I love a bit of serendipity. The kind of so-called coincidence that has you chatting, easily and warmly, with the people sitting next to you in a local restaurant, being at their art show launch just a few days later and now telling you all about their remarkable journey to Portugal, and in life, today.
I speak of a chance meeting with a certain Ann McGarry, on the face of it, her business card and CV, a “trainer, speaker, coach, author, and artist”, yet – as is so often the case -, when lengthier conversation allows, a woman of many more parts, capabilities and concerns than the standard ‘elevator pitch’ could ever allow.
We met in nearby (to me) Alfeizerão, on the Silver Coast (a foreign and not native description, by the way, which appears to have stuck), home of Portugal’s soft, eggy, acquired taste, pão de ló.
Ann, I discovered as our paths crossed with the usual expat data exchange of “how long?”, “where?” and “why?”, plus recommendations of dishes at the excellent Tasca do Tintin (great steaks, if you’re passing), chose Foz do Arelho as home.
Not everyone I meet when I’m out and about responds to my genuine invitation to chat with me on my Good Morning Portugal! show, but Ann is exceptional. An exception, not just in that regard, in following up and actually joining me live, on air, but a pretty special person too, as you are about to find out, whose motto is “live with passion, power and purpose.”
“Initially, it was the tax advantage of pension transfer to Portugal,” she told me, as can so often be the case, when this country first appears on a person’s radar, putting her and hubby Joe initially in the Algarve, back in 2020.
“However, I fell in love with the Silver Coast, and in particular Foz do Arelho in October 2023,” she added, another pattern I have noticed, which of course includes myself, when first clapping eyes on this part of Portugal.
“I had just completed the Camino in Galicia, and my husband came to Porto to meet me,” Ann explained. “We had been looking at relocating at the time and we took advantage of viewing a property.”
Their trip ‘up North’ proved fruitful with a viewing turning into a purchase in short order. “Everything flowed from there and it has been a fantastic move,” says Ann, a native of Galway, Ireland, where home is also just five minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. “My home here is great, and in a very peaceful location.”
Finding this neck of the woods very affordable in comparison to the Algarve, she describes village life as “interesting”, I’m sure in a good way! “We are so self-sufficient here, and Caldas da Rainha is on our doorstep. I feel that this way of living is far more authentic. The ocean is amazing and the lagoon also. The latter is a beautiful place to swim safely in clear water.”
The cost of living is significantly cheaper than in Ireland, she told me, and feels that the pair of them have “integrated well into the community, in a relatively short space of time” and that the community, “both Portuguese and expat, is incredibly open and accepting”.
“We are also quite close to Lisbon, which is an amazing and often underrated capital,” she added. “Coimbra and Porto are also wonderful places to visit, and so accessible for culture and other events.
“The heat in the Algarve was a big challenge,” she recalled when pushed for downsides, adding too that “the Portuguese language is difficult”.
“I find that perhaps I can make an educated guess with the written language because I studied Latin at school, so this has been a help,” Ann explained, who focused on science, which led to a dazzling global career that has developed into “supporting both organisations and individuals to develop and grow”.
“As for the spoken language, well that is a different matter!” Ann reflected. “However, I have become more adventurous in trying to speak a few words and making myself understood. Generally speaking, and no pun intended, I feel that the Portuguese are sympathetic to my feeble efforts.”
If getting to grips with the new life and language were not enough to contend with, I saw with my own eyes how Ann has also rebirthed her love of art here and was invited to exhibit her work in “Foz”, as she familiarly refers to it, holding a first solo art exhibition, which is now in full swing. “I have been painting off and on over the last 10 years or so, and I was thrilled and terrified in equal measures to be invited to exhibit.”
It was here, among her work, in this beautiful village which has clearly become home, that we chatted. About her connection to this culture, the generosity of newly-made friends and encouragers of the show, and the spiritual significance of Portugal that informs her art, her writing and great appetite for a full and expressed life – especially what she calls the “Third Act”, our later lives, about which she writes.
“I feel that I am more relaxed here. The pace of life is slower,” says Ann, a great guardian of people’s potential and nurturer of gifts. “Perhaps it has also taught me to be more patient. I can see a niche for me to continue to write and paint. I can also see an opportunity to run seminars here. To continue with my contribution to society and the business community.
“Portugal provides a fantastic opportunity to live at a slower pace. The environment and weather here, north of Lisbon, is great,” she says. And to others who might be tempted to follow in her prolific and inspiring footsteps: “Consider what it is you love to do and develop that in whatever way you can, to experience it for yourself, and perhaps share it with others.”
Little did I know that a little casual conversation would lead me to someone with such a big vision and positive message. An inspiration and guide to anyone retiring and ageing in Portugal, reminding them, us, that this “most significant stage of life, is a time when one’s influence can positively impact one’s community, contribution and legacy.”
Ann’s art exhibition can be enjoyed until October 4 at the Casa-Museu Jaime Umbelino (in itself a delightful attraction in Foz Do Arelho, see Carl’s video).
Hear Ann on the Good Morning Portugal! show.
