Portugal Reviewed: WSMH Travels

Recapping Portugal: Highlights, What We’d Change & Our Final Rankings (Food, Coffee, Wine, Transit & More)

Brittany and Josh recap their Portugal trip across Aveiro, Porto, Coimbra, Lagos, and Lisbon, highlighting Brittany’s first solo travel experience in Aveiro, their many tours and foodie stops in Porto and Coimbra, swimming in the ocean in Lagos, and a Lisbon food tour. They praise Portugal’s distinct town vibes, exceptional food and wine culture (including francesinha and bifana), strong coffee and social scene, and largely walkable cities with easy train travel, while noting hills and accessibility challenges. They wish they had visited smaller towns, explored more of northern Portugal and the islands, done more hikes, and tried nightlife in Porto or Lisbon, and they reflect on one bad meal. Brittany shares personal growth from solo travel and what they learned about Portuguese history and Freedom Day, while Josh notes community similarities to Wisconsin. They rate categories like food, drinks, transit, affordability, relocation difficulty, wellness, and beauty, strongly recommending Portugal and key experiences like francesinha in Porto and swimming in Lagos.

00:00 Portugal Recap Intro

00:38 Trip Route Highlights

01:56 Brittany Favorites

03:34 Josh Favorites

05:52 Why Portugal Matters

07:43 What We’d Change

08:32 Small Towns vs Cities

11:34 More Nature and Nightlife

17:12 Lessons From Solo Travel

22:06 Community Takeaways

24:31 Car Rental Debate

26:06 Rankings Food Score

27:52 Food Favorites Recap

28:09 Coffee Culture Ratings

30:01 Wine Beer Cocktails

32:28 Walkability Transit Access

34:21 Cost of Living Reality

36:08 Relocating Visa Language

37:37 Wellness Pace of Life

40:12 Nature Beauty Highlights

42:29 Final Portugal Verdict

42:58 Farewell Next Episode

@WSMHtravels

Transcript

brit 0:11

Hello, and welcome to the We Should Move Here Travels podcast. My name is Brittany.

josh 0:16

I'm Josh.

brit 0:17

And we are your hosts. Today, we are gonna be recapping all of Portugal, what we liked about it, what we wished was different, and about what we learned, and then we will also do our rankings, our final rankings of Portugal. Yeah. Let's get into it.

josh 0:37

Let's do it.

brit 0:38

So just to recap the trip, I did some solo traveling for the first time ever in Aveiro for, uh, about five days. and then you met me there, stayed another day and a half there with you, showed you everything that I learned, everything that I did there. it was a really fun experience to get to solo travel and also get to show you. I kinda got the best of both worlds there. And then we went to Porto, where we had tour after tour after tour And we ate at a lot of really good foodie spots. And then we went to Coimbra where there was so much rich history around the university, and it's another really good foodie spot. After that we went to Lagos where there was the cutest beach town, and where you swam in the ocean for the first time. And then we ended our trip in Lisbon where we got about a day and a half, we had a blast on a food tour there. It was great.

josh 1:45

Yeah, really fun. If you didn't listen to any of those episodes, go back and listen. Lots of good information in those.

brit 1:51

Yeah.

josh 1:52

really great trip. What did you like about the trip, Brittany?

brit 1:56

I absolutely loved the solo travel. I think that it was a lot of fun. I did really miss you during parts of it, but I think it was much needed for me, and I learned a lot about myself during that time. I also loved the wine and the food culture there. It was out of this world. I mean, you aren't judged. We didn't do this, but you wouldn't be judged for having a glass of wine for breakfast. You really wouldn't have been. Like- Very true it's a thing in Portugal to just have wine with every meal. Mm-hmm. So, um, the coffee culture also was very surprising for me, and I really liked it. and I really loved that every spot we went to had a unique vibe to it. Every town we went to was so distinct and just very unique, which makes me feel like other parts of Portugal would be just as unique. And I think it would be easy for us to find a spot in Portugal because of that, that would be 10 out of 10 for both of us

josh 3:12

Yeah, absolutely. Couldn't agree more. And then just echo everything you said really. It's such a good country for wine and food. And each spot we did had it very specific and its own identity to it. I really loved that.

brit 3:30

Yeah.

josh 3:31

Mm.

brit 3:31

what did you like about the trip?

josh 3:34

I... What really wasn't there to like? You and me did spend, uh, the first five days apart, and you got to do that solo traveling, which you and me had talked about, I think, on the podcast before. Mm-hmm. How I really thought you needed to do an international solo trip by yourself, and you did, and you loved it, and I love that for you. Um, and with that, we got to have our, cute, like, missed you moment at a train station that felt kind of Hallmarky- and Christmas movie-like, so.

brit 4:08

Some people would be blagh. But it was... Yeah, it was really cute. It was. It was fun.

josh 4:16

Um-

brit 4:16

I loved that moment with you.

josh 4:18

Yeah. It was really nice. like I said, the wine culture is fantastic. Definitely a place for anyone who loves wine, any kind of wine, uh, whether it's sparkling, white, red, sweet, dry. Great variety of wine here.

brit 4:39

There is so much variety throughout Portugal. Mm. Like, we said that in another episode, but there really is. There's so much variety.

josh 4:46

A little bit for everyone.

brit 4:48

Mm-hmm.

josh 4:48

Yeah, absolutely. Uh, the food culture, being foodies, you know, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and scoped out the food culture. Just great. It was, some really high-level cuisine and a couple of dishes that I feel like I will always remember the name of or I will always remember and compare some things to.

brit 5:12

Like francesinha.

josh 5:13

Francesinha. Um, the pork sandwich, which I'm mis- Bifana. The bifana. Thank you. Uh-huh. Yep. Uh, just to name a few. just gonna remember those hopefully and, you know, compare some local dishes and other dishes to. so I really love that. I love trains if you have listened to our podcast before, so I love the fact that we got to do this trip with, in almost entirely train travel.

brit 5:41

Mm-hmm.

josh 5:41

So, uh, overall, I just really enjoyed the trip.

brit 5:45

I really loved the trip too. I think it was a really special trip, and-

josh 5:49

Mm-hmm

brit 5:49

I'm so glad that we got to do it.

josh 5:52

Yeah.

brit 5:52

Um, we've been talking about Portugal for some time and wanting to go there really, I think, ever since we went to Italy, which was our first international trip together. And, I think it sparked the conversation because we, we did go to Lisbon, Airport as a layover, and then we went to Rome-

josh 6:13

Mm-hmm

brit 6:13

from there. So, I remember on that flight, I remember looking out the window on our way to Rome, and I was like, "We're gonna go to Lisbon someday." We did. We did. So I'm- Well- I'm happy that that was, like, a full circle kinda moment.

josh 6:30

Well, and I think we absolutely had to. It's- With this podcast being a food podcast first And, and secondly being about where we could potentially move to in the future, Portugal is a place well known for-

brit 6:47

Yeah

josh 6:47

uh, Americans as well as Europeans and people from all over the world relocating to.

brit 6:55

Yeah.

josh 6:56

So I think whether it was now when we did it or later, we absolutely were gonna come to Portugal at some point.

brit 7:03

Absolutely. And it's easy to see why so many people relocate to Portugal- Mm-hmm because it's gorgeous. And, like I said, there's so many, unique towns, and there's so much history in each town that it's like... I mean, you could... I really think we could find a spot there.

josh 7:22

I, I couldn't say that better myself. Like, there is such a great combination of history, of the culture, of food, of people. Just, uh, pick something that you love about traveling and you can find it in Portugal.

brit 7:42

Oh, for sure.

josh 7:43

Mm-hmm.

brit 7:43

Absolutely, So what do you wish was different on the trip?

josh 7:50

As much as I loved how much history we did get to learn about Portugal, which we got to learn so much, and- Just all of the vibes of the great towns that we were in, I still really missed being in a small Portuguese town. We were pretty much in mid to large and definitely large size towns, cities the entire time. And I mean, Aveiro was definitely smaller and you were definitely there for the five days, well, six and a half total with me there for the day and a half. Yeah. And so I might feel different if I was there longer. However, I think there were a few times where we went to like a small restaurant or wine bar, and I was just like, "Man, I wanna be out in a small town that tourists just don't go to-

brit 8:46

Mm

josh 8:47

to really get a rich cultural experience if I can from a place."

brit 8:54

Yeah. I love that too for the most part, but I also think that sometimes when we do that, we build it up so much, and then it's just a letdown because there's not much to do in those towns, you know? Yeah. Um, so I truly feel that Aveiro was such- Mm. Mm-hmm a happy medium- Mm-hmm because it was a smaller town.

josh 9:19

For sure.

brit 9:20

But there was so much to do.

josh 9:22

Yeah.

brit 9:22

And to be fair, you came during Freedom Day, the national holiday, and it was also the European marathon that weekend. So there were so many more people once you got there. And when I first got there, there were like mainly just locals, and you could tell because n- like I was the only one lugging around a suitcase when I was walking there. And like, I mean, even getting off the train, nobody else had their suitcase with them. Like it, it just felt like such a local spot-

josh 10:03

Mm-hmm

brit 10:04

when I was there.

josh 10:05

Sure.

brit 10:07

And maybe I just have heart eyes and can't see past the, lure of, of Aveiro, but-

josh 10:18

Yeah, I, I didn't wanna say it. I think you got, you're, you're in love with Aveiro and you got a little bit of blinders on. I totally agree that I needed to spend more time there to probably get a little bit more of a feeling for it. Yeah. I s- I still think there is probably a smaller town out there that we might go to in the future that I might love more and maybe you would love more too, not sure. But, um, I would like us to get a little more cultural and historical, sort of adventures or experiences while we're in places. I often think back to when we were in Massachusetts and we went to this mansion and they had- Yeah kind of like a role-playing as we went through the mansion. They gave us the history of the mansion and the, kinda the area.

brit 11:10

Yeah.

josh 11:11

And it was like a fun game with it. So something like that, which is, uh, very unique and sometimes hard to find, but if we can find that in places, I would like to find that as well more when we're traveling.

brit 11:24

Yeah. That also kinda reminds me of the abbey that we went to in Ireland- Oh where we got to, like, tour around and- Yes learn about the grounds. Yeah.

josh 11:33

Yep, very much so. And I mean, speaking of Ireland, the last thing I was gonna say that, uh, I wish was different was that we might need to think about using train kind of supplementally in trips, and maybe do more car rentals for trips like we did for Ireland and Scotland.

brit 11:57

Mm.

josh 11:57

Because I would like a broader overview of a town or city when we go to visit it, and also be able to maybe go on hikes out in nature and, and get into the hills and mountains a little bit. So- Yeah um, because after Ireland when we did those hikes, I, I'm kinda hooked. I got like a hiking bug. I wanna, I wanna go up and climb a big hill and

brit 12:21

Yeah, I, I kinda got that too.

josh 12:23

And see, things from up there. But, uh, that's kinda what I wish was different. What about you?

brit 12:29

I feel like we were there for quite a while, and a two-week trip, three-week trip is long enough for both of us. but I do really wish that we had more time to explore more of northern Portugal And also the islands, and, mostly, like, the coast as well. So I really just wanted to explore more of it. I think I'm gonna say that regardless where we go because you can always see more. so if we did do more hikes, I think that may have satisfied some of that because we didn't do any, and I don't know, I think maybe that was missing.

josh 13:17

Yeah. I definitely think when you don't have the ability to go out and do a hike like we did in Ireland and Scotland and some other places, you, you kind of repeat your steps on a few streets sometimes when you're in a town just by accident.

brit 13:36

Yeah.

josh 13:37

Whereas if you take one day from each place and you go on a hike just a little bit a-ways, then you're much less likely to have a repeat in going down a street- Absolutely in the city the other two days. Yeah.

brit 13:51

Absolutely, yeah. I also think that we are... Okay, so we're old. Well, not old, but- We're not old we're in our 30s, and we're not, like, doing nightlife every night, you know, getting three hours of sleep and then 20,000 steps a day. Like, that's just not us anymore. But I do think that exploring the nightlife at least one night in either Lisbon or Porto I think would have been really fun. So I think we could have prioritized maybe one night of that and, kinda dealt with it in the morning. But and I also am still bummed about that bad meal in Porto. I wish we would've gone somewhere else.

josh 14:42

You know what's funny? It's the two things that stick out most is like the worst experience, which is a bad meal, and then like the highest of highs, like the best experience. Like some of the middle ones get lost, but I'm gonna remember the worst meal for sure.

brit 14:59

Aw.

josh 14:59

And, and that's unfortunate.

brit 15:01

That is really unfortunate because, well, I saw a TikTok the other day that had Anthony Bourdain from one of his documentaries or whatever, talking about how you have to have the bad meals in order to really appreciate the great ones.

josh 15:18

Yes.

brit 15:18

And I was like, "Yeah, that's so true." I immediately thought of that ramen meal- Mm-hmm that I was like, "Ugh."

josh 15:26

You're right, Anthony.

brit 15:28

Yeah. Rest in peace. overall, I think it was a really good trip.

josh 15:31

Mm-hmm.

brit 15:32

I don't think that we're ever gonna have a perfect trip, and I think we're always gonna be searching for like a happy medium of what we both want in a trip.

josh 15:42

Right.

brit 15:43

So... And I think it's gonna change. It's gonna ebb and flow throughout the years and

josh 15:49

I mean, I think this might be a good transition into our next topic, but we do, at least in our last few trips, we have balanced a, a country pretty well, I think. Mm-hmm. And I th- I think we did that well for Portugal. But That kind of like spread of a country, you know, we got the, the middle section, the north, the south. We, we got a big diversity-

brit 16:16

Yeah

josh 16:17

of the country, which I think, you know, some people might focus on one section and they might never see the south, they might never see the north. But we got to explore all of it pretty much. We didn't get the islands, but...

brit 16:30

Yeah, we gotta go back and get the islands. And I also think we heard a lot about Braga. Am I saying that right? Braga?

josh 16:36

Mm-hmm. Yep.

brit 16:37

Yeah. We, we heard a lot about that city, so I think we would probably prioritize going to that city as well, next time. But we need to go back to Aveiro because you didn't get enough time there, and we're not going during a busy weekend, and you're gonna see how beautiful and perfect it is, and you're gonna fall in love with it, and we're gonna move there, and we're gonna live happy- happily ever after. So...

josh 17:04

Well, maybe that's a perfect transition to what did you learn about the trip?

brit 17:12

I learned so much about myself on the trip. as a solo traveler, you know, beginning this trip solo, I, I mean, I can do solo travel, which I'm a pretty anxious person. I have a lot of quirks to me. I've been working on them but I think doing this solo trip and a lot of things were out of my control and I couldn't rely on you to control the things, I just kinda let it be. it was interesting for me to just let it be. I didn't have the anxiety of what's gonna happen because it was just me. And I always figure it out on my own. And like we always do too together, but I'm an anxious wreck until I do or until we do because I, I want both of us to have a good time, right? Whereas if, if something happened where I didn't have a good time, like, A, it's just me. I'll get over it. And B, I mean, at least you're not there having a bad time with me, you know? Like, it's just me.

josh 18:31

Yeah. The only reason you're having a bad time is because- Of me you, you created the situation, yes. Exactly,

brit 18:40

yeah. I really didn't have a bad time at all.

josh 18:43

Yeah.

brit 18:43

But, but those were just some of the thoughts that I had as I was going through my days alone of like I can do whatever I want on this day. Like mind you, I did have one tour where I had to follow like the times of the tour, but outside of that I really just did whatever the fuck I wanted. honestly I think I learned a little bit about what I wanted because I'm usually so like caught up in like trying to make sure that we're both having, you know, what we want-

josh 19:21

Mm-hmm

brit 19:22

as a collective. it was just a very interesting learning experience. I'm sure we'll get more into it as we talk about, solo travel in that episode, 'cause we do have one coming up in a couple weeks here. overall, I think I learned a lot about myself solo traveling. I learned so much about Portuguese history, and really like where things came from and how it influenced the culture and some of the celebrations as well. I think it's always really interesting being in another country for their holidays that they celebrate. I mean, we have celebrations here as well in the US, but it's just so fun, learning what their celebrations are about. So I was there during Freedom Day, and there was a huge like parade, and, it was them celebrating their freedom from dictatorship. it was just a beautiful thing, and learned about how carnations represent their freedom and, just so many things that I learned about Portuguese history, especially along with that holiday. I also learned that you and I really connect when we're exploring new things together because I learned about myself on the solo travel, and I also really missed you during new experiences. And I was like, "Gosh, I have this like I'm having so much fun, but I have this like ache in my heart for you because you're not experiencing these things with me." And once you got there, it obviously went away, and we got to have new experiences together, and I was like, "This is what makes us grow. This is what we do best as a couple." And it, it's what makes us feel so connected I think most of the time is experiencing new things. So there's my relationship tip for the day. But anyways, what did you learn on the trip?

josh 21:37

to start, I'll just echo that last one that you said. And I think we have both known that we genuinely have a great time experiencing new things together, but it's always such a clear revelation when we're in the middle of it.

brit 21:56

Mm-hmm.

josh 21:57

Like, oh my gosh, learning something, experience something new together is exciting for both of us, and we enjoy doing it together.

brit 22:05

Yeah.

josh 22:06

Yeah. I think what Portugal showed me was a lot of the good things about other places that we have been, including where we live currently- Mm in Wisconsin Like, when we were in Coimbra, we were walking around the parks and went to, uh, the Burger Cup going to the local university and having this full community sort of experience for us, what that experience was for us. And I saw a lot of connections with that community and with that place to the Fox Cities here in Wisconsin. And when we came back, I started looking into, you know, what events does, local Appleton host and Menasha host. And there are lots of those community events that we can go out and experience that we may look for. Now, the kindness of people or the culture and how people treat newbies in a group or something is different-

brit 23:18

Yeah

josh 23:19

uh, whatever country you go to. So there's that and, and the bigger, the bigger picture of an entire country, how they treat people or, and how they treat each other is, of course, different from a country like the United States and a country like Portugal. But Those smaller communities I saw similarities in just a community coming together-

brit 23:42

Mm-hmm

josh 23:42

and spending time together.

brit 23:44

Yeah. And people like being in community, which we do have so many community events here in the Fox Cities, and I don't think we go to nearly enough of them.

josh 23:56

No. Yeah. Which was, I think, kind of the realization I think it just opened my mind to, like, maybe we should try to do more of those here as well.

brit 24:09

Yeah.

josh 24:09

Uh, it's hard to when we, we love to travel so much, and we love to go out and do new things, and sometimes community events and being around the same people can feel repetitive and be repetitive. if we're looking at potentially moving someplace new, that could potentially happen somewhere else as well. So there, there's a balance that we have to find, I think.

brit 24:29

Absolutely. Yeah.

josh 24:31

Um, kind of what I said for what I wish was different was having a car rental so that we could maybe go out and choose a place to hike or we could go visit the next town over really easily and not have to worry about a train schedule.

brit 24:50

Here's the thing about that that's very brave of you- Mm because the roads in Portugal were, were not for the faint-hearted. Okay? I would not drive there.

josh 25:06

Definitely not in the bigger cities, in the middle of the bigger cities for sure. We've driven on some pretty tight roads in Scotland and Ireland and-

brit 25:15

Yeah, but this was like city traffic that was-

josh 25:19

Right, yeah kind of

brit 25:20

insane

josh 25:20

The city, the city traffic is that if, if we could park on the outskirt and then get a train in, who knows if that works or- how we would go about it, but having it between stops somehow-

brit 25:33

Mm-hmm

josh 25:34

or in certain places would definitely be something that going forward we should definitely look into for certain countries- Yeah if that's, if that's something we absolutely wanna do, which it sounds like we do, like go on some hikes and either making solid plans to have public transportation readily available to use to get to a place to or realizing like, nope, we need a car for this trip because- Yeah it's gonna help us out the most. For

brit 26:06

sure. So as far as rankings.

josh 26:08

Mm.

brit 26:11

Are you nervous?

josh 26:12

No. I, I, I love just thinking back and ranking just good stuff about the place.

brit 26:18

Okay, we're starting with a hot one. Food

josh 26:21

Are you asking me or are you gonna say it first?

brit 26:23

You.

josh 26:23

You want me to say... Okay. Oh, man. That fantastic food culture. Some really key items stick out in my head, and if I'm comparing it to other countries that I've ranked, I think I'm gonna put it right about an, about an eight.

brit 26:42

Mm.

josh 26:43

Mm-hmm.

brit 26:44

That's harsh. I'm gonna say a nine-

josh 26:48

Ooh

brit 26:48

because it is pretty far up there with Italy.

josh 26:53

Mm-hmm.

brit 26:53

And, uh, although we did have the one bad meal, every single Portuguese meal that we had was so delicious.

josh 27:04

Was fantastic.

brit 27:05

So I don't think we can include that bad meal, 'cause that wasn't even a Portuguese dish.

josh 27:12

No.

brit 27:12

So, so, um, the food there was insane. It was incredible. I was not expecting the food game to be that strong.

josh 27:23

Mm-hmm.

brit 27:23

I was expecting maybe around, like, a seven, eight, but no, it's a nine. Maybe 9.5.

josh 27:30

Wow. All right.

brit 27:31

Great food.

josh 27:32

Yeah. Yeah, I was, I was thinking, I'm like, "Okay, if Italy is this and Japan is this-

brit 27:38

Yeah

josh 27:38

where does it..." And I, I think I'm, I think I'm good with eight. I think I just, I love, um, like Asian cuisine and- Yeah and the food that we had in Italy so much. It's-

brit 27:51

Yes. I will say that the francesinha we had was 10 out of 10.

josh 27:56

Mm-hmm.

brit 27:57

I would... If I ate that every single day, I would be the happiest person alive.

josh 28:02

Yeah. Like I said, definitely some key dishes that I'm gonna remember and dream about.

brit 28:07

Yeah.

josh 28:07

Mm-hmm. Me

brit 28:07

too.

josh 28:08

All right. Your favorite, or one of your favorites, there's a lot of favorites, Your expertise, the, the coffee and social scene.

brit 28:18

It was really good. I... Whoa. Wait. I gotta think about this. No, wait. I, I think it's a 10. I, I really think it's a 10. I did not have a bad cup of coffee.

josh 28:31

Wow.

brit 28:32

every single, like, coffee roas- roaster's place or cafe that we went into There were people talking all over. It was a very sociable environment. Um, if I knew Portuguese, maybe I would have met some people. Mm-hmm. But, uh, yeah, I'm gonna say 10. What do you think?

josh 28:53

Yeah, I think I'm right there with you. I'm, I'm leaning... I like to leave, leave room for growth. Let's see here. I'm gonna go 9.3.

brit 29:04

9.3.

josh 29:05

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think every sh- like coffee shop that we went into, there was a gathering of people. And like I said, if we knew Portuguese or if we were locals, it seemed very easy where you could get involved in a conversation- Absolutely or be involved in a group. And even a few times we went into a little coffee shop, and we got into a little conversation with, uh, the owners or the people working, which was really fun. And of course, I don't have a bunch ever to, negative to say about coffee and all the coffee was great,

brit 29:38

so. Yeah. I mean, I'm usually more critical of coffee, but I did not have a bad cup, and it was all incredible.

josh 29:47

Mm-hmm.

brit 29:48

So.

josh 29:48

And I mean, they do have, and we learned, there's a lot of South American influence-

brit 29:53

Mm-hmm

josh 29:54

in Portugal, and so I think that would make sense that they have good beans, good coffee.

brit 30:00

Yeah.

josh 30:01

What about the drinks scene? Which I think we just started doing after- Ireland or with Ireland. Yeah. 'Cause we just had we had Guinness all the time, and we were like, "Well, it's gotta be good. We gotta add this in." So, um, I think we gotta continue that with Portugal. What do you think?

brit 30:20

Wait. No, this is a 10 as well. Am I just an easy grader?

josh 30:29

I think you are. I think you would be everyone's favorite teacher if you were...

brit 30:35

I mean, okay. W- the wine, there was So much variety of wine.

josh 30:41

Okay.

brit 30:41

And th- there were quite a few, like, craft cocktails that we got.

josh 30:46

Mm-hmm.

brit 30:47

Uh, like speakeasies or whatever. So much fun.

josh 30:51

Mm-hmm.

brit 30:52

So cute.

josh 30:53

Mm-hmm.

brit 30:54

So delicious. The beer, the Super Bock, that was pretty good. I'm giving it a 10, man. I don't know what more you could want. Maybe sake.

josh 31:06

Yeah. Different culture.

brit 31:10

Yeah, yeah.

josh 31:12

yeah, I think I'm right there with you. I, I like to be a little harsher grader. I, I think I'm gonna do a 9.5.

brit 31:17

Mm.

josh 31:18

I thought it was fantastic. Wine was amazing. beer was great. We got to go to the brewery in Coimbra. Fantastic beer. Like you said, Bock was great. Uh, port wine, a dessert wine. So you could really have every part of a meal. I mean, you got your, your salad course, you got your fish course- you got your meat course, you got dessert course. You got them all in wine. So I, I think it was all great.

brit 31:47

Wait, so what was the number?

josh 31:48

9.5.

brit 31:49

You are so harsh.

josh 31:51

This- It... That, that's an A.

brit 31:53

Okay, but this is clearly a 10 out of 10. Anyways, uh, walk-

josh 31:58

It's, it's a 10 out of 10 for any... W- what is it, a wino?

brit 32:03

Yeah.

josh 32:04

For any wino it's a 10 out of 10 for sure.

brit 32:06

I mean, I love other drinks, but I am a wine girl- Mm-hmm at the end of the day. I love wine.

josh 32:12

You're a wino.

brit 32:13

I'm a wino.

josh 32:15

We should make a shirt. A rhino, but, like, instead of, like, the horn, it's, like, a wine glass, and then you're a wino. I don't know why I just thought of that.

brit 32:27

Um, okay. Walkability and transit.

josh 32:31

Mm. I think it was extremely walkable. Mm-hmm. Trains were great between cities. Um, it seemed like there was some buses and trams in the larger ones, uh, we didn't use a bunch of. I'm gonna... I'm gonna put it at a nine- Mm 'cause for... A 10 for me is Ghent, Belgium, which- Yeah there were trams all over the place. You hardly had to walk. You could walk if you wanted to.

brit 33:02

Yeah.

josh 33:02

And then you could also tram to basically anywhere. So I, I think I'm gonna... yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna leave this at a nine. I'm gonna leave it at a nine. Yeah. Plus it was really hilly, so ac- accessibility to others.

brit 33:15

Yeah, that's true. I think, I think because of that and the lack of trams, there were some trams in Lisbon-

josh 33:22

Mm-hmm

brit 33:23

but the trains were super easy.

josh 33:25

Yeah.

brit 33:25

There was a train station in every city.

josh 33:28

Mm-hmm.

brit 33:29

I do wish they communicated a little bit about the train delays and that the trains were waiting for us.

josh 33:36

Mm-hmm.

brit 33:36

But I think maybe that's our own ignorance.

josh 33:40

Cultural inexperience maybe.

brit 33:42

Maybe. Yeah, maybe. I think every town was very walkable, but yes, there were a lot of hills. So if you maybe don't have a lot of, like, endurance for hills or if you're in a wheelchair, and there are steps all over too. So I could see it not being very accessible for everyone.

josh 34:03

Yeah. Yeah

brit 34:04

I'm gonna say an eight.

josh 34:05

Yeah. I- you saying that wheelchair, that for sure with the cobblestones and stuff too.

brit 34:12

Yeah. That would be tough.

josh 34:13

And all the hills. Yeah. Ex- extremely hard for someone in a wheelchair or, uh, just someone who has difficulty walking. Absolutely.

brit 34:19

Yeah.

josh 34:20

Mm-hmm. affordability, for traveling and kinda overall living, what do you think? How did, would it work out?

brit 34:27

Um, I think there were a lot of people that we heard talk about the cost of living going up.

josh 34:34

Mm-hmm. Yeah, we definitely heard that. Yep.

brit 34:36

However, from my perspective, being a, in the US, our cost of living is already so fucking high, that things felt cheap there. Like, things felt inexpensive there because we're so used to the cost of living being so high here. I think with it rising, that would be a huge concern for me.

josh 34:58

Mm-hmm.

brit 34:59

And there definitely were places that were affordable and, uh, that we could easily rent. however, places in the city center or places, like, where we would want to be living-

josh 35:16

Where you would wanna be living.

brit 35:18

Yeah. Where I would wanna be living, um, I think would be more expensive. So I'm gonna give it a seven.

josh 35:29

Mm-hmm.

brit 35:30

What do you think?

josh 35:31

Yeah, I was thinking the exact same, in the, uh, seven to 6.5 range, somewhere in there. it is, like we said, or like you just said, we've heard people say that it's been rising with everyone moving there. and just because we know that it's expensive here, that difference, I think that's the only thing that offsets it a little bit-

brit 35:52

Yeah

josh 35:53

is we know how expensive things are here to compare it to, which we do for all of them. hearing other people saying and that anyways, I think just kinda makes it just better than even, so like a 6.5, seven.

brit 36:06

Yeah.

josh 36:06

Mm-hmm.

brit 36:07

Agreed.

josh 36:08

How easy do you think it would be to relocate to Portugal?

brit 36:12

I, I think I would be able to get a work visa.

josh 36:15

Mm-hmm.

brit 36:16

and I think you would be able to get a student visa. However, if we don't know Portuguese, I think that would be very difficult for us to relocate there. So, uh, because of that, I'm gonna give it maybe a four.

josh 36:32

Yeah. I might be a little bit on the opposite side of this one for you, because there is such a large immigrant community there from people From English-speaking countries, and- Yeah there was people speaking English all over the place. We really didn't run into a problem because we were in larger cities

brit 36:52

But I'm talking about, like, if you're getting a student visa-

josh 36:55

Mm-hmm

brit 36:56

you're gonna need to know Portuguese.

josh 36:58

Right, and that's one instance. But also if I was doing some skilled position in something else, like a technology- Oh um, something like that. Like, there are so many different scenarios. I think you could figure it out as someone who speaks English, and clearly they do 'cause there's a huge immigrant community from the United States. So I'm thinking it's probably a seven. I'm guessing it's harder because Portugal is a small country, and there has been a lot of people moving there.

brit 37:32

Yeah.

josh 37:32

And costs are rising. So yeah, I think about seven.

brit 37:36

Okay.

josh 37:37

Yeah. the pace of life and the wellness or overall, like, what kinda, how people felt that lived there.

brit 37:46

This was a dream.

josh 37:47

Mm.

brit 37:48

It really was a dream. People don't start their day until 9:00, 10:00 o'clock in the morning.

josh 37:54

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

brit 37:56

I mean, people walk around everywhere. People are fit because of that. And I mean, we probably wouldn't need a gym membership or anything because you're walking everywhere. I think this is damn near almost a 10 as well.

josh 38:10

Mm.

brit 38:11

Uh,

josh 38:12

I think from our perspective, it's, really easy to see, you know, the kind of the late starts and, the close community vibes and see all the good things. But we did hear a couple university students saying, like, there's, there's not, like, a ton of work, and it's hard to get good work, so maybe moving out of the country as far kinda like a work-life balance part of wellness-

brit 38:37

Mm.

josh 38:38

if we're thinking about that. Um, and then that's also causing, like, separation in families 'cause generations are kinda moving away, so you don't have close-knit families really anymore. But I'm not sure if you have that anywhere in the world, but life does seem like a pretty decent pace. Like, I don't think I ever saw someone who looked crazy stressed about life. Which, I mean, it-- we're blinded by it 'cause we're on vacation, so I'm sure there's plenty of people who are really- Yeah struggling with life and that's going on. Stagnant wages. We heard the university talking about, like, being hard to afford things, too.

brit 39:18

Yeah.

josh 39:18

So work-life balance with that as well.

brit 39:20

Those are some good points. I think I would say maybe a seven-

josh 39:24

Mm-hmm

brit 39:24

with those points. Yeah.

josh 39:26

Yeah.

brit 39:26

What about you?

josh 39:27

Yep, I was gonna say a seven as well. I think that's accurate. I think we would need more information, like most things on the s- list, minus food. We know food's good there.

brit 39:37

We know- You know? food's good there. You might need more information- 'cause you didn't give it a 10, so.

josh 39:44

Um-

brit 39:44

That's on you.

josh 39:47

But I, I mean, you brought up good points. Like, it seems like people are really healthy there.

brit 39:52

Mm-hmm.

josh 39:52

People walk all over the place. The, the food is part of it. They got good food to eat.

brit 39:58

Mm-hmm.

josh 39:59

And the communities are close. So I think there's a lot of good things. There's a couple negatives. We'd need more information.

brit 40:06

Yeah.

josh 40:07

Yeah.

brit 40:07

I think we would need more, more information to give it a higher score.

josh 40:11

For sure.

brit 40:12

Yeah. last one is access to nature or beauty.

josh 40:17

it's hard to not give this a 10. I think, um, again, just for, for... But for growth purposes, I'm gonna give it a, a 9.7, 9.7. I think there's plenty of ocean coast there that you can go to the ocean from pretty much anywhere in the country within probably, like, three-hour train ride, four-hour train ride maybe from the most inward parts of the country. And then, I mean, the mountains, the hills, a lot of lush green. It's really beautiful, and we didn't even get to see the islands, and people said those are stunning.

brit 40:57

I, I mean, I can believe that the islands are a 10 out of 10. Um, the Douro Valley alone, 10 out of 10. I mean, all of the cities and, like, the red tile roofs-

josh 41:11

Mm-hmm

brit 41:11

those were beautiful. I mean, the tiles on the buildings, gorgeous. being by the water. I, I don't know why you're being so harsh- because this is also a clear 10 out of 10 for me.

josh 41:26

Hey, you love Portugal.

brit 41:28

I do love Portugal.

josh 41:29

Mm-hmm.

brit 41:30

I loved it here. It was beautiful, and it felt so easy there. Everything felt easier there. Obviously, like, we're on vacation. We're not, like, worried about stuff at home. Well, that's a lie. I was. But, but we don't have, like, the daily stressors that we have here.

josh 41:53

Right.

brit 41:53

But I really envisioned myself here.

josh 41:56

Yeah.

brit 41:57

I envisioned us here, so... And it was easy to see that

josh 42:02

It was a beautiful place. I really loved Portugal. I hope we go back again. You have it ranked now number two-

brit 42:11

Number two

josh 42:12

on your top three. I still have it outside of my top three, but who knows? Maybe that could change in the future if we go back or I let it marinate a little longer and, uh, maybe I see the light or something. Who knows? You convince me. as a place to visit, uh, of course recommend people if you've thought about Portugal, is it worth it? It's definitely worth it. Go visit Portugal, for sure.

brit 42:37

Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Go visit Portugal, have the Francesinha in Porto at Brasao Coliseu.

josh 42:45

Mm-hmm.

brit 42:45

have a good time. Drink some wine.

josh 42:47

Mm-hmm.

brit 42:49

Have a good time. Swim in the ocean at- Swim in the ocean at Lagos.

josh 42:51

Yeah. Absolutely.

brit 42:54

Do your thing.

josh 42:55

Do your thing. Uh, is there anything else you wanna talk about Portugal or say about Portugal?

brit 43:02

Man, I'm sad that this, this is our last Portugal episode-

josh 43:07

Mm-hmm

brit 43:08

because that means it's really over. I cannot describe enough how much we loved Portugal. Well, I loved Portugal. And we just had so much fun there. I really recommend people to go to Portugal. I mean, and the places that we went, I think it was the perfect mixture. I really loved it. Anything else you wanna say?

josh 43:36

Nope. Can't wait to go back, and I can't wait to go on another adventure wherever we decide to go next.

brit 43:44

Yeah.

josh 43:44

Yeah.

brit 43:45

Next episode we will be doing a brief check-in, so look out for that next week. Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube @wsmhtravels

josh 43:58

You can listen to our podcast on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. YouTube is where we have our video record version, including pictures and videos from our trips. Please continue to leave your comments and send us messages on what you liked from our trips and suggestions for future trips. We really appreciate it.

brit 44:15

Thank you so much for listening. Until next time