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When we retire and decide to move abroad, we naturally want an idea of what our new living costs will be. Unfortunately, those living costs depend largely on slippage.

You may think you’ll never live in a gated community. But from my experience, based on meeting IL readers at conferences, the vast majority of those who buy overseas end up buying in some sort of planned community.

Let’s hear it for KeePass, an ingenious piece of free software that helps protect you from cyber crime when you travel. Or even when you don’t travel.

It may seem difficult to believe, but until a century ago, shortly before the First World War (1914–1919), official passports were almost never required by most countries.

“I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with that.” I was explaining to my sister-in-law about the contract we have with our architect, Miguel, on the renovation of our home in Merida. The fact is, we don’t have one. We’ve never signed a piece of paper or even formalized things with a handshake.

When I started International Living nearly three decades ago, two things were obvious: The U.S. dollar was headed down, especially against gold…and there were surely better investment opportunities outside the U.S.

Just like 46 million other people in the U.S., I had no health insurance and I couldn’t afford the $15,000 to $20,000 it would have cost to have an operation I needed to get done.

With altitudes from 1,200 to 3,400 feet, Sora is a settlement in the mountains of Chame in Panama, first populated centuries ago by the tribes of the Caribs. Its location is unbeatable. Unlike the popular retirement destination of Boquete, Sora is just 60 miles—about an hour-and-a-half by car—from Panama City. It’s also 45 minutes from some of Panama’s best Pacific beaches, known as the “dry arch” beaches because they get less rain than the rest of the country. The area is verdant with mountain views that rival those in Boquete—a town that has become a success-story since expats began flocking there some years ago. This is one of the reasons we think property prices will appreciate here.

I am cuckoo for coconuts. Luckily, I have come to the right place. As we head east from Progreso past the clapboard Dulces de Coco lean-tos my mouth starts to water. But I am saving my coco-lust for one stop in particular.