Best Places In The World To Retire

Compared to where I come from in Austin, Texas, the mosquitoes and other bugs here in San Miguel de Allende are not much of a bother. We have mosquitoes that annoy me for a couple of months each year, and if I were building here today, I would certainly have screen windows on everything, but I’m not as bugged here as most places I’ve been.

 

( Rooftop view of town, lake and mountains, San Miguel Allende, Mexico, pictured.) 

Compared to where I come from in Austin, Texas, the mosquitoes and other bugs here in San Miguel de Allende are not much of a bother. We have mosquitoes that annoy me for a couple of months each year, and if I were building here today, I would certainly have screen windows on everything, but I’m not as bugged here as most places I’ve been.

 

( Rooftop view of town, lake and mountains, San Miguel Allende, Mexico, pictured.) 

The business culture in Portugal can be frustrating. The biggest problem in Portugal, as in other southern European countries, is that the legal system does not work. If you have a dispute to try and recover a debt, your case could take up to 15 years to get heard and there are people who use that situation to their advantage. The business culture here in Portugal is not at par as with Anglo-Saxon models; it has a much lower level.

 

There is a growing trend...

The business culture in Portugal can be frustrating. The biggest problem in Portugal, as in other southern European countries, is that the legal system does not work. If you have a dispute to try and recover a debt, your case could take up to 15 years to get heard and there are people who use that situation to their advantage. The business culture here in Portugal is not at par as with Anglo-Saxon models; it has a much lower level.

 

There is a growing trend towards entrepreneurship here in Portugal, although the problem is that small operations have very little access to funding. It’s not like in America where you have these venture capital and angel capital firms and other companies that help new businesses. Here, you basically have to ask your family to lend you money so you could set up a business.

 

(Queen Leonor in travel poster set in Caldas Da Rainha, Portugal, pictured.)

We like living in Cayo because we don’t care about anything related to nightlife, which is something we don’t have much of anyways. What we do love is all the plants, flower, and the wildlife.  We want to live a physically active and healthy lifestyle which is easy here and much less expensive than in the states.  If you come here and you want to live like an American and eat like an American, then you’re going to pay American prices because all the...

We like living in Cayo because we don’t care about anything related to nightlife, which is something we don’t have much of anyways. What we do love is all the plants, flower, and the wildlife.  We want to live a physically active and healthy lifestyle which is easy here and much less expensive than in the states.  If you come here and you want to live like an American and eat like an American, then you’re going to pay American prices because all the American products are imported. For example, If you want to have an apple there is a very nice selection but each one will cost $1.25 Belize (around 65 cents US). You can also have imported romaine lettuce but it is going to be expensive and in my opinion the local lettuce is fresher and better tasting with less chemicals.  There are some shops that provide organic, pesticide-free, non-GMO produce. 

 

We also have grass-fed cattle here as well as chicken that is raised hormone free by the Mennonites. If you eat pork we have a producer that can fill that need.  We have a local farm here in San Ignacio that raises their own cows producing fresh raw milk, butter, yogurt and soft cheeses.  They make delicious granola, breads and other baked goods.  Overall, you can live a very healthy, and inexpensively Cayo if you choose to.

 

(Owner in his fruitstand in Cayo, Belize, pictured.)