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The ExPat Files Ep 1: The Portugal Episode (Patreon)

Published:
2025-02-28 00:40:52
Edited:
2025-05-27 09:57:17
Imported:
2025-02
Tags:

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Content

In this episode, David and @joyofnapping discuss the possibility of moving abroad.

As always, thanks for your support.

PATRONS: You can get this audio in your podcast app by going to patreon.com/davechen, going to the "My Membership" section, and copying and pasting the RSS link to your podcast app.

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Comments

Satorii

My parents are going through the process of moving to Portugal right now. My dad will be teaching tech at a Portuguese university in order to get their visas to stay there. I would be happy to intro you guys if you have any questions they could answer.

Mads Olsen

If and when you move to Portugal, I just want to wish you welcome to Europe! Good time to join the ride for a much stronger and united Europe. If you’re ever in Copenhagen, you’re welcome to reach out - happy to help in any way!

Patrick Neon

Great episode Dave and Joy! Thank you for sharing. I would love to hear more about it in the future!! And we can’t wait to welcome you to the EU soon—just take the leap!

Nizar B

Lisbon is a place my wife and I have considered as well. We lived/worked there a few years ago for a short while and our stay was very pleasant. Can't wait to see if and how this develops into something more substantial for you both.

Joy o Napping

What led you to live / work there?

Nizar B

Back in 2018, wife was able to choose several intl capitals to work abroad. We knew acquaintances who emigrated there, always spoke highly of their experience as US ex-pats. It was apparent in the first week that the country (we were in Lisbon but also traveled to other cities during our stay) could be a home base for us. Even with the absence of some of those luxuries or amenities, nothing was a deal-breaker that we could think of.

Nathaniel St. Clair

Definitely interested to hear more. Always wanted to visit Portugal. Loved 100 Foot Wave. Excited to hear how this evolves.

Edgar Flores

How will Dave and Joy cope without Costco???

Joy o Napping

The nearest one is in Spain and trust me… I’ve mapped the path!

Vincent Tan

in 2020 I also casually researched what countries had the easiest paths to citizenship. Portugal was definitely near the top of the list. however i believe a lot of options that were available a few years ago are now more heavily restricted or closed? curious what, if any other, options did you guys consider?

Diana

Another who'd love to hear more Portugal talk! My partner and I are also exploring the possibility or moving outside the US.

David Chen

Other countries considered: Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, UK, France

Joy o Napping

So cool! What university will they be at

Satorii

I’ll find out!

Satorii

Instituto Politécnico de Leiria - my dad corrected me. He is not teaching, but he has a Research grant coming through for this university.

Joy o Napping

Leiria! That is in the ‘Silver Coast’ we discussed in the podcast

CDMatthew

This episode was chock full of great info! Many folks are *thinking* about such a move, but to hear firsthand of how someone is actually exploring the possibilities—and working through all the implications—is really heartening. Our circumstances may prevent us from moving until a few more years from now (possibly to Thailand), but hearing about your journey is helpful. More please! (But also WHATEVER topic you’d like is fine by me.) Thanks, you two!

Warpstone

Wow what an episode. I would be very interested to hear more about the possible Portugal transition as time goes on. Wish you both all the best.

Ink Ribbon

Hello. I am an American currently living in Thailand. If you have any questions regarding possibly living in Thailand, I can try to help you. I’m not well versed in the legal aspects but I’ll give my best shot on other topics.

Patrick Neon

Would be great to hear the points what made you ultimately decide to check out portugal and not the others..

Glenn Downing

Hi David. Great episode! I'm very interested in your going-abroad adventure. Could you discuss the countries that didn't make the list? In particular, isn't going to Vancouver, BC, a great option, leaving you still very close to your friends and family? Thanks again.

Chris

Great episode, fascinating discussion. Would love to hear more about your planning and new life abroad. It would also make a great youtube series once you're there too, with a discussion and photos or video snippets of life there. Been following you for years now, and really want to see the best future for you guys.

Nicolas Zika

Very good an interesting episode. I’ve lived as an expat since I was 7 years old in a total of 6 countries. It’s an awesome experience but also a bit of a weird one as you get the feeling that you don’t belong anywhere. Maybe it’s because I’ve been an expat due to my dad’s work and now my own, so we have never moved with the intent of making these countries our forever home. And live long enough outside your home country and before you know it, you will stop relating so deeply to it and eventually be a bit out of touch/sync with it. Anyways, me and wife have been craving that feeling of having a “forever home” and are looking for a place to settle. Portugal is on our list too. It would be great if in future episodes you can share a bit more info on the resources, type of visa, etc… that you are using to become residents there.

Joy o Napping

Just curious… what were the six countries?

Nicolas Zika

Chile (where I’m from), Tahití, Canadá, México, USA and UAE (where I currently live)

Ink Ribbon

Would love to know why not Thailand? You can be totally honest.

Ink Ribbon

Hi Joy! Curious. Dave said you two considered Thailand. It’s where I’m from and I’m flattered it was considered! What made you go a different direction? You can be perfectly honest!

Claudita

Hello David and Joy! What a wonderful episode. I'm so glad Joy had such a positive experience in Portugal. Making such a big move will take many steps, but if it comes to fruition, it will have been worth it. I've lived in Europe a few times in my 20s (Spain Germany and Austria), and I always remember things feeling calm. The sense of community is much bigger. You're not rushed to do ANYTHING. And while that "sense of urgency" kept nagging me in the beginning, it eventually fades away and you just live. I also visited Portugal (lisbon and porto). I have some great memories of just wandering the streets, and taking in all the beauty. Although my husband and I are settled here in the east coast (we own a home), I find myself hoping we can make a change like this at some point. Thanks for sharing your experience! It would be interesting to hear about the visa process in future episodes. Good luck :-)

Gregg D.

Very interested to follow this process, as we have been investigating a similar move. We aren’t as far along as you are, as our primary goal is Ireland (despite the difficulty of immigrating there and its other challenges, we just are in love with that country). Failing that, I am intimidated to seriously consider non-English primary countries, so I will definitely be interested to hear how you take steps to learn more Portuguese and integrate.

Christopher Yee Mon

I've done that with shows. Took me literally 10 years to complete Ozark. What a bad show

Christopher Yee Mon

My 2025 binge on the Cheniverse begins with this episode. Will give some of my background. As you know I am a Trinidadian. I have been trying to figure out a workable workflow to be bi-country and live and raise a family in Trinidad during the school year, and dodge temperate winters, and spend summers in the US. A concrete plan is essential for this kind of thing obviously. Without it, this process could take years, as I think it will for me. My situation will also take years, because I'm trying to build a home in Trinidad as well, and dealing with 3rd world country bureaucracy. Also for me, a major barrier is two US rules. A small one is long as you're a US citizen, you will be filing (and paying? dunno) US taxes for the rest of your life, no matter where in the world you live. This is a civil war era law, so that confederates from the south didn't all just pack up and leave for Argentina after they lost. The second is that US business rules state that you need to have a business entity where you've hired an employee who's resident there, so if you claim to be a resident of Washington for example, you have to spend at least one day in the month in Washington to follow the rules for filing taxes. Currently when I visit Trinidad, I spend all month except one day in Trinidad and spend that last day in Washington. Obviously this requires entrepreneurship to accommodate moving abroad. Either working only on contract in companies as a consultant or just being CEO of your own business and working remotely if you have employees in the US.

Christopher Yee Mon

Question for a future episode followup (unless it's already been answered in a subsequent episode). If this process took 2 years to decide on and the country shifted dramatically left in the midterms, would you reconsider this? Zohran Mamdani gives me hope for something like this, and historically this has happened in the past. My current strategy for coping is just living for that midterm time to see what happens