Moving to Portugal from the UK | What I Wish I Had Known

Hello people, welcome back to my channel and to my apartment in Lisbon, where you guys were able to take a look behind the scenes in this recent video from the People of Lisbon channel, so it seems like you really like to come behind the scenes and find out a little. more about my life here in Portugal so I wanted to make another video that was a little different so you guys have heard me talk a lot about why I love living in Portugal because I do, but I usually don't seem to talk about struggles that I've had or the challenges I have faced while living here a while ago I made this video where I talked about the reasons why I moved from London to Lisbon and many of you really liked that video so despite this The channel is dedicated to teaching Portuguese.

I know many of you are following me because you're ready to do the same, so I wanted to make another video on this topic, this time looking at some of the things I

wish

I'd

known

sooner.

moving

to Portugal and some of the strategies I have implemented to ensure I can overcome these challenges. Obviously I wouldn't trade my life in Portugal for any other and I'm not trying to be a downer, but there's always something to do. There can be unexpected things that come up when you make a move like this so I really want my experience to help you so if you are ready to make this move, are thinking about doing it or maybe you recently moved here and I am experiencing some of the same problems   like this video, subscribe.

I'm going to make a cup of tea and let's talk about everything, so the first thing that people don't realize is that the winters in Portugal are cold now. I'm not talking about getting to zero degrees or snowing or anything like that, yes the temperature outside is pretty mild but inside the houses are just not built for the cold, they are built for the heat of course it depends on where you are . but here in Lisbon, apartments don't usually have climatização, which is a heating or cooling system, so when I moved into my apartment here that I bought in Lisbon, the first thing I did was install an air conditioning system, so I could be cool in summer and warm in winter.

It's still not perfect because houses are generally drafty and let heat escape. Also, electricity is expensive, but it helps a lot. I also have a few other things in my house that are essential. for the winter so let me show you those so this is my amazing washer dryer. One of the things about it being cold in winter is that you will never be able to dry your clothes, everything will smell musty and it just stinks, so getting this is an absolute game changer because we don't have a lot of space in the apartment, but having this means we can Washing and drying and in winter having clothes warm and smelling like the sun is incredible because normally the apartments are not equipped. with these, yes, having one of these is life changing, so when we enter the bedroom we have an electric blanket.

This is amazing because we can turn it on before we go to bed and it makes the bed so warm and toasty even if the heat is off. at night you can control it and I actually bought this one in the UK but I'm sure you can get them here too. It was an amazing purchase so I recommend everyone to buy one for the Portuguese winters so when you go into the bathroom then this is a heated towel rail and it's another essential thing in winter because we can turn it on down here and make sure it's nice and warm to dry our towels, because again in winter it will be almost impossible. to dry your towels by just hanging them on the back of the door or

what

ever, so with this you make sure that they really dry and they don't smell and they're also nice and cozy for you to dry off after your shower, so In the same line of thinking, the thing you need to keep in mind about the weather is that it is super changeable, so again I can only comment on Lisbon because that's where I live, but basically, layers will be your best friends.

I often leave the house on a cool morning and then I'm sweating when I get where I'm going or I leave the house on a very hot day and then I freeze in the shade or when the sun goes down, so I've really learned that wearing a jacket light knit,

what

ever it is, it will really help me, it's like adjusting my own thermostat, so as someone who makes videos for a living, this is a tough city in Portugal, they are noisy, so we have friends who live in wonderful and peaceful places in the center of Portugal and in the south of Portugal, but Lisbon is not like that on any day we have construction, oh my God, there is construction everywhere we have sirens we have neighbors shouting at each other from their balconies we have dogs.

I'll get to that in a minute, so we usually film at lunchtime because the building next door is being destroyed and this has been going on forever. It is very common for construction projects to be delayed, so it can be really difficult. We also had a real nightmare situation with a dog that was tied up. on the balcony at opposite times and he would just bark and cry all day and all night and it was very sad, this unfortunately is something that is very common here, not only in the cities but also in the countryside, people have dogs like Alarm systems can sometimes be very loud and there really isn't much you can do.

We managed to talk to the owners of the dogs and they agreed that they actually wanted someone else to adopt the dog, so we helped them with that and he had a happy ending, he now lives happily elsewhere, but my main advice is that If you're looking for a house, especially in Lisbon, be sure to keep an eye out for unfinished construction projects around you, check to see if your neighbors have dogs when you visit the place, and generally get a feel for how noisy it is. the neighborhood we're

moving

to next year and being able to stay warm and being able to have peace and quiet are like the two things at the top of our list, so fingers crossed we get it.

Let me know if this resonates with you in the comments and if you have any more useful advice for people who are moving, be sure to share it, so next we have to talk about bureaucracy, obviously, so the lesson here is that paperwork goes It can be a nightmare, but I have some tips to help make it easier, so firstly, if you have any paperwork that you need to do to get started as soon as possible, don't leave it close to the deadline because, in particular , post-covid. the time it will take you to do something is months, so we sent our SNS numbers, for example, and it was six months before we got them back, so we have things to do with marriage.

I have to sort out my citizenship, so rest assured I will start as soon as possible to sort it out. When you have an appointment to do something bureaucratic, make sure you go as early in the morning as possible. Don't think you can fit it into your lunch break or that you'll just show up when you have time. You actually need to dedicate a whole day to this, separate from the rest of the day, and just really focus on getting it done. made to arrive early half an hour before it opens would be ideal people are already queuing outside even if you have an appointment arrive early get your little ticket grab a book grab a podcast whatever you need to do to kill that time but just make sure you arrive early and that you are really focused on taking your place.

My other top tip is to carry every piece of paper you are given with you. I have a big folder where I just file. everything that they have given me here and I take it with me to every appointment, no matter what it is, because you never know what they are going to ask of you, there will probably be something different that you didn't even know about. You know you need it, so it's a good idea to carry everything with you. You should also be okay with the fact that something will probably be missing and you'll have to come back another day, just be prepared.

So up front this is all about managing expectations and there's really no way around it, it all comes down to who's at the desk that day and whether they really want to be helpful or not, so this is another reason. why do I suggest going early in the day and not at lunch time or at the end of the day because people will get more grumpy if you have someone who can go with you and who knows what they are doing to help you with the language or If you have lucky enough to be able to pay lawyers to do this kind of thing for you, I recommend it, not because it is impossible to do it alone, but it is really very difficult, even for someone who speaks Portuguese fluently.

I thought, "Oh, I'll do it." Be okay. I've lived here before I knew what I'm doing and I was still crying on the floor on many occasions, so if I had the chance to do it again I would definitely find someone to help me. Brings me to my last point Portugal will really help you practice patience. I talked a lot in this video about how I really wanted to get away from the hustle culture in London and that's one of the reasons I was drawn to it. Lisbon was a much smaller place, the pace of life was much slower, so the other side of the coin shouldn't be a surprise, it takes much longer to do something.

The microwave is killing me, so either call the customer. service about something you need to pay your bill at the restaurant do your paperwork like I just mentioned this is something I'm horrible at I'm extremely organized efficient I like to do boom boom boom and I think that comes from having lived in London and working in an agency and needing to optimize every minute of my life to get things done, so what I really had to learn here is to slow down and remember that I chose to come here because I wanted a different pace of life, so you really have to cope difficulties gently, learning to distract myself in these situations.

It's a trade-off, but it's a small price to pay for the privilege of living in a place like this, so it's a work in progress, but I'm trying. So, like I said before, I love my life in Portugal, I wouldn't change it for anything, but I really hope that some of these tips have helped you avoid some of the common mistakes. I could have talked for about three hours on this topic, so if you want a part two, let me know in the comments. I would also love to hear about your challenges moving to Portugal. You may have more helpful tips you can offer viewers, so be sure to include them in the comments as well.

Practical Portuguese lessons will resume with me next week, so if you're looking to build your confidence and conversation skills in Portuguese as it is spoken in Portugal, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode, Tchau!