Editor’s note: Oklahomans are picking up and moving … to Portugal! Jill Smith felt a yearning to free herself from the daily grind of the work-obsessed United States. So she did. Eddie Walker, Timothy Fields and their two wonderful sons have been an anchor of Oklahoma City’s cultural and arts scene for decades. Walker was executive director for the OKC Philharmonic from 1999 to 2019, after which he was executive director at Oklahoma Contemporary until retiring last year. Fields owned his boutique hair salon for many years. This year, to the surprise of many, they retired and moved … to Portugal! Luxiere wanted to know how it’s going, and the couple was happy to tell us. 

Follow their adventures on Instagram @wheresjilldo and @timneddieinportugal

Words of wisdom: The move that you are afraid to make is the one that just might change everything. When my husband Eddie Walker and I announced in January our decision to retire early and move to Portugal, we were met with curiosity from many who share a similar desire.

For some time Eddie and I had taken note of the rankings of the top countries for Americans to retire. Portugal seemed to always be in the top five, and often in first place. Our interest was piqued.

We and several friends booked a Viking cruise from Barcelona to Rome for May of 2020. We planned to spend the prior week exploring Portugal. I mean, if you’re that close, why not? Well, we all know what happened in 2020!

During lockdown, we took long walks chatting about life and our future. Our two boys were off to college, and we began asking “What’s next?” Our conversations always came back to Portugal.

With our original plan dashed by COVID, instead of taking Viking’s refund offer for the canceled trip, we rolled the dice and booked its Douro River cruise, with a pre-week in Lisbon, for September 2021. 

Best made plans, or travel gods smiling?

By some pandemic miracle, the trip happened. We followed the dining blueprint of the Lisbon episode of the Netflix series “Somebody Feed Phil.” We highly recommend this show for travelers and foodies. For us there is no better way to get to know a city than to eat your way through it.

Next we drove north up the Silver Coast — very popular with American expats, with miles of pristine beaches, dramatic cliffs and quaint villages.

First stop was Sintra, a charming town with colorful palaces rising above the clouds, with our first night (my 60th birthday!) at the oceanside Hotel El Farol in Cascais. Next was Obidos, a walled city with whitewashed homes draped in bougainvillea and a castle converted to a hotel. Sadly, COVID delayed its re-opening, but we were rescued with a lovely stay in a small hotel inside the walls. 

The following day took us to the historic pilgrimage site of Fatima before arriving in Nazare, famous among surfers for its massive waves. Then it was back to Lisbon for the start of the Douro cruise, taking us farther north to Porto, the terraced vineyards along the river and tastings of the region’s amazing green wines (vinho verde) and world-famous ports. 

Fast forward to our return home

We came back with an unspoken determination to return. Neither of us could then have guessed  just how soon that would be. Funny how the universe works, right?

For some time I have followed the Facebook group “Americans and Friends in PT,” which offers a wealth of information on the do’s and don’ts of moving to Portugal. Floods of Americans were uprooting and moving there, even during COVID. We thought perhaps a five-year timeline was doable. We kept talking, and shorter horizons seemed possible.

A previously scheduled visit with a new financial advisor confirmed that this crazy idea just might be within reach. The strong real estate market was the key, so we called our friend Monty Milburn to come for an assessment. To our surprise, the price we needed and his guesstimate were only $6,000 apart. Was this really about to happen?  Within a matter of days, we had a full price offer, sight unseen.

If the ball is rolling, get out of its way!

The next few months were a flurry of activity as we began gathering the requirements for the visa process, as well as preparing to cut ties with our professional lives and leave our home. A Portuguese attorney helped with opening a bank account and reviewing our apartment lease, two critical components of the D7 Visa application. Through the Facebook group I was able to connect with an English-speaking realtor who has been a tremendous help with securing our apartment and in helping set it up for our arrival.

As if all this wasn’t enough

At this point, we still needed to decide where in Portugal to live. By watching YouTube videos, I found and fell in love with Setubal, a town of about 100,000 just southeast of Lisbon and nestled between mountains and the Atlantic. It is known as an arts and culture center of Portugal and is also famous for having the largest indoor fresh market. Look it up, it’s lovely.

Decisions, decisions

One big consideration when moving abroad is whether to ship your possessions or to sell (or store) it all and start anew. We chose the latter. Selling all your stuff is a daunting task, and seeing it all spread out is a humbling and somewhat shocking experience. Prior to this, if someone asked what our style is, I would have said minimalist. We didn’t have too many “pretties” out, and we didn’t think we had that much storage, but clearly, we had some STUFF. To say our sale was a success would be an understatement; we were practically sold out in five hours.

We were lucky to have friends who had just purchased a townhome in the new Villa Teresa development as an investment property, and they were kind enough to let us crash there until we got our visas approved and were awaiting our departure. 

Our last couple of months in OKC we spent saying our goodbyes to family and friends (there was some serious hand-holding), preparing for our two dachshunds to travel, eating at our favorite places and attending annual events important to us. To say we will miss this great city that has been home for so many years and has been so good to us is an understatement. But the excitement of this adventure propels us forward.

Life is life

Three months in and we realize that living abroad is a gift we could have only dreamed of receiving.

We spent our first month furnishing our apartment and settling into our new life. Setubal has a fantastic group of expats from all over the world, including a fellow Okie, Jill Smith, who we didn’t know previously but with whom we share many friends in common. Soon after arriving our city hosted a Gin Festival in the Casa Da Baia, one of the many cultural and tourism centers here. The Portuguese love their gin and wine.

At the festival we met in person some of the fellow expats that, at that point, we had only interacted with through social media. Friendships were formed that night and dinner invitations followed.

Knitting together our community

I think part of this process is building relationships and sharing knowledge and experiences. One of the couples we befriended had a trip planned to Paris, and they encouraged us to come along. Well, why not? A big part of why we chose Portugal was to explore this continent, so why wait?

Eating like kings

One of our first dining experiences was dinner in the castle that sits high on the hill towering over Setúbal. Portugal’s rich history as the launching point for many explorers brought back the flavors of the world, creating a very diverse and exciting cuisine. Living on the coast also offers the opportunity to try a variety of fresh seafood. We are continually surprised by the affordability of food here, whether out to eat or shopping in the grocery store. Yet with so many restaurants to explore, we still find ourselves missing some of our old home favorites. So I cook.

Day by day

Our new city is very walkable and we may have covered every inch. We also walk our dogs at least four times a day — quite different from just opening the back door and letting them out. We start our morning by catching up on what’s going on in the States. We have started learning the language and I have begun painting lessons, something I have wanted to do for some time. Eddie does laundry, so if you know him you know he is very happy with that.

Somehow our days fly by and we wonder where the time has gone.

Y’all come

We had our first friend and longtime client of mine, along with her family, over at the end of July for a visit, followed by a much-anticipated visit from our boys in August.

We look forward to what we hope are many more visits from friends and family. We are happy to share this new life we have been gifted.

OKC Ex-Pat Confessions Part Deux: Jill’s Story 

By Jill Smith 

You’ve heard the saying, “There’s no way I was born to just pay bills and die.” A dear friend and I were having an intense conversation about whether he should retire, as he was in his 50s, or continue to work. That choice never came; he passed away a month later. This is the moment I truly realized we are not promised tomorrow. A fire in my soul was lit to get out of the rat race and go live a wonderful life while I was still able. 

But how to make this happen, and where would I go? This took several years to implement but when I decided to move forward on this issue, it completely consumed every thought. Europe was on the radar, especially Portugal. My insatiable desires to explore the world, meet people from other cultures, walk untouched paths in nature and simply live in peace were what I was in search of. 

In 2020, I booked a three-week solo vacation with a backpack and crossed the Atlantic Ocean, landing in Portugal in hopes of finding what I had read online about the lifestyle, affordability, wonderful free healthcare, fresh seafood, rich history, kind people, endless beautiful beaches, consistent weather and peace that I desired so deeply. 

I found it! It was everything and more. This adventure showed me I didn’t need a lot of things to make me happy. I wanted meaningful experiences. As you know, our world is in the midst of great change, and people are trading their money in for meaning at astounding rates. I was one of those people.  I was finished with materialism to fill voids in my life. This is when it happened — the mindshift.  After returning from vacation, I put pen to paper to see if I had enough money saved to make this move.  

Here’s the deal. You can drive yourself crazy playing this back-and-forth game in your head, trying to talk yourself out of doing what you most desire and find all the reasons to not do it. As my mentor told me, “People leave with $200 in their pocket and set out on this journey, and they figure it out.” He said, “You will be fine.” 

The cost of not following your heart is spending the rest of your life wishing you did.  I didn’t want to be that person. I began downsizing my home with plans to sell it and everything in it. February 2021, I was on a plane with three suitcases to start a new life in Portugal.

On the flight, I had many hours to contemplate my decision. I’m in my 40s, I left a great job I enjoyed, left loved ones and a home I poured my heart into. Had I lost my mind? The answer was no. This decision did not come easily, and this move did not come without several adjustments and lonely days. I mentally tried to prepare myself for events like being away from my closest family and friends, language barriers, line-drying clothes, bureaucracy and the “I’ll get to it when I get to it” attitude. Portugal is slow, relaxed and knows the meaning of work/life balance. It’s something foreign to Americans in my opinion. Faster is not always better, I have come to realize, and being busy is not a badge of honor. 

In addition to discovering the pure simplicity of life in Portugal, I’ve also discovered over 1,000 miles of coastline, mountains, Roman roads, castles upon castles, charming cities with exorbitant amounts of history dating back to the Roman Era, a cluster of nine islands called the Azores and this very special island called Madeira in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. 

Sure, most would tell you about Lisbon, the Algarve, Porto, Lagos and the bullet point cities, but I want to share more of what makes Portugal amazing. It’s this place. Madeira is a 5-million-year-old volcanic island that stole my heart with its Jurassic Park look and feel and the endless, extensive hikes through UNESCO Laurisilva forests that only exist on three islands in the world, levada walks also called irrigation channels, exotic fruit and bananas growing down the steepest mountains you can imagine, waterfall canyoning, natural lava pools, unique seafood, nine microclimates and 32% grade, white-knuckle roads all over the island. I get goosebumps talking about it because it is more than I could have ever expected when I went searching for meaning and life. 

The point is if you desire something more, it’s out there. You have to be open to opportunities and possibilities and be willing to take them.

The Luxiere List: Portugal Edition

Hotel El Farol, Cascais. The upscale Farol Hotel is situated in an elegant 19th-century waterfront villa in the Lisbon suburb of Cascais. Each of its 33 rooms were decorated by renowned interior designers, and there are quirky and colorful artworks in the shared areas.  

Levada Walk, Laurissilva forest, Madeira. The first part of the trail consists of a mixture of endemic and introduced vegetation after the discovery of the island. In the second part, the trail penetrates into the interior of the island, which remains the same since before its discovery, more than five centuries ago.  

Praia da Figueirinha. This dreamy beach is set in the Serra da Arrábida National Park, just beyond the mouth of the Rio Sado estuary. It’s one of the best known and most popular beaches in the Arrábida area and is one of the closest to the town of Setubal.

Mercado do Livramento, Setubal. For more than 140 years, this market  has reigned supreme as an incredible place to sample typical Portuguese flavors from salt-dried cod (bacalhau) to custard tarts (pasteis de nata). The array of fresh produce on sale here is mesmerizing, with some 300 independent vendors all under one roof. Still an integral part of Setúbal life and culture, this market is impressive to behold.

Portugal’s Silver Coast, situated between Porto and Lisbon. The fascinating region stretches from the majestic mountains of the Serra da Estrela to the stunning beaches of the west coast and includes the historic cities of Tomar and Coimbra.

Thalassotherapy and Natural Spas. Sessions in saltwater pools can be combined with other relaxation techniques like aromatherapy, hot stones, yoga and meditation. Everything is geared to taking care of the body and restoring the mind, and always by the sea.