Living nearby the sea

When I returned from Sweden to Germany, I didn’t know where to place myself in the world. I was 27 years old at the time. I had just finished my studies in Berlin and felt more lost than ever. Today, I would never do it that way again. I would follow my heart much earlier.

Sweden was a beautiful but also very challenging experience. It was cold, and I worked on farms in exchange for food and a place to sleep.

Back in Germany, I stayed in my mother’s forest garden, which we lovingly called “Käuzchenhang.” I lived there for half a year in a simple wooden hut. There was even a small clay house nearby, but at that time I didn’t have running water yet.

Apart from the little owls, the neighbor’s donkeys were my main company. Donkeys truly have a sense of humor, and I spent many joyful and funny hours with Igor and Marlou. My mother was worried about me living alone in the forest. In the beginning, I also felt a bit strange and listened closely to every sound around me.

I remember walking through the forest at night once, having to climb the hill in the dark. At first, it felt unsettling. But then I began to trust the forest, and suddenly I felt safe and protected. It was a wonderful and deeply teaching time. In summer, I even got to watch fireflies dancing between the trees.

But I couldn’t stay there forever. So it was time to move on again — only where to? I felt rootless. My mother once said to me, “Linda, I have the feeling that Germany is not your country.”

Before I came to Portugal, I moved several more times within Germany and grew tired of the meaningless jobs I was doing.

About three years later, my path finally led me to Portugal.

I still remember the feeling of sleeping by the ocean for the first time. After a long time, I felt like I was coming home — as if my soul had known the sea since ancient times…

From that moment on, a deep longing grew inside me — the wish to one day live by the sea. In Portugal, life in summer is only truly comfortable living close to the ocean, unless you live in the far north. The west coast offers fresh sea air in summer and gentle warmth in winter. This is where the phenomenon of microclimates exists. Just fifteen kilometers inland can mean a temperature difference of 15 degrees or more.

I always wanted to have the sea close — not something I had to drive to, but something I could walk to. And right now, I feel richly blessed. Within five to ten minutes, I reach the ocean and stand before this vast blue openness. At night, I can even hear the sound of the waves as I fall asleep.

But to arrive here, many obstacles had to be overcome — and those are stories I will share in my next blog posts.