Almost two years ago when we started the process of Portugal I would occasionally get the "Why Portugal?" Question. Over the past few years I believe it's become more apparent why people are more willing to leave the United States.
My husband and I came to Lisbon on a trip before we were even married 17 years ago and fell in love with it. The food, the people, the culture all cliche I know but true. We had been back quite a few times in the 17 years since we first came so it was not a "new" idea to us, we had been talking about it for years. Covid allowed us the time off (almost in my husband's case) to actually make it work.
I love the more laid back way of life here, it's such a contrast to life in the States. Since I commute a lot it's almost like halfway across the pond I switch into Portgual mode or US mode. Portugal me isn't on a time crunch. I can stand in line outside the hardware/post office for half an hour in line to get my mail and not be bothered by it. The bus/trolley is late, not a big deal, no hurry. Part of that has to do with when I am here I am not at work so that no doubt factors in subconsciously. Contrast when I go back to the US I feel like I am always on time crunch, though I have gotten better about not pushing so hard (the Portuguese influence perhaps).
The food here is fantastic, though it is a bit of an adjustment. I can't buy bread and expect it to keep for a week here. I love fish and it's plentiful here which is great. The beef here is also excellent, and Portugal is a big melting pot thanks to their exploration all those years ago. As a result there are a lot of excellent restaurants. Our favorites are the Nepalese restaurants!
Safety. Honestly this is a big reason I can see people coming here. Portugal is ranked 6th on the Global Peace index the US is ranked 129th, so yeah there's a bit of a difference. I like the Global Peace index because it measures more than just "safety" as the US thinks of it. From their website "The Global Peace index roles safety anThe GPI covers 99.7 percent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and the degree of Militarisation." This is something important for me to consider as I get ever closer to (gasp) retirement. Now to be sure I've never been one to be afraid to go anywhere in the US, I go out in Chicago at night if I'm in the city and go to the symphony then walk around afterwards looking for food. When I'm in the US I'm aware that I can be shot in a store/airport/hospital and that becomes a normal modus operandi. That being said, it's absolutely a different feeling when I walk around here, I can go into a mall and not instinctively look for the closest exit. Not to say Portugal is perfect. There are a lot of pickpockets here that love to hit tourists and a lot of tourists make it easy for them to be targets, but as far as violent crime goes it's not common here.
If you've made it this far and are anti-science don't bother reading anymore (or sending me messages about how you are right and I'm wrong). I've been here for the worst of covid and I am impressed at how it was handled. Portugal now has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. This is in a big part due to the fact that less then 50 years ago they were under a dictator and many people here still remember friends/family dying of preventable diseases (measles/polio) because they didn't have access to vaccines the rest of the world did at the time. There were no big "anti-mask" protests here and in fact most stores didn't even have signs saying masks were required it was just a given. Even today masks are still required on public transportation and aside from tourist quite a few locals still wear masks (at least in my neighborhood) their philosophy is that it doesn't hurt me and if it helps someone not get sick it's worth it.
Now for logistics. Portugal has a lot going for it as you can tell, the icing on the cake is just the fact that it's one of the closest countries to the US. Now this doesn't matter for your once a year vacation to Europe, but when you are flying back and forth a few times a month it makes a big difference if it's a 7 hour flight or 10 hour flight. This is also why we chose to stay near a big international airport for the time being, the last thing I want to do after a long flight (or a few long flights) is take a train 3 hours to get to my apartment.
The most asked quetion is get is about Cost. I see so many people on facebook and expat pages that say it's cheaper. To be clear, this is not a great answer to come here. First off, immigrating anywhere isn't "cheap." You are going to make stupid expensive mistakes, trust me you will. Second of all, if you shop at Whole Foods in the states then come here and go to Corte Ingles it's not going to be much cheaper. If you have an expensive lifestyle in the US you will have an expensive lifestyle here, end of story. Third (at least in big cities in Portugal) it's not cheap for the locals, monthly average income here is less than 1000 euros a month. You can't find many apartments in Lisbon for less than that, so I am always cognizant that while it may cost less for some things here for me, it's because I'm coming at it from a privileged point of view, and I never say it's cheaper here to anyone.
Now we come to my husband's favorite : weather! This is actually one of my bigger "complaints," and yes I know everyone says they come for the weather, but I'm not a warm weather person. The weather is not bad by any means especially compared to the midwest in the US. It can get warm here in the summer, really warm, and a lot (I'm guessing 75%) of housing here doesn't have a/c. I remember a few times last summer I stayed in a hotel rather than our apartment at the time because it was so miserable. I know I could fix this problem somewhat if I moved north in the country and I would but the desire and need to be near a large international airport overrides that, at least until retirement.
All these reasons and I am sure a few I forgot are why we decided on residency here, so far I've not been disappointed. We've made some good friends from all over the world, had some great food and fantastic experiences. It's not always rainbows and unicorns moving to another country and if someone says it is they are lying, but so far the good outweighs the bad.
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