Ten years ago, I moved to the hip little island of Ambergris Caye, Belize with my husband Mike. We left our high-stress business lifestyle behind. The San Francisco Bay Area, where we lived, is certainly a wonderful place. But the cost of living, excessive traffic, and foggy summers wore us down. We wanted more from our lives.

Moving to Ambergris, I traded in my favorite cars for a golf cart. For me this was a momentous change. You see, I’m a Motown boomer gal. My first car was a spunky green ‘65 Mustang. I still have fond memories of driving that sporty little car out to sunny California, when I first escaped my home town of Detroit.

At first, leaving my cars behind felt like loosing a limb. I loved cruising the Napa Valley back roads in my Infiniti J30 sedan. Mike just couldn’t part with his ever-trusty Toyota truck. After a year of living in Belize I finally let go. For me, the car was a major symbol of independence. Now we rely on one golf cart, two bikes, and our legs for daily transportation.

Guess what? We love it! It’s such fun to bop around Ambergris Caye in our golf cart. I love feeling the ocean breeze on my face while I wave to just about everyone who zips by. Our golf cart insurance is $65/year. We spend about $20 on gas each month. (The golf cart was not cheap to buy, at about $10,000.) Our monthly transportation expenses are now negligible. Another bonus—we’ve significantly reduced our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

There are a limited number of cars here in San Pedro. Taxis, resorts and major businesses are allowed to bring cars here to conduct business. But, they need to get through a permitting process first. But, overall, this community prefers to stick with golf carts and small utility vehicles. After all, we only have two-lane roads on Ambergris Caye. Many are still dirt. No six-lane freeways here!

You can forget about road rage. My stress level dropped significantly just due to this one factor. We do have our fair share of imported taxi cab drivers who could use a lesson in driving courtesy. And traffic gets a bit crazy in town on holiday weekends. But overall, driving here is fun compared to the freeways of California.

Our life here is simpler, but more fulfilling. We live on about 25% of what we needed in the Bay Area. We have time for ourselves and each other. We are still working but doing things we love. I spend my days developing my interest in writing—something I wanted to do for years (but something else always got in the way). Warm ocean breezes and the sound of surf provide the perfect inspiration.

We have more time to get together with our many new friends and neighbors. No more crazy freeways and chain stores for us, except when we return to visit the States.

It isn’t always easy to let go of the possessions we’ve relied upon our entire life. Changing my lifestyle was about letting go and trying new ways of living…even if that meant letting go of possessions I have relied upon my entire (former) life. This ex-Motown girl is happy to report that I love my little go-go golf cart.

Editor’s note: We created a brand new report called Belize: Live the Caribbean Dream…For Less. If you’re interested in a place in the Caribbean sun…but you don’t want to pay typical Caribbean prices…you need to read this report.