First Month living in Portugal

First month in Portugal

Posted on by Laurence Manchee

Permaculture Courses in Portugal

Learn how to live a more self sufficient life at home or off grid

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After more than two years of planning to leave our jobs and start a self-sustainable yoga community, we have finally made it to Portugal where we will set up ‘Keela Permaculture Farm’.
First Month living in Portugal
Lisbon is covered in street art. This art is about the national song ‘Fado’
We feel very welcome in Portugal, much more so than some of the other counties we have lived in and visited. The Portuguese people are very hospitable and friendly. We have been made to feel welcome by everyone including friends of the family, people we have met at our language school, our extremely helpful airbnb host, people that we met on a course at a farm in Sintra, the list goes on! What we have found is that once people know what our plans are, they offer us with information that they have about a certain region, or where they think the most beautiful part of Portugal is for us to eventually set up. This country is just so welcoming for foreigners, especially ones that are really trying to speak Portuguese, like us. We absolutely love it here and feel like we are meant to be here.
View in Lisbon
A view from one of the many miradouros in hilly Lisbon
We have spent the first month in the beautiful, cultural and energetic Lisbon where we have been participating in an intensive language course and are sorting out the usual admin that is involved with moving to a new country. There are so many lovely parks and viewpoints which look out across the city. The architecture is stunning, and everywhere we go there is always something to do.
We love Lisbon
Check out the castle on the hill in the background
Having lived in a few countries and traveled a lot, I have always tried my hand at the local language but have never really been that successful. This time though, with plans to start a community in Portugal, I am determined to learn the language. So many of the expatriates here have never fully learned Portuguese which must make it harder to fit into the surrounding community. Nearly everyone in Lisbon speaks English really well, and want to reply to you in English so it is hard to practice. However, once we get out to the countryside we hope to practice a lot more as English isn’t so common the farther out you get.
Graduating from our Language Class at Portuguese Connection in Lisbon
Graduating from our Language Class at Portuguese Connection, Lisbon
I love that many of the roads in Lisbon are cobbled, lined with tall buildings either tiled with elaborate designs, or each painted with vibrant colours. It is so colourful and energetic. It is a relatively small city but is situated over seven hills, so walking anywhere is like going for a hike in the mountains. I certainly feel the toning in my legs since we have been here from walking up and down them all the time.
Lisbon is full of street cafes
Lisbon is full of street cafes, this is where we got coffee on our breaks
We haven’t done a huge amount of sightseeing in the likes of museums and churches as we are trying to keep our spending down, but we have seen a lot from just walking around. Huge marble buildings that are built to last forever are everywhere. We did manage to visit the Botanical Gardens which has free entrance on Sundays, so that we could get a feel for some of the plants and trees that we can have in our ‘Zen Gardens’ which will be part of our farm. This will be a beautiful and relaxing area for yoga and meditation.
Lisbon Trams
Lisbon have a thorough public transport system with a metro, a train service and trams 
We popped out of Lisbon to attend a weekend Food Forestry course at Terra Alta in Sintra. Here we planted some trees, shrubs and ground cover in a ‘guild’ to grow food for the community there in the way that nature intended. This was a useful and informative add on to the Permaculture and food forestry training that we received at Rak Tamachat in Thailand. The course was run by Permaculture expert Doug Crouch who manages food forests all over the world. Look out for my next blog on Food Forestry.
Food Forest Course with Doug Crouch
Gardening at the Food Forest Course at Terra Alta with Doug Crouch, Sintra
Next, we are off to volunteer and join courses at other projects around the country such as Portugal Yoga Holidays, Awakened Life Project, Osho gardens, A Quinta and Terra Alta. The adventure continues!   

Next Permaculture Courses in Portugal

Check out the dates of our upcoming Permaculture Design Course (PDC) and Specialist courses. Each specialist course is held right after a PDC so that you can attend both together if you want.

PDC : 1st- 14th November 2026

Followed by  – Food Forest Course : 15th – 22nd Nov 2026

PDC : 12th-25th April 2027

Followed by – Organic Gardening Course : 27th April – 3rd May

PDC : 6th – 19th June 2027

Followed by  – No specialist course

PDC : 25th July – 7th August 2027

Followed by  – Natural Building Course : 9th – 15th August 2027 

PDC : 13th – 26th September 2027

Followed by  – Food Forest Course 28th Sept – 4th Oct 2027

PDC : 31st Oct- 13th November 2027

Followed by Land Restoration Course – 15th – 21st November 2027

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