Best Places In The World To Retire

We do not have rafting because we do not have rivers in Yucatan.  One thing that is very nice here is the scuba diving on the Caribbean. There are also nice diving spots on the Yucatan coast. You also have the cenotes (underground rivers) where you can go scuba diving. The views in the cenotes are incredible.
 
Kayaking can be done because the water during the summer is very nice. Due to the depth of the Caribbean and the waves, it is not easy to swim on it. That is the main...

We do not have rafting because we do not have rivers in Yucatan.  One thing that is very nice here is the scuba diving on the Caribbean. There are also nice diving spots on the Yucatan coast. You also have the cenotes (underground rivers) where you can go scuba diving. The views in the cenotes are incredible.
 
Kayaking can be done because the water during the summer is very nice. Due to the depth of the Caribbean and the waves, it is not easy to swim on it. That is the main difference between the Caribbean from the Gulf, which we have in the state of Yucatan is that the ocean in the Gulf is more protected and the depth also helps because it is shallow. From April to September, the ocean here in the state of Yucatan looks like a lake in the mornings, which is perfect for kayaking. The kayaking is superb also because the weather is beautiful.
 
The formation on the coast in the state of Yucatan is also very interesting, due to the meteor that hit the area. There is a very thin strip of land between the ocean and on the back, there is the formation that goes along the coast. We have close to 240 miles of beachfront in the state of Yucatan, which generally has a lagoon or mangrove formation. Eight months of the year those mangroves are very nice and full. You can do a lot of kayaking there because it is very calm and protected.
 
Around noon, the breeze starts to come in and then you can do a lot of other water activities. The wind is great for sailing, parasailing, kite flying, etc. These activities are now becoming very common in the area and people come to Yucatan just to do this.
 
We are doing some tours around the areas of Sisal (in the state of Yucatan, about an hour northwest of Merida, on the coast) to visit the areas around it for flamingo watching, kayaking, bird watching, and you can go to the freshwater formations called petenes, which are islands that have fresh water coming in and out. There are birds and fish in the area and a lot of nature.
 
Our project is based on the name “petene.” A Petene is an island in the antique Mayan conception for creation and birth, so people went there, and even animals went there after they were born. It is like a nursery where they grow up and then they return to the ocean. The tarpons were also there and the birds, too. It is a beautiful, protected area with a spring of freshwater that appears in the middle. It’s beautiful.
 
We have alligators here but they are very few and they are not aggressive. You can see some of them when you go kayaking. You can also go kayaking outside of Sisal. Friends of mine have been kayaking with a dolphin playing next to their kayaks. Yes, there are areas here where you have to be careful but you wouldn’t find alligators that are like the ones that you see in Florida. We have not received a report of anybody getting hurt or eaten by an alligator here. You can sometimes see their tracks. You will see that they moved on to the roads because you will see the spaces that they make on the mangroves. I have been living in the Sisal area for more than 20 years and I have only seen four alligators in that whole time. You have to look for them if you want to see them.

 

(Cenote tours offered by Peten development, Sisal, Mexico, pictured.)

Presented with permission from Bob Adams, of Retirement Wave.  (Transcription of video below.)

 

I’d like to share with you today a rule of how you can act and behave when you relocate to another nation.  It’s a very important rule, and its one you already know.  In English we call it “The Golden Rule.”  Every language in every culture has its variations it seems.  “Do unto others as...

Presented with permission from Bob Adams, of Retirement Wave.  (Transcription of video below.)

 

I’d like to share with you today a rule of how you can act and behave when you relocate to another nation.  It’s a very important rule, and its one you already know.  In English we call it “The Golden Rule.”  Every language in every culture has its variations it seems.  “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.”  Treat other people as you want them to treat you.
 
When you’re moving or relocating to another country, you’re not really an immigrant, but you are going to spend a number of years and possibly, as in my case, expecting to live the rest of your life there. 
 
When you arrive, you’re in a sense an immigrant in the eyes of everybody else who lives there, in that society.  Now, many of us come from North America or Europe. Right now, we’ve having a lot of trouble, a lot of discussion, a lot of very strong convictions on the subject of immigration.  Let’s put that aside.  I don’t want to get involved with that, but I do want to say one thing to you.
 
Stop and think to yourself: What is it that I expect of an immigrant coming into my society right now, wherever I live?  What do I want to see them doing?  What sort of actions do I want to hear that they’re taking?  How do I want to see them fitting in to my society so I’m happy that they really live here and they’re not just visiting from another nation?
 
Take those three, four, five basic things you think people should do who are immigrating to your nation, put it on a piece of paper, and carry it with you wherever you go, wherever you relocate.  And every month, once a month, twice or more, take a look at that list, and ask yourself: Am I trying to do this?  Am I making an effort to do what I expect other people to do when they come to my nation?  Am I trying?
 
You can’t always succeed, you can’t always do everything perfectly, but ask yourself: Am I trying?  Am I really, really working to try to meet the basic fundamentals that I expect from others and that they expect from me?
 
I think that if you can do that, if you can follow that one basic rule when relocating, you’re way ahead of the game, and you’re likely, far more likely I should say, to succeed, to be happy and to have a really interesting and useful life.                  

San Pedro is the town which is right at the center of Ambergris Caye, and that is where most of the businesses are run. You will find a lot of tourist shops, restaurants, bars, and hotels in San Pedro.
 
Just outside the town of San Pedro, you come into what people call the South Community. They have several restaurants and they have their own security there, too. We have local accommodation areas on the lagoon-side of the island like DFC, San Mateo, San Pedrito or San Juan where...

San Pedro is the town which is right at the center of Ambergris Caye, and that is where most of the businesses are run. You will find a lot of tourist shops, restaurants, bars, and hotels in San Pedro.
 
Just outside the town of San Pedro, you come into what people call the South Community. They have several restaurants and they have their own security there, too. We have local accommodation areas on the lagoon-side of the island like DFC, San Mateo, San Pedrito or San Juan where expats do not go very often because there is no reason for us to go. This is where the local Belizeans live. You will see some houses made of timber and on stilts. You will also find some well-build houses where an expat or a wealthy Belizean might have built a home.  
 
We also have Tres Cocos, which is where you will find the more expensive expatriate homes on the beachfront, just north of San Pedro town. Going on past there, you will pass through a row of resorts and lots of high-end houses going all the way up toward the end of the island.
 
So there are several communities here and as Ambergris Caye develops, these places become even more built up and become more affluent.

Raising children in Portugal is wonderful. There is no violence here. It’s very secure so the children have lots of freedom and they can have lots of activities after school.
 
Here in Portugal, you will see children the age of 12 going to school by themselves by getting on to public transports. By the age of 15, they go to the cafes or the cinemas without adult supervision. Most cafes in Portugal don’t close until 1 AM. They go on their own. Parents don’t need...

Raising children in Portugal is wonderful. There is no violence here. It’s very secure so the children have lots of freedom and they can have lots of activities after school.
 
Here in Portugal, you will see children the age of 12 going to school by themselves by getting on to public transports. By the age of 15, they go to the cafes or the cinemas without adult supervision. Most cafes in Portugal don’t close until 1 AM. They go on their own. Parents don’t need to always guard their children here.
 
Raising children in Portugal is totally different from raising children in England. I raised my daughter in England and at age 6, she couldn’t go to the sweets shop by herself. Here in Portugal, you would see children ages 5 to 7 who go to the sweets shop on their own or they go to the small stores to buy bread, etc. You will see 12 to 15 year olds at the beach without their parents. You can let your children go on their own here in Portugal but you can’t do the same in England because England has more crimes; it’s unbelievable. In England, you’ll hear of children who got raped at the age of 6 or 7. You never hear of that in Portugal. Children get abducted in England and here in Portugal, that doesn’t happen. It’s safe here in Portugal.  

 

(Easter egg hunt in Portugal, pictured.)