Best Places In The World To Retire

We’re not going to move our stuff to Mexico because it would probably cost around US $5,000 to move it to Puerto Vallarta and it would be cheaper to just sell everything here and then buy what we need there.
 
So the only thing that we’re going to take with us are electronics (because they’re more expensive in Mexico than in the US), and our clothes, some linens (because you can buy nicer linens in the US), some tools, personal belongings, and maybe a few odds...

We’re not going to move our stuff to Mexico because it would probably cost around US $5,000 to move it to Puerto Vallarta and it would be cheaper to just sell everything here and then buy what we need there.
 
So the only thing that we’re going to take with us are electronics (because they’re more expensive in Mexico than in the US), and our clothes, some linens (because you can buy nicer linens in the US), some tools, personal belongings, and maybe a few odds and ends. We’re trying to get rid of everything else. 

 

(Mexican textiles, pictured.) 

San Juan del Sur is a good place to visit for many different types of beaches for all different needs.  There are plenty of beaches in San Juan del Sur and close to San Juan del Sur.

 

To the north are:

 

To the south are:

San Juan del Sur is a good place to visit for many different types of beaches for all different needs.  There are plenty of beaches in San Juan del Sur and close to San Juan del Sur.

 

To the north are:

 

To the south are:

The Portuguese stew, called Cozido à Portuguesa, is a popular food in Portugal. It has all meat from pork, veal, and cow, and a lot of cabbage, carrots.  It’s a very rich and heavy meal that is a typical meal for winter in Portugal.
 
Not only women make this meal; everyone does. For example, in my house, I do it. People or families will make it slightly differently.
 
Then we have the barbecue fish, which we call Peixe na Grelha, which is basically just...

The Portuguese stew, called Cozido à Portuguesa, is a popular food in Portugal. It has all meat from pork, veal, and cow, and a lot of cabbage, carrots.  It’s a very rich and heavy meal that is a typical meal for winter in Portugal.
 
Not only women make this meal; everyone does. For example, in my house, I do it. People or families will make it slightly differently.
 
Then we have the barbecue fish, which we call Peixe na Grelha, which is basically just fresh fish on the barbecue. We just grill the fish, and it comes with stewed vegetables. We typically use sole fish, sardines, Rodalo. But the most famous is sardines, our grilled sardines.
 
And then we have another one, which is Arroz de Marisco, which is basically rice and seafood. This contains shrimp, lobster, octopus, calamares, and crab all mixed in a big pan and  cooked with wine, tomato, onions, and pepper; a lot of ingredients. And then the rice is cooked with the sauce of that stew. It’s a wonderful, shellfish rice.
 
The food is one of the main features in Portugal. We take it really, really seriously. If you cook something in a microwave in Portugal, people will get offended with you. There are restaurants in Portugal where you have to go by yourself in the kitchen and fetch cutlery and the plate and the cups and put it on the table. 
 
In Portugal we have Gourmet 3 Michelin Star restaurants and you have these restaurants where you feel at home that you walk into the kitchen, talk to the cook, choose fish, you tell him exactly what vegetables you want, you don’t want the ones that are in the menu, you choose them, and you bring your plates and your cups from the cupboard and you put it on top of your table. So we take food very seriously in Portugal. Not only that, we don’t have a meal in half an hour; we have a meal in two and a half hours… with a lot of wine and a lot of conversation.

 

(Salad menu at Blue Hostel and Suites, Cascais, Portugal, pictured.)

Pedasí is located in the Central/South East of the Republic of Panamá, by the Pacific Ocean, in the  province of Los Santos, approximately  6 hours driving from the main city, Panamá. Pedasi has been going into remarkable changes since foreigners started arriving as residents.  Being  a picturesque town, Pedasí offers a variety and interesting  things to consider, within the old and the modern country and beach style.

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Pedasí is located in the Central/South East of the Republic of Panamá, by the Pacific Ocean, in the  province of Los Santos, approximately  6 hours driving from the main city, Panamá. Pedasi has been going into remarkable changes since foreigners started arriving as residents.  Being  a picturesque town, Pedasí offers a variety and interesting  things to consider, within the old and the modern country and beach style.

 

One of the reasons this is true is that you may find all kind of residents and thousands of visitors on a daily basis, and especially around February, during carnival time.  Many illustrious people spend a lot of time in their houses in Pedasí, for example, the former president of Panamá Mrs. Mireya Moscoso, Mel Gibson, a distinguished prince of Europe who is married to a Panamanian lady, and others who escape my memory at this moment.

 

Pedasí has many different kinds of residents.  There are the locals, some of whom are fishermen, and others are just people who have lived there for generations; foreigners, who love the area for its beauty and most of whom own a business, especially tourism sites and resorts; farmers; and the "jet set", who you can see often walking and eating in the local restaurants.

 

You can find in Pedasí very modest houses, as well as very modern ones.  People are warm and welcome all visitors, which is true of any other town in Panamá.

 

Prices vary in town, depending exactly where you go.  Usually prices have increased little by little, and in some places, prices are high, from a Panamanian perspective, even though they seem to be good prices for foreigners.

 

In Pedasai if you have a house with some piece of land, you can easily have your very own vegetable garden.  The climate is usually very nice, with a long lasting non rainy season, and as is true in many places in Panamá, no hurricanes, tornados, and very rare flooding due the many rivers that cross and drain the area.

 

Because it is located by the Pacific Ocean, the ocean front view is splendid, and a blessing; a gift to the eyes.

 

There have been a couple of incidents of crime recently in Corozal that put a lot of people off. There is some petty theft, but there's always going to be petty theft anywhere you go.
 
What I see in the area is Belizean on Belizean crime. Generally, it is two Belizeans getting in an argument, particularly when alcohol is involved. One of them pulls out a machete and whacks the other guy with it or they come to blows.
 
As far as violent crime, it's almost...

There have been a couple of incidents of crime recently in Corozal that put a lot of people off. There is some petty theft, but there's always going to be petty theft anywhere you go.
 
What I see in the area is Belizean on Belizean crime. Generally, it is two Belizeans getting in an argument, particularly when alcohol is involved. One of them pulls out a machete and whacks the other guy with it or they come to blows.
 
As far as violent crime, it's almost non-existent in the Corozal district. Any violent crime against expats, regardless where they're from, is very low.
 
My recommendation is to not isolate yourself from the community, but to integrate and get to know people. Belizeans are very friendly in general. They want to help and love the fact that expats are there investing money and giving people jobs.
 
Corozal is not a huge tourist area so there aren't a lot of opportunities to earn income. What you have are residents of the area, as opposed to tourists. The more development that goes on when gringos build houses, improve property, and do these sorts of things, then there are more jobs for the local Belizeans. Even if you hire a US contractor, all his labor is going to be Belizean labor. This is a nice economic benefit for the locals that they're happy about.
 
Once you get to know people, they begin to want to help you and look out for you. If you ask the locals, "What would you do in this situation?" They're going to tell you what they would do. It may not be exactly what you would do if you were in the US, Canada, or wherever you might have come from. However, if you're getting along in the Belizean lifestyle, then you need to listen to what the locals have to tell you and take that into consideration when you make a decision; whether it's somebody they recommended as a mechanic or someone who knows how to do electrical work.
 
You can also ask other expats. In many cases, we have learned our lessons the hard way and want to help our fellows who come down to Corozal by smoothing the way a little bit.
 
I'm much more concerned about crime in Dallas, Texas than here in Corozal, Belize. It doesn't seem to matter where you live or how nice the area is. There's going to be crime, whether it's somebody breaking into your car or breaking into your house. We are armed in Dallas, Texas and there's a reason for that. It's not legal to be armed everywhere, but in Texas it is. We do have firearms and keep them in the house for personal protection.
 
We do not have any weapons in Belize. If ever we do, it will be for sporting purposes. We don't ever feel threatened and even leave our houses unlocked a lot of the time. We've got great neighbors who look out for things. We also own a pack of dogs that are well taken care of and they run all over the property. Between the dogs, the neighbors, and just the fact that we're integrated into the local community, we don't feel like crime is a threat to us here in Corozal. 

 

(Prepping the land for Ed Parrish's new home, Corozal, Belize,pictured. )