About KrisB

Status:

Preparing to Move Abroad 

Gender:

Female

Currently Lives:

Citizen Of:

United States

About KrisB

Hi, everyone! I'm KrisB. My husband and I are planning to retire early in June 2020, at which point we'll be living a nomad life (a few months-years in different locations). I am a college professor transitioning to a career as a full-time author. The author gig is to give me a way to make money by my writing no matter where I go. I speak fluent French and some Spanish, and have lived in France for a total of 3 1/2 years. I'm looking forward to learning lots from this community, and hopefully to contribute, as well!

Some Forum Posts:

Panama: Pedasi?:

I'm wondering if anyone on this forum either lives in Pedasi or has knowledge of it from an expat point of view. Thoughts?

Belize: Good travel agent for MSP to Belize?:

Hi, Husband and I are looking to make a first trip to Belize in January with a view to it being a potential place to retire to, at least for a while. We are thinking about going to Ambergris Caye or Placencia. The thing is, even though I'm a fairly experienced traveler, I'm finding air travel from Minneapolis to be pretty damn expensive and also with huge layovers. I'm wondering if I need to break down and ask a travel agent for help this time. Can anyone either advise me on a good travel agent to help me plan this first trip, or else facepunch me and tell me some tips for how to figure it out myself that might be less expensive than I'm seeing by a simple travel site search?

Global Expat Forum: Penalty for not enrolling in Medicare? Question for seniors:

Husband and I are planning to retire in 3 1/2 years and move out of the country, for many reasons, including lower cost of living. Of course, while we're living the nomad life, we are planning to pay for health care out of pocket in the countries we're staying in. We will be retiring at 60 and 51 years old. My question is this: though we have no concrete plans to move back to the US, it is nevertheless a possibility. My worry is that, should we move back here later in life, the fact that we didn't apply for Medicare during the turning-65 window would mean that we would face a significant penalty/heightened cost for Medicare B, C, and D. So, what are our options? Is there no way out of that penalty due to the fact that we won't be in the US when we turn 65? Does anyone have experience with this?

Global Expat Forum: Driver license and residency:

Husband and I will be moving out of the US with no plans to come back anytime soon. We live in Minnesota but plan to switch bank accounts, PO box, etc. to Florida and claim that we are residents there. If we ever moved back it would not be to MN. My question is : we don't know what to do about our driver licenses. To get a Florida license, we need a street address, which we don't have. We don't want to keep our MN ones, as that would potentially lead to residency problems. We don't plan to drive much if at all when we move abroad, but it feels like a bad idea not to have a license. Thought? Any ideas for us?

Lithuania: Husband getting EU citizenship?:

My husband's mother came from Lithuania and was a displaced person during the war. This qualifies my husband to have dual citizenship in Lithuania, provided we go through an insane amount of paperwork/hoops. We want to retire and move abroad, and are hoping to move to the EU at some point. However, if my husband gets EU citizenship from the Litnuanian dual citizenship thing, I will still be just a US citizen. My question is this: what tangible benefits, if any, would we have, considering that he would have citizenship and I wouldn't? (I'm talking primarily about ease of me getting a residency permit.)

Ecuador: Beach living in Ecuador?:

Hi! My husband and I are planning to retire soon-ish (next couple of years). We want to spend 6 months-a year in different locations, primarily in southern Europe and Latin America. I would like our first stop to be Ecuador, for a few reasons, not least of which that I think a year of living there will burnish my Spanish skills to the point where I'll be much more able to move to other Spanish-speaking countries. The "problem": I've been setting my sights on Cuenca, but my husband wants our first place to be on/near the beach. So, my question for you is, where would be a good location in Ecuador with these qualities: - a relatively good expat community (so we can have resources since this will be our first experience being retirees abroad) - on/near the beach - ability to be car-less Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

France: QRP for France?:

Hi, my husband and I are planning to take early retirement in a few years and spend different periods of time in different locations in Europe and Latin America/the Caribbean. I have seen that in certain countries, it is relatively easy to get QRP (Qualified Retired Person) status, allowing a retired person to stay in the country for longer than the short period a tourist could. Does anyone know whether it's possible, and how easily, one could get a QRP status in France? I'm not sure it makes any difference, but I actually have lived in France for about 3 1/2 years total in my life, and speak fluent/near native French. But I have always been there on student visas/cartes de sejour. Thanks!

Belize: Suggestions for a first-timer?:

Hi, I'm new to the forum as of today. My husband and I plan to leave the U.S. for early retirement and want to move a bit from place to place, not necessarily settling any one place. One of the first places we're considering moving to is Belize. However, we haven't ever been there yet. We're thinking we'd like to take a first trip there in January to check it out. But most of the Google searches I do for travel to Belize are tourist oriented (i.e., resorts). So, my question is, where do you suggest would be a good first place to start to get acquainted with the country? Ultimately, we'd want to live somewhere relatively safe where we would rent a small furnished apartment. We would not want to own a car. We'd like someplace with a decent expat community. If you were us, where would you go on vacation this January?

Saint Lucia: For anything SLU contact me.:

Wow, look at these prices! The furnished apartments look fantastic and cheap! Can you give me some idea of the names of some neighborhoods/areas that you find especially pleasant/desirable?

Date Joined:

8/19/2014

Total Posts:

15

Posts/Day:

0.02