Van Life Adventures in Portugal

Meet the Nomads

Hello! This is my first post here :) I'm Iago (also known as YungBresciani or YUNG VINSK), a Brazilian currently between jobs. My Estonian wife Anastasia works as a traveling tattoo artist, funding our nomadic lifestyle. We've been living in our van since November 2024, starting in Estonia and reaching Portugal by February 2025. Now in May 2025, we're beginning our journey back north.

A Day of Unexpected Challenges

On Monday, April 28th, 2025, we woke up at the beautiful Praia Fluvial de Valada, north of Lisbon. The morning began with an unpleasant discovery - I found all my cryptocurrency had been stolen on Solana after I mistakenly interacted with a fake wallet while tired and drunk the night before. Despite this setback, I chose not to immediately tell Anastasia so we could enjoy our morning with coffee, walks, and swimming by the lake with no stress.

Later, as we drove toward Lisbon where Anastasia planned to tattoo a friend, we encountered something much bigger than my personal financial loss. Our phone signals became unreliable, and Google Maps stopped functioning. We soon realized we were in the midst of a massive power outage affecting Spain and Portugal - the worst blackout in recent European history, impacting approximately 55 million people for over half a day.

Finding Calm in Chaos

The chaos was evident everywhere - dysfunctional traffic lights, gridlocked roads, and crowds of stranded travelers walking along highways from the airport with their luggage. With no way to contact anyone and unable to navigate efficiently through Lisbon's already challenging traffic, I suggested we head to a skatepark I knew about.
Without GPS, finding our way seemed nearly impossible, but we managed to recall street names from the partially loaded map. Incredibly, Anastasia remembered the route from a visit two years prior with her mother. At the skatepark, while speculation about the blackout's cause ranged from cyberattacks to Russian aggression, we found our own bubble of normalcy.

Finding Joy in Simple Pleasures

Anastasia prepared a delicious breakfast while I spent about 2-3 hours skating in the bowl, taking it easy due to a recent ankle injury. As our day wound down, she gave me "five more tries" before we planned to relocate to a beach. On my final attempt, I successfully landed three tricks I had learned just last summer - the perfect ending to an otherwise tumultuous day.

Despite the challenges - losing my crypto investments and experiencing a historic blackout - skateboarding once again proved therapeutic. Having a supportive partner to share these moments made all the difference in turning a difficult day into a memorable adventure.

Here is a video of me skating that day :)

Check out my Socials:
https://www.youtube.com/@YungVinsk
https://www.instagram.com/yung_bresciani/

My Wife's Tattoo account:
https://www.instagram.com/tydurak/

Other Articles by me:
https://peakd.com/hive-173115/@yungbresciani/portugal-street-skate-day-costa-de-caparica