Entrepreneurial couple Kees Goossens (59 years) and Ingrid (57 years) used to have good careers in the Netherlands. They own a modern and fully equipped villa. However, in 2017, the couple decided to quit their jobs, sell their comfortable home and move to Portugal to live on a deserted hillside.
When they moved to Portugal, the couple spent two months building a new house. They built a one-storey wooden house, which is not equipped with electricity, water or a modern gas supply system.
Kees talked about his bold decision and said he was “tired of the boring middle class life”. Before that, he was a businessman with an income that many people admired, about EUR 50,000/year (about VND 1.3 billion).
“We have a good job, a good life and almost everything in our hands. A comfortable and comfortable life. But I always feel like something is missing. After years of being well dressed, I wonder if this is the life I dreamed of?”, Kees mused.
In 2016, de Kees and his wife went on holiday for 2 weeks in Alentejo – a rural area of Portugal. The peaceful, relaxed life and poetic landscape of this place made them decide to stay.
“It helped us experience something we’ve never experienced before,” Kees said. “The beauty of nature is amazing. And the farmers are very friendly, frank and open. At that moment I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life here.”
Before building the house, Kees and his wife visited this rural area around August 2016. “We have been talking to the local authorities and architects for about a month to learn the procedures needed to buy land and build a house. We wanted to make sure the decision to move here was the right one. And indeed it is. The more we researched, the more convinced we became.”
Just a few months later, the couple decided to sell all their properties in the Netherlands and buy a plot of land of about 50,000 square meters on a deserted hill near the village of Monter Sobreiro for 29,000 euros (about 800 million VND).
After years of working as a building contractor with years of experience, Kees designed his own imprint for the house and sent drawings to the architects for inspection. After the formalities were approved, the micro-entrepreneur started building a new home. They do almost everything themselves.
During the construction of the house, this couple temporarily lived in a small house. Two months later, the couple completed the house they had designed and built themselves. The total cost for the house is approximately EUR 30,000. The house has a bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. In addition, they have also built 2 houses next to it so that visitors can spend the night.
In the peaceful countryside of Portugal they live “self-sufficient”. To earn a living, they harvest the bark of the cork oak, sell them and raise pigs.
Because there is no electricity, water or gas, Kees and his wife have to burn wood for heating, use solar panels to operate the refrigerator and electric lighting in the house. The water is pumped from a nearby well.
While the couple enjoys farming life in Portugal, their two sons still live in the Netherlands to complete their studies. Every now and then they return to the Netherlands to visit their two children.
“Every time we return to the Netherlands, we try to arrange our work and return home as soon as possible. Because that place has become too strange for us. We don’t want to be part of that world. Now my wife and I are happy with the way we live.
Although we have lived in the city for most of our lives, surprisingly we have no regrets about our past lives. I don’t need luxury anymore.
It sounds a bit cliché, but when we live in the countryside, we are free and we can be ourselves. That’s exactly what we’ve been looking for all our lives. Luckily I found it early”.
Kees and his wife are quite confident in their decision, but their friends and family are not. “A lot of people advised us against it and thought we were crazy. Our two sons in particular did not understand why we were doing this and were very skeptical about our parents’ choice.
But gradually the children understood and began to visit us more often. They understand what this country means and realize that we are happier with life than ever,” said Kees.
Dutch businessman couple harvest cork oak bark and breed pigs
Kees and Ingrid want to lead a carefree, self-sufficient life and work hard on their farm. They are also working on learning more Portuguese. “For the first time in my life I feel like I’m living the way I want. Every day is a celebration, because we work for ourselves, do what we want.”
Source: CafeF
