IL Magazine: Discover the World's Best Retirement Haven for 2022 + 24 more
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Mexico is a country that’s frequently misunderstood, and first-time travelers are often surprised to discover how different it is from how they may have imagined it. Here are nine common misconceptions about Mexico.
I first visited the south-central coastal resort town of Nha Trang, Vietnam in 2005. I’d heard about the Fairy Spring Waterfall and put it on my list of things to do. It was only 12 miles from the city—an easy daytrip on my rented motorbike. When I arrived, I was met by a gaggle of five local ladies who convinced me that I needed them to guide me...
Jason arrived in Querétaro in January 2022, and has enjoyed scouting both the city and the surrounding area. He is a videographer and film editor who documents his discoveries and experiences on his own popular YouTube channel. He says, “I take videos of the city and my experiences abroad. I usually spend two days a week filming and the rest of the week editing.
My husband David and I are renting a one-bedroom house in the Los Arcos area, with a full view of the 18th-century aqueduct that stretches from the hills in the east to the center of town. We pay $800 a month for our one-bedroom duplex, which is fully furnished and includes all utilities and the occasional homemade dinner that our landlord brings to us (he's awesome!).
Despite having lived in Vietnam for well over a decade, it took years before I even heard of Quy Nhon, a city of more than 450,000 sun-kissed souls on the south-central coast. A friend told me it was a beautiful place, just right for retirees, but there were only a few foreigners living there. How could this city have escaped my notice? My curiosity was piqued...
I’ve always found Da Nang enormously appealing. For one thing, I’ve never been to another city with a dragon bridge. The nearly half-mile-long dragon-shaped bridge spouts steam and fire every weekend night for the amusement of spectators young and old. It’s astounding in no small part because the Dragon Bridge is a major thoroughfare that spans the...
I’ve never felt so comfortable living anywhere as I did in Vietnam. The people are welcoming and genuinely friendly, the mountains and beaches are breathtakingly beautiful, and the cities are alive and vibrant. It was my home for more than ten years—first in Nha Trang on the south-central coast, and then in Hanoi and Da Nang.
I could see Bernal long before I entered this small town in the middle of Mexico’s central highlands. The Peña de Bernal—a towering rock monolith similar to Devils Tower in Wyoming—stands 1,148 feet above its base in the high desert, dominating the landscape for miles around. This volcanic dome is said to be the third-highest of its type in the world...
Tequisquiapan fills up every weekend with day-trippers who come from Querétaro, Mexico City, Guanajuato, and other cities in central Mexico to enjoy its mild, pleasant weather and relaxing ambiance. Tequisquiapan, one of Mexico’s pueblos mágicos, or magical towns, is a charming village famous for its vineyards...
History buffs will often stop in Huế, a city about halfway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. Most people spend a day or two exploring the famous Citadel and the Imperial City hidden within its depths, but there’s so much more to see if you have the time—immense tombs, a quaint covered bridge, a serene Buddhist temple...