How does the Eurovision Song Contest affect my life?

Yes, it is me!! I finally have some time, and energy, to sit behind the computer after a long day and write some posts.

Oh guys, I really missed blogging, but you know, I simply did not have the energy for it during the last few weeks.

Apologies for that!

Now, you read this post’s title and you might be like: “How on Earth could that be?!”

There is one thing I do pretty much every day, and that is searching for flights back to Portugal.

When I say this to people, I always get funny comments or looks, but it is true; I do this every day. Not because I am somehow obsessed with it, but because I always try to find a nice fare for the days I am planning on going back to Portugal. Even if it is just for a weekend (or 22h, like my last visit!).

Normally, at the beginning of the year, I lay out my days off and kinda of deciding which of them will be “Portugal-visits” and the ones that are “non-Portugal visits”.

Now, if you are new here, let me summarize it: I am Portuguese, from Lisbon-area, and live abroad. Nice to meet you!

So my hunt for cheap flights it’s a non-stop thing. Let me tell you: this is a very hard thing to find nowadays. Lisbon is hyped and trendy; most people go there, any time of the year, for weekend-breaks or 4-5 days vacation.

And this brings me to the Eurovision.

As you may know, Portugal (and Lisbon) will host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest for the very first time and apparently, the thing happens in the second week of May. 

But in May, it is also school break here in the Netherlands (and I think in Belgium and Germany as well), meaning that most parents will have a break from work as well. Cool for them.

But this really sucks!

Why?

If you sum up the Eurovision being held in Lisbon, plus school break with many families wanting to visit Lisbon during that time, this means that the flight fares will increase. They already did, actually.

Not sure if you know, but the more people search for specific flights in certain days, the higher the prices will become. That’s how most flight fares algorithm work, at least to my knowledge.

So, I want to go and visit my family & friends in May, but this means that I am searching for the same flights as most tourists, which means, my chances of being able to go and visit my family is decreasing…

This really sucks, because, as an immigrant, I have no benefits in flight fares. For airlines, I am just another “tourist”. I have written a post on this subject. You can read it here (only in Portuguese though).

Long story short:

Whenever there are big (with international coverage) events I might as well not even think about going home… unless I win the lottery and feel like spending a few hundreds of euros for “just” 2 or 3 days at home.

P.S.: now, that was quite a long “back from the grave” post, hum? haha