Introduce yourself! 👋

[RichieRich (Richard Laurence)]

Hi there everyone. Richard here. Very new to the concept and frankly a Nomad Newbie.

I’m a Brit , freelance advertising copywriter/marketing mechanic, who has recently moved (back) to Germany .

For the last 15 years I’ve been working in the UK, but Brexit kind of killed most of the inter EU advantages for me. And yes I do speak fluent German. I have a couple of daughters here.

Oh, and when I don’t have enough writing work, I sometimes drive 44tonne trucks! Something I started in Australia, continued in Germany and then in the UK. I guess the fascination is playing with big toys. It gets me away from my digital world and allows me to meet other humans. (Although both fairly solitary in essence.)

When writing I work exclusively for German agencies and brands - some of them seriously global, and I’m still investigating how I can become more nomadic and less tied to one jurisdiction. I’m an Estonian e-Resident and I love travelling - mainly in Europe.

I’m hoping I can find some useful tips, advice, recommendations and knowledge from you guys. So thank you in advance.

One of many, many book recommendations is Gabor Maté’s - In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

Nice to meet you all!

[Hutch]

Hey everyone,

I’m an American living in the Pacific Northwest and looking into the Portugal GV program. Not quite of retirement age yet but by the time any of these long drawn-out processes finish I guess I could be. I have a background in finance and internet companies. I spent 15 years at a very large online travel company. Not booking, the other one.

My wife is a doctor , and we’re not sure how she could practice from Portugal. Current thinking from what we’ve seen is she can’t. Some things to research for us there. It will be years before we are there FT anyway, if we go forward with this.

I am just trying to absorb all of the great knowledge being laid down here in this forum. It is an incredible resource.

The number of options for where and how to qualify for the GV is frankly overwhelming , so I will be in research mode for quite awhile. I doubt we can make the Jan 2022 cut-off at this point. We’d want to live near Lisbon most likely for the proximity to the hospitals (and culture, airport & weather) so it is disappointing that those RE investments no longer count.

At any rate, I’m here to learn more than opine. Thank you to everyone who is posting about what they’ve learned. Please keep it up, I greatly appreciate it.

• Brian

p.s. If any thread is an argument for pagination over infinite scroll, it may be this one. Oh my, so many great replies here.

[Misio (Kamil)]

I am Kamil. This is my first attemp to realy cut ties from my homeland Poland. We have recently moved to Malta thinking about longer stay here from while. Time will define that I will be real nomand XD, previousl i was thinking about getting to Panama but I ended here becouse of taxes and not being to far from some family in Poland. But who know what future will bring.

[w00zle (Max)]

Hi all, I’m Max.

I was born and lived whole my life (36) in Moscow. IT manager by background, I work in a medium-size private company as vp business development. I’m pretty much doing company and product strategy and maintaining key accounts with our railroad customers. In pre-covid times I used to travel a lot, literally every second week, and I love the freedom and diversity that travel gives to me.

My wife Jane (38) is a surf addict, working in a surf school (don’t laugh) here in Moscow. She teaches at CityWave (pool with pumps and other mechanical stuff to build a wave), at some skating and fitness programmes, and does some administrative work like planning of surf camps, building websites, coding whatsapp bots etc. Besides that we own a 44’ boat equipped with ballast tanks and wave shaper to have fun and to recover some ownership costs by renting it out - it delivers the largest lake wave here in the area!

We got two teenage kids - daughter Alexandra (14, master of rhythmic gymnastics) and son Vladimir (11, enjoys videogames ).

Some while ago we were thinking of our future, and for both me and my wife the definition of happiness included the financial freedom and freedom of movement. Literally that’s about “not working for money” and “to be able to live in a place we like at every time point of our lives”. Okay, we’re young and have time to arrange it all!

Now we’re in the middle of Portugal GV process (€500K investment made in aparthotel under construction in Lisbon, fixed return contract signed with service company for 6 years, SEF application submitted in December 2020, waiting for biometrics appointment). The ultimate goal is to get the citizenship for all four of us to ensure the possibility to move to any EU country in any moment and use all visa-free options for travels over the world.

At the same time I decided to make some investment in Serbian agricultural land. This process requires the opening of a company, and being the owner and managing director of that company gives you (and your family) the right for temporary residence permit (extended every year), then for permanent residence permit (after 5 years) and right away citizenship (no need to cancel existing ones). That’s really just for investment, but if the law allows to get the residency/citizenship without any requirements to be present in the country and the process costs almost nothing - why not. In addition, I really like Serbia, it’s a great place to be on retirement.

Anyway, I’m glad to be here and hope to get lots of useful information as well as share our relevant experience.

[Katherine.sidener]

Hi

I am Katherine. I retired in December and just started (or attempting) my life as a nomad. I have stayed in Slovenia for the last 3 months - maxed out my allowed stay. Will get back to US and wait a couple of months before I head back to Europe somewhere. As I haven’t gotten any EU residency, I can only come back 3 months at a time in a year. I may be thinking of getting residency somewhere; I have just ruled out Slovenia. I am be looking at Portugal &/or Spain next. Or may be somewhere Central Europe. Will see how that goes. Shall read with great interest all your topic in relations to these places.

Thank you Thomas for hosting this site to share information!

[Andrea.fwl (Andrea Fung)]

Hey there!

My name is Andi and originally from Malaysia.

I just branched into working remotely 6 months ago as the legal sector no longer appeals appeals me.

I’m hoping to properly into the digital nomad life as and when Australia finally vaccinates me and let’s me out

I am a digital nomad coach so I am so excited to learn from everyone here and contribute where I can!

The last book I read is the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. So good!

[Ravig80111 (Ravi)]

The fund route might allow you to make the cutoff and get the GV. Because the money is effectively locked up for 6-7 years when it matures you might be ready to get a place, wherever that might.

[Michael_Whyte]

Hi Guys,

My name is Michael and I’m an Aussie expat living and working abroad in Saigon Vietnam. I’m looking at retiring to the Med in about 3-5 years time with my wife and renewing my passion for sailing.

Exploring options for the Portugal GV so I can live and sail in the Med continuously and give access to my son to European universities.

Looks like a great community. Can’t wait to get to know you all.

Cheers,
Michael

[marcosluis2186 (Marcos Ortiz)]

Hey, guys. My name is Marcos Ortiz, and you can find me everywhere as @marcosluis2186. I’m originally from Cuba, but I live and work now from Lima, Peru.

I’m a Software Engineer and I came here looking for better information about the Portugal Golden Visa program, which is very interesting for my family and myself.

I’ve been only in three countries (apart from Cuba): Venezuela, Panama and Peru now. If you come to Peru, you should visit the Ancash region, known as the region of the Blue Lakes https://www.instagram.com/p/B-r_-nTAiv9/

[anon18052504]

Hi, I came across this site when searching for information about the Portugal Golden Visa program. I’m a bit confused as some sites say the 500k euro entry level for Portugal will phase out (or has phased out) this month (July, 2021), others imply we have until the end of the year to either submit or have a granted application.

I do have the vague sense that the Lisbon market is terribly overpriced at this point and would appreciate feedback on other areas of the country that we might consider buying real estate as an alternative. Reading more about the investment option, it seems perhaps an easier and more straightforward way to begin the process, but what are the risks involved in that?

We currently live in Vermont and are in our 60’s. As a gay couple we also want to be sure we’re living in an area where we would be accepted, at least at the level other US expats struggling with a new culture and language are!

Thanks in advance for any feedback and advice!

Dave

[Gunnar]

Hi, my name is Gunnar.
I grew up in Germany with both german and danish culture and language.
My first carrier was as a sound engineer and music producer.
My second was as an athlete in martial arts, combined with discipline and pedagogy as a teacher in my school.
Meanwhile I was a student of musicology.
Up to today I am philosophically inclined to internal martial arts and also music and healthy life style.
My third and actual carrier began in 2012 in sales of industrial heavy industry parts.
I supply parts for mainly marine industry and the energy sector mostly for South America, focusing on Brazil.
In this job I can work remotely.
I now Iive in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. My traveling activities have been sadly restricted since the beginning of 2020, but I have made a good business year in 2020.
At the moment I am expanding my business in Brazil and I am starting a forestry project. It includes an interesting investment aspect as well as a high sustainability and environmental protection factor.

[DNeidel (John David Neidel)]

Hi Everyone,
My name is David and I am originally from Pennsylvania, USA . I spent about 18 of the last 25 years in Southeast Asia (Indonesia , Singapore , and the Philippines ) working on tropical forest conservation/restoration through research & capacity development. My wife and I are currently in New Mexico, but are planning on relocating to Spain or Portugal for the long-term. My wife has dual Philippine-US citizenship so she can at least in theory apply for Spanish citizenship after only 2 years of residency in Spain, but there are down sides to Spain like not being able to continue working on the Non-Lucrative Visa. Still trying to figure out what the best option is for us. I think this forum will be very useful in that regard. Thanks!

[Aduviel (David Liu)]

Hi all,

I’m Dave from the US.
Not quite a nomad yet, despite wanting to be. Currently a soon-to-be-retired teacher who got lucky with some long-term investments. Trying to apply for a Portugal GV while also getting a Taiwan passport via my relatives. Want to start traveling as soon as Covid abates a bit more.

[ineves (Ines Neves)]

Hi there!!

I’m Inês, I’m portuguese!! And I’m really happy to see so many nice reviews and comments and interest about my country!

Nowadays, I live in Medellín, Colombia … Well I’ve been living in Medellín for the last 5 years! Before that, I lived in Spain , in Chile , in Silicon Valey well… and travelled on over 35 countries.

I work for a insurtech startup, and we became 100% remote since last year, so I’m starting to get now the pros and cons of a more Nomad lifestyle.

Feel free to contact me in case you need any help or would like to practice conversation! And more then invited to contact me too in case you would like to stay/work/live in Medellín too!

and
Inês

[GSUDIE (Sudie Ghosh)]

Hello Everyone
I am Sudie (Soodee) from NYC. I am in the process of buying an investment/retirement property in Portugal. Looking to build up my community in PT for ny bi-annual trips there.

I live and work in NYC, in Technology Project/Program Management. Maybe in 12-15 years I can take up a remote job in PT and work from there. Right now due to family etc am going to be in NYC.

I love traveling, multi cultural immersion, bowling, scuba diving., hiking, cooking and painting. Currently I am learning Spanish and Portugese will follow shortly. In general I am also physically active.

If anybody ever visits Manhattan - please message me and we should connect.

[raymcgill (Ray)]

Hi. I’m Ray McGill and that is also my internet presence. My wife and I desire to relocate to the Azores or Madeira.
Looking to learn about the technology to work remotely. Looking for (or will create and share) the best ways to call back and forth between US and EU.

[Diana2 (Hamilton)]

Hi I’m Diana2

I am so happy to join you and become a part of nomad.

I am a singer/composer from the Bahamas and I am driven by one passion: save our ancestral musical traditions from becoming extinct

[Diana2 (Hamilton)]

Thank you for the warm welcome in a world full of nomad tales and doings

[Diana2 (Hamilton)]

thank you

[elliot62 (B. Elliot Johnson)]

This seems like a great place! Elliot here. I was born and educated in the US, lived in Europe and Canada at times, traveled a bit. Now I’m planning to go full expat with my wife, to live in central Italy . I was drawn here to nomadgate by Thomas’ great article on expat banking.

I’m semi-retired but also looking to keep engaging the world constructively. I’ve been teaching Buddhist Dhamma for the last 5 years in seminars and retreats to small groups.

I’m sure the challenge to keep folks from getting polarized is ongoing, Thomas mentions it in his posting rules, and I find this a very interesting topic. My two favorite books in this area are “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt, and " The Better Angels of Our Nature" by Stephen Pinker.