Jermaine Amado
This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Jermaine Amado, a professional photographer in Denver who lived part time in Lisbon for three years. It has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2017, I started traveling around the world because I wanted to find a place to move outside Denver after my divorce. I kept going from place to place looking for festivals and other things to do and see — such as the Lantern Festival in Taiwan and Holi in India.
At the end of the summer, I landed in Lisbon. I had a great time there, and while I was exploring, I went on a free walking tour and saw this tour guide. Once I met her, I loved her instantly.
After we spent a couple of days together, I told her that I thought Lisbon seemed like a cool place to live. She told me that if I moved to Lisbon, she'd love to have me there with her. From then on, we were together.
Jermaine Amado
I'm a photographer, and fall is my busy season, so I returned to Colorado for the photo shoots I had scheduled for the rest of the year. I went back to Lisbon in early 2018.
We continued that dance for about three years: I would leave Colorado during my slow season and go back to Lisbon. When I'd return to Colorado, she would come stay with me. I spent about seven months out of the year in Lisbon.
I regularly go back to Mexico, where I grew up, and travel often, so I was familiar with being in different places. But I realized how big of a difference there was between visiting somewhere for a week or two and moving somewhere. You may think, "I can have a lot of fun here. This is fantastic," but living in that place is very different.
The first year was rough. My girlfriend had to go to work every day, so I had to think about what I would do by myself all day. As a freelancer, I take care of my business on the computer when I'm traveling, so there's no communal aspect. I felt lonely when I had to entertain myself.
When she was home from work and on the weekends, we would explore the city like tourists and travel around the area. We also joined a lot of expat and digital-nomad communities to make friends.
Even though I speak Spanish, I had difficulty with Portuguese, which is closely related. Because I'm a photographer, I need to use technical, specific terms and have to communicate those. Eventually, I did learn the language and it got easier.
In the US, you have Amazon, which is available 24 hours a day. Or you can go to 7-Eleven at 3 a.m. and get a USB cable if you need it. It doesn't work like that in other countries. Most electronics — hard drives, lenses, etc. — were also a bit more expensive.
As the years went on, I became more prepared and started bringing backup batteries, memory cards, and even a lens-cleaning kit, among other items, so I could clean and maintain my equipment on my own.
There's always going to be a learning curve in a new place — no matter where I go.
If someone plans to move to another country, I recommend getting good internet service and finding a way to watch your favorite shows and movies. A lot of streaming services don't work or have different titles overseas. You may spend a lot of time at home in the beginning, so find a way to watch the shows and movies you enjoy.
I also recommend learning some phrases in the language of whatever country you're going to — it's always helpful and people love it. You may butcher some words, but the person will most likely laugh it off and tell you the correct pronunciation.
Thinking about money is also important. Look at the bank fees for getting money out of an ATM. Also, look into money-transferring services so you know what your options are — I used Wise because Venmo and Zelle are usable only with a US phone number.
My relationship and my time in Portugal ended after three years, but I have no regrets. I learned Portuguese, and because of her, I learned some Romanian as well, which opened up my mind.
Living abroad is humbling. It makes you view the world and other people's issues and problems differently from how you would in the US.
My last trip to Portugal was in July 2020. I thought we would separate and come back together again, but we broke up while we were apart. After the breakup, I moved to Mexico for about six months, and I plan to continue traveling.
I have a great system now where I leave Denver right after Christmas, go back to traveling around the world, come back in the middle of April for my nephew's birthday, and then take time off from April until the beginning of September. It works perfectly.
