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“The healthcare here is truly excellent,” Cheryl says. “I’ve actually gone to the doctor more often in the three years I’ve been living in Colombia than I did over a lifetime in the U.S. It’s 3,600 pesos for a GP appointment—that’s about $8. And for that, you get actual care from an actual doctor. A full chat and diagnostic, not just a lookover from a nurse and then...
As is history. Square-mile for squaremile, Wales is home to more castles than anywhere on the planet. Most of them date from the 12th to 15th centuries, built from the dense limestone underlying this compact, beguiling land (Caernarfon and Beaumaris castles are just two that are well-preserved examples which you can visit and tour).
Ron Melton is something of an International Living success story. At 71 years old, he's not the type to retire fully, and still keeps busy working part-time in the insurance industry. But what's really keeping him active right now is his ongoing plan to build his dream home in Panama. "I went to a number of International Living conferences as I...
“As far as I’m concerned,” James McKinnon says, “the weather here is perfect. No central heating, no need for air conditioning. It’s one of the reasons I chose to live here.” We’re in Pereira, a city in Colombia’s central highlands which, along with nearby Manizales, is gaining momentum as an expat hub—particularly with digital nomads and...
As you move southeast of Paris, the River Seine becomes more and more like a setting from a children’s book. Beds of rustling reeds soften the banks, green swathes of wildflower-studded meadow grass wave in the river breeze, and willow trees bend over the water with sunlight peeping through their finger-like leaves. It all serves as daily inspiration to...
Chris Day positively bounces with energy and enthusiasm as she describes her expat life on the shores of Lake Arenal in Costa Rica. Physically, she's just bursting with passion for the place, and for the very idea of relocation overseas. If you ever thought that retirement means slowing down, lazing around on the porch, and generally just waiting for life...
“There’s a sense of community here,” one expat told me. “Colombians are the warmest and most welcoming people I’ve encountered in the 26 countries I’ve been to. They don’t have much money, but they’d give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.” Same question, a different expat’s answer: “What does Colombia have? You mean, apart from the affordability, and the perfect climate?
Europe’s beaches are as diverse as the continent itself, which makes it puzzling that the overwhelming majority of visitors to Europe choose the established beachside resorts of Spain’s Costa del Sol, Italy’s Amalfi Coast, or the primped and pampered sands of the French Riviera as their beach destination...
"It's a crazed, high-energy life in the U.S.," David Bohn says, from the comfort of his Spanish Colonial-styled living room in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica. That's not the case where David now resides. If Costa Rica is one of the world's most relaxed countries, the Southern Zone is its version of Hawaii—the calm, unspoiled region that even Costa Ricans consider...
"I just got sick of living for vacations, you know?" says Connecticut native Rebekah Bottone. "Counting down the days to those two weeks where you get to be who you really are? Here, I get to be me all the time." Rebekah doesn't have to live for vacations anymore. Not since moving to Tamarindo—a surf town on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.