"PORTUGAL'S MAGIC: Unveiling the Allure Behind Its Current Popularity"

bomb DIA I'm Alan I'm here with my wife Leslie sunwolf dog Greer and Rex the cat we're from the United States and now live in Portugal on the beautiful island of Madeira thanks for being here please like subscribe and hit the Bell it feels as if Portugal came out of nowhere in these last few years in spite of Portugal's old and Rich history like everyone else we had never even thought to visit until a few years ago so why has the country of Portugal become the hot place to visit and for some to re-quote Cape 2 completely what makes Portugal so special let's talk about it it'll be fun as we age we finally figure out that we don't have to have it all everything doesn't need to be perfect we just need to allow ourselves to enjoy life find happiness and have that freedom that we've always been wanting hence the statement life is short enjoy it so in case you didn't know we chose Portugal for the same reasons we will discuss today in our search for the perfect place to lead to our next stage in life there were just so many things that we wanted well we really wanted everything we wanted it all we didn't have the money to have it all but we wanted it all we had a big problem that put a limit to things it ended up that Allen was 64 and we did not feel we had enough money saved in order to have a decent quality of life so short of building a commune which we still might just do we had to find a location in the world that would allow us to live cost effectively so we wouldn't run out of money as we aged we also wanted the place to be beautiful fantastic perfect everything we had dreamed I'm a horticulturist and I love to be outside we didn't want the place to be hot or at least I didn't want the place to be hot and Alan was completely done shoveling snow our search started in the United States went South now ultimately across the water to Portugal so we are here and we love everything new that we're encountering that's what we want to talk to you about so maybe our wine for loving Portugal will resonate with you [Music] we're viewer supported if you enjoy our videos we invite you to join our patreon community to tackle why Portugal is popular today we need to look at the country's history Portugal officially known as the Portuguese Republic has a rich and complex history spanning thousands of years the country's historical Legacy has left significant contributions to Global exploration and trade starting a couple thousand years ago the Romans came to Portugal and built cities roads and bridges we visited some of those ruins in Lisbon last fall while visiting Lisbon we traveled at the sintra where you can take a bus ride from hell to go and visit Moorish castles that were built after the Roman times in the 8th century however it would come to be eventually that a small Christian kingdom the country of Portugal emerged in the northern part of this land which expanded in the 11th and 12th century in 1139 Portugal became an independent Kingdom in a brief intermission I'd like to remind you that we are taking part in international livings overseas Summit on July 10 11th and 12th to secure your spot in this free Summit sign up in our description below later would come the era of Portugal's most prominent colonization and trade the 15th and 16th centuries you know Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan Portugal expanded its Colonial empire into Africa Asia and South America where they settled this small itty-bitty place called Brazil exactly in the 19th and 20th Century the country faced instability and economic decline losing many of its colonies fast forwarding to 1974. Portugal had a peaceful Revolution which brought in the democratic government of today and granted Independence to the remaining colonies this brings us today and the 10 reasons why everyone loves Portugal we will start with open and inviting we love it here we love the people the culture the hospitality they give us they're really welcoming they are and it seems to be that from a young age the Portuguese people or the children are taught the importance of welcoming visitors showing kindness and helping people to feel comfortable people have a very strong sense of community they're close-knit they have very strong social networks they genuinely care for each other and extend that care to strangers as well I feel that as we meet the people of Portugal the people here on the island they get so much contact with different cultures because of the old seafaring and Colonial history which you can feel everywhere you go right I think that exposure has given them that sense of openness and the Curiosity about other cultures and which is what makes them more receptive to the visitors and the backgrounds and then of course on the island of Madeira and in many places throughout Mainland Portugal they're used to having visitors people from all over the world yeah they have a tradition of sharing here I feel in Portugal that seems to be deeply rooted in the culture certainly it's not about among abundance they don't have to have a ton of money no they they share all their experiences food drinks Festival family it's it's all shared it's all open it's invited you you are welcome they are happy to welcome you into their circle of their friends of their family it it's nice they're great with newcomers it extends to the simple things that we've spoken to so many times on this channel of just simply going to the cafe you can go to the cafe that is very popular amongst all the tourists sit down and obviously talk to the tourists talk to the people from the island where you're on the island or you can stop in a cafe up in the hills that's just a whole bunch of people that have come down for the morning or early morning to meet up and sit down and be the only Foreigner there and everybody welcomes you in you don't feel odd or like you shouldn't be there so what else I like the Simple Pleasures uh yeah the cafes it's it's really interesting coming from the U.S I I wouldn't think it but it's it's given me a huge appreciation just sitting in a cafe for a couple hours enjoying a coffee letting life slow down Simple Pleasures really shine through in Portugal right taking a walk everywhere you go you find people taking a walk in the evenings with their children bring in you know we're on a very mountainous Island bringing the bicycles down because there's not a lot of flat area for the children to learn to ride the bikes stopping and and chit chatting it's it's really very very nice they seem to embrace joy and happiness that Simple Pleasures offer you don't have to spend a lot of money to be content no in recent years Portugal has gained a lot of attention is a great destination for choice and for potential residents why do you think that wolf outside of the friendly people because friendly people are nice but it's not necessarily what attracts people to come and visit it's really going to be how beautiful the country is it's the nature of the Landscapes the old cities it's all gorgeous Portugal has some of the better beaches in Europe on a whole some of them are truly ranked as number one number two in Europe and these golden beaches cascading up into Mountains and the cities nested in them it's it's wonderful it's absolutely picturesque and that they have Islands autonomous regions of Madeira the autonomous region of the Azores are all Portuguese territories still or Portuguese Port of the Portuguese country today that you can enjoy and which gives such diversity to the landscape really the island of Madeira is nothing but mountainous trees it's very Lush then you go to the port of Santo and that's going to be very almost desert feeling well and you don't even have to go to the islands just just the mainland is beautiful I funny because growing up I always thought the whole Peninsula I guess of Portugal and Spain uh was flat yeah that's what I had always thought but no it's some of the more mountainous areas in all of Europe it is and it's beautiful so let's the history and the culture one of the things we touched on earlier was you know that we were in Lisbon and we we literally went to breakfast one day and we ate our breakfast and walked outside the door and stumbled into Roman ruins that we hadn't you know Cobblestone Road either side of it and we were just on our way up to visit another historical site both of which were older than anything in the U.S right but they were only like medieval and that was only medievals right right and it was it's incredible it's incredible I mean there's history everywhere you go it's lovely I mean even here on the island of Madeira when you're walking the levitis and realizing how old the levadas are and when they were built you know they're hundreds of years old they're were put together long before the United States was discovered or the Americas um and then you know get up to the funnel and and you've got the trees that are 800 years old it's fantastic the history and culture that's available here in Portugal one of the things that we have talked about in many of our videos is the high quality of life Portugal is wonderful it ranks among the highest quality of lives in the world for a country uh with the excellent Health Care system safety especially on the island of Madeira puts anything in the U.S to shame yeah it just not even comparable right it does I mean I think that what was one of the things when we came here with regards to safety we never thought about it we're you know from the United States and we you know we're all raised with guns being around us all the time but you don't worry about it I mean you know it's just there you know it's there you don't get stressed over it you don't go to a bad area where you know it might be an issue you just automatically you know live your life and you don't think about it when we came here people approached us with regards to guns and safety and oh you know how do you live in a world that's so dangerous and their their concept of what our lives were in the United States but we never thought about it and now that you're here you do think about it you think wow you know it's very lovely to live in a world that you do not have to worry about walking down the street at one in the morning or coming around a corner and running into be just finding yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time or knocking on the wrong door and somebody answering that door with a gun these things just don't happen overall Portugal has a relatively low cost of living especially out of all of the European countries in many areas of the United States can you find a lower cost of living in the world absolutely you can um however we honestly believe that the high quality of life and the quality of life that we're able to build on a you know middle class income or a middle class safe things um it's lovely we could not have achieved that in where we were in the United States so one of the other things that people love about Portugal is the food in the wine the food is simple I love the food it's simple a lot of seafood a lot of potatoes everybody seems to grow their own food here or many of the people grow their own food and then of course the wine making traditions and oh in Portugal everywhere you go wine is so cost effective and wonderful it's absolutely lovely Portuguese wine is the only wine that's sold here yeah um and you know it's do you want a door a wine do you want an allentation wine do you want a material and wine do you want to try pork wine well and the other funny thing is they have mimics I guess of wine from other regions but it's all good it's made with their own wine but it's it's good it's correct in spite of that so one of the things that we do on our channel is this is um the perfect example of an entrepreneurial opportunity the country has worked very hard to produce great conditions for startups they provide government support and then there's this huge growing Network yeah co-working spaces and Innovation hubs for people who are looking to work in the tech industry in the tech industry online it's all it's very modern it's very well kept because the government wanted to work towards that combining all of what Portugal has to offer it really is a Wonder how the country has taken this long to get this popular with the top-notch accessibility safety the ease of travel across the whole Schengen Zone it's such a wonderful place for those who are looking for a good quality of life for the culture the beauty it's just wonderful warm welcoming whether you're looking for your next stop on a world tour or for the final stop to settle down Portugal really might just be the place for you life is a gift you give yourself enjoy it [Music] please give us your thoughts in the comments below let us know what we can help you with for example planning your journey from the scally trip through getting settled in Madeira join us on patreon where we'll help you with a nif connect you with our trusted real estate agent immigration team tax attorney Etc the description of our videos holds links to our patreon planning a one-to-one call and Affiliates we hope you continue to come along with us on our new adventure life is short we should have done that sooner please like subscribe and hit the notification Bell to help us grow the next stage in your life is a journey

Channel: It'll Be Fun

Views: 8,196

Keywords: terrier, vwbug, madeira, funchal, portugal, woodlands, ocean, expat life, expat madeira, hit the road, american in portugal, expats portugal, our portuguese life, expats everywhere, it'll be fun, levada walks, madeira portugal, moving to portugal, funchal madeira, retiring in portugal, living in portugal, living in portugal as an american, portugal travel, lisbon portugal, cost of living in portugal, portugal real estate, madeira island, international living magezine, FIRE

Id: lheXo-aahDE

Length: 16min 39sec (999 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 01 2023