I’ve been on a medical LOA since last year and tomorrow I go back to work and I keep thinking about how almost all my coworkers I knew are gone and processes have changed. Also that if I do something wrong I might injure myself again and be right back where I was a year ago (I have been cleared for full job duties by my doctor).
The Algarve is full of British people (sorry) so you should be able to get vegetarian food. Although yeah with it being a tourist destination it’s probably more expensive. The Algarve has never appealed to me tbh, golf courses and British ex pats, no thanks. I often travel with my vegan best mate and she’s always managed, including in Porto, and in Spain. It’s limited but if you can deal with chips (fries), salad, olives, and cheese you can get by. And most cities have at least a few vegetarian/vegan restaurants and cafes.
If you come to the UK you should know we’re having a pretty crap summer right now, lots of rain, hopefully that should improve though. And if you’re not into hot weather then the UK is definitely the right place for you! I’d choose Portugal and Spain in a heartbeat over here, the old towns and cities are much more beautiful, and less grey, but each to their own. I hope you manage to have a good time. I think having a little add on trip that’s what you want to do is definitely the way to go in making this bearable. It does annoy me when people expect all their friends and family to spend a lot of money just because they’ve decided to get married.