My husband and I were both born in the US, but for the last decade, we’ve worked remotely, living abroad in countries like Mexico and South Korea.
We always had a longtime dream, though, of ending up in Europe.
Five months after having our daughter, we decided on Portugal, which offered a digital nomad visa and proximity to tons of European countries.
Though we never dreamed of living in Portugal, specifically, we expected to love living there. We envisioned ourselves sipping on local wine by the beach while our infant daughter played in the sand, going on long walks through cobblestone streets, and traveling to a new city every weekend.
Unfortunately, our European experience didn’t look exactly like we’d hoped. After just two years, we moved to Colombia and were surprised to find that it felt just like home.
Life in Portugal wasn’t what we expected
We found a home in Porto, which is undeniably beautiful. As gorgeous as the city was, though, living there proved difficult.
Porto had a slower, calmer pace, which appealed to us at first — but the reality turned out to feel more ideal for retirees, as opposed to young adults in our life stage.
There were many stretches of non-stop rain in Porto, which meant that during certain seasons, we couldn’t go to the playground for days on end. It didn’t help that we struggled to find indoor activities that suited our young family, too.
Unfortunately, a humid, rainy climate also creates ideal conditions for mold to thrive, and we encountered it numerous times in rental apartments here. After our baby got sick several times, we grew increasingly concerned about how the mold might’ve been affecting her health.
Additionally, living in a tourist destination wasn’t our cup of tea. Sure, walking across the Dom Luis bridge every day was something I’ll always remember, but we won’t miss the hordes of tourists who often congregated on our street.
Finally, although my husband and I have an ear for Portuguese because we’re Spanish speakers, we found it difficult to communicate at times. Plus, with a baby, we didn’t exactly have time to devote ourselves to language lessons.
Maybe Porto was just the wrong city, or we were in over our heads as new parents. We were still determined to make Portugal work, so we considered moving somewhere else, like Lisbon — but kept hitting roadblocks.
We had difficulties finding apartments, and daycares in many nearby cities had extremely long wait lists. Still, for the sake of our happiness, we knew we couldn’t stay in Porto.
Soon, we decided to try living in Colombia
Around this time, a friend of ours was getting married in Cartagena, Colombia.
We’d previously considered what it would be like to live in South America, and because we were flying there anyway, we figured it couldn’t hurt to spend a few months away from Portugal.
We did some research and realized that Colombia had a lot to offer, like our ideal “eternal fall” climate and one of the largest international airports in Latin America, which could make travel easier.
I loved that Bogotá had a sizable Jewish community, something I didn’t realize I was missing. The Andean culture also felt immediately comfortable to my husband, who is Ecuadorian-American.
In July 2024, our lease ended in Portugal, and we booked one-way flights to Bogotá, Colombia.
We never expected to end up in Colombia, but it has everything we were looking for
Colombia is also very rainy, but the weather still felt like a major upgrade. Here, the rain feels more sporadic — we’ll deal with it for a few hours a day, and then we can still take our daughter out in the sunshine by afternoon.
We also loved the size of the city. Bogotá has a population of over 8 million compared to Porto’s 1.3 million, and as a result, there’s just so much more to do.
Here, we easily see artists we like in concert, visit tons of museums, and buy delicious street food, like arepas and avocados. We also found many more school options without super-long waitlists.
Finally, it was a huge relief that we could communicate, making it easier to navigate the country’s legal and healthcare systems.
One year later, we’re so much happier here — and proud that we took the leap
Now, over a year later, we’re in the process of moving from a shorter-term rental to a new home in Colombia.
Even though Porto wasn’t the right fit for us, we’ll always have fond memories of Portugal. It’s where our daughter took her first steps, and where we met friends we still talk to now.
In the one year we’ve lived in Colombia, though, we’ve created a life for our daughter and, with a second baby now on the way, we feel confident and comfortable raising kids here.
We’ve also built a large, diverse community of young parents, including both Colombians and other expats.
Although we can no longer easily hop on a plane and go to Germany for the weekend, we have traveled to some amazing nearby places, like Santa Marta and Lima, Perú.
Portugal didn’t end up being our dream home, but I believe it led us exactly where we’re supposed to be.
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