“My quality of life here is excellent,” says Marlene Kimball of her new home in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. “I love the peacefulness and the tranquility. I’m able to eat clean foods, breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a culture that is not materialistic.”
Turquoise waters lap the white-sand beach fringed with casuarina trees. There are no jet skis or banana boats here—just a few stand-up paddle boarders and a kayak or two.
The sing-song chants of vendors cut through the morning mist, offering fresh-baked baguettes and baskets of tropical fruits. Caldrons of pho bò (beef noodle soup) and the savory smoke of grilling pork entice the early morning breakfast crowd.
"Between the lower rental costs, lower utilities, and eating out a few days a week, we are looking at a 50% lower cost of living than our home in Canada,” says expat Ellen Ma of the life she and her husband Jim enjoy in Malaysia.
An increasing number of retirees are finding a home in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, usually called KL. The dynamic city and its environs serve not only as Malaysia’s economic engine, but also its repository of culture, arts, and international-caliber dining and shopping.
"This is the top beach destination in Cambodia…the beaches are beautiful and there are tons of islands, but we also have our own city center, so there is good accessibility to things like banks, internet, shops, and restaurants,” says expat Mick Anderson.
"Mountains! Unbelievable mountains! Some of the best in the world,” says Ted Alexander of what drew him to Huaraz, a city of some 130,000 people high in the Andes Mountains of northern Peru. “I love seeing the mountains from almost everywhere.”
As a 22-year-old Russian translator for the U.S. Air Force Security Service, I spent many days and nights in an uncomfortable chair on an island midway between Nome, Alaska, and Siberia, listening to the Russians. What I heard changed my life. In those days, when radio equipment wasn’t quite as sophisticated, they used a lot of women operators because the pitch of their voices penetrated the static better than deeper male voices.
My favorite day of the week is Friday in my country town of Atenas—although since moving to Costa Rica, every day is pretty good. On Fridays, I pile all of my five dogs into the car and head early in the morning for the farmers’ market, followed by a lively off-leash hike on a forested mountain trail near town.
A perfect climate was a major requirement for Brandy and Bob Gregory when they sought their overseas retirement home eight years ago. They found their ideal weather in the highland town of Boquete, in western Panama.