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Community matters. Your neighbors. Your friends. The character of your relationships in a place. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the community you’re a part of has a greater influence than any other single factor on your comfort and happiness in a destination.
For the divers out there and indeed for anyone with an interest in idyllic getaways… begin June on the paradise island of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean.
You’ll find 805 miles of sandy beach in Costa Rica. Both Caribbean and Pacific. It has some of the world’s best surfing and fishing, and sunsets to die for…
Strolling the cobbled lanes and streets of Granada, Nicaragua, you can easily see how the city reflects its Old-World heritage.
There has been so much nonsense written about gold following April sell-off that it is hard to know where to begin to set record straight. But what most of the gold bashing has missed—and missed completely—is the nature of that move.
Life was good in the States. We had a big house, two cars, and a community of friends in our Pennsylvania hometown. But something was missing. The lifestyle we were living was too stressful, too busy, too unhealthy, and too expensive. We found ourselves accumulating—and worrying about unnecessary stuff.
Arguably Mexico’s best-known Spanish- town, San Miguel has been a top haven for decades. Its cobbled streets are lined with gaily-painted houses, their rooftop gardens bright with bougainvillea.
When Valerie and Gaylord Townley first visited Tamarindo, it was a simple fishing village. The only visitors were pioneering surfers (Gaylord was one of them) and sport fishermen. There were a few small hotels, only a few phone lines, and no TV. The number of permanent expats could probably fit in one of today’s larger restaurants.
Even before heading into the doctor’s office, I had come to a decision. If surgery was an option to prevent pre-cancer from turning into cancer. . . I was ready. My story is no different from that of thousands of other women going for a Pap test. Except that the hospital I stepped into was in Panama City.
Blue becomes bluer, every shade from sapphire to cobalt. Sea merges with sky. The intensity of blueness is almost too much. It’s as if the Adriatic has fallen into the clutches of a Photoshop enthusiast with an uncontrolled passion for color saturation.
Sandy beaches with tumbling surf, peaceful lakeside living, bio-diverse tropical jungles, cool highland areas with modern cities. . . Little Costa Rica offers plenty to choose from. And for decades, expats like me have flocked here, making it one of the world’s most popular locales for good living abroad.
Real estate values have fallen so far in Ireland today that €20,000 ($26,387) puts you in the game. Spend that much and you get a traditional-style, semi-detached cottage in need of some modernization.
If you’ve ever dreamed of escaping to an exotic place and opening a small hotel in your retirement years, you’re not alone. But many folks never get past the thought. Expats Kim Macphee and Tony Clark made the dream a reality; they got started after their employer laid them off in 2006. They used their free time and severance pay to map out a strategy for the future…
There’s a lot more to Italy’s underworld than old re-runs of The Godfather. This country is rich in a real underworld: caverns, grottoes and underground cities. Here are three of my favorite places for subterranean history and natural splendor.
Ever since the nomadic Turks spilled off the Central Asian steppe and settled the lands of modern day Turkey their carpets have been more than just comfortable rugs on a tent floor.
This is the Caribbean as it should be—clean, white-sand beaches; the freshest fruits and seafood; colorful wildlife; and smiling, laid-back locals.
Costa Rica is one country that may truly have it all: A year-round tropical climate, modern cities, Caribbean beaches, Pacific coastline, rainforests, lush valleys, and majestic mountains.
Sunday morning breakfasts, poker nights, backyard barbecues, book clubs, church groups, happy hours…expats all around the world know that a sense of community is what truly makes you feel at home.
It’s exciting to explore your options for better living (at lower prices) overseas. I know when my wife Cynthia and I were doing it, we read every article in International Living…lots of expat blogs…we “eavesdropped” on forums. We couldn’t wait to experience the expat world for ourselves.
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