Living in Portugal Got Boring

Jacci (United States/South Korea) and Leticia (Brazil)

This is the story of a retiree that moved to Portugal for many of the wonderful reasons that most any English speaking expat moves to Portugal. However, what she found after some time living in Porto might surprise you.

We caught up with Jacci, who’s originally from South Korea but had spent a considerable time in the United States, to talk to her about her move and settling in to Portugal.

She shared with us how she had taken a trip to Spain and an accidental injury extended her time in Europe. She found herself being comforted and accommodated more by the Portuguese, which in turn piqued her curiosity about potentially retiring in Portugal. So when it came time for Jacci to wind down her career and start figuring out what next, she looked towards Portugal.

Jacci really enjoyed Porto and the Douro Valley, evening joking about how on her trip to the Douro when she was injured, people were so helpful as she navigated the wine tours with others holding her glass for her as she maneuvered from place to place. But all jokes aside, she found that the warmth and hospitality she received on her trip there did not in fact change when she made the full-time move. What did change, wasn’t all too surprising, but it did surprised her.

She moved to a neighborhood to the east of the city that’s in a period of revitalization.

In 2021, the major city artery of Avenida Fernão de Magalhães was renovated and widened. The street shows many of the historic façades that you see across the city, however, it’s still been a little slow to see new housing go in. In fact, when Jacci moved, there was still an old, abandoned parking garage that looked like a project site that ran out of money and that many called cursed. That project site has more recently been purchased and is under serious redevelopment, which could see the area transformed. But the area isn’t currently transformed and as Jacci puts it, it’s lacking diversity when it comes to the age of the residents, in particular.

You see, Jacci is someone who likes being around young people and as she puts it, young people give her energy. She had gotten bored where she was. Her routine seemed to have gotten stale and she needed a new challenge. So Jacci thought about past goals that she had for her life and how she has always wanted to own and operate a cafe.

Façade of Kiwa Cafe, Bonfim, Porto, Portugal

With encouragement and discouragement from people in her friend circle, Jacci threw caution to the wind and opened up Kiwa Cafe in Bonfim in an area where younger people are. Around the corner from the cafe is a hospitality and tourism school where you can see college students and young professionals buzzing around.

Inside Kiwa Cafe in Porto

After navigating starting a business in Portugal, the cafe is keeping her busy as she bakes Asian inspired items, as well as sourcing some of the best matcha tea that you can find in Europe. She also wanted to provide coffee that matched the quality of the tea on offer, since not everyone is into matcha. So for that, she called upon Morgan, another foreigner doing business in Porto.

Jacci’s gourmet scones at Kiwa

Morgan and his partner run Von & Vonnie micro coffee roaster, which batch roasts for several businesses in Portugal and happens to be close to Kiwa Cafe. Morgan and Jacci saw synergy in their two projects. Now Morgan makes a special blend for Jacci’s cafe so that her customers can have a wonderful experience whether they’re in to matcha or coffee.

For more on Jacci’s story, please check out this video here.