Is Portugal still a good place to live for a foreigner?

It’s 29th December. I’m typing this while sunbathing, listening to ocean waves hitting the rocky coastline just 60m away from me. Yes, and I’m wearing shorts. It’s almost 20°C today. I could just leave it here as my ultimate recommendation, but after 2 years there’s much more to be shared. Is Portugal still a good place to live? Yes, no, and it depends. Let me explain.

Where shall I start?

It was 25th November, 2019.

Driving towards Cascais from Lisbon’s side, I was already running late to pick up keys to our temporary place. A big thing – it’s like keys to a new life, you want to get that right. While desperately trying to not get lost and keep to the right lane (yes, right, not left, for all the UK drivers out there), I noticed my car windows getting cloudy very fast. So I did the usual thing – it always worked in wintery conditions. Except it didn’t, this time. It was getting worse.

How weird. It felt surreal, and it took a while for me to process what was actually happening.

“I must have gotten into a much warmer and humid mass of air, which caused this immediate air condensation… Only it was outside of the car…”, my thinking went on.

I could barely see anything through the windscreen at that point, driving on a motorway with 3 lanes, packed with cars in the middle of rush hour.

This phenomenon was the opposite of what I knew very well from driving in other countries during winter. It happens when the air outside of the car is warmer than inside, and extremely humid at the same time, I figured. So I set the windscreen wipers to full revs, and opened up all windows – all I could do while driving. It worked.

That’s how I entered a new chapter of my life. With some challenges, I mean. Atlantic winter in Portugal – you either love it, or hate it. I still find it amusing; what’s not to like about 18°C in December?

Over the coming months I came up with another way to measure how much I enjoyed living there. I called it Pasteis de Nata Saturation, wondering how long it would take me to have enough of those iconic treats. So, to reach the point of Pasteis de Nata Saturation, it took me about half a year. I mean, I still do enjoy them, only less frequently. Like not everyday. Perhaps as one should, it’s not the best of diets.

It’s unlikely you’d find someone claiming they got any healthier on their Pasteis de Nata program 😃

Luckily, I also had plenty of opportunities to get moving here. It was actually part of my initial research, as I explored several running routes to see if I liked any. I did. I’m not a massive runner, just daily jogging and occasional 10k is perfectly fine – but those scenic paths along the cliffs made all the difference. It’s also unbeatable for those long sunset walks. I loved running in a forest back in my home country, and a daily dose of oxygen at the ocean’s side offers a similar boost of energy. Plus, the ultimate connection with nature, of course.

After 2 years, it still feels a bit exotic, though. Which is a good thing.

Being very much a nature person, I would spend a good portion of my time outdoors, anyway. In the past, I was struggling to find a healthy balance of this. Prior to moving here, I spoke with several people about the lifestyle in Portugal, and one thing surfaced every time – moving here, I would need to change my lifestyle. It’s just how it is. You can’t force or maintain your old lifestyle when you move abroad. Instead, you adapt. You evolve.

So did I, keeping my best habits and picking up a few new ones.

In my case, this meant a change in diet, working hours, leisure time, and hobbies. Quite a lot, and all of that directly impacted my internalised, perceived quality of life. It’s an important point to make – this is always an individual perception. I feel happy and fulfilled so long as I make progress and improve something in my life. Never standing still. It just works like that.

Talking about changes, Portugal is one of those European countries putting the most effort to attract international talent. I think they just had to, looking at macroeconomic trends and local dynamics. This also brings investors, and all sorts of global business in general.

I was expecting more of a startup vibe, but it’s still very early in my experience. The potential is undeniable, it’s a matter of creating enough legislative incentives and support for new businesses. I believe this is happening, looking at this year’s Europe Startup Nations Alliance announced at Lisbon’s Web Summit. With the obvious pandemic pit stop, the growth is poised to peak again.

Would I make the same decision, knowing what I know now?

Yes, with some tweaks. For example, I screwed up my NHR status (Non-Habitual Residency), because of bad timing, and some unexpected bureaucracy topped with unclear and inconsistent legislation. It’s probably a topic for an entire post. Long story short, I didn’t lose anything as I didn’t account for it in the first place. Had I qualified for the programme, I would have gained perhaps 50% effective tax savings for 10 years. Certainly not bad, but hey, it would be a nice bonus for me. Tip: the best thing to do is to speak to an experienced NHR advisor, if you ever consider applying for it – before you move!

Without getting into a pros-and-cons type of post, the bottomline is: so far, the pros outweigh the cons, making Portugal the best choice for living, in my circumstances. The constant vibe of being on vacation compensates all of the pitfalls, it really does.

By the way, I’ve incorporated some of the highlights in this post’s artwork, styled to look like a traditional azulejos – Nazare waves, a bit of Sintra, Ericeira, some nature from Coimbra and flamingos from Aveiro. All of these deserve a separate post – who knows; Maybe, one day?

/K.