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Recently Answered Questions

What’s it like to live in Mexico? What’s the lifestyle?

Yvon Marier - Travel Info Mexico

Yvon Marier enjoying the beach with his dog and a friend, Mexico.jpg – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Mexico is home to different kinds of lifestyles. If you want to be a beach bum and just sit on the beach, have fun and enjoy the ocean, you can do that. Mexico has miles and miles of beach you can enjoy. If you want to be involved in animal rescue, orphanages and whatever you desire, you can definitely get involved in those activities.

Here in Mexico, what matters is what you really want to do. If you want to sit down and read a book,...

Here in Mexico, what matters is what you really want to do. If you want to sit down and read a book, that’s fine. I love doing activities with animals, so that’s what occupies my time. Some people like to be with children or going to the church and that’s what they do.

In Canada, to a certain extent you can do anything you like, too, but it’s not as easy as it is in Mexico. In Canada, everyone has their own home and people usually stay at home unless they go to special occasions and meet other people. Here in Mazatlán, we expats and snowbirds all know each other so everybody ends up talking to each other. We’re a community more so than in Canada because everybody knows each other, and people do a lot of things in groups.

I was in the military for 21 years. I had a very bad parachute accident that injured my spine. I broke my neck during the accident, and I was in a very bad shape for many years. I soon suffered from arthritis that affected my entire body- from my nose down to my toes.

I started coming to Mexico because of my health. I was so sick in Canada and had to take morphine and lots of painkillers. When my family and I started coming to Mexico roughly fifteen years ago, I started feeling so much better. I spoke to my doctor who said I should come back to Mexico, and that’s why I kept coming back. I would come to Mexico once, twice or thrice a month, and eventually because of coming to Mexico I was able to get off all of my painkillers, and I was able to relax. I can enjoy life so much better now.

Life is so much better in Mexico because the temperature is much more stable compared to Canada. In Canada, you can have four seasons in a single day. That’s one of the things that makes a big difference for me.

(Yvon Marier enjoying the beach with his dog and a friend, Mexico, pictured.)

What is the history of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua?

Gordon MacKay - InNicaNow.com

Thai restaurant, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

The history of San Juan del Sur goes way back in the gold rush days, when people from the east of the US would take ships down, come through the river into the lake, and then cross over the Pacific side and take the railroad or a ship to get all the way up. San Juan del Sur was a crossing point. As you can expect, there were lots of interesting goings on for people traveling to find riches. Once that ended, things slowed down for quite a while and it was a little bit more of a sleepy...

San Juan del Sur has been getting tourism growth of about 12% every year for the last five or six years. It’s sustainable- not going out of control, but there’s definite growth. There are shops that are carrying things that only an expat would buy that you wouldn’t find in San Juan del Sur five years ago.

San Juan del Sur can’t really grow in size- there are mountains on its three sides and then the ocean. What is here has changed. Since we’ve been here, a lot of homes have added a second level to add rental revenue for locals. There have been a lot of homes that have been converted to storefronts and businesses. There are some three-story buildings that have been put up in town. On the edge of town there are vacation rentals that are put up on the hills or overlooking the bay.

In the last ten years, a lot has been going on In San Juan del Sur. San Juan del Sur is really just starting to be a place where people feel going to is usual. Before, Nicaragua was not on anyone’s radar.

For the future, what I hope is that San Juan del Sur continues this 10-12% growth a year so that the city can change as it needs to slowly and plan for improvements on roads, electricity, water, and infrastructure- things that we need so that locals have a chance to do things like add a second floor on their house so that they can get extra income.

There are still more products coming to San Juan del Sur that are unique to what North America would like, but to still hold true to the fishing surf town that it’s been, it’s still a relaxed, easy, cool vibe that everyone loves with just a few different products and services.

(Thai restaurant, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.)

Do I need a second passport if I retire, work, or live abroad?

Gabriela Estrada

You do not need a second passport if you retire and choose to work or live abroad. It is, though, highly recommended to get a residency, which, for example, in Nicaragua is a very easy thing to do. All you would need to do is pay $2 for the application, fill it out, get a couple of medical tests and then you are all set.

With this residency you wouldn't have to worry about migration problems, you will be able to come and go from the country and you are...

What are the construction standards in Ambergris Caye?

Lisa McCorkle Guerrero - DIAMANTÉ

dining room view from Diamante condos, Ambergris Caye, Belize – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

The construction standards on Ambergris Caye are very high. I’m a developer and I can only speak for myself with 100% accuracy, but I know other contractors as well, and their construction standards are very high.

Ambergris Caye is in a hurricane prone area of the Caribbean so we try to build to standards that are going to withstand hurricane force weather. For example, for our development, Diamante, we’re using a system called Panel W that’s basically 4 to 6...

How's the standard of living in El Valle de Anton, Panama?

Bill Brunner

El Valle de Anton Panama back yard – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

The standard of living in El Valle will depend on which of the three socio-economic groups in El Valle to which you belong:

At the bottom of the socio-economic scale you have the native people. These are the folks who live full-time in the Valley (el Valle de Anton), and whose families may have been here for three or four generations. You also have the people who walk from outside the Valley into the Valley who have jobs like gardeners, grass cutters,...

The standard of living in El Valle will depend on which of the three socio-economic groups in El Valle to which you belong:

At the bottom of the socio-economic scale you have the native people. These are the folks who live full-time in the Valley (el Valle de Anton), and whose families may have been here for three or four generations. You also have the people who walk from outside the Valley into the Valley who have jobs like gardeners, grass cutters, clerks in stores if they have the education, and so on. These are the folks who, if they’re doing domestic work are working at between US $15 to $20 a day. The pay for construction work is anywhere from $22 to $30 a day. These are the folks you see in the Valley riding around on bicycles. Most of them don’t have any cars (but they all have cell phones).
The next level up is what I call the middle class. It includes most of the expats who are probably retirees, as well as some business owners in El Valle, who for the most part (but not all) are Panamanians and who own businesses such as the smaller restaurants, hotels, stores, etc.. It also includes retired Panamanian professionals or maybe professionals who have weekend houses here. These are the folks who live in the houses that are in the $100,000 to $300,000 range, with exceptions.
Then there is what I call “the country club set”, which are at the top of the socio-economic scale and who are pretty much “weekenders” here in El Valle. These are the people who may be the owners of substantial businesses (perhaps in Panama City or the Free Zone in Colon or other places) and / or may come from old family money and have the large land holdings in El Valle. They may have million dollar homes and a back yard even bigger than the one pictured above.

Relative to expats, the standard of living in El Valle is pretty good. If you can afford $15 - $20 a day, you can have a gardener or a live-in maid if you want.

What is Portugal's gun ownership policy and gun laws?

Carol Bartlett Ribeiro - Carol Bartlett Ribeiro, Property Consultant

Caçador em Peralcovo, Hunter in Peralcovo, Portugal – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

In order to have a gun in Portugal, you have to have a license. Foreigners can own guns in Portugal.

Most of the people who have guns in Portugal, and how gun ownership started is that the guns were for hunters for the hunting season, but there are very strict rules for that.

The actual details of what would be required to get a license to have a gun and what it would cost, I don’t know. The reason...

Recently Posted Expat Stories

The Drive from Mazatlan to Lo de Marcos, Nayarit: Confusion, No Shortage of Dried Shrimp, and Then the Prize in a Disneyland-like Jungle

Being passed on the road to Nayarit – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

So there we were, in our van, after taking the Baja Ferry from La Paz and disembarking at the port at Mazatlán.

Given that we had just spent more than six weeks in the Baja California desert, even in the parking lot of the harbor in Mazatlán, we were struck by the profusion of plant life. Palm trees, vines, and other types of jungle shrubbery seemed to be growing everywhere, sometimes on top of each other, successfully utilizing any amount of even the...

Learn Step by Step

Ahhh, Panama, you have been sitting wherever for months trying to learn as much as you can about this place, finding some great info and some downright lies, I bet.

How you can retire here and live like a king for around $1,000 per month? That one always makes me laugh.

It is true some things are cheaper here, but overall a gallon of gas costs what it costs, right?

Now let’s say you’re getting older like me, not in too great of health and you see...

A Short History of Medical Care In Panamá

I was recently asked about the healthcare Panama Punta Pacifica Hospital – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

available in the Coronado area of Panamá. In order to answer that question and at the same time, give you a more holistic view of healthcare in general in Panamá (so you don't have to worry), we can look to portions of the history of Panamá.

Panamá has traditionally been known by other nations as a passageway to move from the Atlantic to the Pacific and vice-versa. Since the construction...