I moved to Portugal, where it's cheaper and my career is taking off. I'm not sure I'll ever return to the US.

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 10:24

A woman posing for a photo overlooking a city. — Kylie Adamec moved to Lisbon, Portugal, from the US in 2022.
Courtesy of Kylie Adamec

Kylie Adamec moved to Portugal in 2022 after struggling to get her career off the ground in the US.
Once she started working for herself, she couldn't afford cities like Chicago or New York City.
She took a chance on herself and moved to Portugal and it opened her eyes to new possibilities.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kylie Adamec, 26, a real-estate consultant in Lisbon who moved from Chicago to Portugal in 2022. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

I was on that path: finish high school, get a degree from a fancy university, and then go get a job, pay off debts, buy a house.

I hated it.

I had really tried to fit myself into that narrative of what a smart girl from a nice background like myself is supposed to do.