What's the crime rate against Americans and other expats in Chapala and Ajijic, Mexico?
Trish Richard
Petty crime is a given anywhere there is a large population of people who live on much less than we do, so know where your purse is, leave your tiara sat home, and don't leave things in sight in your car.
This story tells the overall picture well, though. On 9/11 the locals wanted to blockade the main road to protect "their" gringos. Gotta love it!
(Pictured: straw purse made and purchased in Mexico.)
Petty crime is a given anywhere there is a large population of people who live on much less than we do, so know where your purse is, leave your tiara sat home, and don't leave things in sight in your car.
This story tells the overall picture well, though. On 9/11 the locals wanted to blockade the main road to protect "their" gringos. Gotta love it!
(Pictured: straw purse made and purchased in Mexico.)
Do I need a second passport if I retire, work, or live abroad?
RICH Novak - RE/MAX Beaches & City! INC.
With regard to Panama - here's how things are working as of December 28, 2012. You do NOT repeat NOT need a second passport to retire or work in Panama.
Panama is a great place for you to retire. Many experts say that Panama's Pensionado (Retirement) Program is the very best. I am a Panama Pensionado. You need a Panama lawyer to help you with becoming a Pensionado. The Panama law firm that I recommend is Panama Relocation Attorneys is Panama City.
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With regard to Panama - here's how things are working as of December 28, 2012. You do NOT repeat NOT need a second passport to retire or work in Panama.
Panama is a great place for you to retire. Many experts say that Panama's Pensionado (Retirement) Program is the very best. I am a Panama Pensionado. You need a Panama lawyer to help you with becoming a Pensionado. The Panama law firm that I recommend is Panama Relocation Attorneys is Panama City.
At this time, a Pensionado can NOT legally work (have income), but a Pensionado can - however - own a Panama Corporation & the Panama Corp can have income. Be very careful here because certain types of business can only be owned by Panamanian citizens. You need to be represented by a competent Panama lawyer.
Being able to legally work in Panama is much more complicated. Panama protects its citizens and makes it very difficult for foreigners to obtain a Panama work permit. However, recently President Martinelli issued Executive Order 343 & this Executive Order may make it easier for foreigners to obtain work permits... but because all this info is so brand new - the mechanics of this Program are still being sorted out by Panama's Immigration Department.
The economy & tourism industry are absolutely booming here in Panama & recently I read that 10,000 additional workers are needed because of all the new Panama hotels that are currently under construction.
Maybe I should also mention that when a citizen of North America comes to Panama as a tourist, this person may remain in Panama for up to 180 days... before the 180 days are over a tourist then needs to leave Panama for 72 hours, but after the 72 hours the tourist can return to Panama for another 180 days. And you can do this over & over & over again & again I personally know of people who have in effect been Perpetual Tourists (PTs) in this manner. In fact my wife & I were PTs before we became Panama Pensionados. A tourist and/or PT can NOT legally work (have income) here in Panama, but even a foreign tourist can own a Panama Corporation & the Panama Corp may have income.
How long will I have to wait for a doctor's appointment in Placencia, Belize?
Erin Ivy - Captain Jak's
We have doctor in town here in Placencia village, so if you had a cold or fell down and broke your arm, you just could just go to the clinic and be attended to right away. If the case was something more than what the doctor could handle there at the clinic, then he will send you over to Dangriga, where there is a hospital that can take care of you. Dangriga is about an hour away from Placencia. If you have something very serious, you could be flown to Belize City to be taken...
We have doctor in town here in Placencia village, so if you had a cold or fell down and broke your arm, you just could just go to the clinic and be attended to right away. If the case was something more than what the doctor could handle there at the clinic, then he will send you over to Dangriga, where there is a hospital that can take care of you. Dangriga is about an hour away from Placencia. If you have something very serious, you could be flown to Belize City to be taken to the private hospital there. The flight to Belize City takes about 30 minutes or you can also drive there, which would take about 3 and half hours. Halfway through to Belize City, there is another hospital in the capital of Belize in Belmopan.
So pretty much, you do not need to make a doctor’s appointment to see a doctor here in Placencia. You can just go to the clinic and you will be attended to. If you are in the Placencia peninsula and you have an emergency, you can just call the doctor and he would drive to where you are and attend to you.
Your neighbors in the Algarve would be a mix depending on where you live. If you live in a town they would more likely be Portuguese. The bigger the town the more likely it would be to have Portuguese neighbors. Further out it is more likely there would be a mixed bag of people. There are certainly municipalities where six or seven nationalities could surround you, a little bit like Florida.
When I lived just north of Miami, I had neighbors from three or...
Your neighbors in the Algarve would be a mix depending on where you live. If you live in a town they would more likely be Portuguese. The bigger the town the more likely it would be to have Portuguese neighbors. Further out it is more likely there would be a mixed bag of people. There are certainly municipalities where six or seven nationalities could surround you, a little bit like Florida.
When I lived just north of Miami, I had neighbors from three or four nationalities who were very transient. The Algarve doesn’t have quite the same transient society that I felt in Southern Florida, but certainly from a heterogeneous perspective, there are a variety of nationalities that reside in the Algarve. It’s fairly likely that your neighbors will be Portuguese, English, Dutch, or German because of the number of people from those countries who have settled in the Algarve.
Most of the people who move to the Algarve would tend to be wealthy by Portuguese standards and comfortably middle class or wealthy by international standards. Most people who have made the decision to come here so they do so because they are financially able to afford to do so. This is a pensioner’s paradise. These are people who have their pensions intact and can afford a good living in the Algarve, where you could easily live on a lot less than you would if you were living in London, New York, Stockholm, Helsinki or Paris. And so, what we find is that people here who come from abroad and in particular the pensioners have a much higher quality of life and spending power, than the average across Portugal and from whence they came.
(Jose Mourinho, Portuguese football manager, pictured.)
The economy is going great here in San Juan Del Sur. There is a huge construction boom going on in and around town. San Juan Del Sur has the highest cost of living of any town in Nicaragua. This is important for people who are coming from the outside to understand. Anything here in San Juan Del Sur is more expensive than in Managua and Leon. A pound of beans and a pound of rice and fruits and vegetables in the market cost more in San Juan Del Sur than in other places in Nicaragua. ...
The economy is going great here in San Juan Del Sur. There is a huge construction boom going on in and around town. San Juan Del Sur has the highest cost of living of any town in Nicaragua. This is important for people who are coming from the outside to understand. Anything here in San Juan Del Sur is more expensive than in Managua and Leon. A pound of beans and a pound of rice and fruits and vegetables in the market cost more in San Juan Del Sur than in other places in Nicaragua.
The economy in San Juan Del Sur is tourism-based. A lot of the people here are tourists and a lot those tourists are national tourists, who come from other parts of Nicaragua to San Juan Del Sur to enjoy the beach or get away from life for a while. People tend to pay a little more for a plate of food in a tourist town than they would in their own town.
San Juan Del Sur has always been a thriving Nicaraguan town so there are a lot of people who spend time here. Most of the investment is tourism-based. The businesses that open here are tourism-based as well such as hotels, vacation rentals, restaurants and bars, etc. The tourism industry and the growth in tourism is very important for any investment and the investment decisions you would make here in San Juan Del Sur.
(Boat tour near San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.)
I don’t want to sound snobby but this is a pretty good indicator of how safe it is here in Marbella, Panama. I bring a wallet, I ride a motorbike, and I drive a convertible. I have been as flashy all my life without getting into any trouble because I know that can go out and it is safe.
I am not saying that you go out in public and pull out a whole bunch of bills in the middle of the street and think that nobody is going to pay attention. My point is that, it is very...
I don’t want to sound snobby but this is a pretty good indicator of how safe it is here in Marbella, Panama. I bring a wallet, I ride a motorbike, and I drive a convertible. I have been as flashy all my life without getting into any trouble because I know that can go out and it is safe.
I am not saying that you go out in public and pull out a whole bunch of bills in the middle of the street and think that nobody is going to pay attention. My point is that, it is very unlikely that somebody is going to do something bad because there is a lot of police presence around, to the extent that I personally think it is too much. I like to have a little bit of freedom and not be as a good citizen as I should but there is a police officer in every corner.
Police stations are in key locations where they can keep everything under control. There are also tourist police and their main job is to help and protect tourists. They are focused in making tourists’ lives easier so if they are not used to our culture, they can go to a tourist police and for sure, they will be assisted.
My husband pulled our high-top white van with the dogs in the backseat into the Pemex, the ubiquitous gas stations of Baja California, Mexico. We were returning to the outskirts of La Paz, a busy little town that fronts a bay and is held in by the mountains. He spoke in Spanglish to the attendant about the price of gas as the van was serviced. I sat inside, drowsy from a day of walking along soft surf. From my side of the van, I watched a woman approach the car to the right of me....
We had dinner with a couple that is doing their recon mission to see if living in Boquete (or Panama) is right for them. Everyone who lives here has done the same. And maybe everyone has asked themselves, "Does Boquete have enough things to do so I won't get bored?"
I think that if you are boring or have no interests, you will be bored everywhere you go. I also don't think that it is possible to be bored in Boquete unless you make it your mission. Even if you don't want to...
At the culmination of Cancer Awareness Month, a huge rally was held on the last Sunday of October in Panamá City. Thousands of enthusiastic Panameños from all over the country marched down the length of the Cinta Costera in support of fund raising for cancer research. Marching bands, dancers in traditional costumes, school groups, bomberos (firefighters), the Darien frontier police, and many other organizations participated in this special event.
Petty crime is a given anywhere there is a large population of people who live on much less than we do, so know where your purse is, leave your tiara sat home, and don't leave things in sight in your car. 
Your neighbors in the Algarve would be a mix depending on where you live. If you live in a town they would more likely be Portuguese. The bigger the town the more likely it would be to have Portuguese neighbors. Further out it is more likely there would be a mixed bag of people. There are certainly municipalities where six or seven nationalities could surround you, a little bit like Florida. 
The economy is going great here in San Juan Del Sur. There is a huge construction boom going on in and around town. San Juan Del Sur has the highest cost of living of any town in Nicaragua. This is important for people who are coming from the outside to understand. Anything here in San Juan Del Sur is more expensive than in Managua and Leon. A pound of beans and a pound of rice and fruits and vegetables in the market cost more in San Juan Del Sur than in other places in Nicaragua. 
My husband pulled our high-top white van with the dogs in the backseat into the Pemex, the ubiquitous gas stations of Baja California, Mexico. We were returning to the outskirts of La Paz, a busy little town that fronts a bay and is held in by the mountains. He spoke in Spanglish to the attendant about the price of gas as the van was serviced. I sat inside, drowsy from a day of walking along soft surf. From my side of the van, I watched a woman approach the car to the right of me....