Best Places In The World To Retire

What are the best and worst things about living and retiring in San Miguel de Allende?

Mary Agnes McKay

Rental with a pool and view, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

The best thing about living in San Miguel de Allende is living among the Mexican people and being able to experience their gentle spirit, and their calm attitude about life and life’s predicaments. I’ve discovered that everything has a solution, and the solution doesn’t necessarily mean spending a great deal of money to have to purchase a piece of equipment for your house. For example, in a plumbing situation or just regarding the appearance of something, a Mexican...

The best thing about living in San Miguel de Allende is living among the Mexican people and being able to experience their gentle spirit, and their calm attitude about life and life’s predicaments. I’ve discovered that everything has a solution, and the solution doesn’t necessarily mean spending a great deal of money to have to purchase a piece of equipment for your house. For example, in a plumbing situation or just regarding the appearance of something, a Mexican man would use what I call “Mexican ingenuity” and make something that works just as fine, looks lovely, and fits in.

As an American, I would think, “I don’t have any cabinets in this kitchen. I don’t have anywhere to put my dishes and my glasses so I’m going to have to go and buy furniture, but there’s nowhere to even put it.” Instead, here in San Miguel de Allende, an iron worker who knows my needs calmly comes in and immediately says, “Well we could make shelves with this and this… and then I could add these decorative touches to it so it would be attractive,” all for a minimal amount of money.

I like living in the calm environment of San Miguel de Allende with gentle spirited people. Of course, the climate is a plus in San Miguel de Allende, because we don’t have the heat and humidity that the coastal areas have.

San Miguel de Allende is unique and I suppose that’s why it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. Also, it has the Spanish colonial aura as evidenced by the cobblestone streets and the painted houses. I feel like I’ve been dropped into a beautiful environment where I can appreciate the natural art and the natural beauty. I could go on forever about what I like about San Miguel de Allende. The difficulty is thinking of what I don’t like.

Here’s an example of a situation that I didn’t like in San Miguel de Allende. Early on, I was frustrated because I kept saying, “She (a helper or a housekeeper) said she would be here to do this tomorrow; he (some other service provider) said he would deliver that tomorrow,” but they don’t. He just doesn’t show up, or she never came.

And someone then said to me, “Well ‘mañana’ doesn’t mean ‘tomorrow.’ It just means ‘not today.’” My life changed drastically with that new concept because then I didn’t feel people were lying to me, or not showing up and being lazy, or not keeping their word. Then I absolutely knew, eventually, it would be taken care of, maybe on the day after tomorrow, or maybe in a week and a half. That was frustrating at first, but then that ties in to what I like is about the calm pace of things here.

(Canopy bed that was designed for Mary Agnes McKay complete with carved footbed, Los Labradores, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

How's the surf and surfing in and around Algarve?

Luis Teixeira da Silva - Algarve Senior Living

Swells at the beach at Carrapateira, Algarve, Portugal – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Surfing in the Algarve is fantastic. Algarve is the second most popular region of Portugal for surfing. The most famous surfing spot can be found north of Lisbon, which is called the silver coast, in the area between Peniche and Nazare. They broke the world record there several times.

The Algarve has a fantastic reputation for surfing on the west coast of the region, between Sagres and Aljezur, and we have a number of famous beaches there such Bordeira and...

Surfing in the Algarve is fantastic. Algarve is the second most popular region of Portugal for surfing. The most famous surfing spot can be found north of Lisbon, which is called the silver coast, in the area between Peniche and Nazare. They broke the world record there several times.

The Algarve has a fantastic reputation for surfing on the west coast of the region, between Sagres and Aljezur, and we have a number of famous beaches there such Bordeira and Carrapateira. We also have other beaches in and around the Sagres area, such as Martinhal and Baleal. They all have long, sandy beaches and very good surf. They have a fantastic swell and very evenly spaced waves. It’s easy to get a ride and get it in without being hammered by the next wave. But the water is cold so you need a wetsuit to go surfing.

There is also some surfing on the southern coast of the Algarve. The further west you go, the better the surf. There are small surfing spots just off the beaches around Lagos and around Praia da Luz. The distance between Lagos and Sagres is only about 25 kilometers so you don’t have to travel far to get to surf.

It’s safe to go into the water in Praia da Luz. The waters there are just like the Mediterranean most days. It is calm with azure colors; nary a wave so it’s very safe.

In the western part of the Algarve, you shouldn’t really go into the waves alone. If you have children, they can certainly play in the shallow water but I wouldn’t be far away because a lot of the beaches in that area are very remote and there are not a lot of people there. They don’t necessarily have protection such as life guards and so on. However, most of the southern beaches do have lifeguards.

The Algarve has probably the largest number of “Blue Flag” beaches in Portugal. “Blue Flag” is the European Union symbol for quality of the beaches, infrastructure and water quality. The beaches in the west coast has big waves whereas there are hardly any waves on the southern shores of the Algarve, so there are surf conditions to love for anybody.

(Swells at the beach at Carrapateira, Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)

Is the electricity reliable in Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan? Are there blackouts or brownouts in Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan?

Tiffany Swift - Rentals In Belize

Santa Elena, Belize – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

The electricity in Cayo is reliable. We do have blackouts but it only happens if there is a huge thunderstorm or if the electric company is fixing something. They would normally put out a warning if the power will be switched off for a certain period.

There are a few brownouts where the power goes out without you knowing but that doesn’t happen a lot. Some people here in Cayo do have generators but not many. If someone has a generator...

What are the main cities, towns, communities and developments of the San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua area and what is each one like?

Daniel Snider - Snider's Realty Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur beach – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Within the main San Juan Del Sur city boundaries, there are four places that are notable. One is the downtown area of San Juan Del Sur, which borders the coast. That would be where you would find most of the commercial spots, restaurants, different types of businesses and different types of houses owned by local Nicaraguans. There you would find a lot of commercial places with a few different neighborhoods in the bordering areas with nicer homes but that would be the busy neighborhood...

Within the main San Juan Del Sur city boundaries, there are four places that are notable. One is the downtown area of San Juan Del Sur, which borders the coast. That would be where you would find most of the commercial spots, restaurants, different types of businesses and different types of houses owned by local Nicaraguans. There you would find a lot of commercial places with a few different neighborhoods in the bordering areas with nicer homes but that would be the busy neighborhood of San Juan Del Sur.

Right to the north, over the river, and still bordering the coast, there is a neighborhood called La Talanguera. There is not a lot of businesses or commercial spaces over there but this is a neighborhood where a lot of wealthier Nicaraguans have their vacations homes. La Talaguera is not gate-guarded so it is open for people to walk around.

On the hill, right to the north of La Talanguera (5 minutes away from downtown San Juan Del Sur by car), is a development known as the Pacific Marlin. This is where a lot of upscale, high end homes are located. Pacific Marlin is a gated community so you have to own a property there or you should at least be renting there in order to get in. It has a hilly topography so you get really nice views of the ocean from the homes in Pacific Marlin. The average lot in Pacific Marlin would be anywhere between 1/3 of an acre and 3/4 of an acre. The homes can be as small as 2,500 square feet and over 6,000 square feet – pretty big homes.

At the back part of San Juan Del Sur, away from the ocean, there is a development called Palermo. This is gate-guarded and is mostly similar to Pacific Marlin. It’s a little further back from town but it’s on a hilly terrain with a good view of San Juan Del Sur and great sunsets.

Generally, these places are very safe but of course I wouldn’t recommend walking in the wee hours of the night just as I wouldn’t recommend for anybody to do that anywhere else in the world. But for the most part, it is pretty safe to walk around these places.

Going north of San Juan Del Sur towards Rivas, there are several beach communities that border San Juan Del Sur such as Hermosa and Maderas which are about 20 minutes away by car. Some of the beaches here are open to the public and some are private.

One public beach you could go to is Majagual. They have several different homes both for vacation and rentals. Maderas and Maderitas are also public beaches where foreigners like to go to during the day to get away from the hustle and bustle of San Juan Del Sur. There are homes and businesses in these areas, too. People come here to explore and to surf. There are patches of beaches where you will find pristine virgin beaches that are not densely populated. You will also find areas where expats have set up their houses.

What do I need to know about international pet shipping, international pet travel, and international pet transport?

Syl Michelin - Thun Financial

Pet kennel for pet travel – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

When shipping pets, one thing to be mindful of are the very specific requirements that can apply to travel crates and kennels. When we flew out of the UK with our cat, we arrived at Heathrow airport with our brand new shinny crate only to be told that they could not accept it because it did not have a "central locking mechanism" (the crate happened to lock in 2 places).

We were extremely lucky that day to be able to buy a crate from...

What's the crime rate against Americans and other expats in Coronado, Panama?

Pedro Torres

I am not sure of the exact numbers, but I have not heard of a lot of crimes against expats in Coronado. Coronado is definitely a lot safer than Panama City because it is a lot smaller. Coronado is a pretty safe place. There are certain areas in Panama City where you have to be careful and take necessary precaution, which are the obvious ones. In Coronado, those areas do not exist or if there are any, I haven’t seen them.

Recently Answered Questions

What are the best and worst things about living and retiring in San Miguel de Allende?

How's the surf and surfing in and around Algarve?

Is the electricity reliable in Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan? Are there blackouts or brownouts in Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan?

What are the main cities, towns, communities and developments of the San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua area and what is each one like?

What do I need to know about international pet shipping, international pet travel, and international pet transport?

What's the crime rate against Americans and other expats in Coronado, Panama?

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