International Living Community

Hi Kathleen. IL actually has created itineraries for exactly this purpose! There are options for 1, 2, 3, or 4 week trips all planned out. You can find them here: https://www.ilbookstore.com/portugal-itinerary

My partner is from Jakarta and I spent some time there last year. From my personal experience, it felt a bit different from other SE Asian cities I have visited. It had less of a focus on tourism, and fewer foreigners in evidence than places like Hong Kong or HCMC in Vietnam. In all it felt like more of a "working city."

That said, there are certainly some expats there with many working for international companies or tech firms (my partner worked with such expats when she lived in the city).

There was not much evidence of a lasting effect from Covid during my time there. Restaurants and malls were all very active and full. Many people wore masks, but this is a common thing in SE Asia, unrelated to covid.

There is an Expats Jakarta Facebook group which is quite active and could serve you well to connect with expats already living there. You can find it at this link.

In most of the places on the IL beat, you'll find racial tensions to be far less pronounced than in the US - especially pertaining to police. As expat Bruce Cromartie said in the March issue of our digital magazine about his life in Costa Rica, "I got stopped too many times in the US for ‘driving while Black... The most inviting thing here is that you’re just a person. It was hilarious for me, coming to a culture where the color of your skin just doesn’t matter."

There are also many places we cover that are LGBTQ friendly. You can find a guide here.

As for your budget, you can find a guide here to the parts of the world that scored best on the Cost of Living category in our 2024 Annual Global Retirement Index.

Between these two guides you should be able to find a destination that speaks to you, is within your budget, and which you can be assured is welcoming and friendly for your family. Hope that helps!

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