How's the standard of living in Placencia, Belize?
Frik De Meyere
The standard of living in Placencia changes every day. We are not 100% “there” yet. I have to drive several hours to get my car maintenance done. If my wife wants to get a nice haircut and coloring she has to go to Belize City to get a fancy hairdresser. Most of those things will get resolved in the next 2 years, as more and more services come here to Placencia in order to meet the demand created by newly arriving expats.
The standard of living in Placencia changes every day. We are not 100% “there” yet. I have to drive several hours to get my car maintenance done. If my wife wants to get a nice haircut and coloring she has to go to Belize City to get a fancy hairdresser. Most of those things will get resolved in the next 2 years, as more and more services come here to Placencia in order to meet the demand created by newly arriving expats.
Posted December 1, 2014
Erin Ivy - Captain Jak's
The standard of living in Placencia is great. I love it! I highly doubt that we will go back and live full time in the States, unless me or my husband gets extremely ill. We have everything that we need here. When you live in the States and you move to a place like Belize, you will realize that you have way too much stuff and you are way too busy in the States. The friends that we have here hang out with us in the yard and chat by the bird cage. That does...
The standard of living in Placencia is great. I love it! I highly doubt that we will go back and live full time in the States, unless me or my husband gets extremely ill. We have everything that we need here. When you live in the States and you move to a place like Belize, you will realize that you have way too much stuff and you are way too busy in the States. The friends that we have here hang out with us in the yard and chat by the bird cage. That does not happen in the States anymore. So I think the quality of your lifestyle here in Placencia is not about having a lot of stuff, but it is about people.
The typical day for expats here can be as busy or not as they want to. You can join The Rotary or have a project with the ladies that you meet at the coffee shop. You can also just hang out on the beach and read a book. Some people just stay in their house because they like to tinker. Some people like to get busy and they have a job here, like myself. Any given day somebody will walk in the yard and need a room. I do not have a maid, so I do everything. Everybody has their own way here in Placencia. You finally get to do what you enjoy doing. There is a big Humane Society here in Placencia. There is also a big group of people who get t
ogether and do what they like doing. For example, there is a group of people here who do cross fit on the beach area every day.
ogether and do what they like doing. For example, there is a group of people here who do cross fit on the beach area every day. This is all compared to when I lived in Austin, Texas, where I didn't get to do what I wanted. My typical day in Austin was to be at work by 7 AM and not get off until 6 PM. It took an hour to get home. I opened a bottle of wine, made a little dinner, went to sleep, and did it all over again the following day. Everyday was the same there. I hated Sunday because you knew that the next day was Monday. Whereas here in Placencia, every day is different. There is a variety of outdoor things to do. My husband looked at the weather forecast and asked if I would mind if he went fishing the next day. We had guests leaving and other things on our list, but I said, “Yeah, sure. Go. It’s the day to go fishing.”
There is a wide variety of outdoor things and social things to do here in Placencia. You don’t have to spend time driving and you do not have preoccupation over material goods. You do not spend time acquiring them. In fact, I do not have knick-knacks any longer. We sold everything in the States. I buy local art for the walls in the villa that we live in. I do not have stuff like I did in the US, but our quality of life is so much better.
Posted January 15, 2015