Support Our Portugal Travel - Get 20% Off While We’re On the Road
We are Aga and Octavian – we both live in the beautiful Algarve and travel around Portugal to create content about – tips, city guides and local recommendations – both in this blog and social platforms: Tiktok , FB and IG. We also run an online store, CorkArtPortugal, with Portuguese products – cork accessories, textiles, and ceramics.
In this article, you will learn more about us, our motivation, and our passion for Portuguese culture and life here. We also have a special gift for you, a code that gives 20% off everything in our shop. This way, you can have a piece of Portugal in your home and support our exploration process so we can keep sharing deeper, more thoughtful stories about Portugal with you. Read more and learn about our Portuguese journey and claim your reward!
Why This Matters
We write this blog to help you experience Portugal through more than just a tourist lens – to understand its culture, people, and everyday beauty with more depth and context. And the more we travel outside of Portugal, the clearer its soul becomes.
Your purchase directly supports this mission. It helps us explore other places, reflect on what makes Portugal unique, and come back with stories that make your travels better too.
In return, you get something real – a beautifully made cork product crafted in Portugal, designed with care, and rooted in values that matter.
Who We Are
We’re Aga and Octavian – two people from different places who built a life together around curiosity, sustainability, and a deep respect for culture.
Aga is from Poland. After years working in marketing and running a Brazilian-Polish hostel, she moved to Portugal with two young kids – trading stress for sunlight, and speed for meaning. She started Fabryka Korka, a brand that brings Portuguese cork products to people who care about quality, story, and sustainability.
Octavian is from Romania. He studied medicine, but his path shifted toward creativity and travel. Skydiving brought him to Portugal by chance – and it felt like landing somewhere that finally made sense. Now he writes, films, and shares perspectives shaped by movement, culture, and thoughtful exploration.
The Mission Behind This Blog
We don’t just write from a desk. We write from the road. From border crossings, overheard conversations, and quiet moments in unfamiliar towns. Travel isn’t something we do on the side – it’s how we deepen our understanding of Portugal, again and again, through contrast, reflection, and context.
This blog exists because we believe that better travel starts with a better perspective. And a better perspective doesn’t come from reading a brochure – it comes from paying attention. That’s what we’re committed to doing.
If You’ve Read This Far
You probably don’t just want a discount. You want to know who’s behind all this – and more importantly, why it matters.
We’re not locals. We weren’t raised here. And maybe that’s exactly why we see Portugal the way we do – not through nostalgia or routine, but through deliberate choice. We chose this place. We chose to slow down. To build something on values, not trends. And to learn from the culture instead of just commenting on it.
We’re not trying to package Portugal into some postcard-perfect fantasy. What we offer here – through this blog, our writing, and the products we share – is a perspective shaped by contrast. By living in eight different countries. By raising kids away from the familiar. By rebuilding careers from scratch. By choosing this life again and again, even when it’s uncomfortable.
When you support our shop, you’re not just helping two people travel. You’re fueling a lens that makes this blog what it is: human, honest, and deeply invested in showing you the kind of Portugal that lives beyond the tourist surface.
If that’s the version of Portugal you want to explore – one with soul, contradiction, beauty, and truth – then this is your invitation.
Now visit the store CorkArtPortugal and get yourself a nice piece of Portugal.
Thank you for giving a damn.
– Aga & Octavian
Code: ONTHEROAD → 20% off
