In case you haven’t heard, we sold everything, moved and are now living in Portugal! We loved it so much that we decided to sell everything and move. But since we’ve been here, the blog has sort of been on hold.
But we’re back!!
And we are back with a podcast! Wondering Works for us will be published (hopefully) on all the podcasting sites and we will publish a link on all the social media and this website.
But for now, what have been been doing for 19 weeks?
Mainly, setting up our apartment, buying essentials like furniture, dishes, and a car, and getting the animals settled in with their new environment and new vet!
It has been quite the adventure. The first two weeks we mainly only had what we brought with us which was a few days worth of clothes and linens for the bed. We ate off of paper plates and shopped at the local supermarket until we figured out how the fruit market and the butcher worked. Plus, we needed a car to get to anywhere bigger. We thought maybe we could get away with not having one, but that wasn’t going to work in our small village.
A Little Help From Friends
Luckily, we met great friends here! We have become friends with 5 expats that have moved from the United States and Scotland. We met them through Facebook and they happened to be drinking at the local at the same time one day, so we all met up! Our friends have driven us around and showed us the towns, taken us to the big city of Caldas da Rainha to shop and buy a car–in cash!
We have met local merchants that luckily enough speak English and have helped us buy dishes and lovely Portuguese items for our new place.
We have also learned to adjust to the rhythm of life here. The Portuguese are never in a hurry. They take their time talking to each other when they meet in the street or at a shop. The line could be 10 deep and the clerk will always take the time to talk to the customers.
Lunches are always at least two hours long, especially if there are courses. Dinner is late–no earlier than 8pm and go on until the conversation is finished. It really is about spending time with those you love.
So life here is a little different that what we were experiencing in the US –well, it’s actually A LOT different but that is something I will explain in another podcast and blog.
Podcast coming!
So to keep all of you abreast of our comings and goings and how we are adjusting to living in Portugal, we are starting our podcast which we will distribute on Apple, Spotify, and Google podcasts. We will also post a link here in a blog post so that you can access it easily. We cannot wait to hear what you think.’
Until then, até já!
Want to learn more about moving to and living in Portugal? Check out the Portugalist! We have read countless articles from him and gotten great advice!
Also, learn more about how we got to Portugal on a private plane!
Shelley is a full time traveler, blogger and podcaster currently living in Portugal with her wife, 2 dogs and a cat. She is a former history teacher originally from Winston-Salem, NC but wanted to see what life was like abroad. Now she travels all over Portugal and Europe writing about what she sees and does and tells you all kinds of fun stories on the podcast at Wandering Works for Us.