Armando Contreras - Galvan Real Estate and Services
The golf in Puerto Vallarta is very attractive. We have three Jack Nicklaus golf courses here. One of them is in Punta de Mita, another one is in Marina Puerto Vallarta, and the other one is in Nuevo Puerto Vallarta. These are all world-class golf courses.
There are other golf courses in Puerto Vallarta which are not Jack Nicklaus golf courses and they are also of very good quality. Golfers tell me that It doesn’t cost a lot of money to play golf in...
The golf in Puerto Vallarta is very attractive. We have three Jack Nicklaus golf courses here. One of them is in Punta de Mita, another one is in Marina Puerto Vallarta, and the other one is in Nuevo Puerto Vallarta. These are all world-class golf courses.
There are other golf courses in Puerto Vallarta which are not Jack Nicklaus golf courses and they are also of very good quality. Golfers tell me that It doesn’t cost a lot of money to play golf in these courses but since I am not a golfer, I say it does. Generally, the tourists that come here to play golf have nothing but good things to say about their golfing experience in Puerto Vallarta.
(Los Angeles Lakers head basketball coach Byron Scott with Vista Vallarta Golf Club Director of Golf David Quiroz in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)
What do I need to know about living overseas and retiring abroad?
kevin obrien - BarefootPanama
The best advice I can give about living overseas or retiring abroad is, if you want things to be like the way they are at home, then do not leave home.
For example, Panama is a lot different from where I come from and from where most people are from. When you go to Panama, you have to get used to the culture. For instance, the fact that there is not a lot of emphasis on education does not mean that the people of Panama are bad. For instance,throwing...
The best advice I can give about living overseas or retiring abroad is, if you want things to be like the way they are at home, then do not leave home.
For example, Panama is a lot different from where I come from and from where most people are from. When you go to Panama, you have to get used to the culture. For instance, the fact that there is not a lot of emphasis on education does not mean that the people of Panama are bad. For instance,throwing trash just out the window is a common practice here because it is not embedded in their education system to do otherwise.
From the perspective of a foreigner, some of the decisions and practices here in Panama are just plain shocking. People cry about it but nothing is going to change. As an example, there was actually one person who decided that taking the trash bins out of Casco Viejo was a good idea. So right now, what everybody does with their trash is throw it on the street; the street of a world heritage site! Yes, they pile up the trash in neat piles on the corners of the streets of a world heritage site. That happens because some person of authority thought it to be a good idea to remove the trash bins in Casco Viejo. You may think that being a person of authority, he wouldn’t have made that decision, but that is not how things work here. I guess being able to adjust to where you are living is a huge part of moving away.
(Fountain in Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama, pictured. )
There’s been an interesting phenomenon happening in Granada, Nicaragua the last 2 to 3 years due to the opening of Sacuanjoche International School, started by my wife, Janice and I. Before we opened the school, younger people who were traveling who would have liked to stay in Granada if there been an international bi-lingual school did not stay, and rather continued their travels to other parts of the world.
When the school opened, younger couples started to stay...
There’s been an interesting phenomenon happening in Granada, Nicaragua the last 2 to 3 years due to the opening of Sacuanjoche International School, started by my wife, Janice and I. Before we opened the school, younger people who were traveling who would have liked to stay in Granada if there been an international bi-lingual school did not stay, and rather continued their travels to other parts of the world.
When the school opened, younger couples started to stay in Granada as opposed to just visiting for 3 – 6 months. As they’ve stayed, they’ve opened businesses such as bars, restaurants and bakeries. It turns out that the international school actually helped to attract younger families and enabled them to develop roots in Granada. As a result, there’s a large and growing expat community in Nicaragua for 20 and 30-somethings.
What are the outdoor activities in and around Coronado, Panama?
Sarah Booth - Panama Holiday Homes & Buyer's Consultant with My Panama Real Estate
The best outdoor activity in Coronado, Panama is definitely having happy hours on the rooftop! We have a lot of good happy hours. There is a hotel here in Coronado that has a great rooftop patio with a sushi restaurant below and that is where I think I have been every day in the last month, since it opened. It is a great place to spend time with family or friends.
There is a variety of outdoor activities that you can do in Coronado. You can join...
The best outdoor activity in Coronado, Panama is definitely having happy hours on the rooftop! We have a lot of good happy hours. There is a hotel here in Coronado that has a great rooftop patio with a sushi restaurant below and that is where I think I have been every day in the last month, since it opened. It is a great place to spend time with family or friends.
There is a variety of outdoor activities that you can do in Coronado. You can join triathlons, beach boot camps, or go biking, hiking, or golfing. There are groups that do triathlons together. It is not a serious competition. Anybody can join, and you even have the option to do just a portion of it. You can choose to do just the swimming part and not the cycling. It’s really just a way for people to get together and do something fun.
Another common outdoor activity here in Coronado is going to beach boot camps. It is an exercise or workout class at the beach, which is done at around six or seven in the morning, just before the heat of the day. You will see people from 18 to 60 years old join the beach boot camps.
Biking is also a popular outdoor activity here in Coronado. There are many different interesting areas in the general area with higher altitudes where you can go mountain biking, and they are not very far outside Coronado. There is a little town called Las Lajas, which is a popular biking destination. It is a little hilly but there are beautiful lakes over there.
There are many things to do outside because the weather in Coronado is nice all year round, so everything we do is outside.
To drive in Portugal, do I need Portugal automobile insurance?
Luis Rodrigues - Gouveia Pereira, Costa Freitas & Associates, Law Firm, RL
Under Portuguese law, each car needs to have a third party’s liability insurance to cover the damages that you may cause to other people in case of an accident. All risks insurance is also possible and common although not mandatory. Please note that these insurances relate to each car and not to the driver.
(Mazda 818 in Portugal, pictured.)
Under Portuguese law, each car needs to have a third party’s liability insurance to cover the damages that you may cause to other people in case of an accident. All risks insurance is also possible and common although not mandatory. Please note that these insurances relate to each car and not to the driver.
There are no required vaccinations if you are going to Belize but if you go to the jungle, it is advantageous for you to take the anti-malarial and use a bug repellant.
Healthcare and medical services cost US $60 for a walk-in, so it is not as cheap as Nicaragua or Panama. They do not have state-of-the-are facilities in Belize like they do in Panama or Nicaragua.
There are no required vaccinations if you are going to Belize but if you go to the jungle, it is advantageous for you to take the anti-malarial and use a bug repellant.
Healthcare and medical services cost US $60 for a walk-in, so it is not as cheap as Nicaragua or Panama. They do not have state-of-the-are facilities in Belize like they do in Panama or Nicaragua.
One of the objectives of our trip is to experience firsthand what it would be like to live in different environments abroad, irrespective of what we thought we knew beforehand. We dubbed it the “Try Everything So You Really Know What You’re Talking About and What You Like Tour”, or for short, “You Don’t Know Until You Go”. Part of that experience was to get a feel for the locals. Herewith, our view of Mexicans and Mexican food.
I absolutely love this part of Panama! Playa Venao is an excellent surf spot, a lovely beach, the crowds are very relaxed and chilled out. El Sitio is a great beach side bar restaurant with the best view of the surfing on the beach. If you plan on a visit to this part of Panama on the Azuero Peninsula, this is also where I would recommend you stay.
We took a day trip to Volcan and stopped by this school to see the entertainment. Costa Rican folk dancers performed for the children and we enjoyed watching them. ...