What a wonderful adventure. Thank you for sharing your progress with us!

Everything I have read indicates that Portugal is still a wonderful place. I visited when I was 16 and loved it. Very excited to return some day. I spent a year in France as an Au Pair and absolutely loved living abroad. Hope to get back to it, though I suspect for us we will be global citizens rather than live in one place, at least until it comes time to settle back down and act my age. As a retiree, most countries seem happy to have us for a while. My language skills are decent, but DH would likely struggle. I have heard that the slopes in Lisbon are significant. You must be adding to your quality and quantity of life by walking all the time.

Bureaucracy

This is the most maddening issue about living here.

I understand that pain! Lived and worked in the Caribbean for 8 years. A very different pace of life, filled with government corruption and graft. Moved there as an A+ personality and would say I returned to the mainland a B+. It was a matter of survival.

Everyone, more stories please!

IP,
feeling as though I just listed to a bed time tale