“So—are we moving to Portugal?”
I asked Yulia, my wife, that question as we lounged in a 10×11 wading pool in a small, charming riad, a traditional Moroccan house built around an interior courtyard, in Marrakech. The muezzin had just finished calling the faithful to evening prayer on a night when the mercury was still hot enough to cause evening sweats even if you’re sitting still.
I was curious because we’d just flown in from Portugal several hours earlier, and during our week there it was apparent Yulia had not been as impressed as I am with Lisbon. It’s louder and hillier than she’d expected. And the Algarve, the coastal region down south, was drier and less green than she’d imagined it would be.
“I think we could try it for a year,” she told me. “But I want to see more of Portugal. Maybe north of Lisbon they have more green and more trees?”
“And I want to see other places before we decide,” she added as a caveat.
This moment, I thought, is a perfect example of why I always encourage would-be expats to spend a good bit of time exploring the country you think you like. And why I say it’s best to test-drive multiple countries before you decide on a place to live. Moving overseas is a big decision, no doubt, and the best hope you have of feeling like you fit in comes in feeling comfortable where you end up alighting.
Yulia liked Portugal for sure. The sea air. The fresh seafood only hours out of the ocean. The sun. The breeze.
But she was less-than-thrilled by the sometimes-chilly Atlantic waters and the aforementioned lack of greenery in the Algarve. She grew up in Crimea on the Black Sea. Lots of greenery. Warmer sea waters.
Personally, I think Portugal is a nifty place to call home. I really liked the Algarve region. We spent most of a week just outside of a town called Albufeira, and if someone had drugged me, blindfolded me, and then removed the blindfold and asked me where I was based solely on the landscape, I’d say San Clemente, California…which is probably as good a reason as any to explain the rash of Cali natives who have begun decamping to southern Portugal. (The low tax rate doesn’t hurt either.)
Still, I do see Yulia’s point. For someone accustomed to green parks, the Algarve is different—though I don’t say that in a bad way. It’s a beautiful region with quaint, livable towns and great food and wine. And living next to the ocean on the cheap is certainly a huge draw.
“I like all that,” she told me. “And I did breathe better there than in Prague. That made me happy. Where else is like that in Europe?”
We spent the next 30 minutes jabbering about various places that might be of interest to her.
Big-city living on the beach (her preference) would be Barcelona, I shared. Water temperature in the summer is about 75 to 78 degrees vs. about 68 along the Algarve coast.
She liked that idea. But then there’s the cost of living and tax rates that are much higher in Barcelona than in Portugal or Prague, and she wasn’t so keen on that, given that my relatively low tax rate in the Czech Republic means more of our money can go to trips like the one to Portugal and Morocco.
We’re also hoping across to Malaga next week, along Spain’s Costa del Sol, because I suddenly decided I want her to see that part of Spain as a comparison to the Algarve.
“You might like it better because the water is warmer, and it might have a bit more greenery. We’d still have Spanish tax rates, but the cost of living is cheaper than Barcelona, so there’s that…”
She nodded, though I could tell it was perfunctory and that she was deep in thought.
After a moment, she said, “I liked Montenegro (where we got married), even when we were there in December…but maybe the cities are too small?”
“Probably. I think you’d get bored.”
She grunted a soft acknowledgment that I was likely right.
“I like Greece—but Athens is crowded. And I’m not sure we can live on a small island,” she offered. “Not enough to do.”
“Croatia?” I questioned.
“What about Italy—the Adriatic side? I like the food and they have that visa thing you need.” She was referring to Italy’s new digital nomad visa that’s one of the best in Europe. It’s good for only a year, but you can renew it endlessly if your situation remains the same. A great way to basically live permanently in Europe without all the visa/work-permit hassles common in many other countries.
“I mean, I like Italy. We should check it out, for sure. But they do have earthquakes. I hate earthquakes.”
“OK. We’ll go check out Barcelona and Croatia, then we decide.”
And so it is that in the dry, baking heat of a Moroccan night, my wife and I are one small step closer to finding a new, seaside city to call home. It might be in Portugal. Or it might be somewhere along Spain’s Mediterranean coast…or maybe it’s in Croatia.
More to come as this quest plays out…
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