International Living Community

For a two week rental, your best option in Placencia will be AirBnb or VRBO. You could locate a few places on those sites and then contact them direct and see if they will offer a multi-week discount. However, February is busy season here so most places may not be willing to offer a discount. Here are a few places the come to mind that you could take a look at: Alaska Reprieve Bella Sway Bella Vita Casitas Casa Valencia The Flying Toucan Lazy Palm Suites Sea Glass Inn Seabird Villas Serenity by the Sea Silver Leaf Villa White House Placencia When you are here, be sure to swing by and say "hi" at Placencia Beach Club. Shane Kenny IL Belize Correspondent

Hi @KELLYDUNNAWAY We’ve checked in with Glenda Cole, our expert in Portugal, to get an answer to your question. You are welcome to email Glenda about your trip to the Algarve, glendafcole@yahoo.com

You may have trouble getting into a private insurance plan but depending on the country (and sometimes depending on the community) you choose and depending on the type of residence/visa you utilize, you may find you have other great options such as getting into the public system or a hospital membership plan. True, most do make the move before the age of 80, and at any age there are a lot of factors to consider, including health, personality type, community ties, finances... but there are some wonderful 80+ success stories! Here's some inspiration: https://members.internationalliving.com/articles/finding-adventure-in-retirement/ Plus you might enjoy this video of 81-year-old world travelers on the International Living YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/JSpt-xjkxFU?si=cs7RF78dCJ4BgkwE Best, IL Overseas Editor Jess Ramesch

Tuula, merci for your reply and for the link to your video. I'm sure I'll be contacting you again :-).

De nada! Thanks for posting and best of luck with all your Panama plans.

I haven't been there but perhaps one of the other ILers will comment. I'll just add that, while I can't tell you when or if International Living will ever cover Paraguay, I can tell you that the countries covered here generally check the majority of the following boxes: Home to expat communities Welcoming to foreigners Straightforward access to legal residence Safe for families, retirees, single women Excellent infrastructure (roads, telecommunications, power, water) Politically stable Strong/stable economy Straightfoward access to bank accounts You can move your money in and out with reasonable ease A good range of property available for sale and rent Excellent value (cost of living vs what you get for your money) Easy to travel to/in-country And more (for a full list of categories see International Living's Annual Global Retirement Index: https://magazine.internationalliving.com/internationalliving/library/item/january_2024/4158110/ ) To sum up there typically needs to be great value and a high enough standard of living to entice expats to go, especially when much longer flights are involved. (For example, even though it takes 8+ hours to fly to Uruguay from the States, we do cover it from time to time because it offers so much. You can read our latest coverage in the June issue of IL magazine https://magazine.internationalliving.com/internationalliving/library/item/may_2024/4189974/ ) Best, IL Overseas Editor Jess Ramesch

You may want to reach out to Ronan McMahon's team of experts at Pangea as they have done a lot of scouting in Spain (albeit much of it on the coast... still, they may have a broker to recommend who does long-term rentals in the San Sebastian/Donostia area and if so, that'll be info worth having): Email: info@pangearesearchgroup.com Website: https://pangearesearchgroup.com Best, IL Overseas Editor Jess Ramesch

I'm not doing any traveling in Costa Rica this time around but but thought I'd chime in just to say that on a previous year I did rent a car and tour on my own after a conference and it was great! I felt perfectly safe (even when I got a flat tire on the highway at dusk) and had a lovely time. I went to Grecia, Atenas, and San Ramon (stopped in Sarchí), there was a ton of info on Facebook expat groups, makes it easy to ask/find out about expat gatherings/hangouts. Prior to that I'd been to and enjoyed beaches around Manuel Antonio and Ojochal. Went to Limon on the Caribbean side many, many years ago as well (there's a nice little expat community there now). No matter what part of the country you choose, it's hard to go wrong. The number one thing I personally do to ensure a good trip is to make some connections via facebook ahead of time and number two book stays at places with great recent reviews. Best, IL Overseas Editor Jess Ramesch

I just wanted to share what my lawyers at Themis Legal (https://themislegalcr.com/) sent me when I shared your question: "Yes, it has been reviewed by the Legislative Assembly and it is still been analyzed, yet it has not yet been approved." -Bekah Bottone, IL Costa Rica Correspondent

Thanks Mike - I'll add that Panama's Copa Airlines also offers free long layovers if anyone who's passing through wants to stay a couple days and explore, see their website for info. Copa.com Best, IL Panama Editor Jess Ramesch

Debbie, another idea. Speak with M. Grazia Colombo. She is a RE, VISA and Citizenship expert. She is an attorney here in Italy. If she cannot help she may know who can. Here is her email address. mgrazia.colombo@leexe.it Good luck and let me know if she is able to help or to send you to someone who can! Chip Stites, Italian Correspondent, International Living Magazine.

Hello, I would ahve you speak with M. Grazia Colombo, here is her email address. mgrazia.colombo@leexe.it. She is a licensed attorney and can help in the areas of Real Estate and Citizenshiip and VISAS. I speak with her regularly. she speakes excelllent English. Let me know your experience. Good luck, Chip Stites Italian Correspondent International living Magazine.

Hi Keith, That is a good budget for a long-term rental in Nice so you will have a lot of options. In the center, you could look around the Gambetta neighborhood, or near the Beaux-Arts museum. Try the Le Bon Coin website to get an idea of rental prices. Real estate expert Adrian Leeds is based in Nice and has great tips for the city on her website. Tuula Rampont, IL France Correspondent

Hi! Ron here and just getting started.

Hi there! Ted Baumann here. I've actually stayed at the Garden Route Game Lodge myself, it's really nice. Lovely big fireplaces for the evening meals. The quickest way to get there from Aghulas would be to take the R319 provincial road north Until you intersect with the N2 highway, Which runs east west. You would make a right turn onto the N2 then go through Swellendam, Heidelberg, and Riversdale, and then you'll pick up the game lodge a bit further on on the left.

It is nice to meet you! I just got back from a trip to the Central Valley last month. I use Facebook Groups to answer my questions and give advice when I am visiting a new place. I find them very helpful and my top resource. On my recent editorial trip to Grecia, Costa Rica, I wandered into Los Jardines Vivero y Café. A kaleidoscope of colors welcomed me—flowers in every shade, vintage VWs adding charm, captivating art, and a Koi Pond. The Nuevos Amigos Group in Grecia weekly gathering was in full swing. Although expats started the group, it's a place where anyone interested in building new relationships can join on Wednesdays at noon. And in Atenas, a weekly women's group gets together on Thursdays from 10 am - 12 pm. Every month they choose a new restaurant to visit. Their Facebook Group is informative: https://www.facebook.com/groups/663758784658197/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=1144736216560449 Additionally, there was so much interest in Atenas that another group started meeting on Tuesday mornings, too. I met a wonderful woman in Grecia, who specializes in real estate in these areas. I suggest contacting her on WhatsApp: Brooke Bishop +506 8311 5336 In the Central Valley, you will find the country's biggest cities and many bigger towns. That doesn't mean it's all urban. There are plenty of quiet countryside locations, little mountain villages, bustling market towns — you can also get away from it all in the Central Valley. I suggest checking out some other areas, maybe Escazu, Alajuela, Santa Ana, Pavas, Tres Rios, and Cartago. If you stay in San Jose, you might want to stay at the Grano de Oro or the Gran Hilton Hotel. And we hold our yearly conference at the InterContinental Escazu. Let me know if other questions come up. Bekah Bottone, IL's Costa Rica Correspondent

Hello there. Sorry about the technical difficulties. Let's start with the golden visa issue. The type of programs you are referring to have mainly abandoned real estate as an option. But there are plenty of other visa types that will work for you as well. There's no need for you to start investing little bits into foreign stock markets to get residency abroad. Of course, if you have money in an IRA, you can convert some of it to a self directed IRA, and to use that to invest in qualifying assets in whatever country you want to live in. As you note, it's quite difficult to get banking and brokerage facilities in a foreign country unless you have a close connection there, or until you've got a residency visa. If your goal is to retire overseas, then your best bet is to focus on getting a financially independent person's visa, sometimes called a non-lucrative visa. In all countries, this requires that you demonstrate a regular flow of passive income from pension or investments. As long as you have enough coming in, and you have all the other paperwork in order, that allows you to live in the country indefinitely. And it doesn't require that you open up a bank account ahead of time.

Hi Keith, I adore my island Cozumel and have been here for seven years now. I love everything about it. the culture, food, people, but especially the ocean. The water is gorgeous. Bel Woodhouse - Mexico Correspondent.