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My wife, Brenda, and I love our second home in Jacó, Costa Rica. With the beach a block away, and all the amenities we need within walking distance, it is a wonderful place to enjoy the beautiful weather, the exotic tropical plants, and the engaging and vibrant people of Costa Rica.
I’m walking along the Panama Bay, under a clear sky the color of cornflowers. The tide is high, and the waves of the deep Pacific are breaking close to the shore. A warm, strong breeze swooshes through the palms…their rattling leaves are the sound of summer.
With cerulean blue waters, coral-sand beaches, and lush mountain retreats, the Philippines has much to recommend it as a travel and retirement destination. And if you’re in the mood to celebrate, head to the Philippines this January.
Almost as soon as my wife Suzan and I moved to the little craft village in Ecuador’s northern Andes Mountains that we now call home, we learned about potatoes.
How would you like to have a chance to own a 7-acre Scottish island estate? The cost: $75. The estate is located on the Island of Arran, a land of castles and ruins that date back millennia, as well as towering mountains, home to eagles, and wild coastal waters full of seals.
My husband Tom and I have adventurous spirits. So, last March, we decided to embark on a new adventure, having lived in Puerto Rico for two years. We'd always dreamed of living in Mexico so we packed up everything, put ourselves and our dog on a plane to Miami, picked up a car there, and started driving south.
The idea sounds enticing and romantic...being heralded as a travel photographer with a passport full of stamps from places that would make the common man green with envy. Add to this eager patrons, who will pay for one of your prized pieces for their home and you are living the dream I created several years ago when I decided I would pursue my passion of travel photography.
"I remember arriving at Porta Nuova station," says Rosemarie. "It was late November and the weather was overcast, but the gray skies did nothing to diminish the beauty of the city's center, which features some fine examples of Baroque, Rococo, Neo-Classical, and Art Nouveau architecture.
For my husband, Bryan, and I, Italy had long been a favorite vacation spot of ours. And with each visit, we imagined what it would be like to live there. We'd return home after our two-week vacation longing for the piazzas (public squares) where folks gathered and enjoyed each other's company...
"Looking from our balcony I see the valley with the green mountains that touch the clouds in spring and summer. Our village below has stood through time and the fields above our house are filled with Alpine wildflowers of every color," says Lisa Chiodo, who, together with her husband Sam and their two children, Carina and Luca, now lives in Piedmont, Italy.
Samantha Wei lives on Costa Rica's northern Pacific coast, just inland from the surfer hotspot of Tamarindo, with her boyfriend, Yeison Kim. But you never know where the couple might be on any given day.
Like many expats living La Pura Vida in Costa Rica, Ania and Tom Dudek—and their two sons—first visited the country on vacation. "For years, we would come for a month and rent a house in a different area each time," says Ania.
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Each day you'll learn about the best places to retire, travel, buy real estate and enjoy life overseas.
With more than three decades of expertise at our disposal, we strive to find the overseas destinations that are right for you. Look below to find the retirement havens that best fit your needs.
Ecuador has it all: Sophisticated historical cities, miles of unspoiled sun-kissed beaches, temperate mountain hideaways…perfect weather year-round…top-notch, low-cost medical care and a health plan for $80 a month…low-cost transportation (you won’t need a car)…a very low cost of living…and it’s just plain easy. Check it out.
In an Uncertain World, the Last Thing You Should Put On Hold is Your Retirement Dreams… Sharon and Wes Puckett live in a three-bedroom home on a 25-acre parcel of land in the "perfect climate" mountains of Southern Costa Rica. "Our total expenses are about $1,325 a month, which includes our rent. We have simplified, Read more...: Fast-Track Costa Rica: Lifestyle and Opportunity Conference
What if You Had the Freedom to Enjoy the Good Life Anywhere in the World You Want to Be… and Get Paid While You’re There? We’ll show you how—with 48 hours of hands-on guidance—you can gain the freedom and flexibility to be your own boss… play when you feel like it, work when you want… Read more...: 48 Hour Portable Income Intensive Workshop with Winton Churchill
When Italy gets under your skin, it's hard to ignore the call of La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life). The country has enchanted me since I first visited in 1972, and so, in 2003—when life finally allowed—my husband Jim and I bought a home there so could we spend part of every year in the country.
I first visited Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast in 2005 on my honeymoon. Back then, it felt like a real adventure to get to what is officially known as the Southern Zone. The coastal highway was incomplete, with a long, bone-rattling section of rutted dirt and gravel. And the bridges looked like they might fall over in a stiff breeze.
I moved to Costa Rica for retirement in 2008 and have been living on the south central Pacific Coast in the town of Quepos ever since. When I moved here I had 36 years of home ownership and 50 years of car ownership under my seat belt.
When John and Gay Boggs of Virginia decided to retire to Atenas, Costa Rica, in 2013, they chose to build their dream home. They'd already looked at existing homes in their price range but weren't completely satisfied with the quality and features.
With an impressive skyline that glistens in the midday sun, Panama's capital looks modern and sophisticated. It's not uncommon for me to hear visitors comparing it to other cosmopolitan destinations like London or New York. Of course, with a population of just under 2 million, Panama City is much smaller.
You wake up in the morning and decide you're tired of the view...so, you pick up and head to another natural beauty spot that takes your fancy. That's your reality when you live full-time in an RV (recreational vehicle). You get to choose your surroundings...and change them with the seasons.
I used to believe the retirement fantasy propagated by the financial industry, corporate America, and the government. Then I realized I had been bamboozled. I made a deliberate decision to wrest control of my retirement destiny away from anyone who was trying to sell me down the river.
