Tavira-Dream

Good morning

I have had a real problem with adjusting back into the drudgery of homelife here in the Uk since returning from a fab week in Tavira....something about that Town has captured my heart and I really cant explain it. I have travelled pretty extensively over the years compared to some brits and even lived in S Africa for 16 years but nothing has captured my heart like Tavira has.
I got back on sunday and would of thought this 'phase' would of faded slightly by now, but, if anything I have spent every spare minute on the computer researching as much as I can about moving to PT permantly.

The problem I have is that my husband is far less enthusiastic about it as I am but not ruling out the possibilities [after much convincing from me]....financially it wouldnt be viable to sell up at this point as the equity we would be left with wouldnt really get us much in PT and he also has a share scheme with his work that will mature in 5 years, so he wants to hang on for at least 5 years .......I really dont want to hang on that long as I fear the mass exodus of brits over the next 5 years will make things tougher and prices for property even higher, so, I have devised a scheme where I could spend at least a month back in Tavira in january, spending the time traveling out of Tavira and generally seeing if I still feel as passionate about the country as I do now and also to check out opportunities and possible work or cheap snack bar/ bar businesses for sale.

If I still felt the same way and some sort of opportunity arose I would then go for it, leaving hubby here with the view that we would both be able to make the odd trips to see one another until he could join me.

I do not have any decent qualifications that I think would help me to get work in PT but as life experience has taught me, very often, its not what you know its who you know and by mooching around and socialising with locals and expats I am secretly hoping that that's how my lucky break will come, I am very computer literate, have [half] a decent head on my shoulders armed with the philosophy of 'where there's a will there's a way' I'm hoping something will crop up to give me a foot in the door so to speak.

What I really would like to know is, has anyone else done the move to Portugal this way leaving a partner in UK whilst following your dream? apart from the expected pressures of keeping long distant relationships alive I'm sure there are many other pitfalls and would love to hear of anyones experiences on the matter.

My whole days since coming back home have been centered around getting back there asap

Apologies if this seems to most as non-sensical rambling

Tavira-Dream

Ok ......I'll take that as a no then!

gedscottish

Excuse me for being so blunt....but.... aint this a recipe for divorce?! :scared:

Mass excodus of Brits......oh please no!! But I think you are probably right as I have been reading on other sites(newspaper forums etc) and there seems to be an awfull lot of people with the idea of moving to Portugal. I think a lot of this is due to the fact that so many people have seen there property in the UK increase so much over the last few years that they think if they sell up in the UK they will have enough cash to buy something here and live morgage free. Great idea it is, as long as they do not find that after a few years abroad they realise it's not for them...this is where their problems can begin as they can not afford to buy back into the UK market.
Me...I love Portugal and have no plans to move back but I have kept a property in the UK "just in case". The moral of the story is..."its not always a bed of roses"

Tavira dream... I hope you get your dream but I think you would be wise to make sure its also your husbands dream...GOOD LUCK!!

Tavira-Dream

ged you are welcome to be as blunt as you like, i dont take offence easily

the thing is with my husband, he is one of these people that is very tunnel visioned and at times more negative towards any form of change , he is happy to plod along and work all these 12hr days for what he says 'his retirement years' whereas I have always been a person to thrive on challenges and take chances.

another difference between the two of us is that I HAVE moved country by myself [with 2 young kids] twice before, he does love portugal although maybe not quite as much as me lol the reason he cant come over with me right now is because he does have a few commitments that will hold him here for the next 3-5 years ....unless of course we win the lottery

TouristTrap

Exactly. One of my closest friends is Port., but raised in South Africa, lived in the Algarve for 5 years but left for Canada as it started getting to her. Keeping your house in the UK is a very smart thing to do.

Cleri

Here in the "Village" I know of at least 3 couples who have regretted the move.
One lady has only been here since july!!!!!!!!!!!,she is stupid obviously,as she hasnt even given it a chance.
The reasons stated by most is missing family and friends.
I do miss my friends,hardly have any family left,so thats not important to me,but given time,you meet new friends,and of course the old ones come to visit (ALOT!!)
But a few have also said,it isnt like they thought it would be,whatever that means,probably poor research!
I think the golden rule is,dont move countries to escape problems,they wont go away,you will still experience them wherever you live.(same sh*t different country )
I love Portugal,and for us it was the right thing to do,but as previously said,it aint all a bed of roses!!!
We have one couple here,where "she" lives here and hubby is in Uk,Ive only seen him twice in 2 years,to me,that would be unthinkable,but I guess each to his own.
Cleri x

jdr

You hit the nail right on the head, I have seen the same in Spain
Karma on the way

Cleri

Thanx jdr

TouristTrap

Absolutely!! It is like the Caribbean. Great for some but I'd be bored out of my mind after three months there

gedscottish

Phew...
One thing if you do not do it.....you will always wonder "what if" so maybe not a bad idea that you come here 1st then that way if it's not for you it's easy to go back?!
I will have a to you and anybody else who has the courage to make the move abroad! (any excuse for a drink really!)

Tavira-Dream

thanks for the words of warning albeit a tad neg in places

I obviously realise that it may not be what I am expecting hence the reason I am currently planning a month long stay in January, that way I will soon get a feel if I can actually live there or not and if I feel I can then the next hurdle would be a 3 month or 6 month stay unless some miracle of an opportunity arose that i felt would be too good to slip by........the thing about keeping a place back here is a good idea & have already thought about that, it just doesnt work to sell here, swan off somewhere else and invest there only to realise you want to get back to the uk, it's obvious you'll lose big time.....

Thanks for all the advice this seems a really friendly forum, I belong to a few others [nowt to do with expats] and its often like ww3 or you get snubbed unless you are in with the clique

Tavira-Dream

Thats so true ged! It needs to be done, so I am hoping its early Jan. for a month

re: the drink - well I'm off to crack open a nice bottle of wine I brought back - which in all honesty will probably taste like vinegar as we bought it from that pingo place and if its anything like the first bottle we got from there I'm sure its cooking vino

gedscottish

I would need to write a book to tell you about the positives of living in Portugal!
Most of my 1st post I was just speaking in general, not aimed at you(well ok..apart from the divorce part)
I know what you mean about other forums there is a certain expat site that aint exactly as friendly as this one!

Tavira-Dream

ged I'm a very resiliant ol' bird and most things pass me by but I have been on some forums where I have been threatened, sworn at and had my email spammed with hate messages lol.....actually I may as well tell you it was on one of the community boards on ebay and it all started over an auction of mine....well actually a few of us had our auctions wrecked by some meanie that opened an account to specifically close ours down by bidding and not paying up, this cost us listing fees and final value fees but more annoying than that its the time I used to spend on listing my auctions, pictures, descriptions blaa blaa blaaa.
Well anyway a few of us did some cyber detective work and found out who the culprit was, it was someone who with their 'known' ID a friend of ours anyway it went from there....but apart from my personal experience that I have outlined here I have seen many a vitriolic post aimed at other posters .....and yes on my travels looking for expat forums I think I may of guessed which one you are referring to ....this wine isnt tooooo bad ...Cheers

TouristTrap

Great idea to rent for six or so months before purchasing if you can. I always recommend that to folks. I'd rather let six months of $$ go down the drain than find I've bought a house and land up sitting with a white elephant for months on end.

It is one beautiful country

Here is one of one of my fav parts of the country :