When we moved to Portugal, I spent months researching schools, healthcare, visas, taxes and property prices.
What nobody mentioned was that two items would become absolutely essential to my survival:
A translation app.
And a shopping trolley.
Let's start with the language.
Like many expats arriving in Portugal, I confidently assumed that between my English, enthusiastic hand gestures and general optimism, communication would somehow work itself out.
This theory lasted approximately three minutes.
While many people in Cascais speak excellent English, plenty don't.
Our window cleaner, for example, speaks precisely zero English words.
Unfortunately, my Portuguese vocabulary currently consists of ordering coffee, saying thank you and occasionally asking where the bathroom is.
Anything beyond that and I start sounding like a confused tourist attempting a hostage negotiation.
Thankfully, Google Translate and DeepL have become trusted members of the family.
They've helped us navigate everything from household repairs to service appointments and have undoubtedly prevented several international incidents.
The only challenge comes when I attempt to pronounce the translated Portuguese sentences.
According to my family, I sound less like a future polyglot and more like a cat trying to perform fado.
The second thing nobody prepared me for was my transformation into a shopping trolley enthusiast.
I realise this sounds like the sort of sentence that signals middle age has officially arrived.
But hear me out.
Portugal's local markets are magnificent.
Fresh fish.
Warm bread.
Olives.
Cheeses.
Flowers.
Fruit.
Enough temptation to bankrupt yourself before lunchtime.
The famous Mercado de Cascais has become one of my favourite places.
The only problem is that everything looks delicious and suddenly you're carrying enough food to feed a small village.
This is where the shopping trolley enters the story.
What I once considered something reserved exclusively for grandmothers has become one of my most practical possessions.
Without it, every market trip turns into an upper-body workout.
With it, I glide home effortlessly carrying enough vegetables to convince myself I'm about to become a healthier person.
The trolley also reduces plastic bags, saves my shoulders and makes me feel strangely local.
Which, after years of moving countries, is a surprisingly nice feeling.
"So if you're planning a move to Portugal, forget the relocation guides for a moment. Bring a translation app. Buy a shopping trolley. And accept that one day you too may find yourself passionately discussing the merits of market carts with complete strangers."
So if you're planning a move to Portugal, forget the relocation guides for a moment.
Bring a translation app.
Buy a shopping trolley.
And accept that one day you too may find yourself passionately discussing the merits of market carts with complete strangers.
It happens faster than you'd think.
— Kasia
Kasia Plattner is a writer, relocator and professional starter-over. Author of The Art of Making Life More Complicated.