IL Readers Go from Conference Hall to Real Life Portugal

Those who attended International Living's Fast Track Europe Conference last month were overloaded with tons of useful information about moving, living, and investing here in Europe. But once the conference was over, many of the attendees took to the cobblestones to see for themselves what real life was like in Portugal.

My husband Clyde and I had the opportunity to speak about our adventures in house and pet sitting around the world, along with our years of living full-time in Portugal. Many attendees stopped by our table to chat and ask questions.

Those who expressed an interest in the Algarve or more specifically Tavira, were invited to join us at the weekly expat meetup a few days later. To our surprise, about 20 to 30 of the conference attendees showed up, eager to meet other expats to pick their brains about life in Portugal, and all were happy to share their experiences.

Afterwards, I asked a few of the people to elaborate on what they thought about Portugal and here's what they had to say.

Karen Martin and her husband traveled from California to attend the conference and later stayed around to explore.

"The conference coincided with my 60th birthday, a milestone in my life that ideally needed to be celebrated with travel, so we did," said Karen. "There are so many areas in Portugal that I'm interested in seeing, but for this trip we concentrated on the Algarve. We went to the expat meet-up in Tavira and met some wonderful people who have already made the leap. I can see why they chose the Algarve, and all have really full lives here in Portugal."

Besides Tavira, the Martins visited Lagos, Albufeira, Estoi, Faro, Loulé, Salir, Alte, and Villa Real de Santo Antonio before making their way north to Lisbon to fly back to the US.

"We are in love with Portugal," Karen exclaimed, "but we are not 100% sure of our plans just yet. The conference answered lots of questions and invited us to ask even more. First, we need to tie up some loose ends back home, then plan some longer trips to explore other countries in Europe before deciding to take the plunge into expat life abroad."

Olhão is in the eastern Algarve, between Faro and the Spanish border.|©iStock/Armando Oliveira

Attendee Dennis Keithly opted for a scouting trip that would also cover the Algarve. He visited Olhão, Fuseta, Tavira, Loulé, and São Brás de Alportel to see what areas spoke to him.

"I really liked Olhão with its huge fish and produce market," Dennis said. "This weekend I'm headed to Loulé to check out their market held in an Arabic inspired building that is just beautiful. I found the Portuguese people to be wonderful and very willing to help me since I have mobility issues. They always helped with my luggage, calling a taxi, or helping me to get onto the right bus."

Dennis enjoyed the local food, listened to traditional Fado music, and sampled way too many decadent sweet treats at his favorite bakery.

He even attended a Rotary Club meeting while in Portugal and found himself surrounded by an international mix of expats from England, Germany, Holland, Norway, and more.

"I took a two-hour guided city tour of Faro then enjoyed an entree of tuna and fries for lunch with a beer for just $9," Dennis added. "In Fuseta I found a great place for grilled fish, served with salad, wine and coffee for around $21 per person."

Dennis' goal is to find a city to live in that is about a 30-minute commute to Hospital Particular do Algarve in Gambelas, Faro. Because he has some health concerns, he wants to live close to a Joint Commission International institute of excellence, where he can find the best doctors.

"Before the conference started, I was lucky enough to have breakfast one morning with Tuula Rampont, IL's France correspondent," he said. "She opened my eyes to France and possibly even Spain, as a backup plan to Portugal."

Dennis plans to look at some rentals while here and is working with a company to facilitate the matter.

Patty and Dean Hahn-Carlson fell in love with Tavira, an eastern Algarve expat haven. They visited Clyde and I at our apartment. We showed them a local Chinese discount store that sells just about everything including the kitchen sink, and they treated us to dinner out. Over the next few days, they took a second look at an apartment to buy just a few streets over from us in Tavira and made an offer that was accepted.

"We certainly had no plans to buy a place this soon," Patty said. "But we fell in love with the apartment because it has a private rooftop deck with elevator access up to it and offers ocean views. Besides that, the two-bedroom apartment comes fully furnished and was a steal, compared to prices back in Arizona."