As a teenager, Cordelia spent a month in Paris working as an aux pair with two children. “I fell in love with Europe and learned how to succeed on my own, in the face of a challenge, not knowing any French” she said. “It was incredibly impactful on my life.” During college she returned to Europe to spend her junior year in Madrid, Spain. She later married her college sweetheart Mike, and the two returned to Europe to explore Russia for a month.



After twenty years of living the American dream in Atlanta, Georgia, the Blakes disrupted their lives and moved to Caldas da Rainha on Portugal’s Silver Coast. This family of four includes Cordelia, Mike, their 12-year-old son Max, and Cordelia’s 81-year-old father, who lives in his own apartment.


“I love being part of a community of disrupters,” Cordelia explained. “Expats disrupt their lives back in their home countries to start out fresh somewhere else.”

Cordelia left the job market about a year before moving to Portugal to have time to downsize their lives, sell their house and begin the visa process. As a family they started to study Portuguese long before they ever set foot into the country.

“We chose to settle in Caldas da Rainha because of the school, called Colégio Rainha D. Leonor,” Cordelia said. “It’s a private Portuguese school that Max will attend. A school of its caliber would probably cost five times as much back in Atlanta,” she added.

Caldas da Rainha, one-hour north of Lisbon, Portugal’s lively capital city, is a mid-sized city fit for a queen. Literally translated as, “the queens baths,” it was discovered in the 15th century by Queen Leonor. While passing through the area she spotted people bathing in some foul-smelling water along the roadside and asked them why. They boasted of the miraculous, healing powers of the thermal water which the queen had to try out herself. So impressed, the queen ordered a hospital to be built around the spring so that all could partake. Still today that hospital exists and is said to be one of the oldest thermal hospitals in the world.

According to the Blakes, “we love that Caldas da Rainha is a smaller, walkable city that’s safe for our son,” Cordelia said with a smile. “We love that the town has few tourists so we are surrounded by mostly locals.”

Cost of living

They opted to pay cash for an apartment and car, bringing their cost of living down to a manageable level. “We sold everything back in the US and have nothing in storage,” she added. “But we did ship a three pallets of boxes that contained keepsakes, clothing, and shoes since we are all tall and hard to fit people.”

“We love living here especially since we were able to downsize our whole life which fits nicely into a compact apartment,” Cordelia explained. “I love that in Portugal we have castles, beaches, and so much natural beauty too.”

Because Cordelia, age 52 and Mike, 53 are still young and need to work they packed up their company High Score Strategies and brought it to Portugal with them. “I’ve always been somewhat of a serial entrepreneur,” Cordelia said.

With her background in sales and marketing and Mike’s expertise of economics and finance, owning their own business seemed like a no-brainer. They currently rent an office space in Caldas da Rainha from which they work.

“At High Score Strategies we provide our clients with business appraisal services and can assist them in growing, building, and maximizing their business value,” Cordelia said. “We can help them make informed decisions for transactions, growth and strategy,” she concluded. “Our client base is mostly in the US but we are building our international client base too.”

Cordelia has some advice for anyone considering a move to Portugal, or anywhere else.

Real life

“Some people have this fantasy of what their lives will be like when they move abroad. Plan to have a real life here. There will still be problems, people still get sick and making friends is not easy and does take an effort on your part,” she adds. “Go out to expat meetups, mingle, get phone numbers or social media links and later set up lunch dates or other get togethers with potential new friends,” she continues. “Friends will not just fall into your lap; it does takes some effort.”

Besides owning their own business and raising a child, Cordelia has started a vodcast. She interviews other expats who migrated here to work, either full-time, part time or as more of a hobby. “I wanted to build a community for expats to be able to contact each other and establish connections, so they don’t feel like they are all alone.

“We love living here and enjoy getting out to explore Portugal, and the rest of Europe,” she adds.

Author

Terry Coles has been writing about living and travelling abroad since she left the US in 2011. She and her husband have lived in Panama and now reside in Portugal. 

Terry Coles