Best Places In The World To Retire

There is no dress code in Puerto Vallarta. We wear shorts to work and you won't need winter clothes. I've been to Christmas parties where people were wearing dressy clothes down to jeans and simple polo shirts. It depends on how you want to live. If you want to live country club-style, you can; but you can also live a simple lifestyle. Many expats move here to get away from the "golf-resort-type living" or "country club-type living".

 

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There is no dress code in Puerto Vallarta. We wear shorts to work and you won't need winter clothes. I've been to Christmas parties where people were wearing dressy clothes down to jeans and simple polo shirts. It depends on how you want to live. If you want to live country club-style, you can; but you can also live a simple lifestyle. Many expats move here to get away from the "golf-resort-type living" or "country club-type living".

 

For people who are into fashion, there's a big art community in Puerto Vallarta that hosts events where you can wear more fashionable clothes. There are many art galleries that have showings, cultural events, and other social events. 

 

The botanical gardens just gave a big benefit honoring the benefactors for how much they've contributed to the growth of the gardens. It was a dressy, "formal-ish" event, but still people who attended the event were wearing everything from black evening dresses to just "resort casual" clothes.

 

 

 

There are no real rules when it comes to fashion. No one is going to turn you away from a restaurant if you were in shorts. You can go to the nicest and most expensive restaurant in Puerto Vallarta and wear whatever you wish and whatever you're personally comfortable in. No one really feels out of place. You see people living the way they want to live.

 

(Ron Morgan, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)

The different modes of transportation in Belize are buses, taxis, private vehicles, motorcycles, and just walking. 

 

The best way to get around in Belize is by having a private vehicle because you would be traveling in your own time. You don’t have to wait for a bus or a taxi. Buses come around every hour and a half. It is not like in other countries where you will find a bus the very minute you arrive at the terminal. If you have a private...

The different modes of transportation in Belize are buses, taxis, private vehicles, motorcycles, and just walking. 

 

The best way to get around in Belize is by having a private vehicle because you would be traveling in your own time. You don’t have to wait for a bus or a taxi. Buses come around every hour and a half. It is not like in other countries where you will find a bus the very minute you arrive at the terminal. If you have a private vehicle, you can go to wherever you want and park right in front of the place where you are going. 

 

If you don’t have a private vehicle, there are vehicles that you can rent here in Belize. But for me, owning a private vehicle would be the best way to get around in Belize.

 

(Cars, bikes, canoes and horses in Belize, pictured.)

I think a woman would be better placed to respond to how women and girls are treated in Portugal, but I suppose I can provide a perspective. Women are generally respected in Portugal and having lived abroad for so many years and observing Portugal, I see a fondness for matriarchs that is perhaps not present in many Western countries. A particular concern for those visiting the country is whether women are safe – in a sense related to a sense of how women may be perceived –...

I think a woman would be better placed to respond to how women and girls are treated in Portugal, but I suppose I can provide a perspective. Women are generally respected in Portugal and having lived abroad for so many years and observing Portugal, I see a fondness for matriarchs that is perhaps not present in many Western countries. A particular concern for those visiting the country is whether women are safe – in a sense related to a sense of how women may be perceived – when visiting Portugal. I would have to say that it is one of the safest countries with which I have been associated, and in particular women can freely walk at night without substantially greater fear than men.

 

Women have historically had very traditional roles in Portuguese culture, namely those associated with providing a core stability of the family unit. This has unfortunately meant that tasks such as cooking, raising children, and matters relating to managing a household, are automatically associated with the mother and therefore changing this has been difficult. However, my perception is that the biggest catalyst for change is the workplace. Despite the balance still being far in favour of males in senior positions, there are many talented women who have proved their worth by choosing careers where the glass ceiling is less in evidence. Medical careers, including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and medicine, pharmacy, life sciences and to a certain extent teaching, have propelled women into more senior roles in business, R&D and education, for example. This has not happened in engineering, politics or construction, which continue to be male-dominated. I would say however, that women are no more likely to be treated poorly in the workplace than are men, and ironically my perception is that supervision by the opposite sex often results in better people management in Portugal than being managed by someone of one’s own sex.

 

Of course, I am happy to admit that I may have it all wrong as regards how women are truly perceived in the workplace… what I can say is that most traditional corporate environments in Portugal still expect men to work long hours whenever necessary and place much less emphasis on the importance of a male family role than, for example, many Anglo-Saxonic countries.

 

(Women of two generations, Portugal, pictured.)

The expats in San Juan Del Sur are a cast of characters. I always get a kick out of them!

 

San Juan Del Sur definitely draws a unique kind of expat; someone who likes a little adventure and someone who is looking at life to not be so predictable and easy. You definitely have to have some persistence here and a lot of patience because things are done differently. We still go days without water and days without electricity. Setting up a business is...

The expats in San Juan Del Sur are a cast of characters. I always get a kick out of them!

 

San Juan Del Sur definitely draws a unique kind of expat; someone who likes a little adventure and someone who is looking at life to not be so predictable and easy. You definitely have to have some persistence here and a lot of patience because things are done differently. We still go days without water and days without electricity. Setting up a business is interesting, too. There is no direct roadmap for setting up a business here so you have to know some people and determine who you need to help you to get things done. But after you’re here for a while, then it works.

 

For example, in the US, you have AAA car service but here in San Juan Del Sur, you don’t need it. If your car breaks down, you call any of your friends and they will help you change a tire, or the first passerby will stop and help you.

 

Because so many of us expats have emigrated here to San Juan Del Sur, we really watch out for each other. We have a strong support system for one another, especially for young mothers. There is a growing group of mothers of young children here called San Juan Moms. We have meetings and we have a Facebook page where we ask each other questions and provide each other support.

 

There are now a lot more kids in San Juan Del Sur than there were seven years ago, when we came here. Seven years ago, there were only around six expat children who are living in San Juan Del Sur but now I have 60 children enrolled in our school and over half of them are expat kids. It has changed a lot in the last seven years and there are a lot of women who are here in San Juan Del Sur who organize activities such as play dates, group activities, and things like Santa Sittings.

 

There is also a new place in town called Mums and Bums, which is a play space for kids and family that was started by a mom from Botswana and another American lady. It is a nice play space for kids ages 2 to 10. It has a nice porch where you could get some coffee. You can sit there while your kids are inside playing. They have higher end, little knick-knacks and organic snacks. They also offer special classes like baby yoga, doing acrylic painting with your child, or making ceramics. They offer special events, too. Mums and Bums is doing really well and it is nice to see that a business like that can happen nowadays, whereas seven years ago, there wouldn’t have been any clients. We are getting more expat families with kids and some of the businesses are starting to emerge and grow along with the newly arriving families.  

 

(Making footprint keepsakes at Mums and Bums, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.)