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Denise - 78 countries and still counting ENGLISH
8 september 2022
Everyone has their own reason for going abroad, based on their past and their future dreams. The experience is different for everyone! To really know what it is like to live in another country, you have to do it yourself! If that's not possible for you (yet), you can enjoy the stories of others in the meantime. In What about you? You´ll read every month a story of someone who went abroad.
If I had to name someone who is young and has traveled a lot, it would be Denise. She is just 29 years old but she has already seen a lot of the world. In this article you´ll read how her wanderlust started and what she has been doing abroad in the past years!
How it all started
I think my love for travel actually kind of came together with my love for Disney. I saw myself as one of the princesses locked up in a castle or stuck in a village, eager to discover what was going on outside. Also all the different cultures was something that always attracted me. When I got the chance to participate in an exchange program in Oslo, Norway in my 3rd year in High School, I took it. I found my experience in Norway so much fun and exciting (first time abroad without my parents), that I signed myself up the following year for the exchange program in Italy. Because of this I also knew that I wanted to study something where I could travel a lot. Actually, my dream was to go to drama school in Hollywood, but my parents didn't agree.
Studying and traveling
I was only just 17 when I graduated and had made a deal with my parents that I could go wherever I wanted when I had completed my Bachelor. So then, I decided to study Hotel and Event Management in English. After all, hospitality is also a bit of acting, right? My studies gave me the opportunity to do an internship in a castle in France and to study for a semester in Brazil. That semester in Brazil is still one of the highlights of my life.
When I graduated I decided to make a small solo world trip. At the same time, I also wanted to visit my international friends. In 3.5 months I visited the following countries: South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, 16 states in the United States, Canada & Dominican Republic.
America
I was born and raised in the Netherlands, but my mother is from Peru. In the Netherlands I felt Latina and in Peru I did not feel Latina enough. I think I'm still looking for a place where I fit right in. I thought I found that in the United States. In 2015 I lived there for 1 year, in Los Angeles, California. A place full of immigrants. Also, Los Angeles is a combination of everything I love, amusement parks, beach, bustling city, national parks and even mountains and vineyards. There is always something to do and discover. But unfortunately, it is not so easy to immigrate to the United States. Due to my visa I was only able to for 1 year. Every year I sign up for the Diversity Visa lottery, but after 7 years still no luck…. I'm not giving up yet, but that didn't mean that I would wait in The Netherlands.
Wanderlust never ends
After my year in the US, I only lasted a year in the Netherlands. And then I did one of the most exciting things in my life: applied for a job at a cruise line. The perfect combination of my two passions travel & hospitality, but it was definitely challenging to work 6 months straight without a day off. I did this with love for 3 years and visited places I didn't even know existed. Unfortunately I couldn't go back because of the Covid-19.
But as you already know, I can't wait quietly in the Netherlands. I decided to apply for a job the day after my birthday. And bang boom in 3 days I got hired for a job in Lisbon, Portugal. I thought I'll do this until the cruise ships could sail again. But I liked the Portuguese lifestyle so much that I'm still here after 2 years. I'm not saying I see myself living here for the rest of my life, but for now it still feels good. Portugal has secretly stolen my heart without me realizing it, because Portugal had never crossed my mind until I saw the vacancy!
What now?
I still want to see more of the world. I currently have visited 78 countries, and my goal is to reach 80 before I turn 30 next year (my original goal was 100, but due to pandemic I had to adjust it). Country number 79 is already booked 😉!
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Marriage; some have dreamed about it since childhood, while others have no particular interest in it. Personally, I lean more towards the first category, so when my boyfriend proposed to be last year, I said a wholehearted yes! What I didn't know then was that by saying yes to my true love, I was also saying yes to application forms, emails to institutions I had never heard of and countless phone calls to Dutch, French, and Portuguese authorities. Fortunately, everything eventually fell into place, and on July 27th, o noivo and I exchanged our vows! Having spent almost a year gathering all the necessary documents, I can now consider myself an expert in this area. Therefore, I'd love to share my experience with you in this article, so that the preparations for your wedding in Portugal, as a non-Portuguese, will be much easier!
Trouwen; de een droomt er sinds kleins af aan van en de ander heeft er helemaal niets mee. Zelf neig ik meer naar de eerste categorie dus toen ik vorig jaar ten huwelijk werd gevraagd, zei ik natuurlijk volmondig ja! Wat ik toen nog niet wist, was dat ik niet alleen ja zei tegen mijn grote liefde maar ook tegen aanvraagformulieren, e-mails naar instanties waar ik nog nooit van had gehoord en vooral heel veel telefoontjes naar Nederlandse, Franse én Portugese instellingen. Gelukkig is het uiteindelijk allemaal goed gekomen en gaven o noivo en ik op 27 juli elkaar het jawoord! Aangezien we bijna een jaar lang bezig zijn geweest met het verzamelen van alle documenten, kan ik mijzelf inmiddels wel expert noemen op dit gebied. Graag deel ik dan ook mijn ervaring dit artikel zodat de voorbereidingen op jouw huwelijk in Portugal als niet-Portugees, een stuk makkelijker zullen zijn!
Just a few more months and then it's time again for the tax return in Portugal. But the preparation...starts a little earlier! In this article, I'll explain to you how the payments linked to your NIF in 2022 will appear under the correct category so they will be confirmed!
Nog een paar maanden en dan is het weer tijd voor de belastingaangifte in Portugal. Maar de voorbereiding…die begint al wat eerder! In dit artikel leg ik je uit hoe de betalingen die aan jouw NIF zijn gekoppeld in 2022, onder de juiste categorie komen te staan en zo bevestigd worden. Let op: dit moet je voor 27 februari hebben gedaan!
Four years ago I moved to Portugal ´for a year.´ Well that year is taking a bit longer... 😉 This milestone had to be celebrated and it´s what I did by renewing my Portuguese transport card. There are nicer things to do, but since I travel daily on public transport, this was important! In this article, I´ll explain what the personal transport card is and how to get or renew it.
Afgelopen week was het alweer vier jaar geleden dat ik ´voor een jaar´ naar Portugal vertrok. Deze mijlpaal moest natuurlijk gevierd worden, en wel met het vernieuwen van mijn Portugese OV kaart 😉. Er zijn leukere dingen om te doen maar omdat ik dagelijks met het OV reis, was dit wel belangrijk. In dit artikel leg ik je uit wat de persoonlijke OV kaart is en hoe je deze kan aanvragen of vernieuwen.
In het artikel Geschiedenis van Portugal deel 1 heb ik al het een en ander geschreven over de geschiedenis van Portugal. Voor de geschiedenisfanaten is er nu ook deel twee! In dit artikel vertel ik je meer over wat er tijdens en na de tijd van ontdekkingsreizigers heeft plaats gevonden in Portugal.
In September, it was announced that the Portuguese government would give a €125 to residents in Portugal due to inflation. Families would also receive an amount of 50 euros per child living at home. There was confusion for many people, including myself; would it be only for residents in Portugal with Portuguese nationality or also for residents without Portuguese nationality? By now, we know more! The government has even started paying for it. In this article, I'll tell you more about it!
In september werd er bekend gemaakt dat de Portugese overheid eenmalig 125 euro zou geven aan inwoners in Portugal vanwege de inflatie. Ook zouden gezinnen een bedrag van 50 euro per thuiswonend kind krijgen. Er was voor veel mensen, waaronder ikzelf, onduidelijkheid voor wie dit zou zijn; alleen voor inwoners in Portugal met een Portugese nationaliteit of ook voor inwoners zonder de Portugese nationaliteit? Inmiddels is er al een hoop duidelijk en is de overheid zelfs al begonnen met het betalen. In dit artikel vertel ik je er meer over!
Het is zover: je nieuwsgierige moeder/vader/vriend/oudtante komt je bezoeken! Naast dat deze persoon het natuurlijk leuk vindt om jou te zien, kan het maar zo zijn dat hij/zij ook wat meer wil weten over het land zelf (en dan heb ik het niet alleen over de mooie stranden). Natuurlijk kan jij er als inmiddels inwoner van Portugal, alles over vertellen…..toch? Na dit artikel in ieder geval wel! Ik geef je een samenvatting van de geschiedenis van Portugal. Dit is het eerste deel (romeinen tot aan de tijd van ontdekkingsreizigers). Deel 2 vindt je hier .