In search of sunshine
To begin with, I’m going to answer the two questions you are about to ask. Why another escape, and why Portugal, respectively. Why am I so restless and can’t just stay and live in one place like normal people do. The simple answer is because I am abnormal. The extended answer you can find on my profile.
And why did I decide to go to Portugal? For those who know me, the answer is also simple. Because I don’t like winter. I just don’t like winter. And it’s not only because of the cold, but the typical grey, foggy autumn days with lots of rain, which start at the end of October, are perhaps even worse. The long nights and very short days will certainly not make you feel more positive, but I always miss most the sun and sunshine, which is in the Czech Republic during these months rather rare. In Portugal, even on these days it’s around 20°C and the temperature stays around 12-15 °C even in January.
Secondly, Portugal is considered a Western European country, but in comparison to all the other countries is still much cheaper, thus livable on a lower budget. Plus, there are direct low budget flights from Katowice to Lisbon. And I’ve never been there before, so I can add a 24th visited country to my map.
I plan to do some volunteering again, but unlike my Romanian adventure, this time I prefer to stay in one place for a longer period, and ideally have access to the Internet to do some work and earn some money online, to be able to live and travel a bit around. I found a host, so I’m going to stay for the first nights in Lisbon, and then I’m going to volunteer at a vineyard near Cartaxo, some 60 km north of Lisbon. If it goes well, I would like to stay till Christmas, because for Christmas I want to come back home. And afterwards I will see, hopefully come back to Portugal.