2024 By The Numbers
Wrapping up our second full year in Portugal
Happy new year, everyone!
I just returned to Portugal after almost two full months in the USA. The trip was supposed to last just over a month, but life threw a curveball and kept me there a couple weeks longer. That’s why you haven’t heard from me in a while.
Today I’m here to reflect on what we accomplished last year as we have grown from li’l baby immigrants to (lightly) seasoned expats. It’s been a journey filled with:
Flexing Our European Travel Opportunities
Hardcore Adulting
Finding our Portuguese way
Let’s recap!
Flexing Our European Travel Opportunities
We rang in 2024 with a trip to Malaysia and Thailand. It’s not convenient to get there from Europe, but it reminded us of why we love that region so much. It reignited our goal to travel there more often and we will continue to contemplate a month each winter in a warm, tropical place (since I can work from anywhere in the world).
The whole point of being in Europe is to unlock travel opportunities in this region, and 2024 was a success:
In January we went to Nazaré to see the Big Wave XXL surf contest with 50’+ waves
In March we hosted good friends from America and showed them around Portugal
In April Hilary took us to London for a Nightmares on Wax concert
In May/June we visited Douro wine country with a guest from America, I went back to the States for a work/family visit, and Hilary hosted amigos from the USA
In June/July we hosted Hilary’s family here for São João, then went to Italy for our 20th anniversary
In September I took Hilary back to Italy for a surprise visit with friends from the USA
In October we joined my brother and sister-in-law in Madrid, and
In November/December we went back to the USA for family/work
With my residency card already expired (and Hilary’s expiring in January), we’re looking forward to more travel in Portugal in the first half of 2025. We have a concert in Lisbon later this month, my mom is visiting in Feb/March, and we have a trip to London in May. We’re also contemplating adventures in Azores and Madeira, as well as Morocco.
Hardcore Adulting
In April, exactly two years after purchasing our apartment, we finished the remodel and moved in. The first four months of this year were filled with managing this effort, followed by a move across town.
This involved a difficult and risky American refrigerator escapade, a significant amount of stressful negotiations with our builder, and a lot of Euros going out the door.
Our floors had to be redone, and new hardwoods and stone were installed while we were away in the States in November. So now we are moving back into our apartment again, finally feeling like we’re 100% done.
Other adventures in adulting included:
Taking over management of my Portuguese HOA, which included a lot of tricky political situations as well as dealing with 16 people living in the first-floor apartment
Managing an IMT tax refund process with Portuguese Finanças
Filing Portuguese and USA taxes and reconciling both with each other
Setting up an LLC in the states with specific financial structures to minimize taxes in Portugal
Working through the bureaucracy to get my residence card renewed
Trying and failing at the game of buying custom Portuguese furniture
Look… we live a charmed life. But I share this with you because immigration isn’t just all European travel and part-time remote work. Socialist countries often have incredibly obtuse bureaucracies and it’s not uncommon for them to make things extra difficult for immigrants. Why not make us work hard to ensure we really want to be here?
That said, every effort so far has been worth it. It’s all a learning process, so when we have to do most of it again next year, we’ll be that much more experienced.
Finding Our Portuguese Way
We learned A LOT about how to fit in better with the Portuguese way of doing things in 2024.
After stalling out, I hit a tipping point with my Portuguese language learning and feel more confident than ever dealing with bureaucrats, having phone conversations, and generally getting things done.
We have deepened our relationships with our Portuguese friends, leaning through trial and error how best to communicate with and understand them.
We have vastly improved our negotiation and business communication skills via our remodel and furniture-failure processes.
Hilary continues to get ensconced into the cat rescue scene here, is becoming more expert at negotiating the various agencies to get things done, and had multiple foster successes.
We’ve made more connections with the local food and beverage industry, which bolsters Hilary’s vegan community-building efforts and is helping me consider various business opportunities in that sector.
We have stronger communities here this year, and not just with expats. This is absolutely critical for us to feel more at home. The more doors we open, the more we love it.
2024 has been a great year, and we can’t wait to grow into 2025. Now that we don’t have a remodel sucking up most of our mental and monetary resources, we are ready to focus on getting to know Portugal even better, building stronger personal bonds, and exploring this hemisphere even more.
How are you feeling going into 2025? What are some of your 2024 highlights?
I’m still working on my year-end playlists. My good friend Pete recently re-introduced me to this classic GoldLink album. I had long forgotten about it, and haven’t been able to put it down since I picked it back up.
For those of you that are not into hip hop, Sault just dropped a new album:
More soon…
—Don
It is very refreshing and inspiring to read a realistic blog about expats. Life is all about learning and growing and you are absolutely doing that and well. I really enjoy reading each and every blog. I still need to know the story behind the 16 people in the first floor apartment and how is that even legally allowed.