Best Places In The World To Retire

Yes, there are American-trained doctors in Chapala and Ajijic -- quite a few.

 

Guadalajara, which is about 45 minutes away from Chapala and Ajijic, has the largest medical college group in all of Latin America. It has a long history of working with US and European doctors and professors and universities. Many of the hospitals in the Guadalajara area are certified internationally and work with major insurance carriers.

 

So with...

Yes, there are American-trained doctors in Chapala and Ajijic -- quite a few.

 

Guadalajara, which is about 45 minutes away from Chapala and Ajijic, has the largest medical college group in all of Latin America. It has a long history of working with US and European doctors and professors and universities. Many of the hospitals in the Guadalajara area are certified internationally and work with major insurance carriers.

 

So with that said, there are a lot of doctors here that have either done their pre-med down here in Mexico like at Autonoma University, UDG (University of Guadalajara) and some other medical colleges here, but they have done their residency training at schools in California and New York, etc. Most of the doctors have done continuing education in well-known universities like Harvard, Tulane, etc. So yes, there are American-trained doctors in this area that practice in the Ajijic and Chapala area and in Guadalajara.

 

(Biological Institute for the medical school of Autonoma University at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, pictured.)

The standard of living in Ambergris Caye is fantastic from an expat point of view. Properties here range in value from very affordable up to the million dollar range. People who have moved here live comfortably and very happily.

 

Living in Ambergris Caye is like living in the present and living 30 years ago at the exact same time. There are certain features about living here that are not typical of what we would expect in North America but would be more...

The standard of living in Ambergris Caye is fantastic from an expat point of view. Properties here range in value from very affordable up to the million dollar range. People who have moved here live comfortably and very happily.

 

Living in Ambergris Caye is like living in the present and living 30 years ago at the exact same time. There are certain features about living here that are not typical of what we would expect in North America but would be more typical of something that we would expect from the 80s or early 90s. For instance, we have a friend who came down with a child with an ear infection. They wanted to go to a hospital and they were told that they cannot go to a hospital at that time but there is somebody they can see. We went to the local pediatrician, knocked on his door, and he came down and opened up his clinic for us after hours, and he saw the child immediately. He wrote a prescription and took care of her right then and there. Those kinds of things do not typically happen anymore in North America.

 

You also see children here who are running around the streets using their imagination when they are out playing, which are things that you no longer see happening in North America anymore.

 

( Caye Boy, a children's book about growing up in Belize, pictured.)

 

The sense of community that exists here in Ambergris Caye is much stronger than I would see happening in North America. All these things are just add-ons to the quality of life that is presented here in Ambergris Caye.

Most of the expat communities in Portugal are in Cascais, just west of Lisbon proper.

 

Cascais is a well-known retirement destination for the English people because of the connection that we have with England in the last century. Portugal is the oldest ally of England. We had a Portuguese Queen who married and English King. It is also popular for expats because of the golf courses. There are quite a lot of English clubs in Cascais such as the Rotary Club,...

Most of the expat communities in Portugal are in Cascais, just west of Lisbon proper.

 

Cascais is a well-known retirement destination for the English people because of the connection that we have with England in the last century. Portugal is the oldest ally of England. We had a Portuguese Queen who married and English King. It is also popular for expats because of the golf courses. There are quite a lot of English clubs in Cascais such as the Rotary Club, the Women’s Institute Club, etc. They even have a daily newspaper that is in English. There is also one in the Algarve as well, which is called The Portuguese News. 

 

We have three English high schools in Cascais: Saint Julian’s, Saint Dominic’s, and the international school. These are all big schools so you would see that there is really a big expat community here. My daughter went to St. Dominic’s. The schools here start from primary and finish up and then they leave for the universities. 

 

Another reason Cascais is a top choice for expat communities because it is very near to the airport and it has always catered to expats very well. Cascais has a beautiful landscape and a very nice weather. It’s a beautiful town by the coast. It used to be a fishing village, which has now turned into a tourist town. It’s a very appealing and very nice. It is also about 20 kilometers directly west of Lisbon, which is the capital of Portugal.

 

There are also lots of expats in the Algarve, the majority of whom are also English. The reasons include the golf courses, the beaches, the weather, etc.

 

The main expat communities of Portugal are Cascais, Sintra, and the Algarve.  

 

(Shops with English signs, Sintra, Portugal, pictured.)