Bianca's maternal lineage is Portuguese — specifically the Azores.
Sinfully though, she had never been. But that is changing right now. We're all here, and I was fortunate enough to get an invitation. Thank you! One thing I didn't appreciate until recently is that a large majority of the Portuguese in Toronto (70%?) are of Azorean descent, particularly from the island of São Miguel (which is the largest and where we are right now).
This is the result of a major wave of immigration that occurred between the 1950s and 1970s, where Azoreans came for economic opportunity and to fulfill a labor shortage in Canada. This strong connection between Canada and the Azores can be found all around the island. In fact, the first restaurant we walked into had this plate prominently displayed on the wall:
As soon as I saw it I said to the owner, "I like your license plate!" And she replied with, "thank you, yes, Toronto!"
I've also been spotting Canadian flags all around the island, including this hybrid Portuguese-Canadian one:
São Miguel is a beautiful place with stunning landscapes, warm and welcoming people, and incredible food. (If you've had lapas grelhadas before you'll know that it's an optimal delivery mechanism for butter and garlic.) I'm excited to share my photos with all of you, both here on the blog and on Globizen's Instagram page. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the card reader for my Fujifilm, and so my best photos will have to wait until I'm back in Toronto.
Stay tuned.
One common way to measure affordability is to look at the cost of things relative to local incomes. But the world is getting increasingly more complicated than this. Here, for example, is an interesting article talking about the "nomadification" of cities such as Medellín.
What this is referring to is digital nomads who might work for and draw a salary from a company in say the US, but who work fully remotely in places like Medellín, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City. It's like working from home all the time, except home is some exciting city in Latin America.
Bianca's maternal lineage is Portuguese — specifically the Azores.
Sinfully though, she had never been. But that is changing right now. We're all here, and I was fortunate enough to get an invitation. Thank you! One thing I didn't appreciate until recently is that a large majority of the Portuguese in Toronto (70%?) are of Azorean descent, particularly from the island of São Miguel (which is the largest and where we are right now).
This is the result of a major wave of immigration that occurred between the 1950s and 1970s, where Azoreans came for economic opportunity and to fulfill a labor shortage in Canada. This strong connection between Canada and the Azores can be found all around the island. In fact, the first restaurant we walked into had this plate prominently displayed on the wall:
As soon as I saw it I said to the owner, "I like your license plate!" And she replied with, "thank you, yes, Toronto!"
I've also been spotting Canadian flags all around the island, including this hybrid Portuguese-Canadian one:
São Miguel is a beautiful place with stunning landscapes, warm and welcoming people, and incredible food. (If you've had lapas grelhadas before you'll know that it's an optimal delivery mechanism for butter and garlic.) I'm excited to share my photos with all of you, both here on the blog and on Globizen's Instagram page. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the card reader for my Fujifilm, and so my best photos will have to wait until I'm back in Toronto.
Stay tuned.
One common way to measure affordability is to look at the cost of things relative to local incomes. But the world is getting increasingly more complicated than this. Here, for example, is an interesting article talking about the "nomadification" of cities such as Medellín.
What this is referring to is digital nomads who might work for and draw a salary from a company in say the US, but who work fully remotely in places like Medellín, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City. It's like working from home all the time, except home is some exciting city in Latin America.
The appeal of this work arrangement is obvious. You get to both live in an exciting city and you get to arbitrage between a US or other similarly high salary and a place where the cost of living is significantly less.
But the point of the above article is that this can distort a local economy and make locals feel like they're getting priced out. When you take enough software developers making $150k a year and you drop them into a place where the minimum wage is $350 per month, that additional income starts to have an impact.
Though, many countries seem to think it's a positive one. Last year, both Portugal and Colombia introduced new digital nomad visas, which presumably means they want more of them. And I certainly think that we will see more and not less of this kind of working.
But in a way, isn't this really just an extreme form of tourism? I mean, unless these nomadic cities are collecting additional income taxes (or deriving some other benefits), aren't we just talking about foreigners renting Airbnbs and spending money that is earned and taxed elsewhere?
Chart: Rest of World
The Addresses is a new hospitality brand that offers up beautifully designed custom houses for rent in the Algarve region of Portugal. Designed by Lisbon-based architects, atelier RUA, the company's initial houses include a former fish warehouse that was renovated with both modern and traditional Portuguese touches.
Alongside these retreats, the company (by way of a partnership with Studio Stories) also offers its guests curated "experiences." This is all part of the company's focus on culture, architecture, and hospitality.
I am a big fan of these design-forward hospitality companies, which offer experiences that you could probably describe as existing somewhere between a traditional hotel and an Airbnb. Similar to the latter, they are decentralized and they are focused on authentic and local experiences.
But they also come with a particular set of sensibilities -- and perhaps some consistency -- that you could argue starts to reflect your favorite hotel. Another more local example is Canadian-based Hinter, which I discovered and blogged about last fall.
When I checked this past winter, Hinter's houses were booked up several months in advance. This tells me that there's more than a few people who are hungry for these sorts of travel experiences. At the same time, I think it speaks to the tremendous value that you can create with beautiful architecture and design.
The appeal of this work arrangement is obvious. You get to both live in an exciting city and you get to arbitrage between a US or other similarly high salary and a place where the cost of living is significantly less.
But the point of the above article is that this can distort a local economy and make locals feel like they're getting priced out. When you take enough software developers making $150k a year and you drop them into a place where the minimum wage is $350 per month, that additional income starts to have an impact.
Though, many countries seem to think it's a positive one. Last year, both Portugal and Colombia introduced new digital nomad visas, which presumably means they want more of them. And I certainly think that we will see more and not less of this kind of working.
But in a way, isn't this really just an extreme form of tourism? I mean, unless these nomadic cities are collecting additional income taxes (or deriving some other benefits), aren't we just talking about foreigners renting Airbnbs and spending money that is earned and taxed elsewhere?
Chart: Rest of World
The Addresses is a new hospitality brand that offers up beautifully designed custom houses for rent in the Algarve region of Portugal. Designed by Lisbon-based architects, atelier RUA, the company's initial houses include a former fish warehouse that was renovated with both modern and traditional Portuguese touches.
Alongside these retreats, the company (by way of a partnership with Studio Stories) also offers its guests curated "experiences." This is all part of the company's focus on culture, architecture, and hospitality.
I am a big fan of these design-forward hospitality companies, which offer experiences that you could probably describe as existing somewhere between a traditional hotel and an Airbnb. Similar to the latter, they are decentralized and they are focused on authentic and local experiences.
But they also come with a particular set of sensibilities -- and perhaps some consistency -- that you could argue starts to reflect your favorite hotel. Another more local example is Canadian-based Hinter, which I discovered and blogged about last fall.
When I checked this past winter, Hinter's houses were booked up several months in advance. This tells me that there's more than a few people who are hungry for these sorts of travel experiences. At the same time, I think it speaks to the tremendous value that you can create with beautiful architecture and design.
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