8 years today, since we drove across the border between Spain and Portugal in our campervan, and caught our first glimpse of our new home country. It was just after 7.30pm, and the sun was coming down but the smell of eucalyptus and pine was still heavy in the humid air. We left from Devon on the 15th September in our camper van, said goodbye to our lovely colleagues with whom we had worked and volunteered with for over 5 years, and got on the road. We took the Plymouth-Santander ferry to Spain and we stood on deck and watched the UK vanish from view. We came over as a family of 4 and 14 months later became a family of 5. Thanks Portugal for keeping us safe. What a wonderful place to raise a family. 💗 So much gratitude! 💗

Belated birthday wishes to @Cátia Lima, who celebrated her birthday recently. Sending thanks as well as best wishes, in view of her great efforts to educate us 'estrangeiros' beyond the general clichés and predictabilities of Portuguese life and culture, in her inimitable 'Beyond Lisbon' style. Feel free to buy Cátia a birthday 'bevvie' here See a great example of her helpful, informative and amusing work here

Nothing too onerous! Who, where, what you need and what you love about Portugal? Bond in Portugal - https://www.onthetracksof007.com/portugal

From the video notes: What does it truly take to build a new life in Portugal? Cordelia, Chief Marketing Officer and partner at High Score Strategies, takes us beyond the sun-soaked Instagram squares into the complex realities of international relocation. Unlike many expat stories that begin with fleeing problems, Cordelia and her husband had dreamed of living abroad for decades before making Portugal their home. After exploring options from Russia to the Netherlands, they eventually landed on Portugal through careful research and planning. Along with their teenage son and Cordelia's father, they navigated the labyrinth of paperwork, property purchasing, and emotional challenges of leaving their adult son behind in the United States. The conversation delves into cultural integration challenges that aren't covered in relocation videos. "You have to work hard to be integrated at all," Cordelia explains, noting how today's technology makes it dangerously easy to remain in an expat bubble. From language learning (which requires deliberate daily practice rather than passive "picking up") to navigating healthcare with its cultural differences, each aspect of adaptation requires intention and perseverance. Perhaps most fascinating are the identity revelations that emerge through cultural contrast. Seemingly innate personality traits—from smiling at strangers to conversational styles—reveal themselves as merely cultural programming once placed against different norms. Portuguese attitudes about age, privacy, and social boundaries create enlightening moments of self-discovery for newcomers willing to notice them. Despite unexpected health challenges that limited her ability to live the active European lifestyle she'd imagined, Cordelia's enthusiasm for Portugal remains strong. The rewards include authentic connections with fellow boundary-pushers who've chosen to "change the status quo of their life," alongside simple joys like having "a real thousand-year-old castle ten minutes from my house."

We are so looking forward to our trip. Getting through this week is going to be tuff. We land in Lisbon on the 13th stay the night there then catching the train down to Faro. Stay at the Faro hotel till the 27th. No set itinerary. We know we want to visit VRSA, Tavira, Lagos, Albufeira, Portimão, possibly Silves and cross over to Spain to say we were there. Hopefully meet up with the Algarve GuMPers. Ultimately this is a scouting trip. Looking for a place the matches our energy to hopefully retire to in a few years.