Overview
I really enjoyed this country, where I spent 9 days as a tourist. I'd gone in with oddly low expectations. Despite everyone who'd visited before saying great things, my expectations somehow never rose, but by the time I left, I was thinking we could have stayed even longer.
I also explored with an eye toward potentially living abroad as a remote worker, and it seemed like a viable option on that front too.
Tips & Advice
First and foremost: these people are essentially Turkish. I'd almost say we resemble them more than we do the Greeks. With Greece, our food and drink culture overlaps heavily, but with Portugal, it's our mentality, our experiences, our general country-level problems that are nearly identical.
Their biggest current problem is immigration from abroad. While Turkey's immigration is mostly lower-income, we also have substantial upper-tier immigration (from Russia, Iran, other Arab countries), which has driven up housing prices. Portugal's situation is the same. Golden visas and tax exemptions for foreign freelancers have attracted a flood of Americans who've snapped up all the best central properties. Locals are being pushed further and further out. Sound familiar?
The taxi driver profile is a perfect match with ours too. Despite using Uber, one driver took us somewhere completely different from our stated destination, then asked for an extra 10 euros to take us where we actually wanted to go. Another started complaining the moment we got in about how the fare was too low for this route and this traffic. As if he didn't know the price before accepting the ride. You won't miss Turkey one bit in that department.
In recent years, their other major issue has been people deliberately starting forest fires, then having the burned land handed over for large-scale construction. When I heard this, I genuinely said "no way." Are we sure we're not in Turkey?
Their purchasing power is reportedly similar to Greece's, but while Greeks never seem particularly unhappy about their situation, Portugal is very different. Everyone is genuinely miserable. You can see it's created a sense of inferiority, and like in Turkey, people work incredibly hard, adding a layer of exhaustion. It's genuinely sad to witness.
The football obsession, strong family bonds, our appearance, all virtually identical. Despite everyone speaking English, they'd default to Portuguese with us on first encounter. That's how strong the resemblance is.
And the cherry on top: after late-night drinking, they go out for soup at 4-5 AM. Not tripe soup exactly, but the fact that this shared culture exists is genuinely amazing.
Unlike other European countries, what I loved most here as a Turk was the absence of prejudice. In Germany, the Netherlands, France and similar countries, we unfortunately face veiled racism due to negative perceptions and our population density, nobody can deny this. In Portugal, the Turkish population is genuinely tiny, so there hasn't even been an environment for prejudice to develop. That made it a positive prospect for long-term living. Hopefully we'll never need it.
A fellow reader rightfully pointed out I forgot to mention the chestnut culture. They really do love their chestnuts. They're sold everywhere, and a hotel we stayed at even left some in our room as a welcome gift.