I moved from New York to Portugal for graduate school. I fell in love, got engaged, and have no plans to move back to the US.

Nicole Echeverria met her fiancé through TikTok.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nicole Echeverria, 31, who moved from New York to Portugal in 2019. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I’d had the itch to try living abroad for some time.

I grew up in New York, graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 2015, and then moved to Boston for work.

After the 2016 elections, I began to feel anxious about my safety. That’s when I started seriously considering moving abroad. I just needed to find the right opportunity.

I knew a student visa would make it easier to move, so I thought, why don’t I apply to graduate school abroad?

Most people think graduate school is only worth it if it can propel their careers forward. However, I saw it as a way to gain valuable life experience and keep me in the same career field.

I had a few requirements: The degree had to be business-related, taught in English, and American-accredited. It also had to be in a country with a lower cost of living so that I could pay for my degree without taking loans.

In the winter of 2018, I found the right program. It was a two-year Masters of Science in Business program at Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics.

At that time, the program cost around 14,300 euros, which I had in savings.

I left Boston, where I had been working in content marketing, and moved back home to live with my parents in Long Island. For nine months, I focused on saving up as much as possible while commuting to New York City for work.

In August 2019, I moved to Lisbon. Although I had traveled to other parts of Europe, I had never visited Portugal. I went purely on the faith that if I wasn’t happy there, I’d return to New York once I graduated.

I got really lucky that I ended up loving it. Lisbon instantly gave me a Los Angeles vibe. The weather was hot, but the beaches were beautiful. Everyone had a relaxed attitude, and people weren’t on edge like they were in New York.

I didn’t intend to stay

Around half a year into my program, the pandemic struck, and everything went remote. Many of my international classmates returned to their home countries. That’s when I was faced with the question: Do I want to go back to New York?

Back in the US, I was always hyperaware of gun violence. Anything could happen walking in the streets of Manhattan, for example. A crazy person could approach you, and you just have to keep walking. It also looks like it’s gotten worse, with incidents of women getting assaulted on the streets.

As hard as it was to be away from my family and close friends, prioritizing my health and safety was worth the loneliness of moving abroad. I felt less anxious about safety in Portugal, which solidified my decision to stay.

Portugal has a post-graduation work visa that grants international students a year of residence to find employment. After being on the visa for a year, I registered as a freelancer on a regular work permit and have worked as a social media manager since.

My family was surprised by my decision to stay. My dad told me that when my grandparents ask about me, he has to remind them that I live in another country now. But I still return a few times a year for Christmas or special occasions.

I’m planning a wedding in Portugal

In 2022, I met my fiancé through TikTok. He’s Portuguese and commented on one of my videos. After two years, we moved in together in Nazaré, a beach town an hour and a half away from Lisbon.

We’re planning our wedding in Portugal for August next year. We picked a venue an hour and a half away from Porto in the countryside. It’s a gorgeous historic building built in the 1700s, and we’re super excited about it.

The venue will cost $3,500 for a two-day rental, offering us the chance to have an affordable wedding.

Sometimes, I tease my fiancé with the idea that once I get my Portuguese passport, we can move to Greece or elsewhere in Europe.

For now, we dream of living in Lisbon and having a summer vacation house in Greece. From the relaxed way of life, lower cost of living, and the fact that I can work remotely as a freelancer, it just makes more sense to have my life here.

I’m definitely planning on staying for the long term.