One thing I’ve learned from all my research is this: Don’t rely on just sugar coated articles. So back to my alien folks on the Twilight Zone at
Uruguay architecture (Photo credit: @Doug88888)
It’s entitled to serve man. Now they might have a wonderful and technological advanced society . But they do like to eat visitors for lunch. So articles might be focused on the positive. They don’t emphasize the negative.
Let’s take Uruguay, for instance. The articles are very positive. They have homeopathic pharmacies. They have a great British hospital. I even know folks who live there. They are software engineers I worked with at Motorola. They are even trying to get answers I have, to their homeopathic pharmacies. But you find a very interesting article – along with user commentary – on the negative aspects at Uruguay negatives. This is interesting. It’s entitled 8 reasons Uruguay’s not all that. I was laughing at the picture in 6. The bureaucracy. I hope that’s not an actual office.
Or take Panama. It offers great retirement benefits. It’s close to home. It also has excellent medical care – much cheaper than the US. But I’m reading The Gringo Guide to Panama I and II by Elizabeth Vance. It’s a real eye opener. She tells the negative like it really is. But guess what? Despite all the negatives, she lives there – and likes it. And you can find out more on Panama and other countries, in How to Retire Overseas by Kathleen Peddicord and Retirement WIthout Borders by Barr Golson. All books I’ve mentioned are available on Amazon (i.e. with user reviews) and probably via your local public library.
Avenida Balboa, Panamá (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I did find out Panama doesn’t have any homeopathic pharmacies that I can tell. But in a Twitter message to Elizabeth Vance, she mentioned I should be able to import them there from US companies. I also discovered there are apparent homeopathic pharmacies in the neighborhood country of Costa Rica. And I posed my question about visiting San Jose, Costa Rica from Panama City, Panama, in an Expat forum. They have what is called an international bus, that can take you back and forth. Much like our Greyhound or similar bus services.
So the really question is this. Knowing the negatives and if money were no object – would I still go and live in Latin America? Yes. I do like a sense of adventure and a slower pace of life – Manana (i.e. tomorrow) time. I might even enjoy the alien “to Serve Man” culture – if I can avoid being the lunch guest.
As far as Latin American relocation goes, I am still in the research and language reacquisition stage. There are so many folks out there – judging by expat forum sharing – who have no clue what there are getting into.
I almost forgot. Look at Numbeo, where you can compare living costs between 2 cities. Then try it for these cities:
- Chicago, Illlinois
- Montevideo, Uruguay
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Panama City, Panama
- Cuenca, Ecuador
- Guadalajara, Mexico
It will put some country living costs in proper perspective (i.e. you can try your own favorite countries and cities). If you want to compare rent and housing costs in square feet instead of square meters, 1 sq meter = 10.7639 sq feet. Do this comparison exercise and let me know what you think. The data is very accurate.
And you can get the current US assessment of a country at US Department of State.
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