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I thought, as I've now been living and working in Portugal for almost a year I'd reflect a little on my reasons for moving here, my experience of living here as an expat/immigrant/foreigner (whatever you want to call me!) and my impressions of Portugal.

It seems that many Northern Europeans become "expats" after a long life spent toiling, saving and moaning in their cold, damp, expensive country of origin, choosing to retire to Southern Europe, with many(most?) opting to live in a coastal area in Southern Spain/Portugal/France/Italy with an established tourist-oriented infrastructure, other "expats" and a relatively rural pace of life. And I understand that. Warmth, sunshine, good food and wine and a cheaper, more relaxed style of living are among some of my (many) reasons for relocating to Portugal. But I really think that the difference in my reasons for being here and the reasons why most other Northern Europeans reside in Southern Europe end there. I don't see myself as an "expat". In fact, I really dislike the word as, to me, it implies a certain sense of entitlement and superiority to the country in which one is living. I suppose it's the idea of wealthy retired white people living in villas in the Mediterranean as opposed to "immigrants" meaning "foreigners" from poor countries who have come to the UK/US/France/Germany etc "for a better life". I am in Portugal "for a better life". A much better life. And as long as I can work freelance and successfully manage my own business in a relatively location-independent manner, I doubt I'll ever return to the British Isles. Warning: this may turn into a thinly veiled criticism of the UK... Porto is the second biggest city in Portugal, many times larger than Belfast (the largest Northern Irish city) and is located in the North of the country. Most tourists visit the south. Voila my three main reasons for choosing Porto:

• Large city, but not too large. Excellent public transport (metro!) and infrastructure. Inexpensive but part of the EU=perfect!
• In the North of the country where people are unpretentious, food is excellent, the weather, although a little miserable in the winter is infinitely better than the British weather and where few tourists come!
• In Portugal! I have a degree in Portuguese. I have always loved Portugal. Now I live here! I have an EU passport therefore I can legally reside and work here for as long as I want. Which I really appreciate!
  

To backtrack slightly and perhaps explain why I have ended up here I should summarise my background. I was born in very rural Northern Ireland (I have dual British/Irish citizenship-nationality is complex when one is Northern Irish), longed to see cities and to live an urban lifestyle so studied a BA in Spanish, Portuguese and French in London, during which time

I spent a year in Buenos Aires, Argentina (which I completely adore and where I hope to someday live again) and time studying in Quebec, France, Portugal and Brazil. I then, through a strange twist of fate, ended up doing a Master's degree in Film and Photography in Belfast. After spending the third year of my BA out of the UK and then staying in the UK for the two years following that year, I was absolutely convinced that I wanted to leave and work and live elsewhere. Of course, this all happened to coincide with that big, serious financial crisis thing not to mention the fact that the British (global) job market is now saturated with graduates seeking work... While I had done an MA in Visual Studies (basically in order to put off searching for a job but also because I have always found film and photography fascinating) my girlfriend had done a more useful, more vocational MA, in the same university in Belfast, in Translation. And it was really through her exploration of this industry and the career options that exist within it that we made the decision to launch our careers as freelance translators. We both had language BA's so we set about investigating the opportunities and possibilities and then just did it. We became members of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, read about and studied the industry and set ourselves up as self-employed professionals. Oh yeah, and our rental contract was up in Belfast, so we got on a plane, with our two (Argentine) cats and flew to Porto, Northern Portugal where we have been working and living (rather successfully) for almost a year. I had spent six weeks studying in Lisbon during the first and second year of my BA and had returned to Lisbon to attend a translation conference at the beginning of our MA. I've always found Portuguese people to be calm, relaxed, unpretentious and friendly. And Portugal is a stunningly beautiful country. We had only spent, in our lifetime, literally 24 hours in Porto in May of 2009, to see PJ Harvey at the Casa da Musica. And we loved it so much (and wanted so desperately to leave Belfast) that we moved our life, took a substantial career/financial risk and started over, fresh and new, in Northern Portugal. That was quite a long explanation. It sounds a bit absurb written down actually. But, it's all worked out for the best. I'm going to summarise the rest of my points and finish this post with a list.

Reasons for leaving the UK

• The endemic, extremely immature relationship British people have with alcohol. It's actually shocking and frightening once you have lived in another country where alcohol occupies a healthier place in society to observe British cities on a Friday/Saturday night. As a student, it's almost forgivable/understandable that your life should revolve around getting drunk. Almost. But when we're talking about 30, 40 and 50 year olds, that's a different matter.
• Food. Good food can, of course, be found in the UK. The problem is that it is grossly overpriced and very difficult to find. Eating well should not be struggle and it should not be prohibitively expensive. People are not taught how to cook- nobody knows how to cook! Cookery and caring about what you eat is seen as an upper middle-class pasttime, as something poncy and pretentious.
• Climate. Wet. Cold. Grey.
• Economy. The cost of living is absurb.

Reasons why I adore Portugal

• Food and alcohol. Portugal has an incredible variety in its national cuisine. Food like octopus, goat, veal, beef, fish, duck, squid and so on, which is very expensive in the United Kingdom, is cheap to buy and the national dishes are amazing! Portuguese cooking doesn't use exotic ingredients- in fact, most recipes seem to be based on olive oil, salt, garlic, wine, bay leaves, paprika and coriander- but taste is so important and I've so rarely eaten a bad meal in Portugal. I am constantly impressed and amazed. Wine is incredible and cheap. And coffee. I firmly believe that coffee in Portugal (albeit using Italian machines and brands) is the best in the world...with the exception of Italy perhaps? I will find out this weekend when I visit Italy for the first time! Cheese. Hams. Sausages. Bread. All=amazing.
• Climate. Porto has wet, grey and cold winters. But it has long, warm, sunny summers. Whereas the Uk has wet, grey and cold years. Forever. And anyway, the damp winters in Northern Portugal make the incredible natural produce possible!
• Culture. History. Architecture. People. I love them all.

I really could go on, but the list is basically endless. I love the European Union. I love that I have the freedom to live somewhere where people have respect for others, where the important things in life are still important and where people take their time and do things properly. Not for praise, not for money, but because that's just how you should live...

"few western European cities so successfully combine charm and culture with a low cost of living"
The Guardian