Solo Trippin’ – Destination: Portugal

Written by: Sabine Oh!
19 April 2019 – 22:44

Disclaimer: I don’t claim to be a writer by any means, just typing my thoughts out on paper…exactly how they form in my mind (all over the place). All pictures and videos were all taken by me unless stated otherwise. Oh, and none of this content is sponsored.

One of my first biggest overseas SOLO trips was to Portugal, during my birthday week. I had just opened a new credit card with Chase and they were having a deal that if you spend $4k in 3 months you would get 50,000 points to use toward just about anything. . . of course, being the me that I am, I was sold lol. In 3 months, it was way too easy for me to spend $4k (in hindsight, this isn’t something I recommend you do unless you know you have the finances to recover). Anywho, so June rolled around the corner and I had my tickets ready for me to embark on my biggest solo trip thus far. Let’s knock the trip specifics out the way shall we:

* I’m going to have to come back and fill this in when I actually recover the information, oops lol)

Let me just start by saying, I had the time of my life. Portugal had me ready to move to the country permanently. The one thing I enjoy about solo traveling is that I am at the mercy of no one but myself. I woke up when I felt like it and I went where I wanted to go for as long as I wanted to go. One thing I like doing with every place I go to is hitting up the mall. I like to see what other malls look like, the fashion in that area, the food court, etc. I took an Uber to about 3 or 4 different malls in close proximity to one another (yes, Uber works out here and it is extremely handy). The malls did not disappoint. The weather in Portugal is pretty hot (who am I kidding, it’s extremely hot….it reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit while I was there), so naturally the fashion sense out there matched the temperature. Lots of comfortable loose pieces and tons of bathing suits. The food court was enjoyable, I was able to enjoy my food on a balcony overlooking the city of Lisboa.

Rewind, I didn’t stay in Lisbon during my stay. I chose to stay in the city Cascais [kesh-kahsh] that wasn’t too far away because the hotel had good ratings. Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy a good hotel. Honestly, sometimes I think I travel just for the hotel life. I ventured to Lisbon a couple of times during my stay, one of the main reasons was for the reservation in a personal pink TukTuk that I booked for myself. My driver was amazing, she took me all over the city of Lisbon and I was able to take a photo in front of one of the most photographed areas ever, the oldest neighborhoods in Lisbon, Alfama. What a joy this TukTuk was, I definitely encourage you to ride in one if you haven’t already.

For the first time ever, I tried sardines! A new friend and I (a woman I met from a Facebook travel group) met up to have lunch at a mom & pop stop in the city. They served us the works! Not only did I try sardines (“which by the way is an acquired taste that I did not acquire lol) but I tried this dessert called Camel’s Drool! Yes, I know what it sounds like and I had the same hesitations about it myself. Much to my surprise, this stuff was amazeballs lol. I really REALLY enjoyed it and would definitely go back to the restaurant just for that. I was also able to visit a local flea market, Feira da Ladra, which opens on Tuesdays & Saturdays. You can literally spend hourssss at this market, and I totally did. So many things to see and buy, people everywhere, and music down every street that can be heard from miles away.

One of the days my fellow travel friend and I decided to meet up and take a trip to Sintra. You want to talk about beautiful architecture? This is where you want to be. Castles galore! Word of advice, wear comfortable shoes. The hike up to all of these castles was no joke and I was not dressed for the occasion. This is a mistake I tend to make everywhere I go, always trying to be Instagram ready and fashionable but not actually functional… it definitely affected my day, so lesson learned.

All in all, would I recommend Portugal? Absolutely! I also think it was a pretty good place for a solo female traveler. Stay vigilant as you should anywhere you go and you will be fine. Welp, that’s all for now.