Being an Aussie expat in Portugal
Why we decided to move to Portugal, what I love the most about it so far and things that have taken me by surprise + a little weekly update!
For this week’s newsletter I wanted to write a bit more about the specifics of being an Aussie expat in Portugal. I haven’t seen much on the internet of Australians talking about their experience here, so I thought it would be nice for people hear more about it. I’ve also included a little weekly update at the end.
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Why did we pick Portugal?
When deciding where to move overseas, we knew we wanted to go somewhere in Europe but we weren’t sure where. We don’t have any family or close friends living over here so that wasn’t a consideration for location at all. We also didn’t plan on lining up jobs before we came so that wasn’t a factor. It really was quite random.
Obviously so many young Aussies move to the UK, and I get why because it appears to be very easy to get a visa and a relatively well-paying job. We personally didn’t want to move to the UK though for a variety of reasons including the cost of living and weather. We looked into a few other places including Amsterdam and Berlin, but was also decided against those for the same reasons as the UK. After living in Melbourne for 7 years we ultimately wanted somewhere warm and sunny, with lots of beaches. We also decided it would be a good opportunity to learn a new language. So that’s how Portugal came about.
Before moving here, I had been to Portugal for a total of 3 days, and Nelson had never been. I came to Lisbon for 3 days as part of my five-month whirlwind gap year trip around Europe, but it’s not like I visited and decided I loved it so much I HAD to move here one day. Not at all. I remember having a good time here, and I met some lovely people, but nothing particularly took my fancy.
At the end of the day it was a relatively random choice, but Portugal really is an remarkable place so I am incredibly glad this is where we ended up choosing.
What I love the most so far
Portugal really is a special place and has so much going for it. The people here have been just lovely. The locals are so welcoming and friendly. They are also more than happy to help us practice our Portuguese when we’re ordering our dinner or a beer, which has been so kind. There is also a massive expat community here and we’ve met some awesome people from all over the world.
The places we’ve been so far in Portugal have also been outstanding. The beaches, nature and architecture are unmatched. So far we’ve explored Porto and Lisbon, as well as a lot of the surrounds of Lisbon, and loved them all.
Portugal also just has so much going on. We’ve already been to a few festivals, and due to the big expat community here there is something fun going on in Lisbon every day of the week. We’re trying lots of new things and meeting plenty of new people at all the events going on here.
The logistics of living overseas
I understand that logistics are boring but they’re a reality when you’ve moved to a new country.
I’ll do a full article soon about everything you need to do to prepare to move overseas, but in this piece I’ll just focus on the things you need to sort out once you’re living in a new country.
Obviously the main thing you need to sort out when moving to a new country is somewhere to live. We were traveling for a few months before getting to Portugal, and we weren’t even sure exactly when we would arrive. For this reason we didn’t line up any accomodation before we left Australia.
When we were a month out from arriving in Portugal is when we started looking for somewhere to live. Portugal is having a housing crisis at the moment, like so many other places in the world. Because we didn’t have jobs or anything lined up we decided we would just live wherever we were able to find a place within our budget in Portugal. We also knew we didn’t want to commit to living in one place for the entire year so we were looking for something for around 3 months initially.
We joined a bunch of Facebook groups for housing in Lisbon, Porto, and the Algarve, and ended up finding one place in Lisbon for June and then another sublet (also in Lisbon) from July to September (this ended up falling through last minute but let’s not get into it right now). Just make sure to video call with the person renting the place first as there are a lot of scams out there!
I know Portugal is having a housing crisis but I could not believe the cost of rent here. It’s so expensive, and in comparison to their minimum wage (approx. $8AUD an hour!!) I don’t know how people afford to live here. Everything else here is cheaper than the rest of Europe and Australia but rent prices are just ridiculous.
Another thing we had to get when we got here was a Portuguese tax file number. You can get one before you arrive but we didn’t realise we’d need one until we got here. We thought we’d be able to get one relatively easily online but alas, no. I could tell you the whole long, labourious tale of our journey to getting a tax file number but I won’t bore you with it. Just know that the bureaucracy in Portugal is in shambles. After MANY hours, multiple trips to four different offices around Lisbon, and €100 each, we finally got them.
If you get a local job as an expat you’ll probably also need to get a local bank account and social security number, but that’s not something we’ve had to tackle yet as we’re both doing remote work currently.
Acquiring a local sim card will also be something you’ll want to have organised before you come, or do as soon as possible when you get here. Tourist sim cards are more expensive and tend to have a maximum usage period so won’t work for a year or longer, from what I can tell. It took us a while to get ours though, because they’re cheaper if you have a tax file number (don’t ask me why), so we had to get that whole process sorted before we could get a sim.
One thing I can highly recommend when you move overseas is trying to find an online group of people from your country living in the country you have moved to. We joined a Facebook group called ‘Australians in Portugal’ which has been so handy for asking questions about the visa process as we were going through it, other logistical questions we can’t find the answer to online, and finding out where to buy Vegemite in Lisbon (very important!). There are also so many other online groups for expats that can be so helpful.
Things that have taken me by surprise
While Portugal has been incredible so far, there were definitely a few things that took me by surprise.
For one the weather was not what I expected. We arrived at the start of summer but experienced quite a few rainy, chilly days in the first month we were here. The nights here are also so cold! Apparently it is an unusually cold and rainy summer, but thankfully it seems to have taken a turn and the temperatures have been in the thirties for the last week.
Speaking of cold, the ocean here is FREEZING. It’s like getting into an ice bath. It’s very refreshing, albeit painful at times. The beaches here are gorgeous but as someone who hates cold water I struggle to stay in for more than a few minutes.
As I’ve already mentioned the price of rent here also really took me by surprise.
I also didn’t expect there to be heaps of young Aussie expats here but we haven’t met a single one yet. There are plenty of young Europeans and Americans living here, but the only Aussies we’ve met here have been tourists. It’s not something that matters, but just something I noticed.
Weekly update
I thought it would be nice to include a little weekly update about our lives in Portugal at the end of each newsletter so here’s this week’s one!
In the interest of being honest, the past week has definitely been the hardest one we’ve had so far in Portugal.
We started our Workaway where we were supposed to be living and working with a lady in Lisbon for 6 weeks. It ended up being so far from what we expected and was not a good experience so we had to make alternative arrangements quite quickly which was very stressful. We also got sick during our few days there so that wasn’t ideal.
But on a brighter note we’ve moved into a new rental in a great area of Lisbon and started a part-time Portuguese language class. We also went to the National Tile Museum and got to paint our own Portuguese tiles, and we went to a lovely beach near Lisbon on the weekend with some new friends, so it hasn’t all been bad this week!
We’re also off to Marseilles tomorrow for a couple of days to see the Matildas play the USA in the group stage of the Olympics which I am SO EXCITED for!
See you next week!
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