IL Magazine: Discover the Greatest Retirement Town +6 More SUBSCRIBE NOW AND SAVE 35% about subscribing to International Living Magazine In 1991, when I moved from California to work in the beginnings of the timeshare industry in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, it was a sleepy little fishing village with only one paved road.
As International Living's correspondent (I prefer the term, Tequila Marshal) for Mexico's Riviera Maya, I'm primarily tasked with reporting on the Peninsula's stunning Caribbean coast from Cancún, south to Tulum.
Paris has dozens of covered passages that date from the 19th century. These early walkways, which cut straight through the heart of a city block, were like early shopping malls...
Mexico, didn’t become the most popular expat retirement destination for U.S. citizens by accident.
We like to think of Puerto Vallarta, the resort town on Mexico's Pacific coast that we call home, as a simple place. Although it has a growing population, it has been able to maintain a small-town feel. People say good morning to one another and strangers are treated with kindness.
The chances are good right now that I won’t outlive my retirement funds. Fifteen years ago, I couldn’t have said that, because 16 years ago I was outspending myself and couldn’t save a dime. Then something big happened.
As I sit at my writing table on my oceanside veranda, staring at the lapping waves of the Pacific, gentle breezes blowing my hair, I am a 65-year-old, extremely happy roving retiree.
“Here is a great perspective of a day in our life…yesterday we walked down to centro, where we both had the most amazing hour-long couples massage,” says David Smolyn, 51, who, along with partner Randy Hodgson, 58, splits his time between Puerto Vallarta, and Toronto.
My wife, Rita, and I have always loved to travel. There is just something about visiting someplace new and different, that keeps us feeling young and enjoying life. Unfortunately, travel can be an expensive hobby, so we used to have to limit ourselves to one or two trips a year.
“I never tire of looking out my window, seeing the centuries-old buildings, and wondering about the people who lived here before us,” says Holly Kurzman, who moved from San Francisco to Pézenas six years ago. Holly and her late husband Chris had long contemplated moving to Europe, but began seriously eyeing France shortly after Chris retired. “We were fed up with the rat race and cost of living in...