Best Places In The World To Retire

Overlaying all the best things about living or retiring in Puerto Vallarta is the weather. How can you possibly beat this weather? You’re not shoveling snow, scraping ice, or wearing mittens, boots, and anything you can think of that you would need to wear to stay warm if you were in some other place like Canada. Here in Puerto Vallarta, you’re walking around constantly in your flip-flops and shorts. These are also some cost of living savings- it’s just such a...

Overlaying all the best things about living or retiring in Puerto Vallarta is the weather. How can you possibly beat this weather? You’re not shoveling snow, scraping ice, or wearing mittens, boots, and anything you can think of that you would need to wear to stay warm if you were in some other place like Canada. Here in Puerto Vallarta, you’re walking around constantly in your flip-flops and shorts. These are also some cost of living savings- it’s just such a laid-back lifestyle. 

 

One of the best things about being in Puerto Vallarta is how relaxing and laid-back it is. Puerto Vallarta doesn’t have the hectic pace of a city, so if you’re looking for that New York kind of lifestyle, this is not it. The Puerto Vallarta lifestyle is more get back to nature and the pounding and the rhythm of the waves;  to slow down. 

 

The relaxed lifestyle is also what can drive you crazy, because, for example, when you want things done for your home, it’s not going to happen in 24 hours, in a week, or in a month. Owning a business in Puerto Vallarta has really opened my eyes to how caught up we get into having things done perfectly, and being meticulous about how things are done.

 

When you come to live in Puerto Vallarta, you learn a different culture, one in which it’s laid-back, and it’s also about not everything being perfect. The culture here is about just getting things done, and enjoying it. 

 

I have friends who come to Puerto Vallarta and ask me, “Can you please let me know when the delivery guy is going to come? I’d like him to come here Tuesday between 3 and 4 in the afternoon,” and I chuckle and say, “I can’t even tell you if they’re going to be here this week, never mind tell you that they can be here on a certain day between two particular hours. It will happen when it happens, and not a moment sooner.” You see stress on people’s faces when they’re trying to understand how to live here and they don’t relax and just let it happen. 

 

For people who can’t let go, living in Puerto Vallarta can be a struggle. You can’t control things here, which really teaches you that you can’t control life. You can only control how you react to it. So, to summarize, the best part of living in Puerto Vallarta is how relaxed it is, and the worst thing about living in Puerto Vallarta is how relaxed it is.

 

(Pictured: Sheryl Novak and friend Dave Petrishen‎ from Winnipeg.)

There are taxis available in Coronado, Panama.  There are also rental cars, and there are drivers available as well. So there is any kind of service that you would want available to you.

 

If you have a golf cart, you could get to any of the restaurants in the Coronado area very easily. If you need a taxi to take you to the restaurant, it will cost you around US $5 to $10. If you are going from Coronado to the airport, which is about an hour and a half...

There are taxis available in Coronado, Panama.  There are also rental cars, and there are drivers available as well. So there is any kind of service that you would want available to you.

 

If you have a golf cart, you could get to any of the restaurants in the Coronado area very easily. If you need a taxi to take you to the restaurant, it will cost you around US $5 to $10. If you are going from Coronado to the airport, which is about an hour and a half away, it would cost around $100.

 

A driver is somebody who you could just call and they could take you where you need to go. They are less expensive in Coronado than a taxi plus you typically get a nicer vehicle, personalized service, and drivers are usually English-speaking while the taxi drivers typically do not speak English. A driver gives you a more personalized type of service versus just an ordinary cab ride. Drivers usually give you discounts. For example, instead of paying $100 for a ride to the airport in a taxi, a driver would only charge you around $80.

 

(Fire roasted chicken at Su Ranchero Vaquero, Coronado, Panama, pictured.)

There are no rivers, lakes, or waterfalls in Placencia. It is purely sand because Placencia is a peninsula. There is no jungle or any rivers there.

 

If you live in Placencia and you want to see rivers, lakes, or waterfalls, you could drive north and at the end of the Peninsula you could go south toward Punta Gorda, where you will find many gorgeous rivers and waterfalls, or you can go north and you will end up in Cockscomb, which is an area that is now...

There are no rivers, lakes, or waterfalls in Placencia. It is purely sand because Placencia is a peninsula. There is no jungle or any rivers there.

 

If you live in Placencia and you want to see rivers, lakes, or waterfalls, you could drive north and at the end of the Peninsula you could go south toward Punta Gorda, where you will find many gorgeous rivers and waterfalls, or you can go north and you will end up in Cockscomb, which is an area that is now becoming popular worldwide. There is a jungle there and some nice waterfalls.

 

Basically, if you want to see rivers and waterfalls you just have to go out of the peninsula. The distance from Placencia Village to the top of the peninsula is 28 miles so that would take less than an hour to drive to get there. It used to take around 4 hours when the road was still unpaved. 

 

One hour away from Placencia Village you will easily reach Cockscomb where you will find a beautiful waterfalls. From locking your door in the village to being in a bathing suit in a waterfalls would only take you one hour.

 

(Waterfall in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize pictured.)

If you’re retired or a senior citizen, the cost to go to the movies in Portugal is €4 (about $4.20 / £2.80). If you are not a retired person, it would cost you €5 (about $5.30 / £3.50). 

 

Sometimes we have concerts here directly from the Royal Opera or from the ballet for €10 (about $10.60 / £7.00), whereas in England you’d pay £45 (around $64 / €68.) for it. 

 

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If you’re retired or a senior citizen, the cost to go to the movies in Portugal is €4 (about $4.20 / £2.80). If you are not a retired person, it would cost you €5 (about $5.30 / £3.50). 

 

Sometimes we have concerts here directly from the Royal Opera or from the ballet for €10 (about $10.60 / £7.00), whereas in England you’d pay £45 (around $64 / €68.) for it. 

 

We’re very fortunate because the language of the film will always stay in the language of the country of origin, and they’ll have titles. So all the movies for English-speakers, whether they are from the States or from England are all in English with subtitles. The same is true for all the movies on television as well.  

 

(The movie poster for Lisbon, starring Ray Milland in 1956, pictured.)