This is the first part of the great new adventure that my love Marco and I, together with our dear dog friend Sandy, have recently embarked on. I would like to share this with everyone who likes to follow this. This first blog may be a bit long, so take a seat.
We are moving to Northern Portugal!
A beautiful, new, fun and also exciting journey that will take us to all kinds of beautiful new experiences. We are looking forward to it and step by step we are walking towards a new future full of surprises. We do know that we are moving and also where to. We also have some ideas about what we want to put up and do, but that's about it. We go through this feeling and experiencing. We both knew that a change was coming and this change was imminent in Portugal a few weeks ago, well ahead of what we had planned. Let's start with how we got to this point. Although this adventure starts earlier in each of us, I will start by telling you about our holiday to Portugal from which we have now returned for a week and a half. How exactly it all works will gradually become clear in the blogs. It's not even for us right now. Exciting and fun right?!
July 18, 2022 is when we leave by car with our Sandy towards Portugal for a long holiday of 4 weeks. We have both had tough, but also educational times in our own way in recent years. Last year we stayed home, after we were allowed to pick up our pup Sandy in May 2021. We then spent our time with her. This year we were both very excited to go on holiday again. Great camping, which makes us both happy, slows down, relaxes and which brings us together even more every time. This time together with our Sandy of course. We were so curious about that too. How would she experience camping? I can be very brief about that actually. She really turns out to be a great camping dog and we really enjoyed watching her enjoy everything. In our story it will become clear what an important role our Sandy has in the choice to move to Portugal. I no longer believe in coincidence, but that many events and encounters in our lives indicate a direction and sometimes even have a purpose. Even when it's not quite clear yet.
Good! So on holiday to Portugal. Northern Portugal to be precise. The choice to go to Northern Portugal arose because we had the idea since about a year that we might want to move there someday. Quite special to come to Portugal for both, because I have only ever been to Portugal 30 years ago, of which I hardly remember anything and Marco has never even been there. So no affinity with it.
Initially, we wanted to move outside the Randstad in due course. Very occasionally we talked about France or Italy, but that never stuck. The idea of wanting to move to Portugal had arisen for me more than a year ago. Just out of nowhere. Since that idea was there, Portugal suddenly came into play from all sides. Special how that works. Although that idea lived in me, I had not discussed it with Marco and I did not pay any attention to it. It kept coming to my attention though. Marco scoured the internet every now and then looking for possible homes outside the Randstad. That was not so easy and somehow all the offer was not something that warmed us.
At the end of last year Marco asked me out of the blue how I would like to live in Northern Portugal. I was really surprised. Of all the places in the world, he started talking about Portugal. You just can't make that up. Of course I first asked him how he came up with that. That had everything to do with Sandy. Sandy is a Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, also called a Toller. As the name indicates, this variety comes from a colder area. In the time that Sandy is now with us, we have discovered that we would also like her to have more space to walk around and to be able to walk loose more often when she comes out of the garden. She can walk on a leash, but it's obvious she really doesn't like it. What we wish for her is simply not possible where we live now. So the climate should not be too hot for her and at the same time just nice for us. Northern Portugal has an excellent climate for all three of us in that respect. Warm summers, but not stiflingly hot for months on end and mild winters. It can also rain quite a bit. So it looks somewhat like the Netherlands, but then greener, wider and with mountains. It's so beautiful there. So it came about that Portugal started to live enormously with both of us and we came up with the idea to go on holiday to Portugal and to investigate whether this could offer us possibilities for the future. To emphasize that again.
Marco has studied the regions from time to time, how things work in Portugal with the houses and all kinds of other things you need to know when you want to live in another country. It's great for me that he likes to do that. He likes to investigate and browse and read everything. I really don't mind that at all. I just get confused with so much information like this. I'm not going to tire you (and myself) about that how and what. What turned out to be important is to make sure you find a broker who will help you. Preferably in their own language or at least in English. Sales deeds, contracts, etc. are always in Portuguese. In Portugal there can be family issues around a house or piece of land, no housing or building permit, etc. An important point. While researching, Marco found a Dutch real estate agent who has been living and working in Northern Portugal for over 20 years. Already retired and who still does this because he enjoys it himself, earns some pocket money without having to earn and to help people find their way in Portugal if they want to buy something there. Earlier this year we asked him to visit when he was traveling to visit one of his daughters in the Netherlands, to get acquainted. It was very important for us to have a good connection with someone. There was. The tip for the first campsite we went to also came through him and it was a really great place. Normally we travel around with our tent, but this time we didn't get any further than this first one. This is also really beautifully centrally located. An hour's drive from Porto, half an hour from Braga and the beautiful town of Guimarães. So we left on July 18 and after overnight stays in the vicinity of Bordeaux (France) and Leon (Spain) we arrived on July 21 at the campsite in Arco de Baúhle. A small-scale, quiet campsite from a Belgian owner. We thought everything we had seen along the way was so beautiful. After acclimatizing for a week, resting, eating delicious food, visiting places, Herman (the real estate agent) came to visit to discuss with him what we wanted to see. There were three, one of which was more towards the center of Portugal and therefore outside its area. He also told us that a beautiful house had recently come on the market. Completely new, but a bit less ground than what we were initially looking for. We would then visit them last. It was a nice and pleasant visit where we also learned a lot. We had agreed a few days later and decided to travel the next day to the place that was a bit further in Fornos de Algodres. We have contacted the owner. We were able to arrive in no time and what was really great is that we were given the opportunity to spend the night there in the house. So the next day we left around noon and left our tent on the campsite. It was about two and a half hours drive. Now an important part of the highway turned out to be closed in both directions and we were led through the Douro valley. I can tell you, that is absolutely not a punishment. Just magically beautiful and you are not just through it. What a present. Once we arrived at the place, we were welcomed by the woman who currently manages the land. Very nice woman from Jersey who also went to live in Portugal and with whom we immediately had a good click.
Sandy was like a fish in water from the moment she jumped out of the car. She clearly loved it and had so much fun. Here at this moment we immediately experienced that this sweet girl was really born to walk free just like us. We enjoyed her joy so much. It was a beautiful special place on a river. Sandy also had a great swim in it. I was very charmed by this house. The house was dated and specially laid out, but that is precisely why I liked it so much. At the house there were also a lot of pine trees and mimosas on plateaus on 1 ha, it was extremely dry and would therefore entail a lot of work to keep the estate tidy. There you have to in a country like Portugal because of really take the forest fires into account. On the other side of the road there was also 2 hectares of forest that belonged to it with again pine trees and mimosas. So even more ground to keep tidy. Even so, I saw real possibilities there and a stream of ideas started. Marco did not see and feel this. After sleeping there for the night, we went back to the campsite the next day and kept it in mind to come back and experience it again with a friend of ours before we went back to the Netherlands who already lives in Portugal.
The day after we got back we went with Herman to look at the second house. That was an adventure in itself to get there, because it was almost impossible to find. Herman had not been to this place before either, because it came through another broker. In any case, we wanted to see the outside to see if they would be interested in seeing the inside as well. Compared to what we found, I'm guessing the photos we'd seen of this place were at least three to five years old. Nature had already almost taken over. We could hardly get to the house, so after seeing it from above, we soon realized that this was definitely not it.
On to the third. This was the first house Marco had found. This house had a lot of land and a lot had to be done here. The house was very big and more modern than the one in Fornos, with a very large space under the house. I didn't feel anything at all about this, no ideas came up like I had experienced with the first house. On the other hand, Marco thought this was a nice place and it touched him. At that time we could not enter, because we had arrived a little later due to the search of the house in front. That's how it is in Portugal. Herman would contact the man of the house to meet for the next day before we went to the fourth and last house.
The next day Herman came to get us again. Unfortunately we could not enter the house from the day before, because that person had now been gone for a few days. Straight on to the fourth house. The road to this house was really beautiful. Marco, who now did not have to drive himself, was also amazed. It made us calm, because this environment radiates this. When we arrived and drove through the gate and then saw the house and the land with the view behind it, we just didn't quite know what we were seeing. So beautiful, it just left us speechless!
The moment we let Sandy out of the car she was running and strolling around again and we saw the happy Sandy again, which made us so happy again. The man of the house was present, a super enthusiastic cheerful man. Busy with watering the plants and trees. He does not live here and only takes care of it. They actually built the house for their daughter, but she doesn't want to live there. That's a story in itself and not mine, so I'll leave this for what it is. There is a town of about twenty thousand inhabitants 5 km downhill and on the way up there are some houses here and there. So it is somewhat remote, but certainly not off-grid. We did walk around there for a while in total amazement at what we saw and experienced. It really is a beautiful open space. The house stands on 0.6 ha of flat ground, which is very nice. The house is built entirely of granite and is fully furnished. It is just right in terms of surface area for the three of us and on the ground floor. Personally, that makes me very happy, because I'm not the type who likes cleaning and cleaning all day. Life is a bit more interesting than that. It is truly brand new and has never been lived in. The land is full of olive trees, fruit trees and a piece of grapes. The edible and not the wine variety. There is a water mine with a stream from the mountains that runs all year round, which ends up in the basin and an artesian well, so we always have clean water. Diagonally on the other side of the site is a very spacious garage with a guest house attached to it and also a second entrance. The moment Marco heard that there was another house on the site, he was already convinced. Herman had already told us in advance that something like this house in such a place hardly occurs in Portugal. For Marco and me it felt like a lottery ticket. This is exactly what we were looking for, even if it has a little less ground. It's just enough and set up so great in terms of layout. So fitting with our wishes, you just can't come up with that. We said goodbye to the friendly man who has enjoyed playing with Sandy in the meantime. He liked her so much. Herman brought us home and we made an agreement with him that we would sleep on it for at least one night. We owed that to ourselves. We also did that night of sleeping on it, but in our hearts we had already made the choice. The next morning Marco informed Herman that we are doing it.
The following week we went back again with a friend of ours to take a good look at everything, record it, etc. The feeling had not changed and, if possible, even strengthened. This is our new place, our new home. In that week we applied for a tax number, opened a bank account, went to the notary and visited some places. So it was definitely not the "normal" camping holiday if we did otherwise. The following days we took some rest as far as possible. Once a choice like this has been made, there is quite a shift. Then it was time to go back to the Netherlands in the knowledge that we will return here soon. In any case, this science is there for me. There is a good chance that Marco will stay in the Netherlands for a while due to the corona crisis. work and will come later. So that is one of the surprises for us that is still completely open. We will experience how this will go. We both trust that it will go exactly as intended and probably also in what we personally need to make this step. For the time being, there is now at least a lot to arrange and do. For example, we have now told our family and friends what we are going to do and I have canceled the group room and activities that I had set up just before the holiday to start after the holiday. I think that is a great pity, although I know that I will also do wonderful things in Portugal. I have already started learning Portuguese. A busy period of letting go a lot is coming. Making room for new beautiful things and experiences. A very exciting and at the same time a great adventure! We are very much looking forward to experiencing this together. This is what we once envisioned for the future, but the universe has clearly informed us that the time is NOW. That is very nice, because there is no other time than NOW.
Until the next blog. I'm also very curious what I have to say then 😉
With love Natasja
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Reacties
super natas
heb je blog gelezen
en ik blijf je zeker volgen
veel succes met alles regelen ,voorbereidingen etc
liefs maris
Waanzinnig! Je hebt mij door je mooie schrijven al meegenomen, bijna met geuren en al. Ik voel jullie ideeën en zie het al voor me, dat gaat helemaal goedkomen daar. Muita felicidade juntos ♡
So happy for you!! Love you:)
Zo, wat een story Natasja.
Inderdaad, dat huis wat zo goed als dichtgegroeid
was zou ik ook overgeslagen hebben…haha.
Fijne toekomst daar met z’n drieën xx.
Wat een spannend, maar mooi avontuur. Ik heb jullie verhaal met heel veel plezier gelezen. Heel dapper om jullie hart en gevoel te volgen.
We hebben samen je hartverwarmende verhaal gelezen en werden blij van je enthousiasme.
Wat een mooie en moedige stap.
En een prachtige thuisplek.
Van harte gefeliciteerd.
Liefs van ons en veel geluk voor jullie!