Are We Really Doing This? How Portugal Became Home

It really hit us while we were waiting for our flight to Lisbon.

Çağdaş and I looked at each other. Şila, our dog, was with us, and suddenly we both had the same thought:

“Are we really doing this?”

We had spent months preparing for the move. There were documents, plans, things to sell, things to pack, people to say goodbye to.

We had been so busy getting everything ready that I don’t think we had really stopped to think about what was actually happening.

But there at the airport, there was nothing left to organise.

We were moving to a new country.

Our families, our friends, our work, our home – basically everything familiar – was staying behind.

And we were about to start again.

It sounds scary when I write it like that. But I remember being incredibly excited.

Before Portugal, there was Bodrum

I’m originally from Istanbul, and I love Istanbul. But after years of crowds, traffic and chaos, I realised I wanted a different kind of daily life.

So I moved to Bodrum.

Later, Çağdaş and I got married there, and we built a really good life together.

We had our own coffee shop. We had a caravan. We went camping, spent time in nature and had created a lifestyle that felt very much like us.

We were happy there.

I think that’s an important part of our story, because we didn’t decide to move to Portugal because we were trying to escape an unhappy life.

Actually, it was the opposite.

We had a life we loved, and still we wanted to see what else was possible.

Once we made the decision, we went all in.

We handed over our coffee shop. We sold our caravan. We sold our car.

Slowly, everything we had built around us started disappearing.

There were definitely moments when we looked at each other and wondered if we were completely crazy.

But we wanted to do it.

Why Portugal?

People ask us this all the time.

There wasn’t one big reason.

We liked the climate, the ocean, the beaches and the history. We loved that Portugal isn’t a huge country, but every region seems to have something different about it.

We wanted somewhere calmer than the life we had known before, but we also wanted a country where there would always be something new to discover.

And the people were a big part of it.

Portuguese people felt warm to us. The culture was different, of course, but not so different that we couldn’t imagine ourselves being part of everyday life here.

Portugal felt new without feeling completely unfamiliar.

That was probably one of the biggest reasons.

A very rainy first day

We arrived in Lisbon on a very rainy day.

After landing, we took care of Şila’s registration at the airport, collected everything and got into an Uber to Setúbal.

When we arrived, we still had to wait for our real estate agent to bring us the keys. Some Turkish friends who were already here helped us during those first hours, which meant a lot.

Then we finally opened the door to our new home.

That moment was crazy.

Everything was new.

The country, the street, the house, the sounds outside, even the weather.

I remember the adrenaline more than anything else.

Çağdaş and I looked at each other.

“Dostum, we did it.”

And we started laughing.

After selling everything, months of preparation and all the goodbyes, we were actually standing in our own home in Portugal.

We didn’t really feel like foreigners

This is probably what surprised us most.

We expected to feel like foreigners for a while.

But even during the first week, we kept saying to each other:

“This feels like we moved to another city, not another country.”

I still don’t know exactly why.

Maybe it’s the culture. Maybe it’s the people. Maybe it’s a combination of lots of small things.

Portuguese people are warm and friendly in a way that feels familiar to us as Turks. Of course there are differences between the two countries, but everyday interactions don’t feel completely foreign.

I often say that if you take one step towards people here, they give you two steps back.

At least, that’s how it has felt to us.

Setúbal has also made settling in very easy.

It’s compact. We can do so much on foot. I can take Şila for a walk, go to yoga or exercise, work online, deal with everything I need to do and still have time to meet friends for coffee or a drink.

We realised quite quickly that the kind of everyday life we wanted was actually possible here.

And that was probably when we started feeling at home.

Coffee, choco frito and Şila’s favourite walk

We already have our routines.

Every morning we go to the same café for coffee.

We usually go at around the same time, see the same people working there and chat with them.

I really like that.

Maybe we’re just very attached to our habits, but for me, these little routines create a feeling of belonging.

When we want choco frito, we have our place for that too.

We know where we’re going for coffee. We know where we like to eat. We have our usual walks.

Even Şila has a favourite place.

I take her to a few different spots, but there is one place she always wants to go. She actually pulls us in that direction.

Apparently she has her own Setúbal routine now.

These things sound very ordinary, and they are.

But I think that’s exactly the point.

When you move somewhere new, the ordinary things are what slowly make it your home.

A small moment outside the supermarket

One day I came out of the supermarket carrying far too many bags.

I was walking home and stopped at a traffic light.

A Portuguese man, probably in his fifties or sixties, came over and politely asked if I needed help.

I didn’t, so I thanked him and continued home.

It was maybe a 20-second interaction.

But it made me really happy.

Because it reminded me of Turkey.

It’s the kind of thing that can happen there too. Someone you don’t know sees you carrying too much and simply asks if they can help.

That little moment made me think, “Okay, maybe we’re not so different.”

And I’ve had that feeling many times since we arrived.

Our real estate agent became our Portuguese teacher

One of my favourite things that has happened since moving here started when we were looking for a home.

We met a Portuguese real estate agent.

At first, our relationship was completely professional.

Then somehow we became friends.

Now she’s a close friend of ours.

And because we’re trying to learn Portuguese, she voluntarily gives us Portuguese lessons.

I love this.

Of course we’re learning the language, but that’s not really the most important part for me.

We’re learning it from someone who has become part of our life here.

We spend time together, our friendship gets stronger, our Portuguese gets a little better, and at the same time we feel more connected to Portugal.

That means a lot to us.

So, when did Portugal become home?

I honestly don’t know.

There wasn’t one big moment.

It happened very quickly.

Maybe it was the morning coffees.

Maybe it was knowing where to go for choco frito.

Maybe it was Şila deciding that one particular walking route was hers.

Maybe it was having Portuguese friends.

Or maybe it was simply realising that we could work, exercise, see friends, walk around the city and enjoy our day without constantly rushing.

At some point, we stopped thinking:

“We live in Portugal now.”

We were just living.

And I think that’s when it happened.

Portugal is still new to us. There are so many places we haven’t seen, so much Portuguese we still need to learn and so many things we haven’t experienced yet.

That’s actually one of the things we love about being here.

There is still so much ahead of us.

But we don’t really feel like strangers anymore.

Sometimes Çağdaş and I still remember that moment at the airport.

Us, Şila and our luggage, waiting for the flight to Lisbon and looking at each other like we were doing
something completely crazy.

“Are we really doing this?”

Yes, dostum.

We really did it.