TallTom
Registered
Pre COVID I would travel each year to a potential "Would I want live here" trip. Or trips depending on how much a single place needed to been seen for satisfying my interest.
Of course you will have your personal individual needs as to what you need out of your choices, but yeah there are lots of places that I can enjoy as much or more than here in the U.S.. I also lived abroad for several years so I didn't need to revisit some places as much. I know there are European locales I'd enjoy. I LOVED Budapest, the Czech Republic, Croatia. Slovakia. Italy has affordable places. Portugal appears to be getting overcooked recently. But it was a very affordable liveable European alternative not that long ago
Tming matters. Example, 15 years ago I considered Costa Rica a great way to live. But it got "discovered" and what was attractive became overdone by the throngs that discovered the same things I had.
It has lost a lot of luster for me personally.
I don't know where in the PNW you are. I watched Seattle decline starting about 2010ish. And it became rapid in about 2018. My sister who spent 25 years on Bainbridge Island, couldn't wait to cash out and get out.
Healthcare in a lot of countries is as good if not better than ours. At a fraction of the cost. And it's specialized. Example Costa Rica and Colombia are still considered better for major dental work (root canal, implants etc) than all the neighboring countries. Argentina has excellent medical services. Some of the best surgeons in the world there. The $ still gets a lot of healthcare there. And they cater to the $. I happen to love Argentina but you have to time the economic cycle right. Go there when you can pay cash for a place and you'll be set when the economy recovers. Argentina is very European. Post WW II, German money made it what it is still today. Culture, food, healthcare, are all very appealing. So much to see there. And I've seen only a fraction of it. Some of the best beef you will ever have in your life there. A steak dinner in a basic family atmosphere with a locally brewed beer or two is like $8. A nice adult high end restaurant about $20. They have to excellent wines there. Table service is superb. You will want for nothing for service. The whole country has a service culture. They are proud of it. My last trip there I bought my girlfriend. Before arriving I told the hotel we'd need a driver and I wanted her to experience a dress being made for her. They set it all up. We were late arriving. The driver adjusted to that. The dress shop stayed open late for us. She was fitted that night. Driver stayed curbside the entire time. They said it will take 3 days. We were going to be in a different part of the country on a sight. The driver said he'd have them at our hotel when we returned. They held it at the shop and the hotel brought it up to the room and hung it outside the door when we returned. Didn't want to disturb us. You pick up the phone and they absolutely dote on you. Not once did they ask us to pay for it. I had been there before. They never doubted if they were going to be paid. You pay when you approve of the service being provided.
She bought 6 from them. Which was a good customer for them. All of it cost her less than $200. She could then order directly from them and they would send them to the states. They took great pride in knowing something they made was being worn and shown in the U.S..
We needed some clothes cleaned and pressed. The Chinese run Laundromat delivered to our door. Cost $8.
Panama has excellent healthcare. Very affordable. Uses the USD and banking practices there. Great affordable Seafood. Fruits and vegetables are stunningly tasty compared to anything here. Panama can get rustic rapidly when you leave the major city. Panama City is pretty much like Miami. It's the banking and economic center. David, the 2nd largest city is its agricultural and farming center. It's still a big city. But it's engine is the food chain economy. So food in that whole region is cheaper than the rest of the country.
Belize which I prefer the mainland over the Islands, speaks English, has great affordable housing and easy living. But I'd not want to have health problems there. I almost bought a acre property on the Caribbean shore on one side and the mountains on the other sides view. With a boat, a pool, all hardwood handmade doors and furnishings, with a small Casita for the gardener and maid in residence. And fresh fruit on property. For 485K. Staff cost $80/mth.
That was 5 years ago.
Then I discovered Panama. Better healthcare. Better infrastructure.
I have not had the opportunity to explore the Asian offerings but Thailand ranks universally high in the liveability rankings. I have a friend who went there for 6 weeks. Came back and promptly put his house on the market and was Condo shopping there. He said he would never come back here after experiencing there. Great healthcare, food and friendly happy culture. With more golf courses than he'd ever be able to play in a lifetime.
I need to go back to Chile. But I liked what I saw thus far of it. I could get lost in Patagonia for a decade.
And on my list is Uruguay. My neighbors, he is from Australia and she Uruguay. That's a very under the radar place that I didn't know about. She shows me how her family lives there. VERY NICE. They go back a couple of times a year. Neither want to set foot in Australia again.
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