The team from Ideal Homes sits down with one of its newest members of staff to discover his journey to the Algarve and how it impacted him and his family.
“Tell us a little bit about yourself”
My name is Jose but all my friends and family call me Joe. I am extremely grateful to be married to a beautiful Portuguese lady named Bernadette and am a father to two amazing children. My eldest is Diego, he is 19 years old and I would describe him as very active, strong-willed (like most 19 year olds) and confident. My youngest Lorenzo, is 14 and would be best described as being a caring, friendly and shy young man.
“Why did you choose to move to the Algarve?”
I chose to move to the Algarve because I believed it would give me a strong peace of mind, provide a better future for my family and as English is widely spoken, we felt it was a perfect match for all of us.
“Why did you choose Portugal over somewhere such as the UK?”
I would like to say I chose Portugal over the UK mainly because of the amazing weather and safety but the food and wine had me hooked from the start. In seriousness though, Portugal has been voted the third safest country in the world again and as I come from South Africa, this was of major importance to my wife and I.
“What spurred the decision to make the move?”
After six years of ‘thinking’ about moving, unfortunately I was made redundant due to the current pandemic and to make things worse, my wifes company closed down also. All of this happened within the space of two days so it really hit home that we needed to make a major decision, and quickly.
“So what was the next step?”
Within the space of six weeks we had managed to sell all of our possessions, purchase flights for an extortion price of 25,000 rand per ticket - These were normally 8,000 rand prior to the pandemic so we really had to commit to our decision to get out the country as we were paying 3 times the normal rate - and next thing we were on plane with nothing but the clothes on our back and our bags.
“Was it difficult to sell everything and start fresh?”
In short, no. If I put into consideration the future of my family and being able to live with a peace of mind everyday, not at all. I would even go as far as saying it was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made.
“What would you suggest to anyone wanting to make the move themselves?”
Do it, follow your instinct. You really never know what is just around the corner. Rather than procrastinating for six years like I did, get in touch within myself or anyone from the Ideal Homes team and they can show you how you really can enjoy a better quality of life.
“How would someone get in touch with you directly?”
For anyone interested in finding out more about Portugal, they can contact me directly on jose@idealhomesinternational.com or give me a call on +351 910 897 093.
