This was originally published in June 2023. May summer 2026 find you smiling, discovering, and growing.

Feliz primeiro dia de verão. Happy first (official) day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Today, June 21, is the summer solstice and longest day of the year in this hemisphere. My day began with rain, so the 6:11 sunrise wasn’t visible. But now the sun is shining and I’m looking forward to watching the sunset at 21:07.

The sunsets are beautiful, of course, and during the day the sun is hotter than I was used to in northeast Ohio. Summer weather here on the Silver Coast is only in the 70s Fahrenheit, sometimes in the low 80s, with lows in the 60s. Perfect for me. But a recent late-morning walk to town on a cloudless, sunny day felt more like 90°F than the actual 67°F.

Hot weather is not my groove.

My friend says the humidity from the ocean makes him feel hotter when he comes to visit me. He’s an Englishman who moved to Portugal from Ireland eight years ago and now lives in the Alentejo region near Spain. It was 100°F there in April. He says it doesn’t feel as hot because it’s a dry heat. OK. You know what else is a dry heat?

Fire.

Another expat I met here lives around the corner with her Portuguese husband and their son. She is Australian and a runner. She beats the hot sun by running at 6 in the morning. She said I was welcome to join her.

Oh. Yeah. Sure.

Running is not my groove.

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The top two reasons I adore living where I do on the Silver Coast of central Portugal are (1) it is on the ocean and (2) air temperatures are cooler than in Lisbon, the Algarve, or Hell the Alentejo. I simply cannot tolerate heat on top of my never-ending hot flashes. This was a concern recently when I spent a beautiful,  sunny, hot weekend in Lisbon to attend an outdoor event. Lisbon can be 10-20 degrees warmer in summer than where I live.

The event was fantastic, with plenty of shade to keep the large crowd cool. It was a party celebrating the five-year YouTube anniversary of Our Rich Journey. I am living where I am, in my dream home, because of an ORJ YouTube episode on Portugal’s Silver Coast. It was thrilling to meet and thank this family in person, and to meet so many other current and future expats who are living or planning to live in Portugal.

I posted today on Instagram about my well-masked social anxiety when preparing to attend events with lots of people. I told myself I would only stay for one hour and then retreat to the comfort of my hotel room. I stayed for six hours. While I did deal with an expected “introvert hangover” after three days of non-stop peopling in Lisbon, I soaked up and basked in the beautiful energy and vibes of everyone I met. I found my groove. And it was an added bonus when a few folks said, “Aren’t you The Hot Goddess?” “I read your blog.” “You’re the whiskey intern.” What an awesome lead-in to summer.

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I can’t wait to see what else Portugal has in store for me during summer. In 10 days, I’ll hit the nine-month mark here. Time is flying by. I’m looking forward to savoring the summer months here, and finding my groove at home in the sun. Walking. Not running.

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All images are my own except as noted.

The Hot Goddess

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