On forums and facebook groups, the ‘where is a good place to live?’ question is usually asked by those who’ve never been here. The jaw-dropping, but thankfully rare, version of the question adds two elements. They also ask for realtor recommendations for the places recommended. And they want to know how long does it take to buy a house because they’ll be here for only 2 weeks on their first trip to Portugal.
Most of their other questions could be answered by searching the same group where they are asking the question. Better yet, read the group for 30 min a day to both learn about living here and, more importantly, learn about things you’d never think of asking about.
I had no intention of writing about this until I heard a weird fact on a podcast where 4 funny Brits make make spontaneous comedy while discussing the weird facts they brought . That fact allowed me to illustrate the potential expats lack of awareness with an analogy from the US.
In 2003 Ottawa County, Michigan first produced a brochure, titled “If you are thinking about moving to the country.” They did it because newcomers complained to officials about routine farming activities. They complained about noise, dust, odors, spraying pesticides, spreading manure, transporting products, and driving slow machines on 2 lane roads. The brochure included a scratch and sniff preceded by “If of this odor you’re in doubt, scratch n’ sniff and you’ll find out.” The odor was cattle manure.
Read more at an alleged copy of an AP article or a site for daily farmers, or a news site from the Ottawa County seat.
Four Letter Nerd 