Last month, we wrote about how we finally put down roots in San Miguel de Allende and bought a home there (for $152,000). It’s a good-sized house with a better-sized yard, on the outskirts of town. Quiet, spacious, great neighbors—it had everything we needed. We wanted to do some renovations before we shipped our duty-free container of household furnishings from our old life in Omaha, Nebraska. We spent some time in the house making notes and decisions. And we found an arquitecto...

Famous for their giant turtles, the Galapagos Islands have for decades been one of the world’s ultimate fantasy travel destinations. Most of us dream of a chance to see this unique environment up-close, yet a mere 80,000 tourists have visited this group of volcanic islands, partially due to restrictions on the number of visitors, but also due to the distance and the comparatively high costs of getting there. This is changing. A trend is emerging that...

While the Republic of Uzbekistan may be a relatively new country, its cities and people have a history dating back more than a thousand years. Marco Polo pitched camp in the Ferghana Valley on hunting trips with Genghis Khan. And Alexander the Great crossed the mighty Oxus River so he could challenge King Darius to battle. The race for empire in Central Asia brought English explorers to the ancient cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khiva. What attracted these men? Our exploration took three weeks and brought us across a vast land that included the legendary Silk Road and into the Ferghana Valley...

Where best to watch the waves this summer? From Britain to Belize, read on for International Living's staff picks for the world’s best beaches...

Mauritius’ agricultural sector relies on sugar cane for 90% of its revenue. But the World Trade Organization has ruled that sugar subsidies here need to be phased out. The locals expect the sugar fields to be deserted...planting sugar would no longer be profitable. Or would it?