IL Magazine: We'll Pay for your Subscription AND Give You a FREE Issue of The Savvy Retiree... SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET YOUR $50 VOUCHER about subscribing to International Living Magazine Flick open my passport and you'll find stamps from countries all over the world. Look a bit closer and there's one country stamp that's in there more than any other...and that's Mexico. I've spent a lot of time scouting real estate in Mexico because of the real estate opportunities it offers. Here are three different destinations in Mexico that are on my radar right now.
Everyone has their own vision of paradise. Perhaps your perfect utopia involves sand beneath your toes, turquoise waves, and gently swaying palm trees. Or maybe you prefer the urban jungle where you're surrounded by the modern creations of man.
In 1999, I traveled to Fiji. For me, living in the mountains of North Carolina, it was a long journey but some of my friends thought I was heading to Mt. Fuji, Japan. After getting there, honestly, I was a bit disillusioned.
It's not unusual for expats to describe living in the Andes of Ecuador as "Little Switzerland," with its verdant mountains, deep river valleys, and charming towns with church spires dotting the countryside.
In 2015, when my wife, Brenda, and I told our two adult children and their families that we were buying a condo in Costa Rica, we did not get the usual guarded responses, nor the dreaded "What are you thinking?"
The colonial homes of Granada have secrets. Lush courtyards, cool plunge pools, fountains, and art. In their shade, old men in rocking chairs nod you a "buen dia." (It's how they say it here.) Their wives might look up from embroidery and smile.
When I awaken each morning to the sounds of the Caribbean surf rolling onto the sugary beach only yards away, and watch the pelicans and gulls plucking their breakfast from the waves, I realize my good fortune to live where I do on Mexico's Riviera Maya.
Nestled along a secondary highway between Boquete and David in the province of Chiriquí lies a little-known gem called Potrerillos, meaning "Little Pastures."
In many ways, Pedasí, Panama reminds me of small-town America 50 years ago. It's a friendly village of 2,000 people, downtown is picturesque with a quaint church and colorfully painted town square, and large cattle ranches and corn and hay fields on rolling countryside surround it.
For many, the American Dream of owning your own home is fast becoming more of a fantasy than a dream. But more and more North Americans are finding their dreams coming true in the quiet town of Ballenita on the southwest coast of Ecuador.