Best Places In The World To Retire

The economy of Chapala and Ajijic has been up and down but we’ve seen a tremendous amount of change here over the last 15 years. We have a healthy flow of people from Guadalajara every weekend who love to retreat to the peacefulness of the lake and this is a great stimulant for local businesses. We do have quite a lot of new construction, a very attractive mall area with an outside food court, two movie theaters, Dominoes Pizza etc., so things have grown and changed, but we still...

The economy of Chapala and Ajijic has been up and down but we’ve seen a tremendous amount of change here over the last 15 years. We have a healthy flow of people from Guadalajara every weekend who love to retreat to the peacefulness of the lake and this is a great stimulant for local businesses. We do have quite a lot of new construction, a very attractive mall area with an outside food court, two movie theaters, Dominoes Pizza etc., so things have grown and changed, but we still seem to have managed to keep the small town feel.

 

There are about 120,000 people living here between the four towns across the Lake Chapala: Chapala, Ajijic, San Juan Cosala, and Jocotepec. People love it here because you’re 45 minutes away from Guadalajara by car and from the international airport, which makes travel back to loved ones pretty easy. That’s one of the reasons my family likes Chapala; easy access to an international airport can make life a lot simpler.

 

The economy here in Chapala and Ajijic is somewhat based on tourism. This is a weekend retreat for many of the people from the big city of Guadalajara. They have houses down here and on the weekends the families arrive and bring friends to relax and enjoy the lake. This is the biggest lake in Mexico and it is well used by boats and people enjoying water sports.  There are some super  restaurants here with awesome lake views . All of this means that on the weekends, things get a little hectic but it also means that the town certainly feels a lot livelier.

 

We do have every business we need to sustain a great life for the locals pet shops, veterinarians, doctors, restaurants, organic market, bars, furniture stores, hardware stores, etc. Our largest industry here now is the berry industry.  We produce some great berries, most of which are exported. Another positive of the industry is the great availability and price of these berries lakeside. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are all about 20 pesos a liter.

 

Portugal is divided into three regions—north, center, and south. The southern part of Portugal is more rural and is where we tend to get a lot of European expats from Germany, England, and France. The center of Portugal, where Lisbon is included, we tend to get other nationalities, such as Brazilians, we’re starting to get some Americans, Canadians, and even from Asia; Japanese. And then in the north of Portugal, we get a lot of expats from the the wine producing countries,...

Portugal is divided into three regions—north, center, and south. The southern part of Portugal is more rural and is where we tend to get a lot of European expats from Germany, England, and France. The center of Portugal, where Lisbon is included, we tend to get other nationalities, such as Brazilians, we’re starting to get some Americans, Canadians, and even from Asia; Japanese. And then in the north of Portugal, we get a lot of expats from the the wine producing countries, people from New Zealand, Chile, and South Africa because this region is very famous because of the Port Wine.  There are a lot of wine vineyards up north in Portugal and these people come to retire because of the weather, because of the lifestye, and many other factors. They tend to come straight to the north of Portugal.  There are also a lot of old beautiful palaces and villas for which the purchase price in Portugal is very affordable for people coming from these countries. So it tends to be divided. Europeans go more to the south of Portugal, the wine-producing countries go to the north of Portugal, and in Lisbon it’s a mixture of many cultures.
 
In order to make any generalizations about the expats in Portugal depends a lot on the age factor.  Several weeks ago the Portuguese Tourism Board released a brilliant video just with foreigners, expats talking about our country. In this video are shown people from all ages, from all sectors talking about our country. From a scientist to doctors, to architects—every single field is represented and there’s someone telling their story about Portugal.
 
The view of these people of Portugal is that it’s great living here.  When, as a country, we struggled economically a few years ago, we immediately understood that we’re dependent on every single penny that entered our country. So for a long time, 500 years ago when we started discovering the world, we’re all in contact with many cultures and we had to have a lot of public relations in our blood to achieve what we did. We negotiated with India, Asia, Brazil, and that made us a very easygoing culture. We’ve adapted through all these years and when we had the economic struggle a few years ago, we knew immediately that we had to treat foreigners very well coming here so they would remain and they would spend their money here and they would help us economically. So therefore, we got used to that way to exchange information with foreigners and the process had been like this for the last 20 or 30 years.
 
In Portugal we like foreigners because the foreigners have done a lot of good for us that helped develop our country. So we are very grateful for the foreigners; very, very grateful. And we all have open smiles, we open our houses to foreigners, we invite them with food because we’re so eager for them to get to know our culture that we receive them very well. Our opinion about foreigners is wonderful; it’s great, absolutely great. 
 
Recently, there have been a few issues because the European Union now is wide open, and because of all these problems with the Middle East and we have become a bit suspicious of some of the people from Middle Eastern countries, but with the rest of the world we are completely open-hearted.  

 

(Visitors at Blue Hostel and Suites, Cascais,  Portugal, pictured.)

Violent crime is very low in Nicaragua, while theft is a little bit higher.
 
Nicaragua is a Third World Country and like any other Third World Country, theft can be used to enhance family income.  What I refer to as “theft” not only comes from physically stealing from somebody, but it might be raising taxi fares and saying that a ride costs 20 cordobas instead of 10.
 
Minor crime is an issue in Nicaragua but violent crime is not an issue at all. Minor...

Violent crime is very low in Nicaragua, while theft is a little bit higher.
 
Nicaragua is a Third World Country and like any other Third World Country, theft can be used to enhance family income.  What I refer to as “theft” not only comes from physically stealing from somebody, but it might be raising taxi fares and saying that a ride costs 20 cordobas instead of 10.
 
Minor crime is an issue in Nicaragua but violent crime is not an issue at all. Minor crime can be irritating since it comes in so many different ways. I can give you two examples.
 
The first example is when I asked a cab driver how much it would cost to take to take me from Matagalpa to Managua, because I needed to get there in a hurry.  I was quoted US $200, which was ridiculous. 
 
My second example is when I hired a local woman under the agreement that I pay her 200 cordobas (around $15) to come and teach me how to make naca tamales (nacatamal). Her way of theft was to tell me that we needed double the amount of ingredients we really did and then to use money I gave her to buy the ingredients and to take home half of what she helped me cook in order to feed her family, all without telling me.
 
What I am about to write next is not an excuse for such behavior but it does put perspective on it. The home that this woman lived in was a small dwelling, which would have been appropriate for a small family, but there were ten family members, and her sons sleep in the same bed as her in a double bed.  So I understand how she was feeding her family by cheating me, but it still can put be off putting.

 

(Pictured: restaurant in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.)

Wow!  Each district in Belize has a couple restaurants that stand out.

 

If you are in Belize City - The Stone Grill at the Radisson.  San Ignacio - The San Ignacio Hotel. Placencia - Turtle Inn.  Ambergris by far has the most. Corozal, Tony's Inn and Francesca's. 

Wow!  Each district in Belize has a couple restaurants that stand out.

 

If you are in Belize City - The Stone Grill at the Radisson.  San Ignacio - The San Ignacio Hotel. Placencia - Turtle Inn.  Ambergris by far has the most. Corozal, Tony's Inn and Francesca's. 

No you do not

No you do not