Best Places In The World To Retire

If you go to the Caribbean, you will see incredible things. The color of the ocean on the Caribbean is incredible. You would see very nice areas just standing there. I have been going there for the past 40 years and every time that I go to Cancun and see the water, I just stand in awe and say, “This place is incredible!” The activities around the Caribbean are endless. That area is made for tourists so you can do whatever you want. 

 

In...

If you go to the Caribbean, you will see incredible things. The color of the ocean on the Caribbean is incredible. You would see very nice areas just standing there. I have been going there for the past 40 years and every time that I go to Cancun and see the water, I just stand in awe and say, “This place is incredible!” The activities around the Caribbean are endless. That area is made for tourists so you can do whatever you want. 

 

In Merida, it is different because it is a city of 1 million people. There are different areas around it that you can go to. One of the several activities that you can do in the area is going to the cenotes, which are underground rivers that are all around Merida. There was a meteor that crashed in the Chicxulub area (on the coast, close to Merida) that changed the whole structure of the Yucatan peninsula. According to experts, that was one of the reasons why dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth. This meteor made the land in the Yucatan Peninsula very porous and resulted into these underwater rivers. Most of these underwater rivers are fresh water. It is beautiful to get into them.

 

We also have the flamingos you can see all over the coast on the beaches near to Merida. Celestún is very famous for flamingo sightseeing. Sisal also has flamingos on the coast. When you see the flock of birds flying, it’s just an incredible view.

 

Every single area in the Yucatan has different options for sightseeing. There are so many things and different activities here that you can do whether you are on the beach, or in the city.  

 

(The flamingos in "Yucatan Escape Plan, serenity and beauty in an undiscovered land" by Jet Metier, pictured.)

The stores and shops in Corozal have gotten better in the years that I’ve lived here. It’s a lot like how it used to be in the US, like when you had to go to the chicken shop to get chicken, or to the vegetable stand to get vegetables. There isn’t the convenience of what you’ll find in North America here in Corozal. It’s just like how life used to be in the US. 

 

In Corozal, you’d have to go to different shops to...

The stores and shops in Corozal have gotten better in the years that I’ve lived here. It’s a lot like how it used to be in the US, like when you had to go to the chicken shop to get chicken, or to the vegetable stand to get vegetables. There isn’t the convenience of what you’ll find in North America here in Corozal. It’s just like how life used to be in the US. 

 

In Corozal, you’d have to go to different shops to find different things. They don’t all sell everything like we’re accustomed to. That means to get a normal shopping list where you would go to a single store in the US, you would probably have to go to 4 or 5 different places in Corozal. The stores are very close together. It just becomes a way of life- you just stop at more places. 

 

You can get what you need in the shops here in Corozal. If you’ve lived here long enough, what you need today is going to be different than what you needed on your first day here because you adapt to what’s available. You can’t get everything you want every day, but you’ll learn there’s a beauty to that.  

 

(Catch of the day at Orchid Bay resort, Corozal, Belize, pictured.)

The food here in the Algarve is fantastic. There is no doubt that Portugal is a fantastic location for great food and a good life. 

 

There are two types of markets in Portugal. The first is the inland market, which is as you would imagine. These are the markets in the inland towns, which tend to focus on local produce that tends to be agriculture in nature, such as fruits, and other products grown from the land. The markets along the coast or those...

The food here in the Algarve is fantastic. There is no doubt that Portugal is a fantastic location for great food and a good life. 

 

There are two types of markets in Portugal. The first is the inland market, which is as you would imagine. These are the markets in the inland towns, which tend to focus on local produce that tends to be agriculture in nature, such as fruits, and other products grown from the land. The markets along the coast or those closer to the coastal towns have a much stronger presence of fish. You can find a huge variety of fish there. The markets are extremely colorful. They are wonderful in terms of organic produce and in supporting local communities because the vendors are all small producers like farmers or people who are growing cattle or pork. Along the coast, they support the local fishermen because the Algarve is still one of the last remaining places in the world for artisanal fishing, which is fishing done in the traditional way. The Algarve is one of the top five most represented for artisanal fishing. There are other locations with artisanal fishing such as some of the places in Mexico and some places in Italy, but the Algarve is one of the most well-known artisanal fishing locations, and one that hass survived in what is essentially a very populated tourist destination. 

 

The most famous market in the Algarve in the City of Loulé. It is a Saturday market, which happens in a purposely-built large market but that spills out into the street. It is a fantastic place to visit on a Saturday. You can find all sorts of produce there. I also recommend visiting the market in Silves, which is also a Saturday market. Make sure that you have steak for lunch and have chicken at the very famous chicken place right on the edge of the river. I also recommend visiting the market in Lagos, which is in a refurbished building right on the road that runs along the river. That market is superb. It has a huge variety fish. It also has bread, bakery products, meat, vegetables, and so on.  

 

The Algarve is a very international area, so we have plenty of supermarkets. The supermarkets here would be what you would expect in the US or in the UK. It would be like a Publix in the US or a Tesco in the UK. We have five or six well-known Portuguese brands as well. 

 

The difference between the supermarkets and the markets is that the supermarkets, as you would expect in every country, have a standard layout. The products are the same, they replenish the shelves, and they have all kinds of merchandise from food up to clothing. In contrast, the fresh markets are always focused on fresh produce. The suppliers bring whatever they have available that week, whether it be fruit, freshly-baked bread, spices that they have grown, fish, etc. They have seasonal products they bring to the market, which is one of the things that supports very strongly the whole concept of this Mediterranean Diet.

 

A lot of people think the Mediterranean Diet is all about using a lot of olive oil and garlic but it is actually more about following the seasons. You eat what is in season, so, for example, you wouldn’t have sea bass and sea bream in June just as you wouldn’t have sardines in December. It is about consuming the produce that grows naturally at a particular time of year.

 

(Municipal market of Loulé, Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)