A kid from a small village in the north of Portugal
Math olympiads, budget flights, and the question that started it all.
I grew up in a small village in the north of Portugal. Nothing fancy. Just routine, school, swimming in the local team, and parents who worked hard every single day.
I was always a curious kid, and competitive too. I loved testing myself, in school, in the math olympiads (I once placed third nationally), in anything that pushed my limits. Not for the spotlight, but because I liked the feeling of going further than before.
My ambitions were bigger than my hometown. As soon as I could, I moved abroad to work. And once I started making my own money, I did not spend it on lifestyle upgrades. I spent it on plane tickets. Not glamorous ones. Budget flights, long layovers, overnight buses. Travel was not a vacation. It was curiosity, plain and simple.
Somewhere along the way, around 2015, a question started forming: what if I visited every country in the world? It was not about records or social media. It was just something to aim at, a personal project with no deadline.
Pressure, done right, sharpens you
At the same time I was building a demanding career in management consulting. Long days, sometimes brutal hours. One project had me working thirty-six hours straight. There were moments that tested everything. But pressure, done right, sharpens you. It taught me to be decisive, to think in systems, to lead calmly when the stakes are high.
Eventually I moved to Dubai. First for consulting, then to build. Some ventures worked, others did not: a medical clinic (without medical experience), a ghost kitchen, a crypto payments startup. Each one taught me something about people, execution, risk, and trust. Those lessons are what shaped First Class, my current venture. What started with one apartment has grown into a hospitality company managing more than 600 homes across Dubai, with a team of more than 160.
Meanwhile the travel continued. Today I have visited 164 countries. The goal is all 197 before I turn 40, two years from now.
Each trip reminds me where it started: a kid from a small village, curious about the world. The world has not gotten smaller, but I have learned to see it more clearly. To spot patterns. To adapt fast. To build better. To choose what matters.
Country 165 is waiting. So is the next lesson.