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Recently Answered Questions
How are the restaurants in Chapala and Ajijic, Mexico?
Thomas Hellyer - Chapala Home Sales
The restaurants in Chapala and Ajijic are great. There are many restaurants here and they are of all flavors and persuasions. We have food from all over the world here. One of the quotes that I hear from expats is, “It’s hard to find Mexican food…” but there is lots of Mexican food here too. You just have to look for it because they are not in big box, Tex-Mex restaurants. Most Mexican food here in Chapala and Ajijic is sold in somebody’s garage or living...The restaurants in Chapala and Ajijic are great. There are many restaurants here and they are of all flavors and persuasions. We have food from all over the world here. One of the quotes that I hear from expats is, “It’s hard to find Mexican food…” but there is lots of Mexican food here too. You just have to look for it because they are not in big box, Tex-Mex restaurants. Most Mexican food here in Chapala and Ajijic is sold in somebody’s garage or living room and with no sign but they have great Mexican food.You can also get Argentinian, Italian, German, Thai, and other Asian food. We have lots of seafood, too. We have French bakeries, deli meat, etc. So we never have trouble finding good places to eat. The biggest problem that one would have in Chapala and Ajijic is making the decision on where to eat. It’s hard to decide whether to go back to the tried and true or try the new place that just opened up.
Restaurants here are very well priced too. They are very competitive with prices because most of the expats here are around for the long term or year-round residents so the prices here are not high like in the resort towns. The restaurants here keep their prices low in order to keep the people coming back.
(Street food in Chapala, Mexico, pictured.)
What are the best reasons to retire overseas?
Kristin Wilson - Orbis Relocation
The best reason to retire abroad is to save money and be able to live within your means. Most of our retirees are maybe not on a livable income if they stayed in the US because of the various problems in the American system and Social Security or it could be the economic collapse affecting people's investments or 401K’s. There are a lot of different factors that can result in people not having as much money as they planned when they were saving for retirement.You...
The best reason to retire abroad is to save money and be able to live within your means. Most of our retirees are maybe not on a livable income if they stayed in the US because of the various problems in the American system and Social Security or it could be the economic collapse affecting people's investments or 401K’s. There are a lot of different factors that can result in people not having as much money as they planned when they were saving for retirement.You can live on a much lower income while maintaining the same quality of life if you move abroad, especially if you're going to a developing country like those in Latin America. You can maintain your lifestyle with less money. You can still have access to quality healthcare, food and properties and everything you need to live, but just at a lower cost. I would say that's a very simple and basic math, but that's what it is.
The second best reason to move abroad would be to have a new adventure. I was very fortunate to be able to this, but I didn't plan to go abroad at the beginning. I just turned 33 recently, so I have spent almost half of my life abroad now.
I didn't ever plan it that way. I was just a normal girl in America with a brother and a sister. My parents are still together. I went to high school, I went to college, and then I went to graduate school. I did everything that I was supposed to do in America. Then I started studying abroad in college. The reason I went abroad was because I got a scholarship through the Rotary Foundation in 2002. I didn't even pick where I went. They sent me to Costa Rica. They said, “You're going to Costa Rica and you're going to learn Spanish." I was terrified. I thought, “How am I going to survive these 3 months?” Those 3 months have turned in to the rest of my life; just falling in love with travel and living in different countries, learning languages and having adventure that nobody ever told me I could do or should do.
Before I moved abroad full time in 2005, I asked everybody for their opinion as to if I should do it. I asked my parents. I asked my friends. I asked my peers. I asked my MBA class. Everybody who was my age told me I was crazy. I should take a job in Lockheed Martin or one of the big corporations that were in Orlando, where I was living at the time. They said moving abroad would ruin my resume. Everybody my age was kind of fear mongering.
On the contrary, all of my parent's friends, my grandparents, and any of the elders in my life told me that they wished that they had done something like moving abroad when they were my age. So I decided to take the advice of everybody who was older than me because they probably know more about what life is about than the 20 something year olds in my classes. So I went, and thank God I did.
I now notice that my clients who are retirees did everything right, according to the rules. They got a job, they got a house, they had kids, they had a dog, and didn’t have time to do anything outside of that. So they were really just starting their adventures at the time of their retirement, as opposed to me. I kind of eschewed and skipped the normal life I was supposed to have early.
So the second best reason to live abroad is to get out of your comfort zone and have an adventure, to do something different. I think a lot of people regretted not doing that sooner. I was able to see both perspectives. Now, all of my friends are still working at Procter & Gamble and all of these big companies, and my life is completely different than theirs. I'm definitely glad that I took this tac. I get a lot of support from my clients and people who are older, who agree with me. Maybe my friends will change their perspective once they get older. They're still pretty young. They're in their thirties and they haven't gotten the larger perspective. Maybe they will become my clients, 20-30 years from now, once they go abroad to do something different.
How long will I have to wait for a doctor's appointment in the Panama City, Panama suburb of Fort Clayton / Clayton?
Alexandra Vallarino
There are only little clinics in Clayton. They don’t really have big hospitals there. If you go to the clinic for all but the most serious or complex health issues, I don’t think there will be a problem, but you wouldn’t go for an emergency or something really bad. If you have an emergency, you have to go straight to a hospital. If you just want to have a doctor’s appointment, you can go the next day. You...
There are only little clinics in Clayton. They don’t really have big hospitals there. If you go to the clinic for all but the most serious or complex health issues, I don’t think there will be a problem, but you wouldn’t go for an emergency or something really bad. If you have an emergency, you have to go straight to a hospital. If you just want to have a doctor’s appointment, you can go the next day. You just have to call and let them know that you are coming.
(Road in Clayton, previously an American base in Panama, pictured.)
What are the best opportunities to do volunteer and charity work in Belize?
Phil Hahn - Carmelita Gardens
People do a number of different things here in Belize from working at orphanages to working at the local library. I hear over and over again from people who visit Belize for the first time and see stray dogs (which seems to be wherever I travel in Latin America) that they want to help and perhaps get involved in the Humane Society and start a spay and neuter clinic. I’m not sure what it is, but nobody seems to get around to it. There is a Humane...
People do a number of different things here in Belize from working at orphanages to working at the local library. I hear over and over again from people who visit Belize for the first time and see stray dogs (which seems to be wherever I travel in Latin America) that they want to help and perhaps get involved in the Humane Society and start a spay and neuter clinic. I’m not sure what it is, but nobody seems to get around to it. There is a Humane Society in Belmopan, but it’s not very active. It is one of the funniest things about Latin America that I’ve seen; the dogs are just “community dogs.” They sort of just roam in the streets, sleeping wherever. It just becomes a backdrop. In time the expats who said that they couldn’t live here with all the stray dogs and say that they want to do something about it, just seem to accept the situation as it is. There is still no Humane Society in San Ignacio.
Somebody told me that there was a study done in Costa Rica where they actually went into a village and they took all the dogs and treated them. They put them up for adoption, so they got them all off the streets. Within a few months, they saw dogs on the streets again. There is a certain feral dog balance that people are comfortable with. It’s kind of a strange thing.
People get involved in environmental concerns and also helping the elderly in the nursing homes. There are some organizations that are doing that.
(Stray dogs walking the streets of San Ignacio, Cayo district, Belize, pictured.)
How are the rules of etiquette or customs different in Portugal?
Carol Bartlett Ribeiro - Carol Bartlett Ribeiro, Property Consultant
The Portuguese language is a very formal language, but like everything else in the world today it’s becoming more and more relaxed. There is a generation of Portuguese who are “old school” who would stand up when elder people come in to a room, and that, in Portuguese would never refer to their mother or father using the informal of “you”, “tu.” Today, in general, young children today will be less formal but...
The Portuguese language is a very formal language, but like everything else in the world today it’s becoming more and more relaxed. There is a generation of Portuguese who are “old school” who would stand up when elder people come in to a room, and that, in Portuguese would never refer to their mother or father using the informal of “you”, “tu.” Today, in general, young children today will be less formal but in certain levels in Portugal there are still very strict rules of who you are, where you are, where you’ve been, and how you live.
On average now it’s a lot easier going than it used to be. I was talking to a friend of mine today about the time when girls would go out there would always have to be chaperone because the parents wouldn’t let it be any other way. These days if you told a 12 year old they needed to have a chaperone, they would say, “Are you crazy?”
In America, even if you’re the president of the company, people would say to you, “Hi, Bob,” whereas here in Portugal it would always be “senior doctor” or “senior professor” or “mister engineer.” You would never use the more informal way of speaking; until you became friendly with them, there’s always that formality. So you would never say, for example, “Senior Bob” you would say “Senior Johnson,” you wouldn’t say the first name. So there are small things like that that would be a faux pas.
The Portuguese are really, really impatient when they get behind the wheel of a car. They drive like lunatics on the motorways and you wouldn’t think it was the same race of people that gets behind the wheels of their cars and they sit on your bumper or don’t let you in. For them, it’s “me first, me first,” which is odd, because they’re not like that we’re they’re chatting to you, but behind the wheels of their cars, you do have to be careful, or, alternatively, you just do what they do.
(1836 sketches of women of Portugal, pictured.)
Who are the people of Nicaragua? Who lives in Nicaragua?
Juan Carlos Espinosa - Hacienda Puerta del Cielo Ecolodge & Spa
After the indigenous people, the Spaniards populated Nicaragua. After that, the largest immigrant group is German. The Germans came to Nicaragua after the First World War and populated many of the mountain, pine forest areas in the north of Nicaragua, which are evidently reminiscent of the Black Forest in Germany.
After the indigenous people, the Spaniards populated Nicaragua. After that, the largest immigrant group is German. The Germans came to Nicaragua after the First World War and populated many of the mountain, pine forest areas in the north of Nicaragua, which are evidently reminiscent of the Black Forest in Germany.
Recently Posted Expat Stories
Staying At The Coconut Lodge Near Panama City Is Just Like Visiting Relatives You Like!
Mike Pop, the co-owner with his wife Nancy of the Coconut 
Lodge, in the Panama City area, is like the uncle who is always upbeat and happy, makes big delicious big breakfasts, (including his own smoked meats), realized his dream of moving to the tropics and putting a tennis court in the backyard, tells funny stories, and is such a stickler for details that each stone in the pathways of this beautiful home is set perfectly and aesthetically.
Nancy Pop, Mike’s wife, is caring...
Lodge, in the Panama City area, is like the uncle who is always upbeat and happy, makes big delicious big breakfasts, (including his own smoked meats), realized his dream of moving to the tropics and putting a tennis court in the backyard, tells funny stories, and is such a stickler for details that each stone in the pathways of this beautiful home is set perfectly and aesthetically.Nancy Pop, Mike’s wife, is caring...
PEDASI, Panamá. a place to visit.
PEDASI, is located approximately 5 hours from the city of Panamá, capital of the Republic of Panamá, in Central América., in the province of Los Santos at the Azuero Peninsola.
Once you leave the city, via a modern highway named "carretera Interamericana" (the Inter-american Highway) you can enjoy charming villages and towns surrounded by green environment everywhere. And, if you travel in what Panamanians call: "spring", which is the non-raining season, (from...