After traveling on ten small group tours with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) and enjoying every single one, we hadn’t planned on changing course. But thanks to a gal we met on our very first tour with OAT, we learned of a new (and very different) concept: The Good Life Abroad (TGLA). She had learned about the company from other OAT travelers who had enjoyed their first TGLA experiences, so she booked a month in Paris. She suggested I check out the TGLA Community Facebook page to see what other TGLA travelers had to say about their experiences. That was in spring of 2025, and after reading many posts, we were convinced. We booked a month in Lisbon, Portugal, for September 13 – October 13, 2026.
Since then, I have continued reading more positive posts from other travelers who chose to live like a local with TGLA. And, our friend loved her month in Paris! We were so excited when September 13 arrived.
The Good Life Abroad, founded by Andrew Motiwalla, is designed for 55+ active adults who would like to live in a foreign city for an extended period and engage deeply with the local culture and community.
This is exactly what we were looking for as an alternative to the small group tour experience where we only stay in any given city or town for a few days before moving on. Our previous visit to Lisbon wasn’t even that long; it was for one day during a cruise in 1998. What can you possibly experience in a city in a day? It was barely scratching the surface as a tourist. Bruce and I prefer to be travelers.
For me, I was yearning to go full circle. My international travels began by backpacking through the South Pacific for one year after college, in 1984. I was truly living like a local, even working in a couple of different cities in Australia. I had missed that immersive experience and wanted to enjoy it again—this time in more comfort as a senior, living in an apartment rather than bunking in youth hostels.
The TGLA program includes an apartment, usually in the same building as the others in TGLA “community.” Our group of 14 were split up in two buildings near each other in the central Chiado area of central Lisbon. We were located at Lisbon Best Apartments Chiado Camoes, overlooking Praca de Luis Camoes.
Three days each week, there are activities planned for the group by the community manager, who is also available throughout the week to answer questions. On Tuesdays, we met up at a restaurant in a different neighborhood each time to enjoy the local cuisine. This was a great time to catch up on what we all did during our four days exploring on our own.
On Wednesdays, a cultural activity was planned, either a walking tour, market tour and cooking class, or tile painting workshop. Thursday evening was happy hour, the final one being during an awesome sunset cruise. We also did a side trip to Sintra with lunch. All of these activities are included in the cost.
Lisbon has an excellent metro system, which our community manager, Jen, taught us how to use during our orientation tour. She provided a card loaded with 10 Euros, which we could refill as needed. Bruce and I found it easy to get around by using our card for not only the metro, but the “electrico,” electric tram, bus, and ferry across the Tagus River. For areas not as easily accessible, we used Bolt, a less expensive and more popular option than Uber. It is such a reasonably priced option that locals use it a lot. Since Lisbon is a VERY hilly city with cobblestone streets, our group used Bolt often.
In Europe, many people use WhatsApp to communicate, since it is free. Jen set up a group for us, so that is how we all communicated with each other. Jen would post the location of our next meet-up along with a map link and other information. It worked out great!
Our month in Portugal was a wonderful experience! More details and photos will appear in upcoming posts, but for now I will leave you with photos of our apartment and views from our living room balcony. (I opted against using a camera for this trip and shot all photos with my Google Pixel 8a phone. Although it was convenient, since I was using my phone for GoogleMaps navigation, the downside was the noticeable wide angle distortion on some of my pictures.)
(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)
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Coming up next: LOVING LIVING LIKE A LOCAL IN LISBON #2: CHARMING CHIADO
