March 2021 Archives

Undiscovered, and Packed With Adventure—
This Month We’re Going Off the Path

“I read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at an impressionable age,” says Drew Powell from the tropical coast of El Salvador. “That part about floating down the Mississippi without a care got lodged in my brain forever. I’ve always wanted to live like that, and I guess that’s what I’m doing now.”

Don’t you feel a little envious reading that? I think Drew’s really hit on something—our lives get complicated, we focus our energies on careers and possessions, but I think there’s a part of all of us that would be happy to throw it aside and take to the river (or, in Drew’s case, a much-loved Chevy RV). He’s made a life that suits him, and it’s inspiring to read about it and dream.

In this issue, we’re stopping by some places that are new to the established expat scene. I love it when that happens—locations that were once a little too rough and ready to be comfortable make progress, developing quietly until, all of a sudden, they hit a point where they’re prime options, but haven’t yet been overrun.

Albania is a good example. Nic Tarter spent a couple of months living in this forgotten Mediterranean nation and found what he claims to be “Europe’s Prettiest City.” He also discovered unspoiled beaches, alpine scenery, excellent cuisine, and rentals from $150 a month.

Another pioneering expat, Barbara Briggs, chose the Himalayan region of India as her home base. “High thinking and simple living” is her approach to life in this most colorful of countries, and, like Drew in El Salvador, she lives by her own rulebook. It’s inspiring.

Some stories simply transport you to another place. I know I’d love to spend a couple of days motorcycling around the Thakhek Loop of the Mekong River in Laos, just like John McMahon describes, “Along the way, boulders along the shoulder of the road are carved with larger-than-life Buddha faces to bless passing traffic.”

And in this month’s cover feature, we explore a stretch of Spanish coast that’s been popular with northern European expats for decades, but which seems to have gone unnoticed by the majority of North Americans. Don’t miss out on this coastal strip that our Spain correspondent likens to California in the 1950s. It’s all in your March issue of International Living.