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Considering moving to Portugal as an ex pat.... input welcome.

Mr. Widget said:
You can't live in Vegas without draining the Colorado River dry and without running an AC for half the year. Both are bad ecologically and economically.

Between NV and Portugal... I'd definitely go to Portugal.
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actually not that bad:

Colorado river water usage is predefined so Vegas only use a fixed tiny % of it, comparing to L.A., Colorado, AZ.

Hot summer is a thing, but a bit better than, say Phoenix or Scottsdale, another hot spot for retirees.

in conclusion, Vegas area is a top choice in the U.S. as of now.
 
Mr. Widget said:
You can't live in Vegas without draining the Colorado River dry and without running an AC for half the year. Both are bad ecologically and economically.

Between NV and Portugal... I'd definitely go to Portugal.
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Two more things about Portugal:

Foreign movies (i.e. English language movies) are subtitled, not dubbed like most other western European countries.

There is no ebay in PT. There is olx.pt which is a website that connects buyers and sellers, but it’s not an end-to-end transaction and trust is low. Having said that, i have bought and sold quite a bit of decent kit - Sugden amp, ProAc speakers, but only ever face-to-face after making contact through OLX.
 
If Kurzweil is right... that $99 brain chip from Amazon may be just in time for an exit.

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astcal said:
actually not that bad:

Colorado river water usage is predefined so Vegas only use a fixed tiny % of it, comparing to L.A., Colorado, AZ.

Hot summer is a thing, but a bit better than, say Phoenix or Scottsdale, another hot spot for retirees.

in conclusion, Vegas area is a top choice in the U.S. as of now.
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I recall seeing on the news the other day that Vegas housing is becoming very unaffordable (perhaps worst in the US, if memory serves correct) due to the influx from the West Coast.
 
madrac said:
I recall seeing on the news the other day that Vegas housing is becoming very unaffordable (perhaps worst in the US
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Gotta be true then... Always trust the news, when did they ever get it wrong... everything is always the WORST in the US... :facepalm: . (S.F., NYC. Aspen...) Just find out for yourself by going to Zillow.com and punch up comps. in each of these, and your, market. The same house that I live in cost 4x as much in any of those markets mentioned... and lots that I didn't.
 
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LOL. I never trust the news but some of the "real estate sites" also indicate that market pricing is growing. I've seen anywhere from around 5% to 10% year over year.
 
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kemmler3D said:
1) How hard is it to learn Portugese if you have a rusty high schooler's grasp of Spanish?
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I have no idea. Some people pick up languages easier than others. Some languages are more suited to your mouth shape than others.
Some people don't bother much past very basic and choose to live in areas where many speak the native language of the immigrant.

kemmler3D said:
2) If your spouse has EU citizenship but you don't, do you get residency automatically or is there still a non-deterministic application process of some kind? I assume if you have EU citizenship you can live anywhere in the EU, but if your spouse doesn't, do they have the same right?
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I can't answer this either. It all changed for the British after Brexit.
 
TSB said:
Agree fully except for learning Spanish in Portugal... What is even the point of that?
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Because with a good grounding in Spanish, many other languages from the Med and South America become a lot easier to pick up. The usual problem for British and possibly more so for Americans is learning how to use grammar.
 
Shadrach said:
Because with a good grounding in Spanish, many other languages from the Med and South America become a lot easier to pick up. The usual problem for British and possibly more so for Americans is learning how to use grammar.
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When I learned from Portuguese teacher that there are 56 verb endings, many irregular, i gave up and just use present tense for everything. i get by.
 
kemmler3D said:
Real questions as I might consider moving to EU (and have found Portugal very nice when I've visited) for ... no reason, certainly nothing to do with banned topics on this forum... but ...

1) How hard is it to learn Portugese if you have a rusty high schooler's grasp of Spanish?

More specific question:

2) If your spouse has EU citizenship but you don't, do you get residency automatically or is there still a non-deterministic application process of some kind? I assume if you have EU citizenship you can live anywhere in the EU, but if your spouse doesn't, do they have the same right?
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1. Learning a language is serious time and effort investment. More so if you are doing it later in life. More so if you essentially monolingual. You will need to start early and work hard for a few years to be really comfortable using it.
2. EU citizen spouses have essentially the same rights as EU citizens. My wife is from Brazil but because i'm EU everything is a lot easier, since the portuguese buraucracy is whipped to follow EU rules.
 
TSB said:
1. Learning a language is serious time and effort investment. More so if you are doing it later in life. More so if you essentially monolingual. You will need to start early and work hard for a few years to be really comfortable using it.
2. EU citizen spouses have essentially the same rights as EU citizens. My wife is from Brazil but because i'm EU everything is a lot easier, since the portuguese buraucracy is whipped to follow EU rules.
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I speak ungrammatical German (born in Austria raised in the Southern USA & some in Austria). My wife, (Chinese), says that after my 48th year (when I married her), that I have learned tolerable Chinglish.
So, it's a matter of degree and the tolerance of those around you.
By the way, kids learn languages quicker because they have an ulterior motive: they NEED to learn the local language in order to be able to play with the other kids around their age.
 
TSB said:
1. Learning a language is serious time and effort investment. More so if you are doing it later in life. More so if you essentially monolingual. You will need to start early and work hard for a few years to be really comfortable using it.
2. EU citizen spouses have essentially the same rights as EU citizens. My wife is from Brazil but because i'm EU everything is a lot easier, since the portuguese buraucracy is whipped to follow EU rules.
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I realize learning the language would be a huge commitment. I wouldn't expect immigrating to another country to be easy, but I also wouldn't want to move to another country and just keep speaking English forever like some kind of jerk.
 
My (Dutch) mom lived and worked in Portugal for 8 years. The younger generations will understand English, but the older ones won't or only have a basic grasp. You better learn the language if you plan to move there or things will be rough. It's not like The Netherlands for example where almost everyone speaks English and will switch to that if needed. But Portugal is not unique in that, you can find the same thing in France or other South European countries. So be prepared to learn the language if you don't want to be treated as a tourist. No need to be fluent, but having some basic conversational skills is a must.

Honestly. If you value culture I'd move to the Netherlands. Weather is worse, but The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam have a huge expat community and are overflowing with culture. Another option would be Berlin, but the Germans dub movies and if you want to learn the language Dutch probably easier than German (or Portugese) if you speak English.
 
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JB55 said:
When I learned from Portuguese teacher that there are 56 verb endings, many irregular, i gave up and just use present tense for everything. i get by.
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That is exactly the attitude that is likely to alienate immigrants to the locals and leave the immigrant little choice but to socialize mainly with people who speak the immigrants language. This is certainly not the way to experience all the benefits of moving to another country. Lots of people do exactly as you describe in my experience and in Catalonia, Spain where I was one ended up with British ghettos; nice ghettos but ghettos none the less.
 
Shadrach said:
That is exactly the attitude that is likely to alienate immigrants to the locals and leave the immigrant little choice but to socialize mainly with people who speak the immigrants language. This is certainly not the way to experience all the benefits of moving to another country. Lots of people do exactly as you describe in my experience and in Catalonia, Spain where I was one ended up with British ghettos; nice ghettos but ghettos none the less.
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This is indeed true for most countries. There are probably only a handful places where that isn't the case. That's why I recommended The Netherlands, because in the cities I mentioned there is a large expat community and locals are used to that. Wouldn't recommend it because of the housing costs though, there's already a big shortage and taking on extra immigrants isn't going to help that at all.

Regardless of what place you pick, you have to remember that you will most likely feel alone and isolated. You aren't coming into a country to work, so you won't have the "automatic" social bonding with colleagues that can be a starting point for building up a social circle in a new country. While at the same time your entire family and all your current friends will be thousands of kilometers (and euros) away.
 
Koeitje said:
This is indeed true for most countries. There are probably only a handful places where that isn't the case. That's why I recommended The Netherlands, because in the cities I mentioned there is a large expat community and locals are used to that. Wouldn't recommend it because of the housing costs though, there's already a big shortage and taking on extra immigrants isn't going to help that at all.

Regardless of what place you pick, you have to remember that you will most likely feel alone and isolated. You aren't coming into a country to work, so you won't have the "automatic" social bonding with colleagues that can be a starting point for building up a social circle in a new country. While at the same time your entire family and all your current friends will be thousands of kilometers (and euros) away.
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When I moved to Norway and the US to study/work for a time, I had the advantage you mention of the work environment. However, my best way to socialize was participating in shared activities I enjoyed back then and still enjoy today: Metal concerts, boardgames or cooking allowed me to meet some really interesting people I am still friends with.

I reckon age also has its issues, but still, the best way to socialize a bit is by means of interests that can be shared cross-culturaly. Faith has been a historical axis in that regard, but the arts score quite close.
 
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