Best Places In The World To Retire

The shopping in San Miguel de Allende is great. We have lots of high quality handcrafts and artwork sold downtown. We also have nice clothing boutiques but there are not a lot of clothing stores for men.

 

We have a bunch of Mexican shops. If you come here to shop, it would be because you want to buy good Mexican crafts. The prices are pretty good, but there are some stores that sell very expensive Mexican products. You can find the best embroidery here in...

The shopping in San Miguel de Allende is great. We have lots of high quality handcrafts and artwork sold downtown. We also have nice clothing boutiques but there are not a lot of clothing stores for men.

 

We have a bunch of Mexican shops. If you come here to shop, it would be because you want to buy good Mexican crafts. The prices are pretty good, but there are some stores that sell very expensive Mexican products. You can find the best embroidery here in San Miguel de Allende. They have embroidery on clothing, things for the house, etc. Some of them are very expensive because of the craftsmanship but most other items such as clothes, handcrafts, paintings, or art are not very expensive.

 

In general, I don’t feel the need to leave San Miguel de Allende if I want to go shopping unless I need to go to a Home Depot.  Then you need to go to Queretaro, which is about an hour away from San Miguel de Allende. But for the most part, you could find everything here.  

 

(Rugs, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

If I would compare the standard of living in Panama to Waco, Texas where I used to live, I would say Waco is 7 and Panama is 8.

 

You can buy a lot of things in Panama now. The availability of goods is now greater. Ten years ago, it was very hard to buy things that you needed or wanted. Now, many people from Brazil and Colombia come to Panama just to shop and they go mad.

 

There are more things to do here in Panama than where I...

If I would compare the standard of living in Panama to Waco, Texas where I used to live, I would say Waco is 7 and Panama is 8.

 

You can buy a lot of things in Panama now. The availability of goods is now greater. Ten years ago, it was very hard to buy things that you needed or wanted. Now, many people from Brazil and Colombia come to Panama just to shop and they go mad.

 

There are more things to do here in Panama than where I used to live in Texas. The beaches and mountains are close in Panama, so you do not have to drive that much to go anywhere. For example, if someone has a beach house, he could drive for about an hour to get there, and if he has a house in the mountains, it would only take him around an hour and a half to get there. If you need to leave the country, or say, go to the States, for example, the quickest flight to Miami is 3 hours, and if you are going to Houston, it will only take around 4 to 5 hours. South America is very close, too. Panama is like the belly of the Americas; everything is just close by.

The only airport in Algarve is the one in Faro. Faro is probably the busiest airport in Portugal after Lisbon. It serves flights from many destinations. They have all year round flights into Portugal from many European destinations, including the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, and the list goes on. There are also seasonal flights from as far away as Canada. There are times when there are direct flights into Faro from Toronto, Canada. It’s quite interesting to see that there...

The only airport in Algarve is the one in Faro. Faro is probably the busiest airport in Portugal after Lisbon. It serves flights from many destinations. They have all year round flights into Portugal from many European destinations, including the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, and the list goes on. There are also seasonal flights from as far away as Canada. There are times when there are direct flights into Faro from Toronto, Canada. It’s quite interesting to see that there are already some companies in North America that have identified the opportunity of the Algarve for the North American market and they are putting up flights to address those opportunities. 

 

The population of the Algarve is about 300,000 and there are between 5 and 6 million arrivals at Faro Airport per year. It is a fairly substantial airport, which has undergone a number of renovations and expansions.

 

There are a couple of small airstrips in the Algarve as well, which are used for private planes, parachuting activities, and helicopters. The next closest airport is in Beja, which is the province above the Algarve and in Baixo Alentejo.

 

Many people drive in order to catch a flight to Lisbon and then rent a car and drive down to the Algarve or catch a bus going to the Algarve. Lisbon is 300 kilometers, or 180 miles more or less from the Algarve. There are many flights from the US into Lisbon and to Faro. The East Coast of the US is fairly well connected to Lisbon. We have flights from New York, JFK, Miami, etc. On the other hand, we don’t have flights coming from the West Coast. If you are going to Lisbon from the West Coast, you have to go to the East Coast first then take a flight from there into Lisbon.

 

(Airport terminal in Faro, Portugal, pictured.)

I don’t believe there is racial tension in Belize. Belize is a Caribbean country so it is expected to meet black people here. Even the locals do not look at expats any differently.  Everyone is accepted.

I don’t believe there is racial tension in Belize. Belize is a Caribbean country so it is expected to meet black people here. Even the locals do not look at expats any differently.  Everyone is accepted.