Lisa Occhino smiling for the camera in front of a beautiful sunset. Courtesy of Lisa Occhino 2025-05-16T10:15:02Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? I permanently moved from New York City to Lisbon in 2022. I'd planned to continue working remotely, but after my pay and benefits were cut, I quit soon after. I took a few months off to recover from burnout, but soon realized I would need longer than that. When I moved solo from New York City to Lisbon in 2022, quitting my remote job wasn't part of the plan.However, a few months after settling into my new life, steeped in a culture known for its relaxed pace, I could no longer ignore just how burned out I had been for years.After HR informed me they'd be drastically cutting my salary and nearly all of my benefits, I found myself at a crossroads. Luckily, I've always been frugal. I made it my quiet mission for the rest of that year to pad my savings account as much as possible.That winter, I mustered up the courage to finally pull the plug and quit. As a lifelong planner, I had to make peace with not knowing what would happen next. All I could do was trust that if I fully committed to the rest I needed, clarity would come.It's the best decision that I never could have made if I were still living in the US.I filled my days with curiosity instead of urgencyIt helped immensely that I was now living in a city more affordable than New York, and in a country where a trip to the ER isn't a financial risk. (Ironically, I experienced my first-ever emergency surgery not long after — reinforcing that I'd left the US just in time.)I was amazed by how full my life felt without work, and that "full" didn't have to automatically mean stressful.Part of that was due to being a naturally curious person: I learned new things, tried new activities, explored new places, had deep conversations, and indulged in research rabbit holes, without feeling guilty that I "should" be doing something else instead.However, the more profound shift arose from tuning into the rhythm of a city that's not ruled by urgency. I took each day more slowly — in true Portuguese fashion — and focused on what brought me joy, peace, and comfort.I distinctly remember one random Wednesday when I hopped on the train from Lisbon to Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site just 40 minutes away. I was enchanted by the charm of the Portuguese town, the colorful Pena Palace crowning the misty hilltop, and the crisp scent of forest air. I breathed it in and exhaled slowly, awestruck that magical moments like this had become my new normal.I had given myself the rare gift of simply existing, and little by little, I felt my creative spark coming back.I initially estimated that I'd recover from burnout in three months, but by March, I had barely scratched the surface. I became more intentional about chipping away at the conditioning of American hustle culture, and gradually quieted the voice in my head telling me to be more productive.What started as a three-month sabbatical turned into six — and before I knew it, a full year had gone by. I'm rebuilding my life around my well-beingMoving to Portugal and taking a year off fundamentally reshaped my relationship with work.Instead of returning to a 9-to-5 job, which I knew would jeopardize my well-being in the long run, I freelance now. I enjoy the clients I work with and devote more creative energy to my own projects. This helps me prioritize my health over frantically trying to optimize every spare minute I have.Recently, I celebrated my three-year anniversary of living in Lisbon and will be applying for Portuguese citizenship as soon as I'm eligible at the five-year mark.In this new chapter, climbing the corporate ladder holds no appeal for me. I'm building something much more meaningful: a life of deep fulfillment and inner peace where my curiosity and creativity take the lead, and I no longer measure my self-worth by my productive output. Recommended video

Casa De Blas | © Hisao Suzuki Set on a hillside in Sevilla la Nueva, a town southwest of Madrid, Casa De Blas is a distilled expression of the architectural dialectic between weight and lightness, earth and sky. Designed in 2000 by Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza, the house is both an act of landscape intervention and a metaphysical construct, a spatial meditation on essential form and material logic. Casa De Blas Technical Information Architects1-3: Alberto Campo Baeza Location: Sevilla la Nueva, Madrid, Spain Area: 250 m2 | 2,690 Sq. Ft. Project Year: 2000 Photographs: © Hisao Suzuki This house aims to be a literal translation of the idea of the tectonic box upon the stereotomic box. Like a distillation of the most essential in architecture. Once again, more with less. – Alberto Campo Baeza Casa De Blas Photographs © Hisao Suzuki © Hisao Suzuki © Hisao Suzuki © Hisao Suzuki © Hisao Suzuki © Hisao Suzuki The Architecture of Duality: Ground and Sky Campo Baeza’s work consistently revolves around a search for architectural clarity. In Casa De Blas, this clarity manifests as two boxes: a grounded concrete volume that holds the domestic program and a glass pavilion above that elevates the act of looking. The house is not merely built on the landscape; it is in dialogue with it. The conceptual strategy of Casa De Blas is rooted in a tectonic-syntactic opposition between the stereotomic base and the tectonic roof. The lower portion consists of a robust concrete platform embedded in the earth like a carved podium. This base supports a lighter glass structure above, where steel elements define the enclosure with minimal mass. The house engages the site with careful restraint. Rather than dominate the hilltop, it accepts the slope and turns its attention to the northern view of the Sierra de Guadarrama. This orientation informs light and shadow’s spatial organization and phenomenological qualities. Inside the concrete base, the architecture follows a precise logic. A service band is located toward the rear, while primary living spaces occupy the front, facing the landscape. Square window openings, deeply set into the thick walls, frame views with the intentionality of a camera obscura. These apertures do not merely let in light; they shape perception, creating a sense of distance and inwardness. The Pavilion as Apparatus for Contemplation Above this grounded core, the transparent upper volume serves as a lookout. Reached from the interior by ascending stairs, the glass box sits lightly on the podium, offering a counterpoint to the cave-like enclosure below. There is no visible carpentry, just frameless glazing and a white steel canopy, which shades the upper level while preserving its airy, open quality. The north-facing glass stretches toward the edge, embracing the panoramic view. On the southern side, the volume recedes to create a shaded void, regulating solar gain. This sectional asymmetry allows the architecture to perform environmentally without compromising its compositional purity. Campo Baeza describes the house as a literal translation of the idea of a tectonic box upon a stereotomic box. The reference is not metaphorical but structural and spatial. The upper pavilion is not a symbol of transparency but a mechanism for perception. In this way, the house operates as a philosophical instrument as much as a dwelling. Casa De Blas Proportion and Compositional Rigour The power of the project lies in the spatial sequence from the heavy to the light, from the shaded to the luminous. The contrast between these two atmospheres creates a duality of experience: shelter and openness, introspection and projection. The structural order contributes to this sense of serenity. Steel supports are arranged in double symmetry, reinforcing the composition’s static quality. Nothing feels arbitrary. Every gesture is reduced to its essential nature. The palette is limited to concrete, glass, and steel, yet the result is rich in meaning. The interior is equally restrained, avoiding superfluous detailing. It is architecture as a frame, a backdrop for landscape and thought. Campo Baeza’s work here touches the territory of the poetic, not through expressionism but through control and abstraction. Casa De Blas Plans Concept | © Alberto Campo Baeza North Elevation | © Alberto Campo Baeza East Elevation | © Alberto Campo Baeza Upper Level | © Alberto Campo Baeza Floor Plan | © Alberto Campo Baeza Section | © Alberto Campo Baeza Casa De Blas Image Gallery About Alberto Campo Baeza Alberto Campo Baeza is a Spanish architect born in 1946 in Valladolid. Renowned for his minimalist and essentialist approach, he emphasizes the interplay of light, gravity, and proportion in his designs. His notable works include the Casa Turégano, Casa de Blas, and the Caja de Granada headquarters. Campo Baeza was a full-time design professor at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) from 1986 until his retirement in 2017. He has received numerous accolades throughout his career, such as the RIBA International Fellowship and the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal, recognizing his contributions to contemporary architecture. Credits and Additional Notes Design Team: Alberto Campo Baeza, Alfonso González Gamo Structural Engineer: Julio Martínez Calzón, MC-2 Collaborators: Teresa Campos