Best Places In The World To Retire

Golf is my passion. We have two eighteen-hole golf courses in San Miguel de Allende. Both of these courses are really nice. 

 

The one that has been here for a long time now is called Malanquín, which the expat community founded about 45 years ago. It was originally a nine-hole golf course and they recently added the second nine holes just about 6 years ago. Malanquín has really nice old trees as it has been there for so long. They have...

Golf is my passion. We have two eighteen-hole golf courses in San Miguel de Allende. Both of these courses are really nice. 

 

The one that has been here for a long time now is called Malanquín, which the expat community founded about 45 years ago. It was originally a nine-hole golf course and they recently added the second nine holes just about 6 years ago. Malanquín has really nice old trees as it has been there for so long. They have really nice pines that blend into the atmosphere and the desert of San Miguel de Allende. 

 

The other golf course here in San Miguel is a resort golf course designed by Nick Faldo called Ventanas de San Miguel (Windows of San Miguel) or more commonly, Las Ventanas. It is an eighteen-hole, signature golf course and it is just amazing. It was built about 7 years ago. The Latino Golf Tournament, which is a tournament where the best golfers of Mexico played against the best golfers of Latin America, was held at Las Ventanas last year. The golfers that joined that tournament would get points to play for the PGA. So it is pretty awesome. Las Ventanas golf course is much easier to play. It is a much friendlier golf course. It is wide open and it is 71 par. Malanquín is a 72 par.

 

I belong to the Malanquín Golf Club. To become a member, you buy a share that would only cost you US $10,000. The monthly cost or the maintenance is only 2,500 pesos ($135) per family. That is the fee that will give you the ability to play at 28 different golf courses around San Miguel de Allende, which is an awesome deal. Malanquín has an exchange program, where if you are a member, it allows you to play at these golf courses that are not farther than 2 and a half hours away from San Miguel de Allende. Some of them are just 45 minutes away like the ones in Celaya or Queretaro. If you are a retiree, you can go and play for free in any of those golf courses as long as you belong to the Malanquín in San Miguel de Allende. There are at least three golf courses in Queretaro. There is a really long and incredible golf course in San Juan del Rio, which is about an hour and a half away from San Miguel. You can also play in the city of Morella, or in San Luis Potosi, Salamanca, Leon, etc. There are two golf courses in the city of Celaya, which is only 35 minutes away from San Miguel. Their country club called Campestre de Celaya is for sure one of the nicest golf courses I’ve ever played and I have played golf almost all over the world. There are really a lot of options for playing golf in and around San Miguel.

 

There is a third golf course in San Miguel that is par three, located inside a gated community called Zirandaro in which they did a really good job but it is an executive golf course so it is only nine holes. If you own a property in Zirandaro, you pay a special rate but if you are from outside Zirandaro then you pay a green fee.  

 

(Logo for Malanquín Golf Club, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

 

Nicaragua also has classical composers like José de la Cruz Mena (most popular composition: 'Ruins') and Luis Abraham Delgadillo (most popular compositions: 'Sinfonía Incaica' and 'Teotihuacán').

 

Other famous composers of the Nicaraguan sound were Camilo Zapata (most popular songs: 'Caballito Chontaleño', 'Cara al Sol' and 'El Solar de Monimbó'), Erwin Kruger ('Barrio de pescadores') and Justo Santos, creator of 'La Mora Limpia'. 

 

Yes, you can buy good clothes in Portugal.

 

I’m tall, so when I first came to Portugal many years ago, I couldn’t find anything to fit me, so I ended up having to go to a dressmaker. Now you don’t need to do that at all because you can get practically everything like you can get in the States or in England. And now that the Chinese are doing business here in Portugal, there are massive, great department stores as well.

 

Yes, you can buy good clothes in Portugal.

 

I’m tall, so when I first came to Portugal many years ago, I couldn’t find anything to fit me, so I ended up having to go to a dressmaker. Now you don’t need to do that at all because you can get practically everything like you can get in the States or in England. And now that the Chinese are doing business here in Portugal, there are massive, great department stores as well.

 

And so if you want “cheap and cheerful” you’ve got “cheap and cheerful.” If you want to spend a lot, there are plenty of places to do that. Clothes are easy to get here. Shoes are easy. In fact, Portugal has become the second country next to Italy to produce the best shoes.  

 

(An old postcard featuring the map of Portugal and  Sanjo shoes and Joanino hats, pictured.)

The best places in Belize to live and retire really depends on what somebody is looking for. If you are looking for the coastal environment, around the Placencia area is very nice. They have greatly improved infrastructure and their beaches are some of the better beaches in the country. There is an expat population down there. If that’s what somebody is looking for, that’s a great place.

 

Up in northern Belize in Corozal, they have coastal areas...

The best places in Belize to live and retire really depends on what somebody is looking for. If you are looking for the coastal environment, around the Placencia area is very nice. They have greatly improved infrastructure and their beaches are some of the better beaches in the country. There is an expat population down there. If that’s what somebody is looking for, that’s a great place.

 

Up in northern Belize in Corozal, they have coastal areas around the bay which are nice.  It’s also close to Chetumal, Mexico, so right across the bay, you could see the bright skyline and the lights glowing at Chetumal, which has a population that is equal to the entire country of Belize. They have Sam’s Club, McDonald’s, etc., which is why they call it “Little America.” It’s got everything that you would expect to see in a city of 300,000 people in the States. If that is your comfort zone, then that is available.

 

Island living is also available in Belize. A lot of people look at their screensaver with a palm tree on the island and always dreamt of that. Caye Caulker is a great place for that laid back lifestyle if that’s what you are looking for. San Pedro, Ambergris Caye has been the most popular destination over the years and it continues to be very popular for people who like touristy areas.  It just depends on what you are looking for. A joke says that San Pedro has a motto that says, “We want to be Cancun when we grow up.” Some people love it, but it’s not for everybody.

 

Then there are the “salt of the earth” folks from where I grew up in the Midwest or farmlands in the South, or up in the Prairie Provinces in Canada. Cayo attracts a lot of those folks who don’t necessarily want to live on the beach every day of their life. They enjoy nature. They enjoy the backdrop of farmland. If they want to go to the cayes or the islands, it’s just an easy day trip, but they don’t have to live on it.

 

The best places in Belize really depend on the individual and Belize has a lot to offer different people.

 

(House with porch in rural Cayo District, Belize, pictured.)