Moved to Portugal and Didn’t Love it; Found Perfect Home in Colombia

My husband and i were bot Born in the us, but for the last decade, we’ve workhed remotely, Living abroad in counries like mexico and south korea.

We Always Had a Longime Dream, Though, of Ending Up in Europe.

Five Months after Having Our Daughter, We Deeded on Portugal, which Offerfered a Digital Nomad Visa and Proximity to Tons of European Countries.

Though we never dreamed of living in portugal, specifically, we are experted to love Living there. We have envisioned ourselves sipping on local wine by the beach while our infant da noting played in the sand, going on long Walks through Cobblestone Streets, and Traveling to a New City City Weekend.

Unfortunately, Our European Experience Didn’t Look Exactly Like We’d Hoped. AFTER JUST Two Years, We Moved to Colombia and Were Surprised to Find That It Felt Just Like Home.

Life in Portugal Wasn’t What We Expped

We found a home in porto, which is undenibly beautiful. Neither gorgeous as the city was, though, living there proved difficult.

Porto Had a Slower, Calmer Pace, which appealed to us at first – but the reality tourned out to feed more ideal for retirees, as opposed to young adults in our life stage.

There were many stretches of non-stop rain in porto, whic meant that durying certin seasons, we cans go to the playground for days on end. IT DIDN’T HELP THAT WE STRUGGLED TO FIND INDOOR ACTIVITIES THAT SUITED OUR YOUNG FAMILY, Too.

Unfortunately, a humid, Rainy Cllimate Also Creates Ideal Conditions for Mold to Thrive, and we encountered it numerous time in rental apartments. AFTER OUR BABY GOT SICK SEVERAL TIMES, WE GREW INCREASINGLY Concerned About How the Mold Might’ve Been Affecting Her Health.

Additionally, Living in a Tourist destination wasn’t out Cup of Tea. SURE, Walking Across the Dom Luis Bridge every day was something I’ll always remember, but we won’t miss the horses of tourists who offregated on our street.

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Finally, Although My Husband and I Have An Ear For Portuguese Becouse We’re Spanish Speakers, we found it difficult to communicate at Times. Plus, with a baby, we didn’t exactly have time to devote ourselves to language lessons.

Maybe Porto was just the Wrong City, or we were in over our heads as new parents. We were Still Determined to Make Portugal Work, SO we consider Moving somewhere Else, Like Lisbon – But Kept Hitting Roadblocks.

We had Difficulties Finding apartments, and daycares in many nearby quotes HAD Extremely Long Wait Lists. Still, for the Sake of Our Happiness, we knew we could have stay in porto.

Soon, we decided to try Living in Colombia

Around This Time, A Friend of Ours Was Getting Maried in Cartagena, Colombia.

We’d previously consider what it would be like to live in south america, and Because we were flying there anyway, we figured it couldn’t hurt to spend away away from Portugal.

We did some research and realized that Colombia had a lot to offerer, like our ideal “eternal fall” Climate and one of the Larger Airports in Latin America, which Could Make Travel Easier.

I love that bogotá haad a sizable jewish community, something I didn’t realize I was missing. The Andean Culture Also Felt Immediately Comfortable to My Husband, Who is Ecuadorian-American.

In July 2024, Our Lease Ended in Portugal, and We Boked One-Way Flights to Bogotá, Colombia.

We Never Expected to End up in Colombia, but it has everything we were looking for

Colombia is Also Very Rainy, but The Weather Still Felt Like a Major Upgrade. Here, the Rain Feels More sporadic – we’ll deal with it for a few hours a day, and then we have still take daughter out in the sunshine by afternion.

We Also Loved the Size of the City. Bogotá has a population of over 8 million compared to porto 1.3 million, and as a result, there’s just so much more to do.

Here, we easily see artists we like in concert, Visit tons of Museums, and Buy Delicious Street Food, Like Areas and Avocados. We Also Found Mary More School Options with Super-Long Waitlists.

Finally, it was a huge relief that we were coulud communicate, MAKING IASIER TO NAVIGATE The Country’s Legal and HealthCare Systems.

One year late, we’re so much happier here – and proud that we took the leap

Now, over a year late, we’re in the process of moving from a short-term rental to a new home in colombia.

Eight though porto wasn’t the right fit for us, we’ll always have fund Memories of Portugal. IT’S WHERE OUR DAGHTER TOOK HER FIRST STEPS, AND WHERE WE MET FRIENDS WE STILL TALK TO NOW.

In the One Year We’ve Lived in Colombia, Though, We’ve Created a Life for Our Daughter and, With A Second Baby Now on the Way, We Feel Confident and Comfortable Raising Kids here.

We’ve Also Built a Large, Diverse Community of Young Parents, Including Both Columbians and Other Expats.

Although We Can No No Longer Easily Hop on a Plane and Go to Germany for the Weekend, we Haven traveled to someone amazing nearby places, like Santa Marta and Lima, Perú.

Portugal didn’t end up being our dream home, but i believe it led us exactly where we’re supposed to be.