What is your vision for the future and what steps do you intend to take to get there?

This is an @abundance.tribe question from about weeks ago, but I’ve been so busy ‘taking my steps’ that I haven’t had time to write about any of them!

Well my own personal vision for my future is to buy 3-5 acres of land here in East Central Portugal and work with it to meet most of my basic needs in water, food and energy, and also to try and build up the soil and water supplies to make said land as fecund as possible.

There are two main rationales at work here - the motivation to live as cheaply as possible, yet with a high quality of life, and the desire to regenerate some land, so an ecological imperative too.

In a few years hopefully I’ll be happily living on my land in a small temporary structure, splitting my time between working said land/ doing basic chores, writing online and mooching about/ hanging out with people - roughly 35/ 35/ 30 would be a nice split for those three basic activities.

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I’m giving myself ‘a few years’ to find myself some land for two main reasons:

  1. I’ve really landed on my feet where I’m staying atm in my little cabin, I feel settled already, so I’m quite happy staying for a while!
  2. Even if I do want to move on, It’s cheaper than I thought to rent. There are plenty of options for 300-400 EU a month, and I could probably go cheaper if I needed.
  3. I was going to look for land around Penamacor, but I’ve ended up about 20 minutes West of there and TBH it’s less dusty nearer the mountains, so I might explore around here too, and I’m also thinking a tad further west might be a good option too - in short there’s A LOT of options to explore!

I also heard two interesting contrasting stories yesterday:

Firstly, I met one woman yesterday who said she’s been in the area for three years and has only just started looking for land. She said she’d seen 30 places and hadn’t found the right spot. She also advised I spend a night on the land if I’m looking to buy - good idea, even here where there’s a sparse population - the noise of roads, raves, and especially dogs can carry a long way.

In the meantime, she’s living rent free on a Quinta she’s managing and has set herself up in business doing Quinta maintenance, which sounds like quite a nice life if you ask me.

Secondly, there was a story of a couple who bought land around here online in a rush, only to find they couldn’t get their van down the track to the land when they arrived. They’re currently staying with other people trying to negotiate their neigbour down from the 9000 Euros he wants to widen the bit of the track that goes through his land.

The moral of the stories is, whatever steps I take, don’t rush into anything!

What’s nice about these stories is that they just confirmed what I was already feeling anyway!

So what are the steps I need to take to get my land?

TBH the most immediate steps are those relating to my getting legal to stay in Portugal:

I got my Fiscal number the other day, which took an effort of will on my part, but it’s done! And next I think it goes something like this:

  1. Figure out somewhere secure to get mail sent to. The woman who owns the main house here has had a few problems getting the address registered with the local post office as it’s half way between two post offices so neither one of them wants to take responsibility, but I need to figure out somewhere to get mail sent to!
  2. Fucking learn Portugese - obviously ongoing! Although I now have two Portuguese speaking contacts who can possibly help me when I’m working with Portuguese Bureaucracy!
  3. Sort the body work damage on my car out (See 6 below, and this probably wants doing before the rains start!)
  4. Open a Portugese bank account (hence why I need an address), necessary probably for ID purposes
  5. Get temporary residency status (hence why I need an address!)
  6. Change my driving license to a Portuguese one - I need to do this before 2020s end or I have to take a test apparently - that’s fucking Brexit!
  7. Decide whether I want to get my car registration changed to Portuguese or drive it back to the UK, sell it and buy another one back here in Portugal. I don’t need to do this until March, as I’ve got six months of EU travel on the insurance!
  8. Actually add to the above - check whether the car insurance is six months straight, or a max of 90 days in one go before returning!
  9. Sort out Permanent Residency Status and Fiscal Number - March I guess is the time for this!
  10. Again add to the above: research whether I can do this before Brexit which might just make it a whole lot easier!

Less un-fun steps to take to find my land

  • Drive around a bit to get a feel for the wider area.
  • Walk and run around A LOT to get a feel for the wider area.
  • Buy some maps of the local area! I do like maps!
  • Get to know a lot of people in the area and see what they’ve got to say about buying land!
  • Go visit a few plots of land for sale - I may start with Pure Portugal just to see what’s out there - with no intention of buying through an agency! (Although you never know, if something was PERFECT, a 20% agency premium around here is not very much to pay in the grand scheme of things!)

So the next three months are going to be a blend of Bureaucracy/ basic chores, checking out the place and the people, and working online to maintain my income.

Probably the next three months after that too, easy!



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Re-4: If you work with Paypal, you will need a local account too if you want to link it to your Portuguese bank account. Keep in mind that means the Paypal waiting times for new accounts apply to whatever you receive in that account.

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OK thanks for the heads up!

Although I'm hoping as a work around I can just keep things the same with PayPal and use a Virgin Money account I'm in the process of setting up (no fees abroad) to reduce fees I pay!

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Yes, you can. But fees on withdrawals in EU from your Virgin account will most likely go up after transit period as British banks are losing their rights.

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Well I was only thinking of this account to tide me over for a couple of months anyway!

I think a local one is the way to go.

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Finding the right spot is key to future happiness and probably not a simple task. My cousin had a nice plot in Spain with olive and almond trees, but the track up to it was pretty bad. We didn't tell the hire company that we took their car up it :) You are a brave man for taking this on.

!BEER

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...and the desire to regenerate some land, so an ecological imperative too.

Isn't that against EU 'green' directives?
(I don't care about the 'eco aspect'- I'm all for doing what you want with your own land...I'm just being a pedantic git)

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Sounds like a plan! Especially the last list sounds like the most enjoyable part: driving and hiking around the area, exploring properties. Most typically you'd come across pieces of land by getting to know people, talking to them, they remember that this neighbor of theirs was telling them they might wanna sell a plot, you meet them, you spend a weekend camping on the land, ... and then, maybe even a few months later, you decide to buy it.

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Yes, I'm looking forward to it, so much to explore and I agree that WOM is the best way to find what I'm looking for!

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Sounds like big (and practical) plans!
Indeed slow and steady wins. No need for rushing, and it’s sounds like the lifestyle your living is the exact opposite of a rush.

Buying land out there sounds cheap, is that safe to say?

‘Fucking learn Portuguese!’ 😂

Love the life you’re building mate, thanks for sharing!

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Hey, it's pretty cheap out here yes, I mean £20k can buy you a house! Or about 5 acres of decent land without a house!

It's a great life out here from what I've seen for sure!

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Crikey!!
Sounds amazing

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