The Made Real Blueprint · An 8-step course

You have a picture of a different life. Let's make it real.

Maybe more sun, a life by the sea. More time that is really yours. A garden, a project, a slower day. The Made Real Blueprint is an 8-step course that helps you work through the decisions and practical steps between that picture and a real life: what you want, where it can happen, what it costs, and how to build it. You finish with your own blueprint: a written plan for the life you choose.

Find your starting point

Founding members The first 12 people get a founding price and personal meetings with me →

A practical course, written from my own experience of doing this fully myself: two lives, built from the ground up. Bali, then Portugal.

Mwata on a green ridge in Bali, looking out over a volcano rising above the morning mist. — Exploring Bali, shortly after I arrived.

Sound familiar?

The thought keeps coming back.

The alarm goes off on Monday morning, and before you are out of bed, you feel it again: is this really it? On the last day of a holiday, you look around, and you don't want to go home. And late at night, you catch yourself scrolling through houses in a country you have never lived in. What if I just did it?

Nothing is really wrong. On paper, your life looks fine. And yet something is missing. You want things to change, but you don't know where to start. Giving up a steady income and the life you know feels like jumping without a net. So you wait.

Wanting a different life is the easy part. Turning it into decisions and reality is where most people get stuck.

What gets in the wayWhat the Blueprint helps you do

You keep saying "someday": after this project, when we have saved more, when the children are older. And underneath: what if I regret it? Or what if I never try?

Take one step at a time, each with a clear result, until you reach a considered decision: go, not yet, or no.

Your weeks are full, but little of the time is yours: work, travel, screens. You keep promising yourself time "later".

See where your hours go today, decide how you want to spend them, and find what you can change, sometimes without moving at all.

You save houses, watch videos and read other people's stories, but you have no way to tell which of it fits you.

Write down what you really want first, so that you can judge every option against it.

Every forum and video says something different about visas, taxes and costs, and you don't know what applies to you.

Work with information that shows its source and date, and know which professional to ask.

You are afraid to give up a steady income and the security you have built. What if the money runs out?

Do an honest first money check, with a realistic example next to it: what the change costs, and how long your savings would last.

Your partner is not as sure as you are, and you wonder what family and friends will say.

Use specific exercises to find out what each of you really needs, and how to talk about it together.

Moving is not the only good answer. Sometimes the best choice is a real change right where you are. What matters is choosing, instead of drifting. I know that feeling of being stuck. I had it for years, in a good job in the Netherlands. Then I moved to Bali with two bags, and later built my life on my own land in Portugal. This course is the route I followed, written down. Read my story →

Which one sounds like you?

Two ways to start.

"I want something different, but I need to work out what and where."

Phase 1 · Choose it · Steps 1 to 3

You work out what you really want, explore where it can happen, check the money, and make a considered decision. Relocate to Portugal, Bali or somewhere else, or make real changes at home.

See Phase 1 →

"I want to build my life in Portugal, and I need a practical route."

The whole Blueprint · Portugal Edition · Steps 1 to 8

From checking your direction to preparing, moving, settling and building your life in Portugal. Phase 1 is included: choosing Portugal does not always mean you know what life you want there, and that picture helps you judge every choice after it.

See the whole Blueprint →

Who it is for

Is this for you?

This is for you if…

you feel a pull towards a different life, and want to do something with it
you want clear steps, not only inspiration
you are ready to look honestly at your life, including money
you want to choose for yourself, even if the answer is "stay"

It may not be for you if…

you want someone to arrange everything for you
you are looking for quick answers or a get-rich plan
you want to be told what your life should look like

What you work towards

Imagine the day you know.

No more going round in circles. Phase 1 helps you reach a supported decision, or see clearly what you still need to resolve. Each step gives you something you made yourself.

A written direction. Your picture of a new life in your own words, including how you want to spend your days, and the first changes that give you more control over your time: My Working Direction.
A researched shortlist. Places that fit that life, what you found out, and why the others don't.
A first money check. What the change could cost, what comes in, and how long your savings could cover a gap. In addition, a list of what you still need to check.
A considered decision. Go, not yet, or no, with your next steps. One you can explain to the people you love.

The route: three phases, eight steps

Each step answers one big question and gives you a practical result to work with.

Choose it · steps 1–3 · Phase 1

Decide honestly what you want, and where. Deciding not to move is a real choice too.

Picture

What life do I really want?

My Working Direction

Explore

Where can this life happen?

My shortlist and what I found

Decide

Am I ready for this option?

My Decision: go, not yet, or no

Build it · steps 4–7

Put the practical foundations in place, then build your own version of life on them.

Prepare

What do I need to do before I go?

My Moving Plan

Arrive

How do I start well?

My Arrival Checklist

Settle

Where will I live longer-term?

A home that fits me

Build

How do I create my life here?

My First-Year Plan

Live it · step 8

Settle into the ordinary days that follow. And perhaps, one day, help someone who was once where you were.

Thrive

Is it working? What is next?

My check-ins and yearly review

Two good outcomes. Phase 1 works for any destination, including staying where you are. If you decide to stay, you leave with a clear plan to change your life at home. If you decide on Portugal, Steps 4 to 8 guide you through building your new life there.

Look inside

Examples from the course workbooks. Every exercise explains the idea first, shows a made-up example, and then asks you to apply it to your own life.

Step 1 · Picture · Part 1

1.2 A normal day in your new life

Not a holiday. A normal Tuesday. Because most days are normal days.

We use an ordinary day because that is what most of your life will be. It gives you a useful question: would I enjoy the everyday life that comes with it?

Too vague to plan	Detailed enough to plan
"A house with a view"	"Coffee on the terrace, looking at olive trees, before anyone else is awake"
"Close to family"	"My sister can come for dinner without booking a flight"

Now you

Describe this day from morning to evening. Include an ordinary detail you would not put in a holiday brochure: housework, rain, or an hour when nothing much happens.

Made-up example (Maria, 46): I wake up at 7 without an alarm. From my window, I see olive trees. I drink coffee outside. In the morning, I work online for my clients for four hours. In the afternoon, I work in the garden or go to the village market. Two afternoons a week are for paperwork and cleaning, and I don't enjoy them. I go to bed tired, but happy.

I wake up…

What it helps you make: a picture concrete enough to test against a real house, job or town. It becomes the measuring stick for every later choice.

Step 1 · Picture · Part 3

3.5 A first money check

Do I have money left each month, and if not, how long do my savings cover the gap?

That second number is your runway. Runway turns worry into a plan: "I am short 400 a month and have 40 months to work with" gives you a timescale for action.

	Example	Me
1. Confirmed income per month	€1,600
2. Costs per month in my new life	€2,000
3. Left over or short	€400 short
4. Savings I can use	€30,000
5–7. Minus the move, deposits and my reserve	− €13,650
8. Savings left to live on	€16,350
9. Months my savings can cover	about 40

The example is made up: an illustrative budget for a couple renting a small house in central Portugal.

What it helps you make: your First Money Picture: your first numbers, how sure they are, and what you still need to check.

How it works

An 8-step course, with a workbook for each step

Each exercise explains the idea, gives you an example, and helps you apply it to your own situation.

Personal meetings Founding members

Video calls with me, 1 hour each, to talk through your results, doubts and next steps: two meetings with Phase 1, four with the whole Blueprint.

Email and WhatsApp Founding members

Questions between the meetings? I answer them personally.

Conversations that matter

Prompts help you talk through your plans with your partner, family and friends.

Information you can check

Rules and prices change. I show my sources and when I checked them, and help you work out which professional to ask about legal or tax matters.

Begin where you are

A short check helps you choose your starting point. About two to three hours a week is enough to make steady progress.

What makes it different

Clear decisions.

Before you move, you check five green lights: money, papers, people, place, and your Plan B.

The important things run through the whole journey.

Money, work, language and the people in your life are not separate topics. You start early and keep working on them.

Real experience, not theory.

You learn from what worked for me and what did not. You choose your own way.

Not a dream-life course. Not a relocation agency. A practical route: choose it, build it, live it, with personal guidance from someone who has done it twice.

Compare options and prices

The options

Your picture deserves a plan.

Founding members · limited to 12

Build it with me, as one of the first 12.

This is the Blueprint launch. Before I open it to everyone, I want a small group to experience it first: the first 12 people who join.

What you get

The founding price: €99 for Phase 1, €249 for the whole Blueprint.
Personal meetings with me, 1 hour each, in English or Dutch: two with Phase 1, four with the whole Blueprint.
Email and WhatsApp support while you work through the steps, in English or Dutch.

What I ask in return

Honest feedback as you work through the steps: what is clear, what is missing, and what helped.
A testimonial is optional. I only use your words, name or photo with your written permission.

We release the steps as they are ready, and we'll release them all before the end of 2026.

Phase 1 of the course · Choose it

Steps 1 to 3

For you if you want something different, but need to work out what and where.

€99 founding member price

You receive

The Introduction, with a short check to find your starting point
PDF workbooks for Step 1 Picture, Step 2 Explore and Step 3 Decide
As a founding member: two 1-hour meetings with me, plus email and WhatsApp support

You work towards

My Working Direction
My shortlist and what I found
A first money check
My Decision: go, not yet, or no
Together: your blueprint for the decision

Get Phase 1

The full course · Portugal Edition

Steps 1 to 8

For you if you want to build your life in Portugal and need a practical route.

€249 founding member price

You receive

Everything in Phase 1
PDF workbooks for Step 4 Prepare, Step 5 Arrive, Step 6 Settle, Step 7 Build and Step 8 Thrive, released as they are ready
As a founding member: four 1-hour meetings with me, plus email and WhatsApp support

You also work towards

My Moving Plan and My Arrival Checklist
A home that fits me
My First-Year Plan
My check-ins and yearly review
Together: your complete blueprint for your life in Portugal

Get the whole Blueprint

Start with Phase 1, choose Portugal later? The price you paid for Phase 1 is deducted from the full Blueprint price, so you never pay twice. As a founding member, you also get the two extra meetings.

How the meetings work (founding members)

What they are for: your workbook results, your doubts and challenges, and your practical next steps. You decide how to use them. For example: a first conversation about your workbook results and what you are unsure about, and a later one to review your challenges, your decision and your next steps. With the whole Blueprint, two more along the way, for example while you prepare the move and after you arrive.
How: online video call, 1 hour each, in English or Dutch.
When: you book them yourself when you are ready, within 6 months of your purchase.
Between meetings: short questions by email or WhatsApp.

I share my experience and help you think clearly. I do not give legal, tax or financial advice; for that, I help you find the right professional.

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Next: the same method for other places, starting with Bali, and detailed modules on topics like land, renovation and money. Tell me what you would like to see →

Mwata smiling in a safety helmet and visor, clearing brush on his land in Portugal.

Who I am

I'm Mwata. I have built a new life abroad twice.

I had a good job and a comfortable home in the Netherlands, but something felt missing. A course helped me clarify the life I really wanted, and in 2021 I moved to Bali with only two bags. I built a life there from the ground up: a consultancy company, a newly built house and a local inspection business. After three years, however, my picture changed. That led me to build my second life in rural central Portugal.

I made this Blueprint because, although I had help with individual parts, nobody guided me from the first idea through all the decisions that followed. I did not need someone to decide what my life should be. I needed someone to tell me what to check first and offer practical support from experience.

From my life into the workbook

What I faced: which region of Portugal, and which piece of land?

What I did: I travelled for two months in a campervan and viewed 25 plots. What surprised me was how connected I felt to one region, and not at all to another.

What I learned: you only find out on the ground. Go as a tester, not a tourist.

Where it is in the Blueprint: Step 2, Explore: test it in real life before you decide.

The granite main house in 2024: roofless, overgrown and in ruins, next to a large boulder. — **April 2024.** The main house, overgrown and in ruins.

The same granite house in 2026: fully renovated, with a new dark roof, under a deep blue sky. — **April 2026.** The house, fully renovated and made self-sustainable with solar energy.

A timber cabin with a terracotta roof behind a small pool, with olive trees.

An outdoor area under pine trees, with wooden pergolas, a deck and a fire bowl between granite boulders.

Raised vegetable beds in the new garden.

A bowl of fresh blueberries, strawberries and cherries held up in front of the view.

My own journey: still a work in progress, but the idea from two years ago is now real.

Read my full story

2020
Selling the house
I sold my house in the Netherlands to travel the world. Then COVID stopped those plans. A course helped me clarify what I really wanted.
Bali
Two bags, a new life
During a two-month sabbatical in Bali, I finally had room to think. I wrote down a life near the sea, in a warm climate, where I could run my own business and help people. Back home, I left my job, sold what I still owned and moved to Bali with two bags. I started a consultancy, bought a house, and later started my own inspection business.
Three years later
A new picture
Bali changed, and so did I. I missed being creative: building things and working in a garden. A YouTube channel about living more self-sufficiently set me thinking about another move.
April 2024
The third plot
I travelled through Portugal in a campervan, exploring the regions and visiting plots I had shortlisted. I had not planned to buy on that trip. But when I saw the third plot, I knew it was the one.
August 2024
Signing
I signed the purchase agreement. My money plan was already in place, so I was not afraid to commit. By the end of that year, the land was officially mine.
Today
Living it
I live on my land in rural central Portugal, surrounded by nature, with enough projects to keep me creative for years. It is not finished, and it does not have to be. It is real.

Aerial view of Mwata's former house in the Netherlands, with a curved thatched roof and a garden.

A laptop and building floor plans on a wooden desk in Bali.

A campervan parked on a cliff above the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal.

My house in the Netherlands, sold in 2020 · inspection work in Bali · the campervan trip through Portugal.

What I stand for

A life is chosen and built, not inherited or drifted into.

The life you live today is shaped by the choices you make. Within your situation, you can make different ones. Not by dreaming harder, but by deciding, planning and building, one step at a time.

My picture (my vision)

I build a life where I am present, dependable, and true to my values. I have the freedom to shape most of my days, spend time in nature, explore, and work on meaningful projects with the people I love.

Why I do this (my purpose)

To inspire and help people realise the life they truly want by sharing my experience and practical knowledge, creating clear plans together, and providing the connections, tools and guidance that help them make it happen.

What I am building (my mission)

A practical blueprint that helps people realise the life they want in Portugal, built on my experience of moving, projects, financial planning and making connections. Made so it can be adapted to other places and your own focus.

Good to know

Questions people ask

Is this a course?

Yes. An 8-step course with workbooks and, for founding members, personal meetings and support. The blueprint is what you finish with: your own written plan.

What does it mean to be a founding member?

The first 12 people who join get the founding price, personal meetings with me, and email and WhatsApp support. In return, I ask for honest feedback as you work through the steps. A testimonial is optional, and I only use it with your written permission. After the first 12, the course is sold without meetings: €195 for Phase 1 and €495 for the whole Blueprint.

Which option is right for me?

Not sure yet what you want, or where? Start with Phase 1. It works for Portugal and other places, but also for real changes at home. Already sure about Portugal? Take the whole Blueprint: it starts with Phase 1 too, because a clear picture of the life you want helps you judge every choice that follows. Not sure which to choose? Send me a message.

Do I have to move to Portugal?

No. Phase 1 works for any destination, and for staying where you are. Steps 4 to 8 focus on Portugal because that is where I live now and where I built a life.

What exactly do I receive, and how?

Right after payment, you'll receive the workbooks as PDF downloads and, as a founding member, a link to book your meetings. The steps still in development follow as they are ready, at no extra cost, and all of them before the end of 2026. Each workbook explains the ideas, gives made-up examples, and has space for your own answers.

How do the personal meetings work?

They are part of the founding member offer: online video calls with me of 1 hour each, two with Phase 1 and four with the whole Blueprint. You use them for what helps you most: your workbook results, doubts, challenges or next steps. You book them yourself when you are ready. Short questions in between can go by email or WhatsApp.

Can I start with Phase 1 and upgrade later?

Yes. The price you paid for Phase 1 is deducted from the price of the whole Blueprint. As a founding member, you also get two extra meetings.

I already know what I want. Can I skip ahead?

I recommend still walking through all the steps: it helps you confirm the picture you have in mind. In my experience, most people still benefit, because it also helps you judge every choice afterwards.

How much time does it take?

About two to three hours a week. Short, regular sessions work better than one long weekend.

Do you give legal or tax advice?

No. Rules and prices change, so I always show the source and the date I checked. For legal, tax and money decisions, I help you find the right professional and the right questions to ask.

Is my English good enough? Can I get help in Dutch?

The Blueprint is written in short, simple sentences for people who speak English as a second language. It explains every Portuguese or official word the first time. The workbooks are in English. As a founding member, you can have the meetings and the email and WhatsApp support in English or Dutch.

Your next step

Ready to choose, or not sure yet?

Pick the option that fits you, or send me a message first. I read every message myself and reply as soon as I can.

Tell me a little about where you are now. There is no wrong answer, and "I don't know yet" is a good place to start.