Lately, the government encourages cycling, especially in big cities like Mexico City. In parts of this city there are cycling lanes and people are riding their bicycles.
Most cities in Mexico are not yet made bike friendly, but in the villages where there is not a lot of traffic people often use the bike. In Oaxaca, foreigners cycle in the downtown area but it can be dangerous and you need to have an adventurous spirit to go cycling there! Every Friday a...
Lately, the government encourages cycling, especially in big cities like Mexico City. In parts of this city there are cycling lanes and people are riding their bicycles.
Most cities in Mexico are not yet made bike friendly, but in the villages where there is not a lot of traffic people often use the bike. In Oaxaca, foreigners cycle in the downtown area but it can be dangerous and you need to have an adventurous spirit to go cycling there! Every Friday a bike tour is organized in Oaxaca. Some streets in the centre get blocked for traffic and for one hour a parade of people are cycling through downtown.
Cycling in Mexico is very nice because the nature is very beautiful. You can see mountains, fields of cactus and other enormous trees! You can go outside the city and visit small villages where there’s not so much traffic and it’s easy to go from one village to another. You can also cycle through the mountains. As I´m from Holland, I miss my bicycle, especially because I used it every day. This is why here in my free time, I go cycling outside the city. We go from one village to another. It’s nice to see everything, specially the people and how they live. People are very friendly here in Mexico. They are often curious where you´re from and like to have a small talk. Sometimes they invite you in their house and offer you food!
In Oaxaca we offer different cycle routes. We have several day tours. In one of our day tours, you cycle from village to village, you visit old zapotec ruins, you see people working on their fields, and you have a lunch with a local family. It´s a combination of a little adventure and culture. On the other hand we offer tours that are more advanced, for example, we offer a two day tour through the mountains or a 4 day tour to cycle from the city to the coast. For every person we organize a unique bike experience!
(Cycling through the mountains of Oaxaca, pictured.)cling in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico
What are the total one time only costs of moving to Portugal, including legal, visa and immigration issues?
Luis Rodrigues - Gouveia Pereira, Costa Freitas & Associates, Law Firm, RL
This is a difficult question to answer in a generic way because some requirements (for example, visa) will vary depending on your nationality. The answer to this question will necessarily need to be analyzed on a case-by-case matter.
In the example of an American couple without children that want to retire and move to Portugal for one year in a leased apartment the costs would not be very high. Basically the costs they would incur are the official costs of obtaining...
This is a difficult question to answer in a generic way because some requirements (for example, visa) will vary depending on your nationality. The answer to this question will necessarily need to be analyzed on a case-by-case matter.
In the example of an American couple without children that want to retire and move to Portugal for one year in a leased apartment the costs would not be very high. Basically the costs they would incur are the official costs of obtaining the visas (we are assuming the couple in the example does not have a European passport, which may avoid the need for a visa) which are around 500 euros (about US $560) per person and the costs of hiring a lawyer to assist in the procedure of obtaining a visa, which should not exceed 1,500 euros per person (about US $1,670).
We would recommend people with little knowledge about Portugal to make a test try for 6 to 12 months in a leased apartment in order to reduce the costs and limit your exposure in a first phase.
What do I need to know about living overseas and retiring abroad?
James David Audlin - Editores Volcán Barú
Do you remember the Biblical story of the Exodus? The Israelites managed to escape Egypt, its bureaucracy and crime and unpleasantness -- and through the forty years of wandering in the wilderness they whined and complained for ever having left, and, when they got to the Promised Land, they proceeded to set up a country with a king, bureaucracy, crime, and unpleasantness.
There's a moral in this story for expats moving to Panamá or any other foreign country. Don't expect it...
Do you remember the Biblical story of the Exodus? The Israelites managed to escape Egypt, its bureaucracy and crime and unpleasantness -- and through the forty years of wandering in the wilderness they whined and complained for ever having left, and, when they got to the Promised Land, they proceeded to set up a country with a king, bureaucracy, crime, and unpleasantness.
There's a moral in this story for expats moving to Panamá or any other foreign country. Don't expect it to be your home country. Think of yourself as a guest, and respect the way things are done here. You will certainly conclude that some things might be done better; but, if you keep your mind open, you will realize that some things are, in fact, done better in your new country. Don't rush to judgment, and don't sneer or criticize your new neighbors. Don't leave the United States (or wherever) for various reasons (high costs, political turmoil, psychological tension, crime, etc.) and then demand the same kinds of services here in Panamá that lead to the same factors!
The community of Boquete, for example, is about half "gringo" by now, with the proportion constantly increasing. As an inevitable result, the cost of living is higher there than in other parts of the Tierras Altas - and crime is more common, government is more irritating, and the pace of life is far less tranquil. The gringos there, sadly, have been creating a new "Egypt" in imitation of the one they couldn't wait to get away from.
My advice is come with few preconceptions - and come with few physical possessions. You can buy what you need when you get here. Start fresh!
Do your homework. If you rely on Social Security or Medicare, get solid information on their availability to you. If you have medical needs, consider proximity to a good hospital. (There is a top-notch facility in the capital city of this Chiriquí province, and a new hospital is about to open in Volcán. Don't rely on other gringos for information; I have lost track of the completely erroneous un-facts given to me by gringos living here.
Above all, be gracious. On my first day here I began the practice of walking about my new neighborhood - for exercise, and to get to know my neighbors. My Spanish was at the time execrable, but by this means I quickly improved, and speak it fluently now; I find it abhorrent that some gringos expect everyone here to speak English, and start angrily shouting at Panamanians as if that will somehow improve their ability to understand English. By walking about, I also became known to my neighbors, such that they looked out for me as good neighbors do.
Become used to how things are here. The electric power and internet services often quit for a few minutes or an hour -- that's life here, so don't whine about it. Panamanian homes often don't have hot showers; if that's how it is for you, enjoy it (I find it's better than coffee in the morning). Shops and services often make promises and are rather flexible about when they keep them or whether they will keep them at all; don't let this get you angry; it's just how it is here. You do better to ask someone knowledgeable for a recommendation of a good service provider.
On Ambergris Caye we have Dia Del San Pedro, which is our patron saint. I believe it is held in July. They have boat parades during that day, and a whole bunch of little activities. When I was a kid, at 5AM in the morning all the boats got together for a procession. The event is religious as well because San Pedro is our patron saint. The preachers or priests bless all the boats. They make a fake dummy of a man and then at the end of this festival they burn it, which is...
On Ambergris Caye we have Dia Del San Pedro, which is our patron saint. I believe it is held in July. They have boat parades during that day, and a whole bunch of little activities. When I was a kid, at 5AM in the morning all the boats got together for a procession. The event is religious as well because San Pedro is our patron saint. The preachers or priests bless all the boats. They make a fake dummy of a man and then at the end of this festival they burn it, which is part of the tradition as well.
Lobster Fest is also held in July. It’s a whole week where all the restaurants prepare – it’s when the lobster season opens. A lot of expats participate. You get like a lobster passport and you go to all these restaurants where you get a discount if you have this passport. Each restaurant has a lobster specialty. At the end of the week, on Saturday, the whole central park area is blocked and almost all the restaurants in town have a lobster competition. They have anything from lobster drinks to lobster cheesecake, to lobster ice cream. I don’t like lobsters, so I’m probably the only one who eats somewhere else first and then goes to the event just to socialize. It’s a really unique and different event that gets really full. They’ve been doing it now for a few years and it’s just gotten to the point where people are actually planning trips around the Lobster Fest Week.
In August, there’s a big event called the Costa Maya Festival where the town has a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday event where there are participants mostly from places in Central America – Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, who participate in a beauty competition. There’s food from these different places; that’s also pretty interesting.
Our Art Carnival is another big event, held in February. Our Carnival is different than the Carnival in Brazil. Ours is 3 days of people painting each other with water paint. If you go out on the street they have what we call Comparsas, which are groups of people dancing to different themes. It’s really interesting. There are tourists that really dig it. It’s completely different.
(Lobsters caught for Lobster Fest, Ambergris Caye, Belize,pictured.)
Sometimes it is possible in Nicaragua to open a bank account without being a resident. It will depend on the bank and if the potential client can prove his/her source of income, so a letter from his/her bank at home will work. Also very helpful would be a letter of reference from a Nicaraguan.
It will be also very useful if the applicant can prove he/she is in the process of obtaining residency in Nicaragua.
Some...
Sometimes it is possible in Nicaragua to open a bank account without being a resident. It will depend on the bank and if the potential client can prove his/her source of income, so a letter from his/her bank at home will work. Also very helpful would be a letter of reference from a Nicaraguan.
It will be also very useful if the applicant can prove he/she is in the process of obtaining residency in Nicaragua.
Some banks have bilingual executives or branch managers, so it will more comfortable to identify this in advance if it is a concern for you.
To open a bank account for a business purpose it will be imperative to have a corporation duly incorporated registered.
Panama has developed the roads in such a way that even if places are far from each other, it’s very easy to get from one place to another. You can even hit the resort Pacific beaches within an hour from the Marbella area of Panama City, where I live. It is far in terms of mileage, but the roads make it easy to get there. I personally go to the beaches in the morning and come back in the afternoon. It is very convenient and easy to get to places in Panama.
Panama has developed the roads in such a way that even if places are far from each other, it’s very easy to get from one place to another. You can even hit the resort Pacific beaches within an hour from the Marbella area of Panama City, where I live. It is far in terms of mileage, but the roads make it easy to get there. I personally go to the beaches in the morning and come back in the afternoon. It is very convenient and easy to get to places in Panama.
Having lived in Belize as an ex-pat for almost 30 years, I guess I qualify as a bit of an expert on the country.
The Cayo District, in my opinion, is by far and away the best place to live, specifically the Twin Towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena.
Being a cheap " Brit", the cost of living is definitely a factor in where I live and here in Cayo it is significantly cheaper than places like Placencia and San Pedro. Property prices are also...
Even though we thoroughly enjoyed our six-plus weeks in Baja (my wife, Jet Metier, wanted to buy some land there immediately), it was time for us to move on to experience new things. The desert and relative isolation we enjoyed as newbies in Baja would have to be gently placed into the past as we ventured forward to new experiences, also in places we had never been-- the jungles and more populated areas of mainland Mexico.
It was in December 2012 when we came to Panama. I had been researching sites, blogs, and magazines online for about two years. It was tedious and often difficult to find the information I wanted. I managed to dig up facts, statistics, places, climate, foods, picture, language, and laws. Still it wasn't long before my heart belonged to Panama. Our lives have changed, a lot. Having things doesn't matter so much in Panama. So letting material things go was a sad thing but a...
Lately, the government encourages cycling, especially in big cities like Mexico City. In parts of this city there are cycling lanes and people are riding their bicycles. 
This is a difficult question to answer in a generic way because some requirements (for example, visa) will vary depending on your nationality. The answer to this question will necessarily need to be analyzed on a case-by-case matter.
On Ambergris Caye we have Dia Del San Pedro, which is our patron saint. I believe it is held in July. They have boat parades during that day, and a whole bunch of little activities. When I was a kid, at 5AM in the morning all the boats got together for a procession. The event is religious as well because San Pedro is our patron saint. The preachers or priests bless all the boats. They make a fake dummy of a man and then at the end of this festival they burn it, which is...
Having lived in Belize as an ex-pat for almost 30 years, I guess I qualify as a bit of an expert on the country. 
Even though we thoroughly enjoyed our six-plus weeks in Baja (my wife, Jet Metier, wanted to buy some land there immediately), it was time for us to move on to experience new things. The desert and relative isolation we enjoyed as newbies in Baja would have to be gently placed into the past as we ventured forward to new experiences, also in places we had never been-- the jungles and more populated areas of mainland Mexico. .JPG)
