Why Portugal?

I suppose the right answer is no real reason, really. Moving was never an impulse decision, we've actually talked about it as long as we'd been in Colorado. However, the hardest part was definitely leaving Colorado and the incredible community of family and friends we built in our time there.

The long answer is either more interesting or more boring, I’m not sure, but so many people have asked I’m doing my best to put it all out here.

The practical reasons: We initially talked about going back to the Virgin Islands - we were settled there, had friends and were spoiled by the incredible beaches and Caribbean water. But there are SO many places to see in the world! Why go back to one you’ve already seen? We wanted something a little different. More importantly we wanted Adaline to have exposure to another language, culture and to start to show her how many ways there are to live in this world.

If one was interested (not a plug, at all, I just know inquiring minds want to know) there are now over 60 countries with digital nomad visas: https://citizenremote.com/blog/digital-nomad-visa-countries/ - this is just one of several sites that lists countries, requirements, etc. for the digital nomad visa. Portugal had decent requirements and time periods for the visa, extensions, and citizen applications if we decide to stay indefinitely.  Also, the time difference was significant enough to get some distance from the US, but not so far that we would be on completely opposite schedules; some overlap would be necessary for work and staying in touch with family and friends.

 We initially thought we'd go to an island, so we looked at the Azores and Madeira, but we couldn't find a school from afar that we loved, so we started looking at coastal regions and found an international Montessori school on the southern coast in the Algarve - perfect! We wanted something familiar for Adaline, and since Montessori classrooms are all set up with the same materials and style of classroom, we thought it would be a good way for her to have some familiarity in completely new surroundings. We also decided that being on the mainland would allow us to do travel throughout Europe, and northern Africa while we were there, and see LOTS of different cultures and languages.

So, that’s the longer but still short answer to “why Portugal”. And now here’s a pretty picture from tonight’s walk.

Looking down at Praia dos Pescadores and old town Albufeira