We are Michael and Jolandi, two South Africans, living in the United Arab Emirates. Over many glasses of wine, we have dreamed of a life unencumbered by the demands and restrictions of corporate life, and as we grew older, realized that unless we make a decision to take the plunge, we will find ourselves stuck in the same rut, ten years from now. Not wanting to risk a life of regret, we have purchased a 3 ha piece of land in rural Portugal, and are planning to, over the next couple of years, set up our life, so that we can move there. We originally aimed for December 2019, but realised that a dream like this needed a lot more patience, time, and money than we initially expected. Throw in a pandemic, and things got even more messy. Despite all of this I (Jolandi) moved to Portugal on 9 October 2020, while Michael is still working in Abu Dhabi for the time being, as a regular income will allow us the freedom to build more infrastructure, pay off an apartment, and set up our life in a way that will provide us with a bit of financial freedom.
“No matter how sophisticated our choices, how good we are at dominating the odds, randomness will have the last word.”– Nassim Nicholas Taleb The first two weeks of February continued the drab, grey, rainy weather that set the tone for winter this year. Water oozed out the soil, first turning our little access road into […]
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”– Vincent Van Gogh A constant throughout the month have been the sound of rain on the roof, running, gushing, or trickling water elsewhere on the quinta, and gusts of strong cold wind sweeping through with names like Ingrid, Joseph […]
“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman As I write these words on the last day of 2025, Lily and I are sitting on a bench outside, enjoying […]
“It takes solitude, under the stars, for us to be reminded of our eternal origin and our far destiny.”– Archibald Rutledge After two flights, and too many hours spent at airports, I had another three hours in Lisbon airport, before I could catch the bus taking me close to home. I bought a coffee, and […]