How good are the medical centers, hospitals and health clinics in Yucatan: Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Merida, etc, and how close are they?
The best hospitals in this area are in Merida. There are many private hospitals in Cancun, as well as inexpensive Clinics.
Good Chelation is reasonably priced in Cancun along with excellent holistic care. OZONE injections, Platlet / Plasma injections at a fraction of the cost in USA.
US health insurance is not valid here. Medicare would be smart and save a lot of money if they let expats do medical here. Maybe...
The best hospitals in this area are in Merida. There are many private hospitals in Cancun, as well as inexpensive Clinics.
Good Chelation is reasonably priced in Cancun along with excellent holistic care. OZONE injections, Platlet / Plasma injections at a fraction of the cost in USA.
US health insurance is not valid here. Medicare would be smart and save a lot of money if they let expats do medical here. Maybe someday?
IMSS Social Seguro hospitals are for the poor folks, with wait times very long. Insurance is available and nowhere near as expensive as the debacle ObamaCare.
How's the weather in Algarve? What's the average temperature in Algarve?
Sarah Locke - Tavira House & Home
The Algarve has the perfect climate. It is dry and sunny for most of the year with an annual average temperature of 82ᵒF in the summer and 54ᵒF during the winter. The long summer here lasts from May to September where temperatures range from 75ᵒF in early summer to a heady 89ᵒF in the mid-summer months of July and August. The climate, combined with miles of pristine beaches and calm seas, make the Algarve a perfect holiday or retirement destination. The Algarvean winter is...
The Algarve has the perfect climate. It is dry and sunny for most of the year with an annual average temperature of 82ᵒF in the summer and 54ᵒF during the winter. The long summer here lasts from May to September where temperatures range from 75ᵒF in early summer to a heady 89ᵒF in the mid-summer months of July and August. The climate, combined with miles of pristine beaches and calm seas, make the Algarve a perfect holiday or retirement destination. The Algarvean winter is short and clement. Most of the rain falls during this time but the sun still shines and temperatures never go below 45ᵒF. They vary between 65ᵒF during the day and 50ᵒF at night.
It is interesting to note that the East Algarve is slightly warmer and less windy than the west, mainly due to its secluded location away from the open Atlantic Ocean. The climate is mainly dry with some the rainfall in the winter months of November, December, January and February, but even in the winter the skies are blue and sharp with brilliant sunshine and amazing light quality. This could explain the Algarve´s year round popularity with ex pats and tourists alike, also making it a number one European retirement location.
(Whitewashed church in Tavira, Portugal, pictured.)
Is the electricity reliable in the Panama City, Panama area of Casco Viejo? Are there blackouts or brownouts in the Panama City, Panama area of Casco Viejo?
Patrizia Pinzon - Arco Properties
Electricity is not a reliable thing in Panama City in general. Casco Viejo used to have electricity issues and after many years, we had a big project where they lifted all the streets and they replaced all the cable, so now we have brand new fiber optics and new electricity cables. They put the streets back so we also have new streets.
That said, I would not say the electricity is 100% reliable, but it isn’t different from other places of Panama....
Electricity is not a reliable thing in Panama City in general. Casco Viejo used to have electricity issues and after many years, we had a big project where they lifted all the streets and they replaced all the cable, so now we have brand new fiber optics and new electricity cables. They put the streets back so we also have new streets.
That said, I would not say the electricity is 100% reliable, but it isn’t different from other places of Panama. Most people would have to get a surge protector, which regulates the incoming electricity, so that it does not burn your appliances.
We do have electricity; we are not in a rural area. We do have Internet carried on brand new fiber optic cable.
In Casco Viejo in a typical month, a blackout probably occurs once. So the problem is not with the blackouts, because we rarely have those. The problem is the spikes in the current. For example, you may leave on a Friday and you come back to the office on a Monday and all your telephones are blinking because there was a spike at some point on Saturday. That’s why you need the regulator. If the electricity goes out, there’s a major situation somewhere and the electricity company is working on it.
Casco Viejo's first office building, El Colegio, formerly a girls school, pictured.)
What type of government does Belize have, and is the government in Belize stable?
Virginia Krohn - Villa Cayo Belize
The government of Belize is a democracy and has a two-party system, the PUP (blue) and UDP (red), and they both work similar to the Democrats and the Republicans in the States. There are the ones that are for the people and there are the ones that are for business and improvements.
I don’t like a particular aspect of voting here because when you go and vote, you have to stick your finger in ink all the way up to the top of your fingernail and it...
The government of Belize is a democracy and has a two-party system, the PUP (blue) and UDP (red), and they both work similar to the Democrats and the Republicans in the States. There are the ones that are for the people and there are the ones that are for business and improvements.
I don’t like a particular aspect of voting here because when you go and vote, you have to stick your finger in ink all the way up to the top of your fingernail and it stains for days and even sometimes weeks. They do this in order to prevent voting more than once.
When they first started doing this years ago that ink would be red or blue, which are the two colors of the respective political parties, and then you could be harassed! So they had to change it to purple, which is the blending of the blue and the red so that no one knows who you voted for.
(Distribution of senate seats by political party, Belize., pictured.)
What are the things I'll be most happily surprised by when moving or retiring abroad?
David Reid
What you will be most surprised about after moving abroad will depend on how open-minded you are, and of course as mentioned above, where you will be moving. But if you are open-minded and flexible, and don't put yourself into an expat bubble, you will be surprised how many of your basic assumptions will be called into question.
For example, many people tell me that they can't travel for a long time because they cannot imagine life without (then they name...
What you will be most surprised about after moving abroad will depend on how open-minded you are, and of course as mentioned above, where you will be moving. But if you are open-minded and flexible, and don't put yourself into an expat bubble, you will be surprised how many of your basic assumptions will be called into question.
For example, many people tell me that they can't travel for a long time because they cannot imagine life without (then they name certain possessions, habits, conveniences, their present friends and family, their native language, etc., etc.) You will be amazed how many of these things are either there when you thought they wouldn't be, or that you can, indeed, do without, or replace by others. True, many expats never let go, so if all you are moving for is to have the same things but maybe cheaper, then you will be missing out on the greatest rewards of moving.
(Jet Metier of Best Places in the World to Retire, talking to a woman from Oaxaca, Mexico, pictured.)
Nicaragua enjoys being a safe place to live. I've lived there over twelve years and my car was once broken into when I foolishly left my carryon luggage on the back seat while having lunch in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Estili. The police took fingerprints of the entire car and gave me a detailed report which my insurance company in the US honored.
I'm driving about six hours a week or more and I've been stopped less frequently in the last couple...
Nicaragua enjoys being a safe place to live. I've lived there over twelve years and my car was once broken into when I foolishly left my carryon luggage on the back seat while having lunch in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Estili. The police took fingerprints of the entire car and gave me a detailed report which my insurance company in the US honored.
I'm driving about six hours a week or more and I've been stopped less frequently in the last couple of years, and always the transito police have been polite and fair. When beckoned over, I always turn off my engine, lower my window and have my documents ready without being asked. I greet the officer with a smile and a cheerful "buenos dias." I wait patiently with respect and am more often than not treated with respect. If I have broken a silly law I will try and negotiate showing my second wallet without many cords ("cordobas"; Nicaraguan money) in it. If its something more serious I have taken the "multa" and paid the fine which is usually cheap and now handled through the mail ... mostly.
From an interview by Jet Metier of Bill Edsell, Baja California Sur pioneer, in July, 2016. In this interview, Bill talks about the odd history of a local beach and a great place to explore from the sea.
Jet: We had a great time at Gran Sueños last week. We drove the 40 minutes or so from La Ventana Bay and spent the entire day enjoying the pools the gorgeous ocean, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding and walking along the beach. Please...
I was pleasantly surprised and honored to be asked to attend the AARP conference in Boston, MA just this past week, May 7th.
We had the pleasure to attend the conference and join thousands of attendees as they took a look at new opportunities of how to live life past 50 years.
Pictured are me (the old one) and Catalina Gordon who lives in Managua and works the government's Instituto Nicaraguense de Turismo INTUR. We handed out lots of advertising (called...
When I got an email from my Doctor, a Whats App from my Consultant/Surgeon and a personal phone call from the Doctor doing the lab results, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore! (Or England in my case!)
Yes, you just read that correctly, the local Doctor here in Coronado, emailed me to see how I was and if I had heard anything about the test results I was waiting for.
Prior to that, I had undergone some surgery and the Consultant/Surgeon had...