Listening to people who already own property or live abroad never fails to inspire others. So meet Julie Pickering, a British expat who’s been in Albufeira in the Central Algarve for nearly 10 years…

Article written by The Overseas Guides Company

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to live in Portugal?
I am a 45-year-old mother of two fantastic boys – Lewis is 14 and Nicky is 11. Nine and a half years ago my then husband and I made the decision to move to Portugal for a better life for the children and for us. My parents already had a house here and I had visited with my little boy and fallen in love with the country. It just took two years for us to make the final decision. We sold up in UK and left with our caravan, the boys, and the dog.

The first thing we had to do when we arrived was to find somewhere to live. For the short term, this was the bottom of my parents’ garden in the caravan! We then found a bit of land with a ruin and formed the aim of building our dream house! Seven years later (living in the caravan for that time) we finished and moved into our house. The boys attend Portuguese schools and are fluent in Portuguese. My eldest, Lewis, started at the Jardim de Infancia the September after we arrived. We left him there each day in tears as he screamed down the road because he didn’t speak the language and didn’t want to stay!

Three months later he was fluent in Portuguese and very settled. My youngest, Nicky, started gymnastics with a local club at the age of five. He has now been to Switzerland to represent Portugal, and has been Portuguese National Champion two years running. Next year, he goes to Romania and Italy to represent Portugal. My husband and I have since separated and he has worked outside Portugal in the UK, Middle East and Far East for the last seven years. He found it difficult to find work in his line here in Portugal.

What do you do for work?
I own a pet shop in Albufeira called Paws 4 Pets. We started the business by accident! We were in talks with a dog food producer in the UK regarding getting hypoallergenic foods for our pets out here, and they said “why don’t you order a pallet and try and sell it there?” We did just that, and the year after we arrived we launched Paws 4 Pets at the Better Living in Portugal exhibition. Out of that came a demand for all things pet-related, and that is how Paws 4 Pets was born!

What challenges did you face when you moved?
The language was the main problem and still presents a few problems because I am nowhere near fluent. Also the bureaucracy of everything! Matriculating cars, starting a business, building a house – it’s all difficult in a foreign country and a foreign language.

Is there anything you miss about the UK?
I miss my grandparents, my brother and my old friends, but not much else!

What would you change about Portugal if you could?
The amount of paperwork involved in achieving anything.

How’s your Portuguese?
Nowhere near as good as I would like. I can read most of it, understand some spoken, and speak it badly. But every day I learn something more. Helping my children with their homework over the years has helped – although they complain about how long it takes me to translate anything!

If you are on the verge of buying property in Portugal or moving there, a simple way to save money is to use a currency exchange specialist when transferring your pounds into euros. For more information on this, download Smart Currency Exchange’s free report or visit the Currency Zone.

For more information on buying property successfully in Portugal download the Overseas Guides Company’s free Portugal Buying Guide – and start receiving free news updates by email. Or to see property for sale all over Portugal, visit Rightmove’s Portugal listings.