While in Philadelphia for the Living in Portugal Seminars organised by Open Media, some of The Resident team met an American couple with an unusual story. As we chatted over coffee and cookies with Jeremy and Jeanette Roman about visa options and moving to Portugal, they shared their life-changing encounter with a stray cat while on holiday in Lagos.
This was in January 2023, when the Romans thought they were simply taking their two adult daughters on a lengthy holiday. They made a list of potential destinations, did the usual online research, and ultimately, it was their daughters, Bailey and Riley, who pointed at Portugal and said, “That’s where we want to go.”
They booked a month abroad — two weeks in Lisbon’s historic Madragoa neighbourhood, a long weekend in Sintra, and then down to the sun‑washed shores of Lagos in the Algarve. It was meant to be an experiment in remote working, a family adventure, and perhaps the first serious scouting trip for a future move overseas.
Instead, a small black cat decided it would be the beginning of something much bigger.
The Romans arrived in Lisbon with laptops and headsets, not just guidebooks. Both parents were working full‑time, staying on U.S. East Coast hours. Mornings were for exploration — slipping out into the cobbled streets by 7 or 8am, grabbing coffee in tiny cafés and wandering Madragoa’s steep lanes. By 2pm, they were back at their apartment, logged into meetings until 10 at night. Even with that demanding schedule, life felt different.
“It just felt slower. It felt cosy,” Jeanette remembers. “Going down to the café, walking everywhere, the pastries, the history… There was this sense of personality everywhere — especially in Madragoa. Cobblestones, old buildings, neighbours talking across balconies. It was very traditional, very immersive.”
They took a weekend in Sintra, then headed south to Lagos. The rhythm stayed the same: mornings out, afternoons and evenings working. But in Lagos, something unexpected walked straight into their lives. While Jeremy and Jeanette worked inside, their daughters camped out on the porch, soaking up the Algarve sun. One day, a sleek black cat, about a year old, strolled up as if she owned the place. No hesitation, no nervous circling — she simply climbed into the girls’ laps and settled down. For Bailey, then 22, it was instant. “Love at first sight,” Jeanette says.
Bailey walked back into the house shortly afterwards and announced she was taking this cat home. Jeremy hesitated. They were on another continent. This was a street cat. The logistics were daunting. Jeanette, though, took a different view. “I said, ‘she’s an adult. If she can figure out how to get the cat from Portugal back to Philadelphia, that’s her choice’.”
Bailey took on the challenge, quickly looking up airline rules and booking a flight for a very surprised feline. She found a Lagos vet to handle travel requirements, checking for a microchip and ownership. Portugal mandates microchipping; without one, a street cat is a stray. The cat had no chip or collar, with no owner in sight. The vet vaccinated her, prepared U.S. entry paperwork, and gave her a passport. Meanwhile, the Romans visited a Portuguese pet shop, leaving with supplies and a soft carrier that met the airline’s requirements.
However, their new feline companion had her own ideas. On the journey back from Lagos to Lisbon for their flight home, the cat managed to escape from the soft carrier and started exploring the car. By the time they arrived in Lisbon, the family realised this was not a cat to be contained by mesh and zippers. They purchased a hard-sided carrier, still within airline size restrictions but much more secure.
At the airport, the carrier sparked another wave of anxiety. The staff insisted on a soft carrier; the Romans calmly explained that their cat had already proven herself an escape artist. Did anyone really want a black cat tearing through the cabin at 35,000 feet? After a flurry of discussions, common sense prevailed. The cat was cleared to board. At JFK, the family braced for one final hurdle — quarantine, inspections, a meticulous review of documents. Instead, they were directly waved through.
Just like that, a young black street cat from Lagos became an American resident. Back home in Pennsylvania, the Romans gave their new family member a name: Binx, after the black cat in the film Hocus Pocus. What began as a spontaneous act of compassion on a porch in the Algarve quickly wove itself into the fabric of their daily lives.
Jeanette says with a laugh, “It’s a family thing now.” The Romans’ household has grown into a small menagerie: Binx, another cat adopted by their younger daughter at Penn State; a dog; a lizard; and a snake. The accidental tourist has a full‑blown zoo around her. But Binx is more than just another pet. She is Portugal, personified — or rather, feline‑fied. For the Romans, Binx is a living reminder of the country they fell in love with.
Their month in Portugal left them with a clear sense of what they wanted next. “I’m looking to slow down. I’m looking to simplify,” Jeanette says. That feeling, first sparked by cobbled streets, tiny restaurants with fresh‑caught fish and €40 family dinners including wine, hasn’t faded. In fact, it has evolved into a plan that led them to attend the Living in Portugal Seminar, where they learned about visas and legal pathways to move abroad; where they spoke with lawyers and relocation specialists about options like the Golden Visa and even pet relocation services — crucial now that Binx has an entire extended animal family to bring along.
The family has mentally pencilled in a timeline: once their younger daughter graduates next spring, they’d like to make the move. Lisbon still pulls at them with its history and neighbourhood life. The Algarve tempts with its coastline and light. Wherever they land, one thing is certain: Binx is coming home. Back to her roots, as Jeanette puts it, a full‑circle journey from Portuguese street cat to American citizen and, perhaps soon, back to Portuguese resident.
