My name is Sarah Warne, but in Australia I’m known as Warney. Here in Portugal, where I moved to 4 years ago, I’m known as “Sara”, and I gave up trying to get people to pronounce SARAH, and the Warney nickname I don’t think will be one that will catch on.

1. Why did you move abroad?
Originally I headed over to Portugal to find my mum a Lustiano, which is the Portuguese national horse, and after finding her horse, I stumbled across Batialo; future best mate and love of my life. After that, I kept telling mum I would stay just one more month, just one more month, and Batialo kept getting bigger and better, and one day I decided I was going to stay here and one day make the Olympics!

2. How do you make a living?
I now combine my dressage training and dream of making the Olympics, with my journalism and blog writing. I became a journalist at The Herald Sun in Australia, and I really enjoy using that to write about the sport that I love!

My articles appear on Eurodressage, and I’ve also started to write for Equestrian Life Magazine in Australia.

We are also about to start running equestrian tours to Portugal for small groups a few times a year, where people can come and see Portugal while riding on horseback through the countryside, and taking lessons on Lusitanos.

3. How often do you communicate with home and how?
Skype is the link to my mum, and while it is a great way to communicate with home, it is often the target of some Aussie swearing, as I watch mum flick in and out in morse code conversation!

Facebook is also a big help, and usually I know more about mum’s friend down the road than she does, just by keeping up to date with their profile.

4. What's your favorite thing about being an expat in Portugal?
Well, the horses, the training, the weather, and of course finding my partner, Duarte, out here was also a huge help.

Together we have started the Facebook page “The Core Training For Equestrians” to help people work their core muscles and stay fit even if they have limited time and resources (or they are on the move).

5. What’s the worst thing about being an expat in Portugal?
Learning Portuguese has been a little tricky, and while I understand most of what is said, I sometimes find it hard to spit out the words I want, and I get a bit frustrated.

Once upon a time I also would have said the food, but I realised that if you don’t look at what you’re eating, it actually tastes pretty great.

6. What do you miss most?
Vegemite, Ice-magic, skinny dipping (I got in trouble here for doing that), Weetbix not Weetabix (not the same thing), mum, friends, family, and singing at the top of my lungs on horseback out in the countryside on my farm, where no-one has to suffer through the sound of my lovely voice!

7. What did you do to meet people and integrate in your new home?
Tried to speak to taxi people to learn Portuguese, and then used this to speak to everyone I could.

Found my dream horse, and used him to get noticed. Never took no for an answer, and if someone gave me a window, I leaped though it and ran out the other side!

8. What custom/ habits do you find most strange about your adopted culture?
They kiss each other all the time, TWICE, when they say hello, when they say goodbye. If you are meeting a group of people by the time you’ve said hello to everyone you have forgotten why you are meeting them in the first place.

They also eat a lot of snails, and drink coffee standing up like a vodka shot, but other than that they are friendly, and fun, and I find so much in them that reminds me of what it means to be Aussie!

9. What is a myth about your adopted country?
They are not, and do not like to be told, that they are a part of Spain, or that they are similar to the Spanish, or that they speak Spanish.

However, they are still quite certain that I come from the land of deadly snakes/sharks/spiders, and that Australia is constantly preoccupied with deadly reptile disasters and crocodile hunts, and when I tell them I ride a Kangaroo to the supermarket the thought is not immediately dismissed!

10. Is the cost of living higher or lower than the last country you lived in and how has that made a difference in your life?
The cost of living is lower and things like going out for dinner or clothes shopping is definitely very good value for money.

The wage here though is much lower than in Australia, and I am lucky to receive my wage from outside the country.

11. What advice would you give other expats?
Write down where you want to go, you will never say it properly and you’ll end up in Spain.

When asking directions, “Sempre in Frente” means always in front, and if you ask, “Always in front of what?” they will not understand why you don’t get it.

If you ask someone how they are, and they respond with “Mais ou menos” (more or less), don’t ask “more of less than what”, it means they aren’t great, but not bad either.

Avoid any restaurant with pictures of the food, or signs saying “We speak English”, and try to find one that has one table and one lady, serving only one dish for the day, and chances are it might just be the best taste of Portugal you could ask for.

12. When and why did you start your blog?
I started my blog at the beginning of last year, to let people laugh a little bit about my adventures, to show horse people a glimpse of classical training in Portugal, and more recently to help people train their bodies without paying loads for in the gym Personal Trainers.

Sara's blog, Warneys Whip

To find out more about living in Portugal, refer to our

Guide to Lisbon

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