The World’s Biggest Food Fight
Spain’s warm sun helps grow a huge selection of fruits and vegetables…including tomatoes. But far from being cooked or sliced into a salad, tomatoes are put to a very different use on August 31 in the town of Buñol.
Make Your Own Luck With These Bang-for-Your-Buck Destinations
“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds,” wrote essayist Francis Bacon, and it’s true that we make our own luck. Your world takes on the shape you give it. And that shape can be any you like…the options are endless. When it comes to retirement, it’s simply a matter of deciding what you want your life to look like…
Alan Worline swore that when he retired from his job in Denver he would never wear a jacket again. And he never has to now that he lives in a warm-weather destination. Alan’s close to supermarkets, excellent hospitals, everything is within walking distance or a $1.50 taxi ride. The cost for this perfect climate and convenience is low. Alan pays $400 a month to rent a three-bedroom house and his monthly medical bills including medications amount to $80.
Bang-for-your-buck destinations come in all shapes and sizes. We reveal the best ways to find affordable rentals on a tropical island fringed with gorgeous beaches. How affordable? You’ll pay from $235 a month if you know where and how to look for a rental. You have easy access to private and public hospitals, international restaurants, and an airport with international flights. Total monthly living costs? $1,800 to $2,200.
You could pay less, and still get great value. Expats in an up-and-coming destination that we reveal, report costs as low as $1,500 a month. You’ll find romantic cities, some of the world’s highest mountains, and what’s commonly considered the best cuisine in Latin America.
If culture and cuisine are what you’re after, you will discover an easygoing European base famed for its wines where food costs 65% less than in the States and, “is phenomenal,” according to expat Bill Wolfe.
It isn’t just in the realm of rents, groceries, utilities, and good food you’ll find high quality at a low cost overseas. Medical treatment is not something you want to hear described as “cheap.” IL Correspondent Nancy Kiernan describes the quality of the care in her adopted home, and just how happy she and other expats are with what they get for their money…
—Eoin Bassett, Editorial Director
Dancing Grannies on the Streets of China
As my wife and I took our evening stroll along the sprawling sidewalks of Tianjin, we could hear the loud pounding of dance music in the distance. It wasn’t long before we reached the source of the racket. Spread out across a large public square, a few dozen older women were shaking their booties, as they pranced forward and backward in time with the music.
Ecuador’s Volcanic Village, Colombia’s Safari Park, and More
Colombia has come a long way from its violent past. (And it could soon go even further, with the conclusion of a recent ceasefire between the government and FARC guerrillas.) Nowhere is this better demonstrated than at Hacienda Nápoles. Formerly the home of infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar, the Hacienda has since been turned into a safari-style theme park for all to enjoy.
Art Noveau and Nordic Folk Tales in Finland’s Capital
I love Helsinki—though I must admit to some bias here. When I was young, my Finnish grandfather regularly told me that Finland was the most beautiful country in the world, the men the most hardworking and handsome, the women the most beautiful…
Buying Oil, the Renewable Revolution, and More
Right now, Mexico is cheap. The Mexican peso is on a downward slide against the dollar. In June, it hit a three-month low at 18.6 pesos to $1. The weak peso is helping a bunch of mining companies with operations in Mexico. And Mexico is a mining nation. It’s the world’s biggest silver producer.
David, Panama: “The Climate is What I Love Most”
"I swore that, when I retired, I would never have to wear a jacket or a long-sleeved shirt again,” says Alan Worline. Luckily for Alan, he found the perfect place to do just that: in David, one of Panama’s hottest cities.
A Peaceful and Inexpensive Mountain Setting: Welcome to Boquete
"The future of the U.S. was looking bad,” says Nancy Young of the decisions that led her and her family to find a new life in the highlands of western Panama. “My husband was going to retire on beans, with no benefits…not enough for us to live on. Every winter in Missouri I dreaded getting our electric bill, and in the summer there were a few days you could open your windows to let the air in and not have to use air conditioning, but the air was so dirty that everyone had allergies. We had to make a move.”
Spend Your Strong Dollar in Medieval Southwest France
The Lot is one of the most beautiful and wild areas of France. It’s a land of warm springs, hot dry summers (figure 75 F to 90 F), extensive woodland, imposing limestone cliffs, and attractive medieval villages. History is all around you in the Lot. Eighteenth-century stone shepherd huts still dot many fields here. You’ll find Les Châteaux des Anglais (the castles of the English) carved into the limestone cliffs of this region. These fort-refuges were built during the Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453) between France and England.
Koh Samui: Rent on a Tropical Island From $235 a Month
Until the early 1970s, the Thai island of Koh Samui was without roads. Initially popular among adventuresome backpackers, Koh Samui today welcomes lots of tourists and newcomers from Thailand and abroad.
Healthy Living at a Low Cost in Sihanoukville, Cambodia
“What I really dig about my life now is that I am no longer stuck in a crowded and expensive city. I can enjoy retirement hanging out at the beach, with all the worries of overpriced healthcare far behind me,” says expat Roger Carter of his new life in Cambodia.