT which is not the same as DMT and also more dangerous so little advice about potential psychonauts although most people will not have this problem but better be safe than (serotonin syndrome) sorry especially on heroic doses which could **** you up because of blood pressure etc.

Anyway back to the original topic which is moving to Portugal. I just wanted to state that I’m also in a different mindset/consciousness today because of this experience and even that I was leaning more towards nature (again) for the past 10 years of my life, now it’s definitely more profound than ever. I’m not scared of death so I don’t care to take a leap and quit a job + move to another country even I know it’ll be hard but life itself should be an adventure not just stuck at polluted city and slowly die in illusionary world of safety, abundance and comfort. In CZ we’ve 'cold' weather for like 6 months but that’s not the worst part because especially frustrating is the lack of sunshine in winter (if you live in a city like Prague, but if you live in the countryside/mountains you’ll get at least more sun but also have more colder days). So that why I want to move to Portugal, mainly because of the sun, food is good, cleaner air, the sea is a nice bonus as well as grounding at the beach + salty air.

As far as moving to the Portugal, you’ve to get a NIF to be able to create a bank account, make a rent, buy a house etc. As far as I understand it, you can only get temporary NIF (when you provided some bill of utilities on your home address outside of PT) if you’re not a citizen/live in there for like more than 6 months+, after that you can obtain permanent NIF like others Portugal citizens with a local address. More on this How to Get a Portuguese NIF for Non-Residents and some useful info here How to Move to Portugal: the Complete Relocation Guide | InterNations but you can just Google these, plenty of info around nowadays. I’m not self-sufficient so I plant to use some project like Workaway in over 180 countries - give meaning to your travels to be able to get there for a few months, get through the bureaucracy, explore the surroundings, find a job and also my own place to live. I’ve considered north vs central vs south and decided the best place to settle is around Sintra because it’s not too hot (except maybe for the summer), less rainfall & wind opposite to the north & Porto but if you just about the mild weather, it’s fine, it’s like 5 degrees difference max but definitely more rain & wind in the north. I’d really love to live in the mountains but not in a cold weather (and this is not like south of Ecuador) so it’s better to settle near the coast and just visit the mountains in the summer or spring/autumn which is north or central region undoubtedly better for. Sintra also has a nice (bike)park so win win for me ;-) Regardless of quality food, I’ve found Celeiro - they sell & even deliver many organic brands all over the country/big cities for example goat milk Resultados da Pesquisa Por: 'leite cabra' | Celeiro or orange juice Resultados da Pesquisa Por: 'sumo laranja bio' | Celeiro but I bet you can find other brands maybe even cheaper, definitely non-organic version in local supermarkets but I’d be sceptic about added additives.

Hope it helps + sry for a longer post about non related issues & I hope that mask thingy will be gone for good because I don't wanna be fighting that local general

Thanks so much for sharing all of this?

Also have you considered amanita muscaria mushroom? They don't stimulate serotonin at all as they act on the GABA receptors. Plus they've legal almost everywhere in the world so you can order them online!

 

[darkthx]

Thanks so much for sharing all of this?

Also have you considered amanita muscaria mushroom? They don't stimulate serotonin at all as they act on the GABA receptors. Plus they've legal almost everywhere in the world so you can order them online!

Yeah, I know, but AFAIK Amanita is very diffent from Psilocybe Cubensis, no spiritual enlightenment etc. But I solved this by microdosing once a week or so, It suits me better anyway. And don't get me wrong - heroic trip or even normal trip is life changing exprerience for sure, but it's not needed to trip every week or month, just once or twice in a lifetime should be enough. At least that's my experience after few months of tripping on LSD (like every other week), now I don't feel I need to anymore.

 

[PTP]

Note the part where I said we'd be learning Portuguese ?


Yeah I would never talk about any of that stuff with anyone. I don't in general, it's draining & solves nothing.

Weird assumption that I'm feeling this way because of MSM, although I didn't say anything about being mugged so not sure where that came from.

Anyhow, I don't look at any MSM news & only read independent sources when I'm researching something specific.

I'll also note I gave a real life experience (of many), I will also share that I run a MASSIVE social media account & I literally deal with hundreds of thousands of humans half of which are unhinged.

I know that's not in real life but it is an accurate temperature of a good portion of society. Or at the very least a much louder portion that's willing to hurt people however they can who don't implicitly agree with them.

I guess I would also say not looking at the fever pitched left narrative doesn't mean it's not heading your way. Just that you haven't been touched by it in person yet.

Glad to hear this. Although it honestly wasn't a concern of mine. I had read about the pick pocketing though.

Thanks we've been looking there but we're having to see if the zone is a qualifier for the golden visa.

I appreciate you taking the time to share ?

"Note the part where I said we'd be learning Portuguese" - I did skim that part, that's good.

"I'd be terrified to buy food in a bit city, like I might get publicly beaten" - this part is where my assumption of a fearful attitude came from. Maybe it was an exaggeration for effect, but that doesn't really come through in text, to people with direct experience of big city US life it seems absurd.

"I appreciate you taking the time to share" You're welcome :). Boa sorte!

 

[Perry Staltic]

Maybe it was an exaggeration for effect, but that doesn't really come through in text, to people with direct experience of big city US life it seems absurd.

It really depends on what part of any city you're talking about. To people with direct experience living and working in US cities of all sizes, saying all parts of all but a few cities are safe is absurd.