As we move into May, the northern hemisphere continues to warm up, affording you more and more opportunities to get out and explore this weird and wonderful world. The Swiss Alpine town of Le Gruyère is renowned for its cheese, and the town celebrates this heritage with its annual cheese festival. As you’d expect, the world-famous cheese to which the town lends its name will take center stage. Unpasteurized, and still produced in the high Alps using methods honed over centuries, Gruyère cheese is known for its fruity flavor when fresh before developing a more earthy taste as it ages. You can also see traditional Swiss cheese-making techniques for yourself and explore a range of Alpine handicrafts, including exquisite crocheting and lacework. The event takes place on May 3.

With its glorious sun-drenched beaches, abundant historical sites, quaint mountain villages and cosmopolitan cities, Italy has a huge variety of lifestyles to offer retirees. But many aspiring expats are unaware of how stunningly affordable this country can be; if you know where to look, you can rent here for under $450, while a filling meal (with wine) will set you back just $13. And it’s not just in Italy where you can find affordable European living. In this month’s cover story, we explore five low-cost countries in Europe where you can enjoy the retirement of your dreams. All of these destinations boast a great climate, terrific healthcare, a wealth of cultural treasures for you to explore and costs low enough to live a comfortable life for less. In some of these places, you can live for under $2,000 a month all told.

Individual investors in China and India are buying physical gold in ever-growing quantities…and yet the price of gold isn’t rising. What gives? The short answer would appear to be that Western investors remain fairly persistent sellers of gold, thereby suppressing the gold price. The longer answer is that no one really knows. During Asian trading hours, gold has gained a cumulative $738 an ounce since September 2011. But during New York and London trading hours, gold has racked up a loss of $1,177 per ounce. The bigger point here is that the “Asian bid” for gold is large and growing.

Lying in the Arco Seco, little Las Tablas is Panama at its best. This town of under 30,000 people lies on the Azuero Peninsula, a region renowned for everything from colorful Carnival celebrations to artisanal textiles, pottery, and leatherwork. Life in this region of Panama is good. It is graced with more sunny days and less humidity than any other part of the country. And the cost of living is the lowest in Panama: Here, a couple can easily live on $1,000 a month, including rent, as expats Joyclyn and Armand Brodeur have found out. Originally from St. Louis, the Brodeurs came to Las Tablas in August 2014 to test-drive their Panama retirement, so to speak. Armand, 66, and Joyclyn, 59, long yearned for a tropical, beach lifestyle. At the same time, they wanted to choose a place where it was possible to live on a social security check.

It’s been called the Sacred Valley, the Valley of Longevity, and the Valley of Eternal Youth. Tucked into the heart of Ecuador’s southern Andes, the little town of Vilcabamba has earned those monikers, and it’s easy to see why. Steep rounded mountains rise from all directions, giving the town a feel of seclusion and protection. The rich black soil turns out hundreds of varieties of edible plants. And warm weather year-round makes the place a permanent paradise. In fact, when the Ecuadorian tourism bureau decided to market the country as “The Land of Eternal Spring,” I’m convinced it had Vilcabamba in mind. With temperature highs averaging between 74 F and 79 F and lows never dropping below the mid-50s F, it’s tough for me to imagine a more ideal climate.

Gene and Patricia have been escaping harsh Canadian winters in Cancún for about 15 years now. They are among a large number of couples who have chosen the life of a “half-pat,” preferring to spend four to six months a year in their second, much warmer, home here on the Caribbean, without committing entirely to the life of full-time expats. The Rousseaus usually leave their Canadian home in early January, enjoying about five months in Cancún before returning in late April or May, depending on the Canadian weather.

A long with being a low-cost and tropical retirement haven, Thailand has long been an international destination for medical tourism. Why? Because healthcare is low cost and excellent quality. I should know. I’m a retired Canadian schoolteacher living in the northern city of Chiang Mai, with personal experience of two hospitals here—one public and one private. In both I felt welcomed and unrushed. And in general I’ve found the health professionals in this city maintain a high quality of empathy and caring for all their patients.

Many people yearn for the classic tropical-island getaway: pristine beaches, clear water, sunkissed sands, and palm fronds fringing verdant rainforest. Alas, such places are in increasingly short supply. One still-pristine getaway is Langkawi. Known as the jewel of the Malaysian state of Kedah, this archipelago of 105 islands remains off most tourists’ radar. As a result, the traditions and tropical-island feel remain intact. Here you’ll find the unblemished beaches, crystal-clear waters, and wild rainforests of tropical-island lore.

"The environment here is beautiful,” says Lisa Vanderhaak of her new life along Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast. “You can hike just out the back door. We were looking for a slower and better pace of life and we found it.” Lisa and her husband Pete are much like many expats on the central Pacific coast. They’ve found a place where life has slowed down…where warm weather year-round means you can enjoy the natural beauty around you every day…and you can find a community that’s a good fit for you. Plus, the cost of living is very reasonable for such a beautiful, tropical beach area. Cost of living has a lot to do with the lifestyle you want. But you can live comfortably as a couple for under $3,000 a month, including housing, transportation, healthcare—everything.

Imagine the smell of freshly-baked croissants wafting through the air, or the satisfying swallow of wine made from grapes grown just down the road. Perhaps you muse about living on a sun-drenched Mediterranean beach or tucked down a cobbled lane savoring the cosmopolitan delights of a history-rich city… A retirement in Europe is a dream for many folks. And it can easily be a reality. If it’s culture, history, and variety you’re after, Europe has it all, and at a cost much lower than you may think… Over the next few pages we explore the five best low-cost options for enjoying your perfect European retirement.