'Better weather, cheaper food and amazing culture': Florida family moves to Portugal

Andrew Ibrahim, 31, and his family moved from Gainesville, Florida, to the southernmost region of Portugal, the Algarve, in November 2023. He said Insider about your life in a new country.

Photo: iStock.com/alanphillips

Andrew still owns a business consulting firm for property owners in Florida and also sells luxury real estate in Portugal.

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“10 times better and 50% cheaper”

The businessman says moving to Portugal was a decision that was essentially like an early midlife crisis.

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At that time he was 30 years old.

“Fortunately, I achieved what I wanted before I even reached 30. I wanted to find a place that would be ideal to raise my children. This decision was made quite easily,” admitted Andrew. — I'm tired of Florida. There are a lot of social aspects that I don't agree with, and the cost of living has skyrocketed."

He says things have only gotten worse since the pandemic.

Andrew rented a one-bedroom apartment in South Florida for almost $2600 a month. When he moved to Gainesville, he was able to purchase his own four-bedroom property. Mortgage, insurance and taxes were about $3000 a month.

Andrew then moved to a much larger house with five bedrooms and expenses increased to $4500 a month.

“Luckily, I lived a very good life in the US, but you could live a life 10 times better and 50% cheaper in Portugal. The quality of life here is the same as in Florida, but for little money,” he noted.

$70 for dinner with wine at a nice restaurant

Andrew was born and raised in Montreal. He moved to Florida when he was 17 years old. He has Portuguese citizenship through his Portuguese mother. That is, it was quite easy for him to obtain the documents necessary to move and obtain citizenship.

His family has owned real estate in Portugal for several years. Andrew is thinking about buying his own home.

As for food, he says that for $200 he can eat in Portugal for almost two weeks.

“But if I had to spend $200 or $250 in Florida on groceries, I could eat for a week at best,” he stated. — When my wife and I go to a very nice restaurant in Portugal that serves high-quality steaks, meat or fish, I spend about $70 for dinner. And this with a glass of wine.”

According to him, this is almost impossible in the United States, but the choice of food in Portugal is not as rich as in the United States.

Education and Medicine

Public education here is free.

“Fortunately, my daughter does not need to bring lunch with her - the school provides it. This is a cost savings for us,” Andrew emphasized.

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Health insurance in Portugal is also inexpensive, according to Andrew.

The family pays about $50 a month, compared to $300 a month in the United States. He says that in Portugal the doctors are amazing, medicine is cheap, and the service is of the highest quality.

Culture and values

In the south of Portugal there are 350 sunny days a year. This was an important factor for Andrew.

“Christmas feels a little different because there's no snow around. I might miss hockey a little, but I don’t miss the rain and having to shovel the driveway every day,” he admitted.

Portugal is one of the European capitals of golf. According to Andrew, from a demographic point of view, there are a lot of good people living here and an incredible culture.

“Life in Southern Portugal is like an island life because there are so many beaches, just like in South Florida. However, there is a completely different culture here that has been preserved for so many years,” Andrew noted.

Portuguese culture, he believes, is simply incredible:

“You're close to beautiful beaches, beautiful real estate, wonderful golf courses. There are not very many people - it is different from life in a big city. It's quiet here."

The American was struck by a kind of cult of family:

“When you go out to the park, you see families playing together. When you go to a restaurant, you see families eating together. You go to church on Sunday and all the families get together. In my opinion, this is something that has been lost in life in Florida over time.”

“Mix of cultures”

The Algarve has always been very popular among tourists. Over the years, locals have really gotten used to foreigners and tourists coming to visit and buying property. Many people, upon retirement, move here from other European countries.

“In general, I would say that the Algarve is a mix of cultures. It preserves Portuguese culture, but is much more welcoming to foreign culture than the north or Lisbon,” concluded Andrew.

“I see a lot of Americans coming here. There are 90% of them on the golf course in the Algarve,” he stated.

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