My family moved from Florida to Portugal 4 years ago. Our cost of living was far lower, and many aspects of life surprised us.

• In 2020, my family of three moved from Florida to a small village in Central Portugal.
• The people we met in Portugal were very kind — and loved to stay up late.
• Overall, life in Portugal was more affordable for us.

In early 2020, my family of three was living in West Palm Beach, Florida, when we decided to take a six-month trip around Europe .

During our stay, we rented an Airbnb in Portugal on farmland near the city of Coimbra. We fell in love with the area and ended up extending our stay so many times that the owner asked if we’d like to buy the house.

We decided to make the purchase and lived in central Portugal for the next three years. Here are a few of the biggest differences we noticed after moving abroad .

For my family of 3, settling in Portugal was much cheaper than living in Florida

One of the main reasons we relocated to Portugal was the lower cost of living . Though there are always exceptions, the homes we saw in Portugal were considerably cheaper than those in Florida.

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