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Hi there

Keeping animals in apartments can be a bit of a problem in Lisbon and Porto because of a lack of space to exercise them.  Portugal generally is not a pet loving country but that is all now changing as young couples find having cats and dogs a much cheaper alternative  to bringing up kids.  Where I live in the extreme north on the Spanish border 15 years ago there was only one Vet that covered a wide area.  That has also now changed, right now there are at least 7  and others setting up shop. The vet that I go to with my 3 dogs, 6 cats , etc etc is full up the whole time.  Vet fees up north are not expensive with such a lot of competition
On the other side there is an abundance of stray dogs and cats around every corner, this situation unfortunately does nothing to help the image of pet lovers like our selves

Thanks a million for the info. Would it be safe to assume one would have better luck finding a small house inland far from any touristy locations?

Yes you have the right idea, rent or buy a small house far away from the tourist tracks.
Something  not to far from the motorways, airports and  beach. The further north one goes the greater the choice and also much cheaper. A small house in the north that meets those requirements are in the region between euros 250 to 280 a month. What are you planning to do when you arrive in Portugal?

What part of USA do you come from, give your self lots of time to sort out the legal paper work, nothing is straight forward here.



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I'm living in Miami at the moment.  I'm retiring in 3 years and have been doing my research.  Much about the legal paperwork I've already discovered.  Which I think is par for the course when your a foreigner in any country i would assume.  I'm a filmmaker and photographer and on occassion I've done voice overs.  I wouldn't mind doing something along those lines there. Especially voice overs for commercials and/or radio spots for those that require good English.  But generally I will be retired.  I am very active and would love to travel around and shoot some photographs of the area, etc...

Hi there, it is very unlikely that you will find direct employment in Portugal, first because of your age and secondly not being able to speak the language but not let that deter you.

Do you drive, that will be essential. You will need to find out because you do not have an EEC driving licence whether you will need to take the test again in Portugal and in that case it would be in Portuguese.  It may well be that you can transfer your American driving licence into a Portuguese one. Which ever route one goes down dont expect overnight results. It you obtain an American International licence that should cover you for the first year

Many years ago when i Lived in the UK I was fortunate enough to attain the qualification of an Associate of the Royal Photographic  Society of GB.  In those days I lived in Jersey Channel Islands, I was the highest qualified photographer in the Channel Islands that did not have their own photographic business. in 1989 my career working for a bank came to an abrupt end with the Big Bang financial crises I lost everything and not being able to find alternative employment I started my own photographic business in the UK which lasted 5 years and returned back to Jersey when the financial climate improved in 1995 and returned back to banking. Between 1995 and 2006 I did not take a single photo and it was not until I came to Portugal on my retirement that the urge to take photos and make very short  amateur videos brought me back into photography, nothing serious just for fun photographing local events to circulate with the Expat community

Between 2008 and 2013 I ran my own web site for the purpose of keeping the expats involved what was going on , it all became to much to me , taking photos, making short videos and the web site that I thought to my self  what the hell was I doing all this for bearing in mind I came to Portugal to retire so on the 1 January 2014 after giving plenty of notice I closed the whole thing down

It has come yo my notice that in the last two years there has been a big uptake on Americans visiting Portugal for holidays. Numbers have increased through the roof and will continue this way because Portugal has just been nominated the number 1 European holiday destination. Have you given consideration to starting your own web site targeting the American and Canadian market  incorporating a travel agency facility.  You can include escorted photographic holidays. Just a thought.  The summer months will keep you busy running around with American visitors taking hundreds of photos and building up short video material and the winter months can be spent editing your videos and photos for inclusion on your web site.  There could also be opportunities to sell some of your material to photo agencies. The opportunities are endless, just to name a few.

Hello,

I am also planning to move with 2 dogs, medium size, house trained. Do you have some recommendations regarding the towns? I would prefer cheap ones, so I can rent  a house and not worry too much about their daily walk.

Thank you!
Andreea