Moving to Portugal 2025: Tips for Planning Your Scouting Trip

[@user-sx4si6jv9x]

Another fantastic, informative video thanks to Matt and Dawn! We visited Portugal (including Nazaré) in 2022, fell in love, and look forward to a scouting trip this spring or fall. The lessons learned and tips for success will be invaluable as we move forward. Muito obrigada!

[@TheUnretirees]

Obrigado!!

[@Kayak-fz6mj]

So glad I came across your KZbin channel. I've subscribed for more valuable tips. We are currently living in Upstate New York and dreaming of traveling to Portugal for a scouting trip so this video was incredibly helpful. One important consideration on my "list" is the ease of integrating as an English speaker. Many do not realize that Spanish is not the native language there and, as a foreigner, it's important to embrace learning the language to thrive there. At 66 yo, I am not sure if my brain can make the switch easily so we are looking for an area in Portugal that has a high English language capacity. Certainly larger cities, such as Lisbon, are an option but not sure we want a big city. Braga seems a good option so we have listed this city as an option for our scouting trip but our real wish is to be near the sea. Again...thanks so much for the time and effort in making these videos.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching! One of the surprises for us is how most people here speak English. We are taking Portuguese language lessons and hope to be conversational (we are not yet) but it hasn’t been a problem at all in any area that we have visited. Best of luck on your planning!

[@robinpeppin]

good, a timely go over for the new year. i have a notebook & have been taking all kinds of notes in prep for my life changing adventure. i just moved from a pretty large city-albany, ny to a rural town an hour west. i love exploring & love, love the back roads. it took a bit of time, but i know or am really familiar with the alternative routes to all my important places. i cannot wait to explore the back roads of portugal. i hope i get the hang of the new traffic rules quickly. i would love to purchase a 60's vw bug. i didn't get my license until i was 56 years old in 2007. i have a couple cars i would love to drive from my 70's teenage years.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching and good luck on your next adventure! Driving in Portugal is really similar to the states once you get used to the roundabouts. Backroads here are really great!

[@hongrusteidl]

Hello Matt and Dawn, thanks for the informative video again. Can't wait to visit Silver Coast (Coimbra, Leiria and Lisbon area) this coming week from Phoenix! Loved your video.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks so much for watching! You’ll get to experience our winter, which isn’t bad but probably a little cooler than Phoenix. We were just in Lisbon this past weekend and we love going to Coimbra. Leiria is the city closest to us and it seems that we’re there on errands, lol. We need to sightsee there - the castle in Leiria looks very cool. Enjoy your travels!

[@vikotto]

Thanks, very helpful for us. We are planning on making the move in about 3 years and we’re starting to do our homework now. One small observation on your pronunciation of Nazare, the third syllable is not “ray”. It’s reh. It sounds painfully gringo when you stretch out the last syllable. Besides that, you guys rock!

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching and for the tip.

[@Subjective_JoshNelson]

Hi Matt and Dawn. These videos are so helpful; thank you! Around 0:58 Matt says what sounded like "in 2003...we moved abroad ..." have you folks been in Europe for 20+ years, or did you move in 2023?

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching….Matt meant to say 2023. That’s when we moved.

[@Subjective_JoshNelson]

@@TheUnretirees Ah, that makes sense, Dawn. So you two are relatively newbs, too. So cool what you doing, and then passing along! ❤

[@christobar]

We just purchased a vacation rental home on Madeira Island, and even though we don't plan on living in that house we are seriously considering becoming tax residents of Portugal by next year. We have 3 kids in school, and two widowed mothers so this would be a big deal to move. The house purchase process was long and stressful to manage from the US, but it ultimately worked out and I was on Madeira in December to finish the process and start to set up the house as a vacation rental.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching and congratulations! Madeira is awesome, whether just to vacation there or to move!

[@christobar]

@@TheUnretirees I've only spent a day on the silver coast, what decided it for you compared to Madeira?

[@robertnelson4460]

We just put our down payment with a relocation company. Mostly because we're late 40s, got 2 kids, pets, and little time to do a scouting trip since we're targeting August 2025 to land.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching and using a relo service can be a great alternative. These next seven months will go by quickly!!

[@BarjinderDhami-l8w]

Please make a video of your house tour.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks and we’re considering it.

[@lou4663]

I know someone who is from Texas that moved to Northern California that mentioned "it's not home". So, moving abroad, " can u make it home".

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching and there’s an aspect of “home” that for most people is about where they are from. I (Matt) grew up near Detroit but haven’t lived there since graduating college, but there is an element of “home” that it has that isn’t filled with anyplace else. But every place I’ve lived since had a sense of home to it anyway with friends made and family relationships growing. It’s a different kind of home that the home you grew up in … but it’s still good - at least it has been for me!

[@desaposentando]

I follow your channel and watch your videos frequently, not because I want to move to Portugal, in fact I moved from Brazil to the USA, but because I want to learn from your venture on KZbin. I would like to know if you hired a company to structure the course or if you did everything yourself, in which case which program did you use? Also, do you edit your own videos? Thanks for the great quality content.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching. We write, film and edit our videos ourselves and the course is on a platform called Kajabi to deliver it. I hope that helps!

[@Subjective_JoshNelson]

If this is covered in your course, please do not give it away here...; any central, or recommended resources for booking hotels or AirB's in Porto or Lisbon? I'm planning on spending a week in each, arriving Feb. 27.

[@TheUnretirees]

Thanks for watching and, no, we book AirBNB’s in Lisbon and Porto like everyone else, just going to the app, focusing on a part of town that we think we’d like and checking out the prices and pictures :). I hope you enjoy Portugal!!