Best Ex-Pat area for full time residency

You might explore the Mexico/South America section of this forum to answer some questions.

Bumpyroad wrote:
I spent a lot of time in Italy/southern Switzerland and met a man there who said he let his wife pick the country, she picked switzerland, and he could pick the city, and he picked Lugano. out of all the possibilities in the world, sounded good to me.
why are you limiting your choices to the americas?
bumpy

Wise choice: I have spent much time in Locarno, just down the road......... Nice climate, excellent infrastructure, friendly people, what's not to like?

I don't intend this to be political, but I'd probably hold off on long term travels outside the US for a year or two if I can possibly help it, just to see what is going on in Mexico (they are rioting/protesting due to the gas price hikes), and to see how the present administration settles in.

There are two types of living in other countries.

One is similar to what I experienced in a few countries during my Navy career. I've seen such 'Little America' areas in Mexico. I have some friends who live in two different such areas in Costa Rica.

The other types of living is to completely get away from America, often with no english speakers around for daily services, etc. If where you are looking at going is not a 'Little America' region - thing long and hard before making such a change.

You have to be able to embrace the different culture, and not look down on things folks in that country do differently, how they think differently. You are a guest wanting to be a local - so you are the one who must change your mindset and way of thinking.

I just received a message from an old acquaintance who lives in Mexico. I don't know much about where yet but I will talking to him about his situation.

I am personally attracted to Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Romania, urban areas in all cases. But I've not investigated in depth, have stayed in the U.S. to deal with a cancer that popped up shortly after my last trip to Central Europe.

These would be my choices because I like four seasons and urban living, and would want to be where I can freely travel all through Europe, but my financial resources are not up to the cost of living in any of the major urban areas in Western Europe (they are just fine for modest living in small town U.S. or living Life of Riley for much of Central or Eastern Europe, and much of Asia).

Rome, Nice or Monaco would be nice, but I can't afford them. If I didn't want seasons, Singapore would be great, but I can't afford it and I'd probably get bored pretty quickly.

I lived two years in Beijing and could probably just afford to live there, but wouldn't go back because the climate is brutal, very hot muggy summers, very cold winters, and population growth out of control. We are not particularly welcome as ex-pats in China, but if I were to go back to live, I'd pick Kunming because it is high-altitude sub-tropical, with a quite pleasant moderate climate, and one of the better managed municipalities in China. While I became comfortable with Chinese culture, their way of doing things, to the extent that it hurt me to have to come home, I'm not sure I'm ready to go back.

Sounds like you are looking for someplace permanently warm. Costa Rica has one of the best legal and tax environments for ex-pats, but that is turning it into an expensive ex-pat enclave (but nothing like the cost of Singapore). Belize has the advantage of using English as the language for most business. Elsewhere in the warm parts of the Western Hemisphere, you need to become comfortable with Spanish as a language, and Latin American culture.

Mostly it depends on money. For those with enough money, the top ex-pat communities in the world are Singapore and Monaco. But wealthy Europeans also flock to South Florida and Southern California as tax havens.

I'm sort of assuming that you are not asking this as a RV question, because once you get past Mexico the feasibility of full-time RVing becomes more problematic.

The first year I retired I lived on the north shore of the Dominican Republic. It was wonderful. Then I hit 65. Medicare will not cover you outside the USA and I started to develop medical conditions that I knew would not be easily treatable in the Dominican Republic. Medical care is backwards and no sterility is guaranteed should you need anything invasive. I had to return to the USA.
If I was young and healthy I would move back in a minute

jesseannie wrote:
We are considering moving out of the US to experience another part of the world. We have thought of Mexico, Costa Rico, Belize, Panama each one has plusses and minuses. When reading the blogs it seems a lot of posters are real estate people trying to make a buck.
Do any on this forum have some first or second hand experience to share?

Thanks
Jesseannie

My wife and I lived in the Bahamas (Long Island, about 150 miles SE from Nassau) for a bit over 2 years. We built a home there on 2 acres with 100 feet of beach front. It was great for a year, then it started to wear on me. I got so bored living on an island after spending my entire adult life in the west. I need room to roam, and the island took that away. We sold the beach house for a little more than the $350,000 we put into it, and moved back here to my wife's home town. She is okay with it and still spends a few weeks each year back on the island. I haven't been back since we left.

We have been to Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and none were as attractive to us as the Bahamas.

I have visited a couple of CA countries in the last 15 years, only for a week or two each year. never "lived" there so my opinion may be a little shortsighted.

Nicaragua - pretty, coastal areas are nice and cater to tourist. Populated areas usually crowded and expensive. Locals seemed a little stand-offish to me but just my personal experience. Only spent a week there and from what I understand, most ex-pats can not buy land, they must rent on long term from the Government, not real sure on that.

Honduras - went there about eight years straight and love the country and the people are some of the best in the world, made many friends while there. I always went into the interior of the country, never visited the coastal areas at all. They welcome outsiders gladly and if I had really concentrated on learning Spanish, this would be my first choice.

Belize - I have been travelling there for the last nine years. One of the best things about Belize, they mostly speak English, the official language of the country. Very diverse mix of people and cultures. Belize depends mostly on the tourist trade for its economy. Being so small, you can be on the coast in the morning and the mountains on the Guatemala border that night. Cost of living depends on your taste. I have never been out to the Islands or "Cays", hope to visit this year in July, but they welcome ex-pats with open arms. As with all CA countries, fuel or gasoline prices are high and so is electric service.

Not much help really I know, but just a general overview of my personal experiences, if you are comfortable with the Spanish language, you would get along better than I do, too old to learn a new way to talk......

Slightly off topic:

We loved living in Western Europe before the EC disaster, but I wouldn't go back the way things are now. As mentioned, Switzerland is fantastic, and is not in the EC, but IIRC it was rather expensive.

We think the British Isles are great, and the language is not so hard to learn, but it's not a cheap area either.