Best Places In The World To Retire

You can buy good clothes in San Miguel de Allende. For me, the people in San Miguel de Allende make a lot of gauzy stuff, and you can buy a lot of that here. There are so many stores in San Miguel de Allende that cater to Americans and wealthy tourists, so there are multiple boutiques where you can buy basically anything you want if you know where to go. 

 

Boutiques are small little stores. The boutiques that sell my gauzy stuff, I wouldn’t say...

You can buy good clothes in San Miguel de Allende. For me, the people in San Miguel de Allende make a lot of gauzy stuff, and you can buy a lot of that here. There are so many stores in San Miguel de Allende that cater to Americans and wealthy tourists, so there are multiple boutiques where you can buy basically anything you want if you know where to go. 

 

Boutiques are small little stores. The boutiques that sell my gauzy stuff, I wouldn’t say they’re that high-priced.  They’re medium-priced. You can get a lot for medium price, because I don’t put a lot of money into my clothing… as you could see. There are a lot of places that sell handmade places clothing that is more expensive. There’s no mall in San Miguel de Allende like you would see in Querétaro (a large city fairly close by), where they have everything, including all the upscale stores

 

(Eagle Outfitters at Antea Lifestyle Center, Querétaro, Mexico, pictured.)

For me personally, I was surprised by how friendly people are and how much help and suggestions they give. I constantly encountered someone who would say, “Oh, try this,” or to go to a particular store if I’m looking for a particular item. I was surprised at how friendly they were because I think they have also experienced or at least they have an idea of how relocating is, and they just want you to feel comfortable.

 

I was also surprised...

For me personally, I was surprised by how friendly people are and how much help and suggestions they give. I constantly encountered someone who would say, “Oh, try this,” or to go to a particular store if I’m looking for a particular item. I was surprised at how friendly they were because I think they have also experienced or at least they have an idea of how relocating is, and they just want you to feel comfortable.

 

I was also surprised at the different pace of life. What is important changes sometimes when you move abroad. Having the latest in fashion is no longer the most important thing for me anymore, whereas before I left London, that was the most important thing. I love being able to go to the beach at the drop of a hat and being able to organize a barbecue next weekend because it is going to be sunny without having to worry about these other things.

 

It is nice to live in a country where family is the first priority. It is very easy to make friends and spend time with them. You might go out once or twice a week maybe in the UK, but here in Panama, there is something going on every night and you can always attend it if you want to. All these things and many others made me happy when I moved here to Panama.

We do have crime in Portugal, but it’s not violent crime. One of the reasons that there are so many Brazilians and so many South Africans coming to Portugal now is because Portugal is so much safer than their countries.

 

The crime rate has gone up in Portugal.  Do you have houses burgled in Portugal? Yes, we do. But people are not violent. It’s not like in many other countries where they would probably shoot you first and steal from you...

We do have crime in Portugal, but it’s not violent crime. One of the reasons that there are so many Brazilians and so many South Africans coming to Portugal now is because Portugal is so much safer than their countries.

 

The crime rate has gone up in Portugal.  Do you have houses burgled in Portugal? Yes, we do. But people are not violent. It’s not like in many other countries where they would probably shoot you first and steal from you afterwards. But they do have people breaking in and they have probably youngsters on scooters who rush past you and grab your handbag. But compared to many other countries, the crime rate overall is very low.

 

There are certain areas of Lisbon that are poor areas and in which the crime rate is quite high. Portugal has to be very careful because of its long coastline makes it a natural transit point for drugs. The influx of drugs that also comes from Morocco also causes crime. Unfortunately, gone are the days when most of the Portuguese could leave their keys in the front door and that’s absolutely fine; you can’t do that today, so you do have to be aware. But every foreigner that I know here says that when they come home late, they don’t feel intimidated and nervous like they would in other places. As far as statistics go, I know that the crime rate has gone up but its not astronomical like a lot of countries.

 

In England, in London, I’ve never had any incidents there but my mother’s house was burgled and totally wrecked. In Brazil, I was attacked on a Saturday coming back from the supermarket. I’ve never, fortunately, had anything like that happen here in Portugal.

 

A lot of people ask, “Carol, where would you like to go back to live?” To answer, I think it’s easier to say where wouldn’t you like to live and that would mainly be because of security and I don’t have that feeling at all here in Portugal. And I have to say most of my friends who are foreigners and Portuguese say the same thing. They all feel safe in Portugal.

 

(A village in Baganca, Portugal, pictured.)