A number of people have written me and asked my opinion about different parts of the Americas as possible destinations. So here’s a brief precis of some of my thinking on the subject:
Before I came down here, I went through a lot of research on the different Central American countries and on Mexico too.
Mexico was my prefered expat location, because I’m deeply interested in the Mayans. I love Mexican food, the architecture, the people, the crafts, and the weather. It was always my first choice. But the drug wars and the accompanying violence scared me off. Then too, land is not cheap in Mexico, except in the Yucatan, and the Yucatan has problems. Some areas look like they might have water problems, and other areas are targets for hurricanes. Then there’s the weather – humid and very hot. But the primary problem for me was corruption. I hear everyone has to be paid off and that police can be untrustworthy. Crime is said to be high. And then the Mexican economy is very tied up with the US economy. So, reluctantly, I looked elsewhere.
In Central America, the only country I really thought long about was Panama. But there again, there were problems. The weather is very humid and hot. Panama City is overcrowded and expensive – more expensive than many parts of the US. I liked the mixed culture, the entrepreneurial energy and the fact that it’s become a hub of financial services and banking. But that has its draw backs too. It’s also attracting attention from the US authorities who are concerned about off-shore havens. Also, land isn’t cheap and what there is of it is attracting the developer crowd – which I tend to avoid. Nothing turns me off more than condo complexes going up, Starbucks everywhere you look. For that, you can go to Miami. It’s probably cheaper now. So no to Panama.
The Honduras struck me as too poor a country. Extremes of wealth, especially in a small country, are a bad sign. How long will the place go without a revolution of some kind, I asked myself. And how long before US business or government interests start fiddling around. And sure enough, there’s been a coup.
The rain forests of Guatemala sounded..and looked..beautiful. But clearing rain forest isn’t exactly the easiest or the wisest thing to do. Guatemala also has a reputation for corrupt and cruel police. Real estate prices in the capital city were high. I nixed it too.
Nicaragua was cheaper. But also poor and unstable. No foreigner would make it a permanent base, unless they liked living dangerously. It’s the kind of place where a certain sort of person from Norte America hides out…keeps a low profile.. or swindles the next fool who comes along..none of which interests me. And it’s too close to other hot spots for comfort.
And so it’s turned out….the Honduras coup seems to be spilling over into Nicaragua (see below).
Belize has its problems with hurricanes and it’s not cheap, except in the more remote areas. It also doesn’t have much to offer in the way of infrastructure and business. But again, the main problem, as for the other Central American countries, was that it looked like the back yard of the US, vulnerable to interference, to a spill over of the drug wars, and to increased surveillance.
That’s why I decided to go further south, despite the expense, and despite the feeling that overwhelms you every so often in a foreign country – what the heck am I doing here? But I was asking that in the US anyway…
And in the US, I understand everything’s that being said….which tends to upset me, as you can guess from my fiery boycott-the-US post (it’s preceded by the word “IF”).
Here, I don’t understand most of what’s said. Ergo – peace of mind…
Some news on the spill over from the Honduras:
“Mónica Zalaquett, director of the Center for Prevention of Violence, says the problem in Honduras has become a “political instrument” in Nicaragua, used by both the Sandinistas and the opposition to promote their own agendas..
….On Aug. 4, a group of four Nicaraguan opposition lawmakers who tried to travel to the Honduran border to express their discomfort with what they called Zelaya’s two-week “occupation” of northern Nicaragua were turned back 12 miles before the town of Ocotal. Sandinista and Zelaya supporters blocked their caravan on the highway and attacked their vehicles with sticks and rocks…”
I feel vindicated in my research…I usually do. My problem isn’t sound investment decisions. I make good choices. My problem is I’m too cautious and tend to wait a bit too long. I don’t lose, but I sometimes miss out – which some people would say is the same thing.
I don’t see it like that though, because you have to take into account your risk appetite and tolerance for stress. If you live your life pretty much on your own terms, answer to no one, can walk away from unpleasant people and things, and spend all your time in your own company and not in the company of annoying people, you are way ahead of 99% of the world.
And the other 1% is probably broke.
Which means that if you’re not broke, then you are better off than practically everyone.
I’m not broke.
“If you live your life pretty much on your own terms, answer to no one, can walk away from unpleasant people and things, and spend all your time in your own company and not in the company of annoying people, you are way ahead of 99% of the world.”
How true, how true.
No mention of Costa Rica? Too much U.S. ?
Thanks for taking the time to list your observations.
Hi Jim –
Costa Rica is high priced…just like the US. Probably higher than Florida now. And I’ve heard there’s crime.
Some parts are very pretty and still reasonably priced and if you don’t mind something that’s very touristic, it’s not bad, somewhat like Panama…maybe less of a hot spot, now, as a matter of fact.
It’s more stable than some of the others.
I think about it some times though.
It’s nice to be closer to the US.
Out here, you are far off from man and beast.
And the lengthy plane flights aren’t good for the environment, even if you do them just once a year..
Thank you Lila, I’ve been hoping someone would shed some light on this topic. Any thoughts on El Salvador? I’ve heard some people sing its praises, but it being a tiny speck of a country right next to the dangerous ones, I don’t know.
The Caribbean, e.g. the Dominican Republic?
Hawaii, where I currently live, would in many ways be perfect if only it wasn’t a US state. Praying for secession…
Dominican republic is good for residency…
Lila, I’ve lived continuously in Panama for more than 16 years. Before that, I lived in Colombia, Brazil, and many years earlier I sojourned 9 months in Mexico (Yucatán and Chiapas), Belize and Guatemala.
Gettng back to Panama, yes, it’s hot and humid, but so is Miami and Rio de Janeiro. I would not dismiss Panama because of Panama City. I lived there the first 6 years. I have to say I didn’t notice it was expensive, but I haven’t visited recently. Expensive is Bogotá or Rio. Today I paid a taxi fare of $2 for a ride that would have cost me $15 in Miami 17 years ago.
I’ve lived in a lot of tourist traps. Panama is not one of them. Costa Rica is: they have tourist menus and tourist tariffs and the newscasters routinely insinuate that foreigners are the responsible party when involved in accidents. Panamanian commercial law mandates that foreigners and locals be treated alike. That means discounts on medicines and medical services for seniors.
Oh, yeah. Here’s another one. My ophthalmologist charges $30 for an exam, not $130. A decent GP can be had for $5 a visit. The list goes on. Panama expensive? I’ll have to disagree with you.
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I have lived and/or worked in Mexico and most of the CA countries and I agree with your assessments. I lived three years in Chetumal and witnessed the healing powers of “polvo de cascabel”, a 5000 year old Maya medicine, including a cane cutter with stomach cancer.
I am currently in Panama, but returning to where you are on 12 Oct. I was there two years ago and have decided it is the best place for me now. If you get a chance, visit the Casa Pueblo museum.
Hi –
I am not sure if both Barry’s are the same, but I will address you as one –
I was remarking on the high prices of Panama apartments and real estate and about rising labor costs…I’m aware that medical costs and living expenses are going to be cheaper than in Miami..but I have read that retirees are finding it harder in Panama city.
Mexico – yes, very much like in India – culturally and intellectually the most fasinating of places but very difficult to live in …
Mb4 –
Both Barrys are not the same.
I’ll emphasize again that Panama City is not attractive. It’s not for retirees. It’s not for people looking for a cheap South Beach-type condo.
The up-scale condos of Panama City attract wealthy émigrés from other Latin American countries who continue to run their businesses from Panama.
Americans who cannot speak the language will end up listening to English-speaking real estate agents interested in guiding them to this market sector. I would not be not surprised to learn that Lila decamped after a short pit stop in the Sheraton or similar, where she ate international cuisine and paid international prices.
Real estate in Panama City is still affected by a shortage of housing dating from the long period of domestic and colonial dictatorship which ended not so long ago. There has been a building boom ever since.
But in the places worth living, i.e., outside Panama City, you can build a nice 2-bedroom house on 1,500 square meters of land for about $60,000. What would that cost in the USA, ten times more maybe?
It doesn’t sound like any of the other commentators have in mind an urban location that actually exists anywhere in Latin America. Historically, Latin America is not urban, it is rural. All big Latin American cities are oppressive, dirty and violent.
1,500 sq. meters, what is that, a small lot? Building a house here in the Midwest it probably does cost about $60,000, it’s probably a home buliders cost, or if you did it yourself, it’s buying one at that price that would be difficult.
Drug testing for firearm ownership is what blew it for Panama for me, pass I would, but I’m just not going to do that test anymore.
No place seems perfect. Alaska gets top choice next to Uruguay, so far.
In contrast to the trend in Argentina towards things such as confiscating your car if you go 40KM over the speed limit (can Frankenstein-like blood draws for DUI be far behind? The same goes for neighboring Chile which has calls for tougher DUI enforcement) and other such centralized big government leanings, it was somewhat refreshing to read this about a leading candidate for the Presidency of Uruguay:
“I’m more a libertarian than a man who thinks the state is the solution,” said Mujica. “My Socialist ideas support self-management and I don’t mix it with the power of the state. The job of government is to help with social distribution, to avoid the accumulation of social rust-belts which the market can’t address, and they finish being extremely dear for the rest of the community.”
“If belonging to the left means defending a strong government intervention in the economy and a strong state tendency in economic affairs, that’s not for me”, said Mujica adding that the Uruguayan economy, if he wins, will be in the hands of his ticket companion, Danilo Astori, former Economy minister and former Dean of the Uruguay university School of Economics.
“There will be no abrupt changes, no pitching or rolling, nothing of the sort, we are going to continue with the current economic policy which has proved most successful.” – Jose “Pepe” Mujica
http://www.santiagotimes.cl/santiagotimes/index.php/2009091517147/news/political-news/former-terrorist-set-to-become-uruguay-s-next-president.html
I lived for 7 1/2 months in Costa Rica in 1998 and fell in love with the place and the people. It’s true, if you go the tourist route, it can be very expensive. The head of our project lived in a house in San Jose and he and his wife had a maid/cook and gardener and as I remember it, it ran them less than $600 American each month. The exchange rate was very favorable toward the US dollar – about 275 colons per dollar and at the bank we worked at, you could get a lunch for 250 colons (meat, rice, vegetable or salad, fruit or desert and drink.) Some of us lived in an apartotel (which is like apartments, but run like a hotel) that were 2 bed rooms, fully furnished, with security, private off-street parking, pool, full maid service, and a restaurant. This ran us $1100 a month, but was a good setup for those of us who were there short term. There is a large American ex-pat community there and the locals are a friendly, helpful bunch of people that are refered to as Ticos. It still has a lot of the old world charm, but has a lot of the modern conveniences we often miss when in a foreign country, like supermarkets and malls. Things may have changed there now, but I’d bet the people are still pretty much the same. One thing interesting is that they speak the purer form of Spanish, such as is used in central and northern Spain. Their literacy rate is around 97 percent and English, as well as other languages such as French and Portuguese are taught in the schools.
Obviously I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. I really like Costa Rica and plan on visiting again in the near future.
Costa Rica was a choice..but I hear it’s very Americanized, has high prices and has more crime than before..
It’s probably one of the easiest places to make the cultural change.
My own first choice would have been Mexico..
Lila,
After a week back I am settling in. I caught myself smiling all day yesterday. Besides Mexico this is the only place I ever felt at home. Certainly not the usa which is probably why I went to Mexico at the age of 18.
Did you ever visit Casa Pueblo? About forty years ago I read a magazine article about Carlos Vilaro, an Uruguayan artist/sculptor who had created a sculpture he could live in and display his art. He and one helper built it by hand into the cliffs above Punta Ballena. The photos blew me away. It turns out he didn’t stop and now the original house has turned into a huge art gallery.
If you have seen it, great. If not, the next time you are here I would be happy to take you.
http://www.carlospaezvilaro.com/
I’ve been there…
Thanks for the invite though