Stand at the ocean as the waves roll toward you and you get the feel of distant places. Light ripples on the swell, the heart stirs, the imagination thrills. And it’s not just a feeling…
On the seabed lie strange instruments that turn that feeling into fact. Wave-recording scientists can tell you where a wave was first whipped up. Some are born in the wild North Atlantic, or out of tropical storms. On Lands’ End in England they record waves that curl around Cape Horn all the way from the southern-most regions of the world. Wave recorders on the coast of California can tell you the life story of waves that came 6,000 miles.
Scientists are also busy trying to get to the bottom of why being by the water makes us happier. I don’t know how exactly, but I expect it’s some brain-wave measuring contraption. Interesting, yes, but who needs science to tell you that you feel healthier and less stressed by the sea?
If you’ve ever stood on cliffs or dug your toes in coral sand, or waded in clear-blue water, then you’ve felt the peace of mind and general satisfaction with life that comes when you’re by the ocean.
Stateside, it’s an expensive proposition to live within a stone’s throw of the water. But on the right shores overseas, you can do it on a remarkably modest budget. You can buy an ocean-view home in Ecuador for $175,000, retire to an English-speaking Mediterranean island from $2,650 a month, or rent from $103 on the Visayan Islands in the Philippines. For as little as $1,695 a month you can live in an elegant Old-World port famed for wine and good eating where the Atlantic meets the Douro River.
Or…go a step further like Meri and Jim Faulkner who—with no ocean-sailing experience—sold their house, moved aboard their sloop Windfall, and went on to sail the world for less than it would have cost them to stay home. Here they show you how.
—Eoin Bassett, Editorial Director
It’s time to start planning that trip to Latin America. Whether you’re looking to check out the region’s many retirement hot-spots or just enjoy a laidback, low-cost vacation, there’s no better time than now to travel south of the border.
"The Impressionists painted here for a reason,” says Ira Faro of his new home in the southern French region of Languedoc-Roussillon. “The feel of the place is very powerful… It’s as though the light is shining from everything."
When Tom and Laine Berning first decided to give overseas living a try, they knew exactly what they wanted: “A place with good public transport [and] a lot of culture,” says Laine. “Walking neighborhoods and excellent-quality food.”
I’m strolling along a pretty, red-brick promenade, gazing at a scattering of fishing boats bobbing in the luminous, blue-green waters of a small harbor. The warmth of the May sunshine on my shoulders feels like an embrace.
The biggest surprise right now is the temperature. When I first set out to explore the Philippines, I expected tropical heat, along with stunning white-sand beaches, warm seas, and swaying palms.
Golden light bathes the promenade. Huge acacia trees lean toward the Visayan Sea, some covered in a green creeper called manaog ka irog (“come down my love”). Townsfolk are strolling or sit on benches catching up on the day’s events. Kids play a last game of volleyball on the small stretch of sand near the Press Club, and fishermen haul in their small boats.
When it comes to crisis real estate investing in Europe, I’m looking to Portugal. There the opportunity to profit is still strong—particularly in the popular tourist destination of the Algarve.
I am not, by trade, a food critic. However, because of my global travels, and the habits of the bankers and others I hang out with, I do routinely end up in some of the world’s better eateries.
Despite the bad reputation it gets these days, opening a bank account in another country is still a perfectly legal way to protect your wealth. Indeed, in an age in which “full disclosure” is the norm and privacy nearly non-existent, the need to go offshore has never been greater.
A home without books is a home without soul. How fortunate are those of us who grew up with books—tales that transported us beyond our own four walls? Books educate us, hold precious memories…and possibly could bring us money.