MEREDITH
[ 00:00:00 ] I'm Meredith and I'm Mark and we just said goodbye to the traditional American dream in Charlotte, North Carolina to instead experience a life of adventure right now in Portugal.
MARK
[ 00:00:12 ] We rented our house, packed up some suitcases and our fur baby Charlotte and created a new life for ourselves.
MEREDITH
[ 00:00:19 ] It's been a wild and glorious ride full of ups and downs and change and discomfort, but man are we glad we did it.
MARK
[ 00:00:26 ] And now it's time to give back and help others. If you've ever considered moving abroad, we hope hearing about our journey will help you too.
MEREDITH
[ 00:00:34 ] And if you're considering Portugal, well, we know you're in the right place.
MARK
[ 00:00:39 ] Welcome to Portugal Junkies podcast.
MEREDITH
[ 00:00:42 ] Adventure is a verb, y'all. Welcome back, Portugal Junkies.
MARK
[ 00:00:54 ] Hello, hello, and hello.
MEREDITH
[ 00:00:56 ] Oh my gosh, we have missed you.
MARK
[ 00:00:58 ] 2020. It's been a long time. Yeah, it is March. Already. Jeez.
MEREDITH
[ 00:01:04 ] Listen, we had all intentions of coming back in January. Yep. Things, life just happened. We've been living it up.
MARK
[ 00:01:14 ] Life happened. We've been traveling. Travel happened. Emergencies happened. That's true.
MEREDITH
[ 00:01:19 ] Lots of emergencies actually. Stuff. Stuff. Stuff. Life stuff that doesn't change just because you moved to Portugal.
MARK
[ 00:01:26 ] In fact, if anything.
MEREDITH
[ 00:01:29 ] It's more life stuff, probably more life stuff from a travel point.
MARK
[ 00:01:33 ] Yeah. Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:01:34 ] Okay. So, so, so excited to be back and we are thrilled that we've actually had a number of you reaching out to us going, 'I miss listening to you.' Are you coming back? And that means the world to us. So thank you for those of you who did that. It just made me and, and Mark feel like, wow, maybe what we are bringing is valuable to people. And if it's. It's always been our goal. Yeah.
MARK
[ 00:01:59 ] And if it's valuable and a little bit amusing, then even better.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:03 ] Well, you know, we try. We try to be.
MARK
[ 00:02:05 ] And if it's controversial, then absolutely fantastic. We love it.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:08 ] Oh, we don't. That's one of our big changes. I'm thinking it's going to be in 2025. We're not going to be hesitant to.
MARK
[ 00:02:16 ] No, no, no, no, no.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:18 ] To, we're not going to be hesitant to downplay what we feel about things.
MARK
[ 00:02:24 ] No, I mean.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:25 ] Of course, we really haven't before. I just, you know, at the beginning.
MARK
[ 00:02:28 ] No, I'm not. I'm not looking to go on an attack. But if a subject point comes up and I feel strongly about it.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:34 ] Oh, you're going to have an opinion.
MARK
[ 00:02:35 ] Well, yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:37 ] Oh.
MARK
[ 00:02:37 ] For once in my life, I'm going to have an opinion.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:40 ] Yeah, sure. Well, we have tons to unpack. We actually made a list of things that we wanted to make sure that we talk through and kind of catch you guys up on as we roll into. It's not really a season two for us. Because I don't, I don't really.
MARK
[ 00:03:00 ] No, that puts too much pressure. So much.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:01 ] Yeah, I mean, we are just going to.
MARK
[ 00:03:03 ] It's just another episode.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:05 ] We will be coming to you with weekly episodes. Yes.
MARK
[ 00:03:08 ] This marks the start of that.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:10 ] Yeah. Part two, I guess. Thank goodness. So, let's take it all the way.
MARK
[ 00:03:17 ] Well, it's also nice because it's also sort of therapy, isn't it?
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:20 ] Oh, it is. I've missed my therapy sessions.
MARK
[ 00:03:22 ] Yeah. I think that explains a lot.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:24 ] Yeah, maybe that's why it's so hard to put it away. Yeah. Whatever. You love me.
MARK
[ 00:03:30 ] He loves you.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:32 ] So, the first thing I've written down on our list was to start where we kind of ended, which was our trip back to the U. S. and the U. K. for the holidays. And I know that was a while back, but I think we have a lot to talk about. And like I said, unpack with that. Because, you know, as we move into whatever this part two is, or just kind of starting the podcast again. And now that we've been here for 15 months.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:04:02 ] Yep. Gosh.
MEREDITH
[ 00:04:03 ] You start to think about, like, what's valuable, what's still valuable for listeners to tune in for, right? Like, it's not all the new stuff anymore in the first year. It's kind of like phase two of what does it look like to have moved here and now we're here and all that jazz.
MARK
[ 00:04:22 ] Well, I think Phase Two is really, it's about how you live. It's about how you create friendships. It also, you know, with our particular circumstances, really reinforces getting back to the U. S. and back to the U. K. for family. You know, this is now. And how does that feel? Yeah. How does it feel? How does it work? What do you do with the dog? And this, that, and the other. Yeah. You know, there's all sorts of real-life stuff now. I mean, it wasn't necessary that it wasn't real-life stuff then.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:04:50 ] You were in family before? Well, yeah.
MARK
[ 00:04:52 ] I mean. We got over. Kind of. It's like an extended tourist, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now we just live here. Actually, just living here. I say just. I mean, it's living here and it's making the most of the experiences. And that goes with the ups and the downs.
MEREDITH
[ 00:05:10 ] Yeah.
MARK
[ 00:05:10 ] You know.
MEREDITH
[ 00:05:11 ] Well, let's talk about how our trip home was. Now, I don't know if we talked about this before we left or not and took our break. But the plan originally and how it played out was that both of us for Christmas had, you know, a family of two kids. And so it was really hard for us because our dad needs to be with our moms and dad, but our family that are in different places. Right. But specifically because Mark's mom is battling cancer. My mom has dementia. And so, for both of us, it kind of felt like this is, you know, it's important holiday to be together on the day. And so we said we would split up for this.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:05:53 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:05:54 ] We're not doing that again. As a fast forward.
SPEAKER_3
[ 00:05:57 ] No, no, no. No, no.
MEREDITH
[ 00:05:58 ] But I went home for 10 days; he went home. No, I went home for two weeks; he went home for 10 days and then joined me in the U. So, that's for the yeah for the final part of the second week and so I traveled alone with Charlotte. Congratulations for the first time, yeah, and that was a big damn deal. Um, I think when you have pets that are like family and you know that all it takes is one ornery person at the uh at the desk at United or Delta, yeah. I mean, you'd be in a bad mood to be like, 'Yeah, she doesn't meet the guidelines.'
MARK
[ 00:06:37 ] Well, I mean, yeah, all you needed was some border person, some gay agent, some TSA, some asswipe just wanted a little fight for a fight's sake and that doesn't it has never happened, no. It hasn't grabbed all that in my brain but you know, you read off things like that going on and it was I think for me it was the fact that you were you were doing it alone which I was you know not that you shouldn't or couldn't have been able to do it but I was very proud that you did uh yeah it was so nerve-wracking for both of us, yeah, for definite until I knew that you'd like get Up in the air, in the air, you're good, and then you know, other side of the um, the gate, yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:07:18 ] So my girl and I did great; she's always wonderful, but she's good. Um, I tempered my anxiety enough to make it through, and we had no problem, so thank goodness for that. But I will probably do um, another podcast just about that, just so that people understand, and we did it on our TikTok and Instagram uh pages too during that month to kind of highlight the steps and exactly what you need, and when you go there and back as a temporary resident of Portugal. So it's a little weird because um, the health certificate is replaced by her EU passport which is a Lovely thing, because it takes that timeline weirdness out of it, but and streamlines it. But anyway, there was a lot of stress going into going home and that was one of the big things. And I think it was being apart, knowing that we were going to be apart for a little while. I'm kind of being sad about it. It's not even kind of, I was really sad that we weren't going to be together on Christmas. But it was like, worth it to both of us at the time to just be like, we need to do this. Um, but yeah, when I got home, it felt and this will be really interesting because we're going to talk about this from two different perspectives right? So he was in the UK for A few days I was in the U. S. the whole time, and then he joined me in the U. s so we had a little bit of a debrief on what that felt like it's really strange um i've been doing a lot of thinking about this in the past like actually a couple of years and i've been doing a lot of thinking about this in the past like actually a couple of years and i've been doing a lot of thinking about this in the weeks because when we moved here and kind of reflecting on our time here when we moved here everything was so new and exciting and you're not even thinking about going home right other than seeing your family and now it's it's hard because there's reasons that we will talk through that it doesn't feel like home anymore right so you're going home for christmas to a place you know my family and my my mom and dad's house and all that other stuff will always be home but i was not excited to go back to the u . That's just and that's just and that's the truth of it, after the election, after all this has gone down, and this was even before uh he was inaugurated, right? It just felt like a place that didn't feel like mine anymore. But what did it feel like when you came over to visit or after you went with your mom and and hung with her for Christmas?
MARK
[ 00:10:03 ] Yeah, I mean it was it was just so different. It felt different. You know, it felt there was a different um kind of personalities walking around, I think you know, from the moment get off the plane so getting off the plane in the States versus getting off the plane in the UK, going through border control-two different totally two different experiences, you know. And I had um had a change over at JFK um and along with I don't know how many thousands of other people that were lost as well um trying to navigate the airport uh and it's just it's the TSA people, you can say it wasn't necessarily even the TSA, I mean it was, but in this particular instance it was a lot of people that were lost and I think it Was just the lack of help that you got from anybody, you know, whoever you spoke to that was ground staff, whether it were airline that you were flying on or somebody that you thought they may be able to answer my quick question. Um, you know, the point is, you'll tell me to either get lost or go and see somebody else or go and join that queue and you think that's not right and it doesn't, exactly it doesn't feel like if I join that queue that it's going to be worth my four hours and you know it's just it's just it's just it's just it's just it's just, you know, it's again it's just a completely different experience. Um, and for Whatever the reason, I know that those people who work in airports do have a challenging job; I get that. But that's what you kind of signed up for, yeah. So I'm not going to give you a pass just because you don't want to do your job.
MEREDITH
[ 00:11:45 ] It's what I think is hard about it is that we've talked about this on the podcast before. I feel like TSA, you hit the ground as I'll say, especially in Newark because that's where we're going in and out of a lot; I love you, Newark, you've been good to us. But the minute you hit the ground in TSA uh and interact with TSA um agents in the United States versus how you were treated by those same kind of personnel. In other airports, it's so drastically different that you know you're in states, and that's sad, yeah. It makes me embarrassed every time because I'm like people are just being attitude; they're yelling at you, they're making you feel dumb, and there are times when it's frustrating because you're you're traveling alongside a bunch of other travelers at different levels of experience of traveling. But that's what sticks out to me is that I know when I'm home, yeah, by how rude they are right.
MARK
[ 00:12:44 ] And that's one of the things you know, I know my way around an airport; I've traveled for quite a fair amount of years, yeah donkey's years. Throughout various different airports, I've traveled for quite a fair amount of years, yeah. Throughout various different airports in various countries, and it's the only place in the States is the only place where you feel like you're a pain in the ass for the people who work in there, yeah. Um, like they're not there to serve you or you've just got to... You've just got to push yourself to the front of the queue because if you don't, you'll just get knocked back to the back of it and I just think that's a completely wrong way of doing it. But if you don't play by the rules that are on the ground, yeah, you're not going To get anywhere, you're certainly not going to get to your next flight that's for sure, my dear sweet listeners.
MEREDITH
[ 00:13:28 ] I say this with all the love in my heart. If you haven't traveled in beautiful Portugal yet, what are you waiting for? You are missing out big time! Iconic beaches, delicious wine, centuries of history, and honestly, some of the most beautiful people that you will ever meet. Why do you think we moved here so? When you're ready, we are ready to help you plan the most perfect, customized Portugal itinerary just for you and more importantly, how you like to travel: family trip with the kiddos, lazy girl travel, history buffs, foodies? Combinations of all of those we got you after exploring Portugal since 2022 and then immigrating here, we're really excited to build travel plans for you that help you see this gorgeous special place by understanding the way that you can travel, how you can travel, and how you can get to where you like to travel. Book a free call with us right now on our stand]. Store slash Portugal junkies and we'll talk through your ideal trip and start planning your customized Portugal itinerary. You'll even get your final itinerary on an app to use during your trip for easy access right on your phone while you're here. Remember, adventure is a verb, y'all! We're excited to help you plan yours. So how did you feel safety-wise when you arrived from the UK in the US or even while just back at home?
MARK
[ 00:15:03 ] Yeah, I'm not making about that; just generally, very much more on alert, um, you know, for the time that we've been here and the time that we are that I've been back in the UK with me, with you, without you. It's like you're always watching the door; I am always watching the door, always thinking of different people's attitudes or actions, or you know how they present themselves. I mean, that's a little bit of my background of how I watch people. Yeah, um, and that doesn't necessarily go for everybody, you know. In some cases, I'd love to be like, yeah, let's be oblivious to it, but at the same time, no. But comparing that with the UK, certainly comparing it with Portugal, um, you know, it's night and day. I don't, I didn't feel threatened here, and it's not that I felt it wasn't that I was feeling threatened or anything in the States. I think it was just, you're on an awareness campaign the whole time you're there because number one we haven't been into it for you know several months um it's post-election yeah and it is now but again it was post-election, and so I was worried, I was on alert.
MEREDITH
[ 00:16:21 ] I was nervous and anxious about it, and I was like oh my god, I'm going to be like... I was trying to temper that because sometimes I can get in my head about stuff and expect things when I didn't have to worry about it to begin with. But my gut was telling me that a as a woman, I needed to be more on alert than I had ever had to be here. And so you get really used to being here and not having to do that. And so I was dreading the fact that I knew that I had to go back to that attitude of not trusting anybody, having my guard up-you know, all of those things. And being very aware of everything around me. And I'm not saying that you Never have to do that here, but it's so rare it is especially in the small town of Tavira. Okay, I'm sorry, but it's like I get Puerto and Lisbon, yes absolutely those are two big cities, but our experience here in Tavira is completely opposite. It is a very big city, and it's a very big city, and it's a very big city; it's very peaceful, and um, I was anxious about that, and I was rightfully anxious because it's exactly how I felt, and I had to battle that the whole time. It's you don't realize how much energy it takes, you know, it's I mean I would go to the grocery store for my mom and dad and like be looking around me, like well, anybody, anybody could
MARK
[ 00:17:52 ] be packing right now and i just don't have the energy to do that and i'm like i'm not going to do that i'm not going to have those thoughts here because it's just not the same reality and it drained me and it made me really sad and it was a hard couple weeks yeah the truth of it is that being home this time was exactly you know the fact that we were split up for the for the first 10 or 10 11 days whatever yeah um you know each day that we each day or night that we would talk with each other you know i could see it in you that it was just a way it's it was like a you were completely you were different even though you were with your parents and you
MEREDITH
[ 00:18:32 ] know family and friends, and such, on it with the dog, um, you, yeah, you could tell that it was there were a lot of teary conversations for one reason or another, and it just felt heavy. I don't know how else to describe it, and, and then the result of that, and all the reasons why it might have felt heavy to me, it just made me sad because you know, I hear people talk about this a lot when you move to a new country, um, you, it's kind of like an in-between, you're in this limbo right? It's not your old home isn't your home because you wanted to move away from it for whatever reason, and your new home is not necessarily home yet, so you're in this limbo, and when You're, you're, it's like you're trying to find your new way, your new way, and going home for Christmas was the first I think the first true time where I was like, I'm ready to get home, yeah. And I was talking about here right and it was a transition and there are things that you mourn about that and there are things that you have to say, this is why we chose this, you know, this is why we did this, so that we would have a place that we felt more ourselves in and that we could call home, yeah.
MARK
[ 00:20:02 ] Daily existence here versus there, um, you know, comparing driving over here with driving in the UK with driving in England now all of those all of these countries. Have got idiots, let's not joke about those idiotas in Portuguese, Muppets whatever you want to call them; they exist everywhere. But at no time did I feel more worried about being on a main road like a highway and interstate than a well, than in the States.
MEREDITH
[ 00:20:38 ] Yeah, we talked about that before too, about how like I by the time we left Charlotte I was like 'Get me off of the highways' because I don't trust anybody and it's like it feels like it's a death with wish to go anywhere. Yeah, I'm so still so happy that we don't have to deal with that here; the only thing that is the only thing that's still challenging here is when we get an Uber driver. that oh again mario and dreddy and mark is just like holding on to the oh jesus handle and screaming and yeah just and they look back at us like what the hell is wrong with you right but again it's because when i'm in a car generally speaking i drive yeah and i feel in control when somebody else is at the wheel and i'm like oh my god i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry it's number one well you're never going to drive as well as me of course whether that's true or not but it's it's just all right it's just a control element but yeah some
MARK
[ 00:21:36 ] Of them, are completely horrific, but equally, there was a couple, um, we had one the other day, when we came back from that, and I actually and i said thank you very much for a wonderful drive, and I was all the way back from Faro Airport, and you know it didn't exceed my expectations, but I was like, oh my god! The speed limit looked as if he was awake, um, you know wasn't smoking wasn't, it was just like one of the nicest experiences.
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:05 ] Wasn't one of the best cars, I still say, you know, like being here and not having a car is the best thing ever. It really is, like, there are times when it's kind of a pain because you have to do some planning, but not even, I mean. Most of the time, when we call an Uber, it's here in three minutes, so yeah, I mean, what is the plan right anyway? The other thing that I know is that I've been in a car for a long time and I've been in a car for a long time, and I've really noticed when I was at home, was the in-and-out well, I say this just constantly being inundated with news and um, Trump stuff, just political stuff, constantly. And I think that's going to be different family to family, right? Like my parents will literally get up in the morning and turn on the Today show, and then it's like the news all day long, and it's the same damn stories over and over and over, all day long, yeah, that. Drives me a little crazy, but it is their house, right at least it's not on Fox News for God's sake. But I'd have a lot more to say if it was; I'd be on the Dot Com. I just... there's a part of me that that was part of the drain-the-drain that was just like, 'There's not a lot of good, feel-good stories on the news.' So when you constantly are like exposing yourself to that and I just it's hard. And I think that it's just become that way in the States again, making a big broad brush here because I know a lot of people in our camp have literally tried to limit this exposure, whether they're living there or not.
MARK
[ 00:23:41 ] The thing is, you still want to be aware. But, you don't, yeah, you know, you left, you moved to another country, what's called wherever, because of many different reasons, but one of them was probably to do with Trump, was to do with a Republican or a mega influence, whatever you want to call it, whatever or the opposite sign you want to hang around, you want to be away from those people.
MEREDITH
[ 00:24:03 ] Right?
MARK
[ 00:24:04 ] But if you're coming from somewhere to somewhere and you're just gonna like really just enjoy the opportunities that you have, you might filter out some of you, yeah, yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:24:15 ] And we have, I mean, I've gotten to the point where I've removed Facebook from my phone, yeah, so I've removed it from my phone. And I've got this app, which is a big damn deal for me because it's the way I keep in touch with people, a lot, even just peripheral acquaintances, and knowing if somebody's mom died or whatever, it's just sending a note and saying I'm really sorry, it's happened. Like, I had to give that up though, because I'm mad quite frankly about Zuckerberg and his unwillingness to help battle the misinformation and disinformation that's out here, and so it's it's kind of like my protest at the same time. We keep in touch with Portugal forums and local groups here through Facebook. We are tracking visa process and the um challenges that is bureaucracy. Here and trying to keep in touch, those are that's how we do it, and so it really took a lot. I was like, 'He's gonna stay stay on Facebook, so he can monitor the other stuff.' It was just too much for me. There were there are things that you have to start taking a stand on; I feel like, and I feel like post-inauguration, especially, I would say in the past 60 days or so, I've been making some of those choices. Um, anyway, I don't even know how I got on this topic, but it just feels like the the choices that we make here about what we consume are very conscious there.
MARK
[ 00:26:03 ] I i felt like I didn't have it; I was gonna say you get far less choice because it is everywhere. it's on the tvs that you walk into in in the petrol station it's on tvs uh wherever and unless he's playing football or some other sports um sorry soccer um you know it's gonna be something did i did i swear i think he said i think i swore wow um but again you know you talk about consuming the the media and and everything that's going on in the news and people's feelings and the rest of it but that was another thing you know that i felt was different in terms of consumption and that was the physical consumption of things oh my god of food of you know there's a starbucks on every street corner um in the states there isn't over well qualify that i'm sure there are more in lisbon there's a couple in porto and there are none here i think the closest starbucks here is about 20 miles away and that that seems to be perfectly fine because you know if i want some good coffee probably not going to be going to starbucks in any case um i mean that that's more out of fighting a protest again of capitalism now in its form nothing wrong with capitalism but it's the way that it has an effect on everyday living you know we've taken ourselves into a place into vera where it exists obviously because that's what makes the world go round but it's not done in a blatant in your Face pushing it, you know you've got to have the next best thing true.
MEREDITH
[ 00:27:52 ] I also think that it's... I feel like it's this element of realization or I won't even say realization because we've known it-I'm more aware of being monetized there than I am here and it's because I'm more monetized there, yeah you know when we moved here we we really haven't ordered Amazon much. I'm giving up Amazon when we like in the States when we um when it comes up for renewal those are all my little protests that hopefully if other people are doing it will add up to something but I think even if it doesn't add up to something it's taking you, you're taking.
MARK
[ 00:28:34 ] Accountability for what you can sort of change, yeah, but this is what I've said, this is what I've said.
MEREDITH
[ 00:28:41 ] Oh, I can't even remember since when it just feels like it's so obvious to me that the only way that we can battle what we're seeing right now is to hit them in the wallet because that's the language they know, and so every little bit that I can do and make a choice, and I'm, I'll never be perfect. There's there's just it's just impossible to never be monetized for the United States of America and and um USA products likely right and that goes for basically everybody in the world because of of how we operate and but it is it's just small. Things right, I if if I um Zuckerberg doesn't want to get on board and do the right thing then I'm taking Facebook off my phone if Bezos is gonna take over the Washington Post and not have an editorial column anymore that allows people's opinions about then I'm I'm going to not support Amazon anymore. And I used to literally order something every day, yes.
MARK
[ 00:29:55 ] It would be a case of, oh, Amazon delivery. What if you ordered this time? I can't remember.
MEREDITH
[ 00:30:01 ] It's convenience.
MARK
[ 00:30:02 ] And it's just like, how can you not remember what you ordered?
MEREDITH
[ 00:30:05 ] So as a model, I respect it. As a responsible person, I knew I got lucky. You knew what I meant. As a business model, not as a model.
MARK
[ 00:30:14 ] Oh, okay.
MEREDITH
[ 00:30:14 ] As a business model, I respect it. The problem is that you don't have any moral responsibility as a freaking billionaire. So anyway, I'm getting off topic. But my point is the consumption. And we have decided that there are things that we can do to limit our consumption of media, but also limit our consumption of shit we don't need. And try to make sure that we are buying local here as much as possible as well. And not. You know, getting on Amazon, Spain or Amazon, Germany and buying into the convenience factor because it's still here. I mean, it's still here. It’s just done a little bit differently. It’s not going to be here at five o'clock when you order at 11 a. m. Right.
MARK
[ 00:31:01 ] But you know what isn’t here?
MEREDITH
[ 00:31:02 ] What? Okay.
MARK
[ 00:31:03 ] And we don’t have what we do have TV, like regular Portuguese TV. If we hook on to it, we’ve got that. But again, when we are traveling, if we’re scouting around places, we’re going to have a lot of things that we’re not going to be able to buy. Because for whatever reason, whether it’s for travel, whether it’s for clients or whatever in Portugal, whether we’re back in the U. K. One of the things that we don’t have on TV, big pharma adverts. Do not drink this glass of wine if you're allergic to glasses of wine, as it may cause death or diarrhea, or for Chris, can I say it?
SPEAKER_2
[ 00:31:45 ] What?
MARK
[ 00:31:46 ] For. What? Might cause gonosyphoherboles. Oh, that's a private joke, Chris. So, you know, it's.
MEREDITH
[ 00:31:54 ] Gonosyphoherboles from walking down Franklin Street in Chapel Hill with no shoes on.
MARK
[ 00:31:58 ] It doesn't you know, it doesn't take a lot of the conversation, but it's just these little things that when you pull yourself out of having to go through every advert, commercial break that has five adverts and of those five, at least four are about the next. The next new drug or the next new pharma product, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, and it used to be the joke between us.
MEREDITH
[ 00:32:24 ] And now it is so much more than that, because I mean we've always known that they're they're monetizing people's sickness and death. Absolutely. Instead of you know taking care of people which is again what we should be doing. I swear that's what the government was created for. Mm hmm. And yet.
MARK
[ 00:32:46 ] Somehow along the way, we have totally just fucked that up because we have; and so anyway, I do get what you're saying, it seems a little flippant, like, oh, no, no big pharma ads, but I mean, it's a big thing you don't see that here when you don't have it not very often, you know, making you around the face every two seconds. Yeah, it makes a heck of a difference of what you can actually enjoy watching on TV. Yeah, it's just the way it is. So that was another big thing. But. Notable in the five, four or five days that I was in the States.
MEREDITH
[ 00:33:20 ] Hey, babe, how many times do you think that we rode the 'should we or shouldn't we move to Portugal' roller coaster before we actually did it?
MARK
[ 00:33:28 ] I don't know, maybe like 193 times.
MEREDITH
[ 00:33:31 ] Wouldn't it have been so cool if we had 'us' during that time, you know, to talk to?
MARK
[ 00:33:37 ] Absolutely. I'd love talking to 'us'.
MEREDITH
[ 00:33:39 ] Me, too. So we've decided we are going to be 'the us'. We needed for you guys, if you want to shoot the shit, ask us anything or just get some real life perspective from our experience of moving from the US to Portugal. We are now opening up our calendar for one-on-one calls. We can also hook you up with some of our best legal, immigration and tax partners who helped us along the way. You can choose a mini call for 30 minutes or if you're talky-talky like me, an hour, and we'll hop on Zoom together to answer anything we can for you. As you try to decide what's best for you and your potential move to Portugal, book with us right now on our Stan store at Stan dot] store slash Portugal junkies, and we'll see you there. You know, the other big one for me was the overwhelm in general, so I felt on a daily on a daily basis. Overwhelm and not necessarily like typical anxiety. Type stuff, but just like walking into a Walmart, I thought I really, and again, I don't, I'm trying, you know, I'm not trying to be spending money in Walmart, but that's where my parents shop and they haven't jumped on the bandwagon like we have really, right? My dad would be like, well, you can't do that for everything because everybody's screwed up, right? Like everything you do, you're going to be spending money somewhere and they're going to be spending it in a way that you don't want them to. He's probably right. However, when you know that. Better you do better, but we have, we did visit Walmart and I thought, Hmm, let's see how I feel because I used to love going into Walmart, these big box stores, especially target, which has broken my heart, but we'll come back to that.
SPEAKER_2
[ 00:35:29 ] Well, that's probably going to be a whole.
MEREDITH
[ 00:35:31 ] Thank God we don't have target here. That would be a big one for me to have to give up, but I would have given it up. So anyway, I recognize that it's easier for me to say these things sitting in Portugal. Right. When I don't have. To actually face it every day, but we go into Walmart, for instance, and I walked down the cereal aisle and the overwhelm was just so big. I don't even know if we were shopping for cereal. Like it was just the fact that there were a hundred plus different types of cereal to choose from.
SPEAKER_2
[ 00:36:12 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:36:13 ] At the low, low price of not it's it's examples like that, that are hard to describe to people because they have may not have experienced what we've experienced moving and living abroad in a place like Portugal or in a place like Tavira where your supermarket is. I mean, it can be, it can be big, it can be like a big box store, but it doesn't feel as overwhelming. It doesn't feel like you have 11,000 choices.
MARK
[ 00:36:45 ] I'll put it to you like this. When you walk down the cereal aisle in the continent versus walking down the cereal in Walmart or any of the other big ones, there are far, there are far fewer cereals in the, sorry, there are, I'll put it this way. There are far more cereals in the US because the restrictions on the ingredients mean that they don't have to be banned. But, you know, probably find that 50% of what's sold in the States is banned in Europe, just flat, flat out banned. Tells you something, doesn't it? That really does tell you something, you know? So, so yeah, that's, that was the whole cereal gate.
MEREDITH
[ 00:37:28 ] Continuing on though, like from this topic, did you feel physically bad there from food that you were eating?
MARK
[ 00:37:38 ] No, I don't know that I felt physically bad from it. Um, I will say. I will say that I, um, was very aware of the choices that I was making.
MEREDITH
[ 00:37:50 ] So if you're wondering what's in something.
MARK
[ 00:37:52 ] I was thinking, oh my goodness, you know, I'm going to go to, I went to the, um, oh gosh, we went to the, to the pub, to the brewery.
SPEAKER_2
[ 00:38:02 ] Yeah. Okay.
MARK
[ 00:38:03 ] And they didn't serve food in there necessarily, but you could go and pick it up from the pizza place or the whatever in the Chinese. Yeah. There's a couple of different restaurants. You walk into the restaurant. And I'm, I'm looking at these photographs that are probably about 15 years old that have um grayed out through sun.
MEREDITH
[ 00:38:22 ] And the place was half under construction.
MARK
[ 00:38:26 ] And I don't know how long you've been under construction for. Um, I think quite a while. And I just think to myself, oh God, am I going to feel like shit after this?
MEREDITH
[ 00:38:34 ] Right. If this is how they present their restaurant, what are they doing back there to the food?
MARK
[ 00:38:40 ] I mean, I didn't look for the. Like the little um placard that says you know what the uh the rating was because I didn't think it was a good one.
MEREDITH
[ 00:38:50 ] I don't sit there and think like, oh, I'm going to get sick from this. That's not my thought. I don't even think about it like in a germy way. What I think about is what is actually in the food and what is it now doing to my body and how long I've eaten food just like that. For 45 years before we moved here. And it keeps me up at night because I think about, I think about cancer, I think about heart disease. I think about all the things that we know Americans are, um, most likely to die from quite frankly. And it just blows my mind and like, I get it conceptually that people have been fighting against this forever. Like I get that. And we know that about American food. And yeah, all the things, if you've watched any vegetarian or vegan documentary on Netflix, you know, and yet we still choose those things. It's, but I do feel like when I was there, I was more aware of like the choices that were available to me. I'm not going to lie. I had a really good hamburger twice and wasn't sad about it. Right. Again, this is, I'm not trying to be elitist and be like, no, we're going to have this because hello, like Highway 55 Burger had it twice. Am I sad about that? No, but I was aware that I was making that conscious choice that I'm eating something that's probably not going to make me feel good. And it didn't. So I don't know. It's just very strange. It's, it's hard. I also think about like. Just what the diet looks like here versus there, you know, it's real clear there that if you are tight on money and your grocery budget, it is easier to buy cheap, fast food and convenience food here it's the opposite of that. If you want to buy like a lean cuisine type meal in the grocery store, you're going to pay much more for that kind of shitty meal than buying the same ingredients to make. The meal, which shouldn't that be the way it should be to promote a healthy lifestyle?
MARK
[ 00:41:18 ] Like, should we be better for you've got to, you've got to look at where that originates from, where it starts from, you know, it started many years ago with the fast food promotion in a huge country, America, right. That was, that was just dealing with trying to feed the people. So I get it from that.
MEREDITH
[ 00:41:37 ] I get it from that, one hundred percent.
MARK
[ 00:41:39 ] And sometimes it's just morphed into something ugly.
MEREDITH
[ 00:41:41 ] Right. And, but I think about it from a perspective of those without a lot. And you think about the injustice that is, I'm literally got this much money. I've literally got this much. And my option is to buy really shitty food for me and my family that is going to make me sicker versus it's more affordable to buy the healthy stuff to make me more healthy. And that is not lost on me.
MARK
[ 00:42:12 ] And it pisses me off fully, with it, you know, and again, similarly, there's, you know, all of the things that you find in America, say all a lot that you find in the States, you'll find in the UK as well. If you go looking hard enough or sometimes it's right in your face, you know, there's a five, there's a Five Guys that has one of the best views of Tower Bridge from a freaking place. Five Guys of all things, not being in there. It's just Five Guys, but I'm not paying those.
MEREDITH
[ 00:42:49 ] Tell them what's at the Egyptian. I mean, at the pyramids.
MARK
[ 00:42:52 ] So, yeah, beautiful. You're looking over Giza and the Sphinx and you're looking at it. And then if you look kind of 180 degrees behind you, there's a freaking KFC, of all things again, it's just reality. Reality versus Instagram, you know, what you see isn't necessarily what it is, but yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't want to harp on about it, is what it is, but when you know better, you do better. And we're fortunately in a position where we can go to the local market and buy an awful lot of product for not a lot of cost. Wash it and he's done. Watch. Yeah. I mean, you always watch the veg.
MEREDITH
[ 00:43:39 ] Some people watch chicken.
MARK
[ 00:43:41 ] I can see that.
MEREDITH
[ 00:43:42 ] Did you know that?
MARK
[ 00:43:43 ] I can see that.
MEREDITH
[ 00:43:44 ] No, honey, you don't wash chicken.
MARK
[ 00:43:46 ] When you've cooked it. What are you talking about? Chicken breast?
MEREDITH
[ 00:43:48 ] Yeah. I'm talking about any kind of chicken like that. They wash the chicken.
MARK
[ 00:43:52 ] What's the problem with it? Are you talking about with soap and water or you just like some people wash it with soap? No, that's just weird. I'll grant you that.
MEREDITH
[ 00:44:00 ] But even taking chicken out of the package and washing it first.
MARK
[ 00:44:04 ] Think about that plastic packaging. Some people to some people. Right. Some people might. Right. I have an affliction against plastic packaging.
MEREDITH
[ 00:44:14 ] You go down the rabbit hole on TikTok or Instagram about washing meat. Okay. All right.
MARK
[ 00:44:18 ] Fine.
MEREDITH
[ 00:44:18 ] Let's get back to it. We will come back to this on another podcast and I'll be like, 'What did you find out?
MARK
[ 00:44:24 ] What we're going to do is we're going to have it in the kitchen and we're going to have a whole counter of things. It's disgusting.
MEREDITH
[ 00:44:31 ] It's weird.
MARK
[ 00:44:32 ] Yeah. Anyway.
MEREDITH
[ 00:44:33 ] I know y'all wish I had an opinion about things. So I think that that covers like the real like big heavy stuff. I think we'll come back in the next episode and talk to you guys a little bit about the kind of more funny, lighthearted stuff that we noticed in the U. S.
MARK
[ 00:44:52 ] Yeah, that'll be quick.
MEREDITH
[ 00:44:53 ] And coming back. We'll see you next time.
MARK
[ 00:44:58 ] See you very soon. Thank you very much for sitting by the fireside with us. And yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:45:06 ] We're happy to be back.
MARK
[ 00:45:08 ] Very happy to be back.
MEREDITH
[ 00:45:10 ] Cheers. Cheers, y'all.
MARK
[ 00:45:11 ] Cheers!
MEREDITH
[ 00:45:13 ] Listen up, future expats. For more content about our move, the visa process, Portuguese culture and destinations, and tons of support resources for your own decisions and potential move abroad. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Portugal Junkies.
MARK
[ 00:45:31 ] Stay in touch and help us reach more people by subscribing here and following us there.
MEREDITH
[ 00:45:37 ] Cheers, y'all.