Selling points on Portugal:
- Has a visa I qualify for that has a path to citizenship (after 5 years)
- Citizenship allows me to work and live and work in 28 EU countries.
- Dual citizenship & tax treaty with Canada
- Tax free status for 10 years (NHR tax exemption)
- Lower housing costs. My home here costs more than my home in Canada, but it is 3 times the size
- Lower cost of living
- Higher food and environmental standards
- More relaxed lifestyle
- Friendlier culture
- More environmentally responsible lifestyle
- Farther away from the USA which is very unstable. Civil wars do not respect borders
- Language that is fascinating, and I can leverage my french to learn it
- Better weather
- Can be anywhere in Europe for €50 / 1.5 hour flight / minimal security checks / no customs & duty / no immigration
- Great beaches
- Great architecture and urban planning
- Great museums and cultural activities
- Fado music
- Local cuisine is fascinating
- Great wine
Some people choose to live in Toronto and work very hard and then move to a warmer climate where they can sit on a beach all day and retire. I am choosing the middle path. I can work in Europe at a slower pace and make less money and start enjoying fantastic beaches and culture now rather than wait until I am older. I am easing into a later stage in life where money matters less and quality of life matters more.
Quality of life means something different for everybody. Every place is different, you have to choose what works for you, and choose again as your life situation changes.
There was a point in my life where I wanted to run 10 errands on foot in a row in 45 minutes in a compact urban area. That was Toronto.
There is a time in my life now where I don’t want every 45 minutes to be a mad panic, in fact, I don’t want to be in a panic at all anymore, but I want to be stimulated. That place would be Lisbon. There will be a time in my life when I don’t even want to be stimulated by a dense urban cityscape, and may want to give up more convinces and live in the forest or by the beach. That could be many places, but Costa Rica, British Columbia and rural Portugal are all possibilities.
Think about what you want as a lifestyle as well as what you can afford, and then factor in the human and financial cost of starting over. This is my fourth time doing so (Vancouver, Toronto, Montréal and now Lisbon), and I think the Lisbon lifestyle has a lot to offer, but I chose this path knowing I would have to sacrifice other things.