It’s the start of yet another year and as I look forward to it, I can’t help but realise that, for so many of my Facebook friends, 2021 was a tough year. I have seen so many posts about how they are glad that it has come to an end and good riddance to it.
Our challenge is a little bit different. Our challenge is how can we possibly improve on what was the most fantastic of years? In 2021, we visited Portugal for the first time. We bought our first home together – okay, it is a stone barn with a dirt floor, but it is ours and we are going to build the perfect little dream home. We made new like-minded friends. We re-established connections with old friends. The family bonds of our merged families improved. All in all, it was a fantastic year.
By the end of 2021, the one thing that was still unresolved was residency in Portugal which left us feeling in a state of limbo. Residency became an issue post Brexit and meant, instead of unlimited freedom of movement between countries, Brits are now only allowed to spend 90 days in every 180 days in Portugal. To be absolutely accurate, it’s 90 days in every 180 in the Schengen zone which includes a lot of European countries as well as Portugal, so the time spent driving through France and Spain also counts towards the 90 days.
We decided that I would apply for residency so that one of us could be here to oversee the house build. With Kimberley still working in the UK for six months of the year, we weren’t sure of the implications if she applied for residency too, so until we got clarity on that, she was going to remain a UK resident.
I had submitted my residency application in early October 2021. According to the various Portugal Facebook groups, it seemed that others were getting their initial stage of residency approved within 6-12 weeks, sometimes quicker. However, by the start of 2022, we still hadn’t heard a word. If we didn’t hear soon, we would need to make alternative plans for where we would stay if I wasn’t going to be in Portugal.
Over the Christmas period, sitting looking after Joey while Kimberley was away in Dubai, I had a lot of time to think. I began to think that perhaps the Universe was sending us down another route other than obtaining Portuguese residency. There would be downsides to having residency status for just me. As a resident, I would have to spend a minimum of eight months in Portugal and Kimberley would be restricted to a maximum of six months in Portugal, so we would have to be apart for at least two months each year. I began to think that perhaps time apart did not fit well within the vision of our ‘dreamed of life’.
With this uncertainty, how should we start 2022? We decided to stop feeling in limbo and take some steps forward. We made provisional bookings for campsites in the UK. We investigated long term campsite stays, known as seasonal pitches, for the summer and beyond. We planned a six-week trip – together – to Portugal in May and June.
I had been starting to get the winter blues during December so we also decided I should do an impromptu solo trip to Portugal. The building work had been continuing during our time away up until early December. I wanted to see it for myself and the sunshine would do me a world of good.
We should now have good access to the land and a large van shelter for TUT, our campervan. I had been accumulating shedloads, literally shedloads, of tools to transport to our land, so this trip I would do on my own. This was a scary and equally exciting thought.
It took a full day to load everything into the van. With all the tools in, it left a miniscule space for me to lie down in for those moments when I was too tired to drive. I was mega excited setting out. I had all my favourite podcasts and music playlists downloaded.
I set off on 18 January 2022. The first day’s driving got me all the way down to Bordeaux in France where I parked up for a nap. It was cold, wet and pretty unpleasant and, after a fitful couple of hours trying to sleep, I decided to continue. My mood improved immeasurably after a croissant and coffee. French patisseries are for the win!
Driving through the northern Basque mountains of Spain, although challenging due to the weather, was truly stunning. It was a very vivid reminder of how lucky we are to have realised that our thoughts do become things. This was definitely a great thought!
21 hours after leaving Calais, I pulled into our new driveway and…oh my word… I had not realised how imposing the new van shelter roof is. It looks so much bigger from the road than it actually is. We’ll have to do something to lessen the visual impact. However, it is so useful and perfect to park TUT under.
The driveway access onto the property is fantastic. I can now drive TUT all the way up to the stone barn which is going to be especially helpful. I am very grateful for it particularly as I unload all the equipment and boxes I’ve brought with me.
Over the next couple of weeks, I settle into life on our land. Every morning, I have a video call with Kimberley, so we share the experience as much as possible. There are blue skies and sunshine every day. This is Portuguese winter, but I am in a T shirt because, as soon as the sun comes out, it really heats up. It’s my kind of warmth with the sun out but not too hot to stop you working.
I start my first woodworking project. I’m making it as a surprise for Kimberley. She’s planning to visit for a few days in February, so I can’t say more about it now, but all will be revealed.
I join the local walking group in the nearest big town. There’s an Intermarché supermarket in the town, so I can also stock up while I’m there. The group go walking every Sunday morning at 10am. It’s usually about a 5km walk. I figure it’s a good way to get some exercise, meet people and practise my Portuguese. It also gets me out and off the land at least once a week.
This trip is certainly doing its job and blowing those winter blues away. There’s still no news from the Portuguese embassy about my residency application but it doesn’t bother us now. We’ve found it always helps to take action rather than feeling you’re at the mercy of others. What will be will be. Either way, we believe everything will work out for the best.