An expat in Lisbon
I’m James, a freelance writer who’s currently living in Lisbon.
Where are you from?
I’m originally from Ireland although I left home when I was 19, and moved to the UK for several years before going off travelling and living abroad in places like Germany, France, and Spain.
Where have you moved to and how long have you been there?
I’ve been back in Portugal for just over a year now. I lived here before, several years ago, and really liked it, and after spending time living in a few other places around the world, decided to move back.
Why did you move abroad?
I was living in Edinburgh, and working as a freelance marketing consultant. My work didn’t require me to physically be in Edinburgh, or even in the UK, so I began looking at places that would be cheaper to live in.
I was already familiar with Portugal’s very affordable cost of living, as I had family living here, so spent some time living in the Algarve and Lisbon before settling on Lisbon.
What challenges did you face during the move?
Finding somewhere to live is a challenge in Lisbon at the moment, as so many people have put their properties on Airbnb rather than rent locally.
This is actually a big problem that Lisbon is facing, and locals are hoping that the government will put in new regulations that encourage landlords to rent long-term rather than short-term.
How did you find somewhere to live?
Initially I rented through Airbnb, which gave me a chance to try a few different neighbourhoods and to see which ones I liked best.
Apartments in Portugal tend to be listed on classifieds websites like Sapo and OLX, so I started going through those listings and contacting the property owners.
Are there many other expats in your area? Was it easy to make friends?
The first time I moved to Portugal, it wasn’t. There were few expats living there, and the city was very different.
That’s all changed now. Lisbon is now fairly prosperous, a digital nomad hotspot, and it attracts expats from all over the world. There are plenty of Facebook Groups and Meetup Groups for expats and, having lived in a few other cities, it’s actually fairly easy to make friends in comparison.
What is your relationship like with the locals?
Good. The Portuguese are extremely welcoming of foreigners, and Lisbon is a capital city as well which helps.
The more Portuguese that you can speak, the more likely you are to be able to break away from the expat scene and integrate more into Portuguese life. That’s the main challenge for me at the moment.
What do you like about life where you are?
Lisbon, and Portugal in general, is laid-back, warm, and fairly affordable (although the cost of living is rising). The people are friendly, and it tends to attract nice, friendly people as well. While there isn’t as much going on as there is in other capital cities, it’s somewhere that you can live a very comfortable life in.
What do you dislike about your expat life?
A lot of people who move to Lisbon as expats are only here for a little while, whether that’s a few weeks or months in the case of digital nomads or a few years in the case of expats. Creating really good friendships takes a long time, and that can be hard in such a transient community.
What is the biggest cultural difference you have experienced between your new country and life back home?
The speed at which things get done does take some getting used to. In the UK, where I was living before, so many government services can be accessed online and getting things done is generally just a bit easier. That ease of doing things hasn’t really reached Portugal yet, and it can take a while to get used to the bureaucracy.
What advice would you give to anyone following in your footsteps?
What advice would you give to anyone following in your footsteps?Start learning Portuguese straight away, and don’t put it off. Learning a new language is a big challenge and the sooner you get started on it, the better.
What are your plans for the future?
I am writing all about Portugal and what life here is like at Portugalist, hoping that the content will be useful to other future expats or people visiting Portugal. It’s a big undertaking, but I’m hoping to visit all of Portugal and to cover it on Portugalist.com.
Don’t forget to follow James’ blog at The Portugalist or on his social media:
Great article. It’s really interesting to read about what Lisbon is like from the perspective of an expat. We’ve recently written several articles on different Lisbon neighbourhoods, and it’s definitely home to some beautiful areas.