Welcome, welcome, welcome….
We assume (at least to start with) if you are reading this that you are friends or family and we have either coaxed you into giving us a few page views or you are genuinely interested in what we have been doing thus far.
However for those of you who we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, here is what you need to know…
We are Alys and Nathan, we come from 3 of the 4 countries in the United Kingdom.. Alys just from Wales, Nathan is either from England or Scotland, it really depends on the way he feels that day and whether we are in the Rugby Union season.
We were both born in 1993 (so 27 at the point of starting this blog in 2020).
2020, the year of many bizarre things happening but probably most memorably for the Covid-19 pandemic which is showing no signs of being over now in September 2020.
What else is there worth mentioning….
We met on our first day of living in the University town of Aberystwyth in September 2011, at a Freshers social meet and greet style event in a local pub. A few months later on we began dating and over 8 years later here we are.
We decided to end our three year stint in the city of Leeds, England at the beginning of 2020 with a dream of living in warmer climates and enjoying a lifestyle change. Portugal was the chosen destination.
Where within the country was yet to be decided. We both gave notice on our jobs; Bar Management for myself and Personal Training for Nathan. The plan was to be out in Portugal in April, to fully prepare and equip ourselves ready for the busy summer season. Coronavirus made that basically impossible. Instead we hunkered down with our respective families for a few months (thanks for their wonderful hospitality!!) and finally managed to leave the UK at the beginning of August 2020. Which is when we started to write down our journey for you to follow and perhaps learn from if you are thinking of your own similar adventure.
In April with no jobs and no move to Portugal, we did what most people did and looked online. Nathan took his training online and has been working remotely with his clients since April. I’m sure he will fill you in about this as we go along.
Also, we got engaged in November 2019 and have continued to go ahead with the planning for our wedding in April 2021, funnily enough in Portugal! So I will probably be filling you in on how that is going…or not going.
You will probably learn lots more about us and especially our likes and dislikes as we blog and post more about what we have been up to. We will even chuck some photos your way to help put names to faces and places.
We spent a lot of time discussing how to name this Blog and we are covering so many broad topics, not one name sprang to mind. We probably should have called it the “Scared of commitment, beating Brexit, sun seeking, escaping the 9 to 5, can’t stop travelling, beach bum, wish us luck on our move, oh s**t the wedding is soon, how can you stay fit eating this many Pastel de Natas” blog but instead we went with Gone to Discover.
Gone to Discover the good, the bad and everything in between as we deal with gaining Portuguese residency, finding employment and learning what can only be described as an impossible language..
I guess all I can say for now is enjoy. We have been lucky enough to travel to wonderful places all our lives and we only wish we started documenting it sooner. There is really no time like the present so we will begin pre trip in The South Wales Valleys…
Love
Alys & Nathan x
Gone to Discover 