100th Post

I Would Like Your Feedback

I am proud and surprised to report that this is the 100th post on Expat in Portugal. My time has flown by. Anyway, I have a favor to ask. It’s near the end of this post. So if you want…you can skip down to where it says “Need Your Help”. Rest assured, I am not asking for money! Never had…never will.

During the Lockdown

If you have been with us since the beginning, you know that we moved to Portugal on New Years’ Eve 2020 and I started posting 6 times a week on the 26th of January 2021. Back then, we were in lockdown, a real one, not like in the States, and I needed a hobby! Many of our friends had asked us to chronicle our travels. We thought about YouTube, but you might have noticed I am camera shy. So I started writing. I enjoy the process…particularly early in the morning, coffee in hand when Denise and Onix are still in bed. I actually crack myself up some mornings. Hopefully, you have chuckled too.

I got such positive feedback from friends. A few actually complained when I skipped a day. Since we were in lockdown most of my posts were related to the D7 process and everyday living (laundry, getting around, banking, learning Portuguese, etc). More recently we have been able to travel and as such have been able to provide more travel-related content. I have also from time to time, offered observations and commentaries on topics like gun practices, the events in Washington on January 6th, freedom, etc. On days that I post such observations, I tend to lose some readers. It really hurts when someone disables their email…but I know our inboxes are often overflowing and try not to take it personally.

Made New Friends

Perhaps the best thing about all this is we have actually met some new friends. People planning to move to Portugal have contacted me via email and we have Zoomed or WhatApp’ed or exchanged emails as they planned their moves. One couple arrived two weeks ago and now lives in the Algarve. A single woman got here just this week. Another couple is arriving soon and plans to start their stay in Porto. In addition, somehow some real live Portuguese citizens have also found the site, and help with their comments along the way. Meeting these people has helped me fight through the occasional writer’s block moments.

Need Your Help

Since this is not a typical post, I hope you are still reading. And if you are, I want to ask you to spend just two minutes completing a 9 questions survey for me. (Just click on either of the red/orange parts of this paragraph.) Most of the questions are simple multiple choice. A few ask for you to write a sentence or two…or as much as you like. I promise I will read every single one! If you have enjoyed any of my posts, or even if you are tired of them…please take a moment to complete this brief (totally anonymous) survey. Muito Obrigada!