We were in various parts of Spain, and for the last five years we were about 90 minutes from the border with Portugal and we used to go to Porto sometimes for a day trip just to enjoy the beautiful scenery and the good market food. The cost of living in Spain and Portugal is maybe 25% of cost of living is here in the United States, certainly no more than 50%. A typical income here in the United States barely let me keep up with living expenses, taxes and student loans whereas in Spain I was able to pay off all my loans, completely get out of debt, support my girlfriend/wife for nine years, and at one point I had two houses and three cars — I could’ve never afforded to do all of that living in the United States. Spectacular infrastructure and architecture on every corner of the Iberian peninsula. Relaxed people and good climate for the most part. Don’t expect people to be capitalists or enthusiastic workers; people are pretty laid-back and they don’t really care about making much money because they have very comfortable lives without having to be the early bird that gets the worm every day. I’ve already started writing and providing images and videos for a short essay on some of these topics so maybe I’ll try to finish that up and get it posted tomorrow
Hi Dr V... I’m thinking of moving to Europe.... why did you leave Portugal? How was the cost of living compared to the US?
We were in various parts of Spain, and for the last five years we were about 90 minutes from the border with Portugal and we used to go to Porto sometimes for a day trip just to enjoy the beautiful scenery and the good market food. The cost of living in Spain and Portugal is maybe 25% of cost of living is here in the United States, certainly no more than 50%. A typical income here in the United States barely let me keep up with living expenses, taxes and student loans whereas in Spain I was able to pay off all my loans, completely get out of debt, support my girlfriend/wife for nine years, and at one point I had two houses and three cars — I could’ve never afforded to do all of that living in the United States. Spectacular infrastructure and architecture on every corner of the Iberian peninsula. Relaxed people and good climate for the most part. Don’t expect people to be capitalists or enthusiastic workers; people are pretty laid-back and they don’t really care about making much money because they have very comfortable lives without having to be the early bird that gets the worm every day. I’ve already started writing and providing images and videos for a short essay on some of these topics so maybe I’ll try to finish that up and get it posted tomorrow