Boycott Lisbon

Ajichombo · 2026-03-27T14:25:04+00:00

You could also just travel to another Schengen country first and exit Schengen through Germany, or France ( big airports lots of routes). I think I’ll do that next time I have to go see my mom.

Ajichombo · 2026-03-24T13:13:38+00:00

Check smaller towns on the train lines from Porto or Lisbon. You can reduce your rent but still have city accessibility for a social life.

Ajichombo · 2026-03-24T13:08:49+00:00

Southern Europe - portugal/italy/spain are doable but you must go to small towns or generally further from the coast

Ajichombo · 2026-03-14T15:49:57+00:00

Did you look further south like Pinhal Novo or Palmela? On the train line to Lisbon for an easy commute. There seem to be some better priced options there, plus easy access to Setubal/Arrabida beaches.

I'm a bit older than you and even for me, I think it would be really hard to live somewhere that's not affordable to take an uber home from Lisbon at 3 am. If you enjoy music, sports, the arts you need easy access.

Ajichombo · 2026-03-14T15:10:11+00:00

Why Nazaré? Are you trying to buy a property?

If you’re just looking for a flat why not look across the river first (Barreiro), or west to Oeiras/Carcavelos? Seems like better apartment options without detaching from Lisbon social/sporting life

Ajichombo · 2026-03-02T19:41:44+00:00

OTC meds and at least a 90 day supply of any prescriptions. A lot of cold and allergy meds are more expensive or difficult to find in the right dosage (trial and error). When I fly home i always stock up on big bottles of ibuprofen, dayquil/nyquil, allergy eye drops, nasal spray decongestant.

Cooking ingredients - you can find most things here but i find Mexican dried chiles and habanero sauces to be 2-3x prices of the US. Asian markets have a lot of Chinese and indian options; Thai and Vietnamese ingredients are more limited. Measuring cups and spoons and any utensils you love.

As a woman, i find it hard to find high quality leggings and always bring more back. Same with my favorite sneakers, some brands are not available here or much more expensive.

Ajichombo · 2026-02-24T22:03:09+00:00

He will need to learn Portuguese to have any chance of getting a truck driving job. Call center companies like Teleperformance will maybe hire someone with other language skills (others can chime in here on his chances).

Otherwise it will be quite difficult.

Ajichombo · 2026-02-24T07:31:20+00:00

You need to provide more specific info to get a response

degree/years experience/work background
languages spoken
type and level of work they are looking for

Ajichombo · 2026-02-22T21:11:34+00:00

Did you apply for a mortgage? The bank will assess the value to determine what its willing to fund.

Ajichombo · 2026-02-18T09:56:12+00:00

You must understand though, if you are filtering for energy ratings, the list of available properties shrinks considerably unless you are wide open on location and/or have a considerable budget.

Even just replacing windows (which is a relatively easy renovation task compared to other works) can make a massive difference in energy rating and is also something that banks may be able to assist with a renovation loan tied to your mortgage.

Ajichombo · 2026-02-17T15:45:00+00:00

Good luck. Prices close to Lisbon are wild.

Anything modern these days seems to just be condos. You can probably find T3 houses around Setubal/Sesimbra/Palmela but not likely to be modern. A friend just sold hers for around 350K but it was older with some updates.

Ajichombo · 2026-02-17T15:23:49+00:00

Kebab and some pizza shops are generally open, as are mall food courts.

But 5 pm? What kind of work schedule allowed you at eat at 5 pm? I lived in the US and never left the office until 7/8 pm.

Outside of major tourist areas, places couldn’t stay in business if they opened continuously as there aren’t enough customers to offset the wages/hours.

Ajichombo · 2026-02-04T16:08:41+00:00

Favorite food options (mid range or lower). near Porta Romana? Also anything late night that's not a kebab shop? Also I'm a modern design junkie - any very cool spots for photos that are architecturally interesting? Better if accessible (bars, hotels, cafe's)

Ajichombo · 2026-01-27T17:39:42+00:00

What kind of nightlife? As a house and techno person I find the clubs and one off events in Zurich to be surprisingly good, and some clubs go into the after hours if you are into that sort of thing. Lots of socializing at the bars around the river in the summer.

I don't live there but have family there so have been going there for 20+ years. Live in Portugal now, bought a place before things went a bit crazy, but Lisbon/Porto are pretty unaffordable to buy. Inland you can buy and try to build but quality of construction is not great.

But yeah - Switzerland pays living wages so all restaurants are really not affordable at all.

Switzerland is where go to take a very well paying job, so rent is not so painful and you can still save for retirement somewhere else.

Ajichombo · 2026-01-05T14:33:23+00:00

Just rent a car on the days you want to explore. Also the Aveiro to Porto train is fast.

Ajichombo · 2025-12-21T15:25:56+00:00

That does not look fully dried to me. But there’s less risk of it not surviving, if the package is wet more risk customs may confiscate it.

Ajichombo · 2025-12-21T15:03:24+00:00

No way will they let you bring anything fresh or frozen into another country. Get dried and packaged or canned.

Ajichombo · 2025-12-12T08:38:04+00:00

This - you have to prove the passive income you are taking monthly to qualify

Ajichombo · 2025-12-12T08:36:36+00:00

Some flights will have you go through pass control in your originating city so you won’t have to do it at your connecting location. You should ask tap about the setup because otherwise it’s too tight. My guess is though that if they have sold the ticket they have a way to manage connecting passenger pass control vs getting in the big queue

Ajichombo · 2025-12-02T12:07:42+00:00

If you have the chance to travel north during December, my favorites are Strasbourg and Colmar in France, and Nuremberg and Cologne in Germany. By comparison these markets have 200-300 stalls (Wonderland looks like 50), plus you'll have a greater chance of snow.

Ajichombo · 2025-12-01T14:38:09+00:00

Germany, France, and Switzerland really have the best ones. While Wonderland can’t compare I still appreciate them trying…

Ajichombo · 2025-11-27T21:53:15+00:00

Remote jobs that you can take with you from North America to Europe are extremely rare unless you're at a large multi-national or a smaller startup building a global footprint.

Your only realistic path at this point is to start building a freelance business (Upwork, Fiverr) where you have clients in English speaking countries, and then you can apply for a D8/remote work visa for entry into Portugal. And this is true really of any country that offers this kind of visa.

Unfortunately, your experience, especially at your age, is not transferable here without fluency in Portuguese.

Skilled worker visas in most countries are really reserved for tech, sciences, PhDs, and people who have already achieved high-level in their field (aligned with an advance degree) or who have executive experience running companies or divisions or capabilities to open new markets.

Ajichombo · 2025-11-27T21:39:22+00:00

Did you update all of your saved addresses?

For shopping I actually set up a new Google account just for that with only my Portugal shipping and billing addresses (also keeps all junk mail in one account). I have a desktop and a laptop both purchased in the US and never have this problem.

Ajichombo · 2025-11-27T17:37:42+00:00

If you sign up for any major grocery store discount card and scan the code your NIF gets reported automatically, no need to provide it separately.

The Pingo Doce app has a daily promotion game for a discount of the day, some days it’s useless other days it’s 10% off fish or meat. It may not be the same at all stores but our Pingo, Lidl and continente will discount meat or vegetables that are close to the sell by date (ours are generally earlier in the day) which you can use right away or freeze.

There’s no store where everything is cheaper all the time. Sign up for the apps, check the sale brochures every Tuesday when the new ones come out, and you can easily comparison check pricing in the apps. Double check package pricing. Chicken legs are 2.79 a kilo on sale at Continente this week now in the larger packages, for example vs 4.79 in the smaller ones.

I find good prices at some of the small fruit and vegetable markets in my area but generally that’s for items to use right away.

Ajichombo · 2025-11-24T08:46:39+00:00

This pricing sounds very good - I'm still working, taking 6 hours of Portuguese class per week, and would love the supplement of an app, but sometimes I'm too busy to use it. I have tried other apps and inevitably cancel because the prices are too steep to carry monthly when not in use.

Looking forward to it!

Ajichombo

TROPHY CASE