"I moved from Campo de Ourique to the Heath of Caparica, because life changed"

I* was born in the city. In Almada. I was all grown up, and Mom, I went to live in Lisbon. I'm part of that group of people who can't imagine (imagining) life without the lights of buildings and cars, the sound of ambulances and airplanes, and that constant buzz that makes us believe that there is not a single moment when the streets are empty. The city has a certain poetry.

And beautiful words aside, the city has an infinite amount of qualities: the proximity of everything, the possibility to walk always on foot, the cafes and restaurants, the supermarkets and a pharmacy on every corner - with one always in extended hours. The city has it all.

My opinion remains the same. The city has it all. But life has changed, and so has I.

In recent years, holiday returns in quiet places have always been very hard. As if, as soon as he got to town, all the rest disappeared. Like my head was exhausted, so I was back to dealing with the acceleration of the city. But I went over those feelings, believing I could never get out of town.

At this stage of life we were a couple, four children (mine, yours and ours) and four dogs. yes, we lived all these in a huge, rented house in the middle of town. In the middle of campo de Ourique neighborhood.

Two and a half years ago my grandfather passed away in the middle of the summer. We returned early on holiday and for a few days we were always at my mother's house (who already lives in a quiet area and close to the beach a few years ago). On a road trip, we passed through a villa under construction and challenged Pedro (my husband) to go see. We loathed the house, but the chance to change is no longer taboo for me and us.

It made perfect sense: more space for the kids, living closer to my mother and investing in a house oftheir own, instead of maintaining such a high rental value.

In the following weeks, we contacted a real estate agent who dominated the area and explained exactly what we wanted: a plot of land that was walking distance from my mother's house. On the same day of the visits we were left with two possibilities and Pedro wanted the most distant terrain from main roads. Prices were already somewhat inflated, both on the ground and on the construction,but we still found a solution with balanced figures for our budget. Chosen!

The choice of land was simple, but the construction was a challenge (huge challenge). We started building in March 2019. We moved to the South Bank, seriously, in May 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and confinement.

At first, we went to live at my mother's house to save some money and be close to the work. For the first few months I could only think about what I had done to my life. How would I live without the lights of buildings and cars, the sound of ambulances and airplanes, and the buzz of the city?

After the same move to our house, in the Heath of Caparica, although in the same area of countryside, calm and proximity to the sea, and especially in the hard period of confinement, because of the pandemic of Covid-19, all possible regrets passed and I was sure that we had made the right decision.

I began to feel very grateful to be there, in that calm. We are privileged: we have space, fresh air, and family close by. The calm is getting ingrained, I learned to slow down, and we created new routines. I don't want to get out of here today.

Still, since not everything is beautiful words or illusions, there are things that are missing in the field. The car is required on almost all trips (and public transport is almost non-existent), the services available are more limited and some shops remain in Lisbon. And although everything happens more calmly here in the countryside, the traffic for those who need to go to the city to work is chaotic.

I, as a work athome, can close myself in the bubble here in the country house and ignore much of the disadvantages of this change.

As in any great love story, our marriage to the countryside is going perfectly, but "forever" we soon see as the days go by.

Source: *Catarina Beato, author and coach signs the special "I moved to a house in the countryside", authored by idealista /news.pt