Entrepreneur profiles

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Create Your Own Happy, Healthy Work Environment

Create Your Own Happy, Healthy Work Environment

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October 1, 2014

If you visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s masterpiece of a home, you will most likely come away with a favorite memory. While the gardens are spectacular and the house filled with clever inventions, my favorite is Jefferson’s office, which adjoins his bedroom. He could roll out of bed and get to work at his desk. Of course, in Jefferson’s time, home-based businesses were more common than long commutes. But still, he must have created the shortest commute ever. During the decades following World War II, home offices all but disappeared as people went off to work in someone else’s office.

This Growing Panamanian City Needs an Expat Hangout

This Growing Panamanian City Needs an Expat Hangout

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September 1, 2014

Any location that finds favor with expats ultimately needs a place for them to hang out. There is a ready market of people who want a menu of familiar food—like burgers, hot wings, or a juicy steak—prepared in familiar ways. Put their favorite music on the jukebox, and they’ll be drawn in. Offer them NFL football or a pool table, and they’ll become good regular customers.

Granada, Nicaragua: An Up-and-Coming Wellness Destination

Granada, Nicaragua: An Up-and-Coming Wellness Destination

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September 1, 2014

With a laid-back lifestyle and increasing access to modern amenities, it’s easy to see why a growing number of expats are calling Granada home. This colonial city in Nicaragua has year-round hot weather, brightly-painted buildings and colonial-era architecture in the historic center, and diverse natural surroundings. It’s not surprising that it is becoming Nicaragua’s tourism hub. What is interesting, though, is how it is growing as a wellness destination.

Rescuing a Hotel in Costa Rica’s Rainforest

Rescuing a Hotel in Costa Rica’s Rainforest

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September 1, 2014

Vikki Gold is delighted with her move to Costa Rica. “I love it here. I’m at peace. There’s beautiful scenery, a great climate, and so much wildlife. It’s our little paradise,” she says. She came here just over a year ago after she and her daughter, Hollee, bought and renovated a boutique hotel in the jungle, which they renamed Villas de Oros (Villas of Golds in Spanish—a play on their last name).

Do It Right: How to Structure Your Tourism Business in Bali

Do It Right: How to Structure Your Tourism Business in Bali

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September 1, 2014

Many travelers who return from a tropical holiday on the beautiful Indonesian island of Bali start thinking how wonderful it would be to quit their job and move here permanently. And lots of them do, including me. I’ve run a guesthouse and restaurant on the northern coast of the island for four years. But before you join us expat business owners, there are a few things you should know…

Lifestyle Dividends of a Food-Truck Enterprise in the Black Forest

Lifestyle Dividends of a Food-Truck Enterprise in the Black Forest

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September 1, 2014

A mid all the traditional German sausage stands in a small food market on the edge of the Black Forest, American Geoff de Forest, 43, decided to open a taco truck. He believed there was a need for really good Mexican food in his locale…and he was right. The business is now making good money. Last year he started the Holy Taco Shack, a food truck that sells tacos, quesadillas, and burritos at markets and special events in the Freiburg area, which is in the extreme southwest of the country near the border with France and Switzerland.

Schools in Panama Offer a Solid Return on Investment

Schools in Panama Offer a Solid Return on Investment

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August 1, 2014

Panama is one of the fastest-growing countries in Latin America. And with a steady influx of expats of all ages and a growing middle class, its beleaguered education system has been hard-pressed to meet the growing demand for quality instruction. Public schools don’t prepare students very well for college. So middle and upper class residents turn to the nation’s private schools.