Saw Malaysia mentioned here a few times, damn they are tough on crime, this (may offend some) was in the paper recently, id be too scared to live somewhere like that, not that im a drug dealer but im not a saint either.
Cuba may be very nice one the Castro clan is out of power. Iraq may be very nice, if the warring Islamist factions ever get policed up. Malaysia has an Islamic government which is just too far on the fascist side for a non-Islamist ever to be comfortable. See Status of Religious Freedom in Malaysia. For the time being, all three of these countries are poor choices.
I was talking with someone who said it's a great place to buy property... Old communist countries tend to have more law and order... Ones like cuba atleast because their penal system s something you want to avoid... He said he'd buy land in Cuba but not the major cities who knows what the US will claim when Castro dies...
That's the country I'm most interested in as well. It's beautiful, good infrastructure, drinking water and the US dollar is accepted tender... Oh did I also mention if you earn your money on the web your basically tax exempt and if you can prove a 500 residual income you can get retirement benefits... Oh yes!
Costa Rica and Belize definitely have their upsides, but Panama edges them both out. Panama is safer than either Belize or Costa Rica. Panama has far better shopping than either Costa Rica or Belize. Panama has far better health care than either Costa Rica or Belize. Panama has a better climate than Belize, due to its wider variety of altitudes. Panama has fewer mosquitoes than either Belize or Costa Rica. Panama has a better tax system and a better expat retirement system than Costa Rica. Panama has a lot fewer dirty hippies than Costa Rica. Panama has a lot better restaurants than either Costa Rica or Belize. Still, Costa Rica and Belize are both nice places.
You could always save up a million dollars or so and buy your very own island then you could have a country exactly how you want it hehe
It's quite difficult to find an island with sovereignty. If you don't have sovereignty, your island is nothing but an extension of the nearest nation state.
Its been ages since i read through the majority of this post...so forgive me if this has been brought up. Have you thought of buying a bigass sailboat and paying for a slip(rent)? Thats not really viable long-term, but it would be a hell of a lot of fun in the Caribbean or the Med. I'd do the Caribbean b/c of the better yr round weather. A few months here and there. Live on the hook once in a while. Get bored move. Not that much of an investment and after a year or 2 sell it and buy some land/ build a house when you find perfection.
ROAR: That was an idea I had for a long time... until I married a gal who gets horrible motion sickness. Ah well, you get the bad with the good!
I think I might want to move to France, but I don't know which region I want to move to. I was wondering... there is a site that can help you find where in the US you should live based on climate, kinds of jobs, availability of different things like museums, oceans, lakes, rivers, sports teams, and population as well as types of people. I was wondering if there was a site like that for France. The one for the US is http://www.bestplaces.net
Ahh... Paris... the city of lights... except the lights now are from the 112 cars that are caught on fire by Islamist every night. I wouldn't suggest moving to France if you're not willing to live under Sharia law.
I recommend Ecuador. Beautiful and the national money has been replaced by the US dollar. I've lived in a lot of places, including Costa Rica, Mexico, and Guatemala and I love Ecuador the most!!
Laura: What is it that you love abut Ecuador? We don't hear much about Ecuador in the U.S., except when they change Presidents by mob rule. Did you live there when oil prices were lower?
I love everything. The people are wonderful and very helpful. Not to mention if you don't speak Spanish you should be able to get around fairly well in the big cities and resort towns bc lots of locals speak English.If you speak Spanish then it's an even more amazing experience. It's a small country but there is so much diversity from the Andes mountains to the jungle and then the beautiful beaches. It's overall a safe place to live, especially if you know the good places from the bad. But that's like everywhere I think. I lived there in 2004 and 2005 and everything was amazingly affordable and the food outstanding. We are going back in November so you should come down for a visit and check it out
And to answer your other questions... Climate is outstanding and comfortable year round. Shopping in the bigger cities, like QUito, is almost like being in the states. Healthcare in the bigger cities is outstanding as well. Cars cost a little more, but not too much more in the US. Plus public transportation is great. Real estate is very affordable and you can have a maid, cook, driver, whatever you want for affordable prices. Your income in Ecuador will go at least four times further than in the US or at least it does for me. There are a lot of Americans retiring to Ecuador and a big expat community, too. I'll PM you some links
Hey llrupert your Ecuador talk sounds enticing.. I am currently living in Mexico (Mazatlan to be exact) - what kind of differences do you notice between the two? How about the womens?