IL Magazine: Discover the Greatest Retirement Town +6 More SUBSCRIBE NOW AND SAVE 35% about subscribing to International Living Magazine Panama has much to offer, from mountain havens boasting year-round mild temperatures to colonial towns where the traditions of grand old Spain have shaped and enriched the local culture. But it’s Panama’s sunny beaches that get the most attention…and with good reason.
When we decided to move to Italy, we knew we loved the lifestyle and the Italian culture. We just hadn’t realized how affordable life here could be. Since we’re not in a touristy area or an art city like Rome, daily life where we live—in the southern region of Basilicata—is surprisingly inexpensive.
I always wanted to live in the tropics, and since moving to the city of David all my expectations have been surpassed. Besides the great weather, shopping, and services, David is a thriving modern city. Even though David has a population of over 164,000, it feels like a smaller town. Everything I need is within 10 to 15 minutes of where I live.
Surfers from all over the globe flock to Costa Rica each year, and it’s debatable among natives whether surfing or futbol (soccer) would be considered the most popular sport. While there are plenty of great surf spots in the land of Pura Vida, Tamarindo stands out from the crowd.
I never get tired of the view from my stone-walled terrace in Basilicata, Italy. My little 300-year-old casa is built on the edge of town and overlooks fields of grain and grazing sheep—their bells tinkling as they meander the hillside across from us.
While most people in Canada are bundling up against the cold right now…and preparing for or enduring heavy snowfall and treacherous ice…Canadians Brian and Janette Sullivan are enjoying the temperate, weather of Cotacachi, Ecuador.
The Riviera Maya is a glorious stretch of sparkling white sand and turquoise-green Caribbean waters, bathed in balmy tropical sunshine. Beginning in Cancún at the northeast tip of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, and running about 80 miles south along Mexico’s Caribbean coast, this spectacular stretch of palm-studded beach draws about five million vacationers from across the globe, each year, making it the Caribbean’s number one vacation destination.
Imagine living just a 20-minute flight from a world-class island destination…a 45-minute ferry from a tiny haven called the Island of Flowers…or an hour’s drive from an expansive, uncrowded beach that is home to an exuberant expat community.
We first met Laura and Joel (not their real names) a decade ago on the shores of Mexico’s Lake Chapala, where they were vacationing. He was retired and she was happily working as a network television sales executive. He wanted her to quit her job and move to Mexico with him and she was having none of it.
I don’t mind making sacrifices or shouldering a burden if I know that it’s moving me forward to where I want to be. But I was miserable in my job and I really couldn’t stand my predicament.