Best Places In The World To Retire

Yes and Yes!

 

Mexico overall has a gay community.   In the Yucatan Peninsula, Merida, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum have gay expats as well as locals.  They have a vibrant and very open community and acceptance from the locals.

 

 

(Gay march in Cancun, pictured.)

Yes and Yes!

 

Mexico overall has a gay community.   In the Yucatan Peninsula, Merida, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum have gay expats as well as locals.  They have a vibrant and very open community and acceptance from the locals.

 

 

(Gay march in Cancun, pictured.)

Yes, the doctors in the Cayo district are good. Most of the doctors in Belize are trained abroad, mainly in Guatemala and Cuba, and some in the US. In the Cayo District / San Ignacio, La Loma Luz Adventist Hospital offers services and treatment ranging from and including infectious diseases, internal medicine, labor/delivery, laboratory, pediatrics, radiography, surgery, and ultrasound.
 
Several other Cayo doctors hold private practice, as well as work at the Government Hospital...

Yes, the doctors in the Cayo district are good. Most of the doctors in Belize are trained abroad, mainly in Guatemala and Cuba, and some in the US. In the Cayo District / San Ignacio, La Loma Luz Adventist Hospital offers services and treatment ranging from and including infectious diseases, internal medicine, labor/delivery, laboratory, pediatrics, radiography, surgery, and ultrasound.
 
Several other Cayo doctors hold private practice, as well as work at the Government Hospital in San Ignacio. Saint Gabriel Medical Center is an after-hours clinic located by the police station in San Ignacio. It is a private practice run by Dr. Godoy, a surgeon and his wife, an anesthesiologist. They treat drop-in and scheduled patients. Their facilities include a pharmacy, an OR, a lab, and a delivery room.
 
In Benque Viejo, Dr. Lesbia Cocom Guerra operates the Mount Carmel Clinic & Pharmacy, a private clinic, at the corner of Said Musa and H Street. They treat minor emergencies and outpatient services. The Mopan Clinic is a public clinic located on Riverside Street between Diaz and Guerra Streets in Benque Viejo. They treat small emergencies and offer family and community health services. 

 

(Belize Ministry of Health seal, pictured)

Typically, you can drive in Panama with your US driver’s license for 6 months. Once that 6-month period is over, you are required to get a Panamanian driver’s license. After the 6-month period, you would probably be applying for a residency at that point. I believe that you have to have your residency paperwork submitted in order to obtain a driver’s license.
 
I go back and forth between the US and Panama so I don’t have a Panamanian driver’s...

Typically, you can drive in Panama with your US driver’s license for 6 months. Once that 6-month period is over, you are required to get a Panamanian driver’s license. After the 6-month period, you would probably be applying for a residency at that point. I believe that you have to have your residency paperwork submitted in order to obtain a driver’s license.
 
I go back and forth between the US and Panama so I don’t have a Panamanian driver’s license.  

 

( Market for the Penonomé-style Panama hats in the interior of Panama,  La Pintada, Coclé, pictured.)

The thing I was most surprised about when I moved abroad was how much I loved it.  It takes a pioneering spirit to move overseas voluntarily and living overseas gives me a sense of adventure almost every day.

 

There are easy things to mention too.   Having a maid and gardener means no chores ever.  Living overseas has given our family more quality free time to enjoy our time together.

The thing I was most surprised about when I moved abroad was how much I loved it.  It takes a pioneering spirit to move overseas voluntarily and living overseas gives me a sense of adventure almost every day.

 

There are easy things to mention too.   Having a maid and gardener means no chores ever.  Living overseas has given our family more quality free time to enjoy our time together.

You will find lots of beautiful plants and trees in the Algarve. One example is the carob, which is the same fruit that exists in the Caribbean.  (The name of the region “Caribbean” comes from the word “carob”.) The carob bean in the Caribbean is longer and flatter, so the carob bean in Portugal is a shorter version of the Caribbean version of the carob. It’s kind of a scimitar-shaped bean around 15 centimeters long. Most of it is green and when it...

You will find lots of beautiful plants and trees in the Algarve. One example is the carob, which is the same fruit that exists in the Caribbean.  (The name of the region “Caribbean” comes from the word “carob”.) The carob bean in the Caribbean is longer and flatter, so the carob bean in Portugal is a shorter version of the Caribbean version of the carob. It’s kind of a scimitar-shaped bean around 15 centimeters long. Most of it is green and when it ripens it becomes brownish or dark reddish. It’s a very interesting product because it can be used in a number of things. It has an enzyme that is used in the pharmaceutical industry and as an additive for the drinks industry. It is also used as a substitute for chocolate in producing a sort of cocoa-tasting product used in the making cakes. Portugal is the third largest European and North African producer and exporter of the carob plant. There is quite a lot of tradition in Portugal linking back to the land.

 

The best time of the year to come and see flowering plants in Algarve is just after the rains, around autumn and again in the spring. We have a flowering area in the western Algarve called the Costa Vicentina, which is a natural reserve of many square kilometers with very little construction. Costa Vicentina has millions of very pretty wild flowers. You will see myriad colors. It is a wonderful place to go to for walkers, cyclists, ramblers, or even if you are just driving through.

 

In the mountains, in traditional areas like Alte, Salir, and Monchique, these are places that because of their height, elevation, and humidity tend to get a lot of flowering plants. Algarve is generally quite consistent with the rest of Portugal but it has a very dry climate. We don’t have much rain or cloudy days. The type of shrubs that exist here are small-leaved plants because these plants tend to do well in less humidity because the evaporation from the leave surface is lower, so they tend to survive better in dry climates. Many of these shrubs are very pretty. Portugal also has the olive tree, which blooms and is fantastic. We also have the almond tree, which is very famous. Probably Japan is the most famous for its almond and orange blossoms but Portugal has beautiful pink, lilac, and white almonds. We also have citrus trees like the orange trees, and a range of other flowering plants, which are very pretty.

 

Among the most famous local plants in the Algarve are the carob plant, the orange, almond, olive, and the fig tree. These are the traditional fruits of the Algarve and they all flower in a different way, which is very pretty. I have all these trees in my own garden.

 

(Carob plant, pictured.)