Expat Exchange Community
12 years ago
How Expats Pick a Country
12 years ago
How an expat picks a country – a look at the process
I get asked all the time how we decided on Costa Rica. I thought I’d take the time to write down our story so that others might learn from our experience.
When my wife and I moved to Key West over 10 years ago we were thinking about our retirement. After nearly 50 years in cold New England I did not want to spend my golden years shivering and shoveling. After over a year of searching we bought our house in Key West, a 3 bedroom 3 bath home with a guest cottage, in ground pool and Jacuzzi. We quickly learned however that Florida might not be the "perfect spot" only a few years later when we entered into a high activity period for hurricanes. I joke with people now and tell them the 10 reasons why I don't recommend Florida (Ivan, Jeanne, Katrina, Wilma, Andrew, Al Gore, Georges, Charlie, Hugo and no state income tax). Without state income tax Florida makes their money from property tax. If you own a nice home, expect a big tax bill and insurance costs if you live near the coast can be astronomical from the need for both flood and hurricane insurance, not part of home owners insurance in Florida.
Fortunately we had flexibility. We were self employed and had both the time and money to continue our search. We were ahead of the curve and were already subscribing to one of the oldest expat newsletters and were gathering information from both books and the internet. We'd heard recommendations about a number of countries that North Americans were heading to. We set a strategy, developed a list of priorities pertaining to our search and came up with a short list of countries to visit. Keep in mind that everyone’s requirements list will be different. We thought our top priorities were healthcare quality, political stability and climate.
Our first foray took us to Asia. Though we loved Thailand, the culture shock, accessibility issues and travel costs quickly took Asia off the list. For those with less need to return stateside, Thailand and Singapore were enchanting. But the nearly 24 hour travel time was oppressive as was the language barrier. We realized it was time to rework our requirements list. Accessibility to the United States moved to the top of our list. With aging parents and children to tend to we had some baggage that others might not have. Again I remind you that everyone’s list of requirements will differ.
Back to our short list, we reworked our perspective countries and planned our next trip. Mexico was near the top of the list and I’d operated a jewelry manufacturing business there when in college so knew much of the country already. We returned to the few places I’d thought might work, Cuernavaca (the land of perpetual spring), San Miguel Allende (home to a large expat community), Guadalajara and Guanajuato. We’d already realized that we did not want to live in any of the tourist towns like Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan or Cancun. The transient populations in the tourist towns and the harassment we’d received from vendors, kids selling Chicklets and the lessons we’d learned in Key West had convinced us not to choose a tourist town for retirement. From that voyage we put Guanajuato to the top of our list, a college town with wonderful colonial architecture located a few hours north Mexico City. Our main concern however was the emerging drug cartel battles that were starting to plague Mexico.
Our next stop was Central America, first Belize, then Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Panama made the short list but we weren’t still overly impressed. We’d been to Costa Rica 10 years earlier and were more impressed with Costa Rica than Panama but Panama was offering new incentives to expats that seemed enticing. Belize was a bit to remote and rugged and lacked the first world amenities we were looking for. Sure we liked Ambergris Caye but that was too much like Key West, still sitting in the middle of the hurricane belt and just another small tourist town with tourist town problems. The other areas we visited were either too remote or lacked the community we also were looking for. Belize got crossed off the list.
Next was Ecuador, in fact we took almost 3 weeks to really get a feel for what the attraction was to many expats who’d already decided Ecuador was the place. We were not impressed. I suppose if cheap was your number one requirement Ecuador would top the list along with Nicaragua and Haiti. But the lack of well placed healthcare facilities, the nearly constant presence of military, armed guards and lack of basic services did not work for us. Sure Quito might be nice for some but living over 10,000 feet above sea level made breathing difficult for us. Sure the Andes were beautiful but we also wanted some of the comforts of home. Cuenca was our favorite spot in Ecuador. Guayaquil, though the largest port city in Ecuador, was a combination of slums and upscale city living. The Malecon along the river was nice but we were advised not to venture out at night in Guayaquil. We thought we’d like the coastal towns more, places like Salinas, Manta, Bahia and Esmeralda but found a poverty level we’d not anticipated. We were again warned not to carry anything of value, even a camera. In recent years doing shows in Ecuador, I have become aware of the large presence of tropical diseases, Cholera, Dengue, Yellow Fever and Parasites. Leishmania parasites are a problem in Ecuador as are food and waterborne parasites. Once we’d read the World Health Organization’s assessment of Ecuador, it too came off our list.
Back to Costa Rica. Our short list now consisted of Costa Rica. We ended up buying our first piece of property there sight unseen from my next door neighbor in Key West. They’d bought it nearly 12 years earlier but aging and health issues kept them from doing anything with it. After we visited, we sold our houses in Florida and bought an incredible ocean view property. If you want to learn more about where we ended up, visit www.PacificLots.com
I get asked all the time how we decided on Costa Rica. I thought I’d take the time to write down our story so that others might learn from our experience.
When my wife and I moved to Key West over 10 years ago we were thinking about our retirement. After nearly 50 years in cold New England I did not want to spend my golden years shivering and shoveling. After over a year of searching we bought our house in Key West, a 3 bedroom 3 bath home with a guest cottage, in ground pool and Jacuzzi. We quickly learned however that Florida might not be the "perfect spot" only a few years later when we entered into a high activity period for hurricanes. I joke with people now and tell them the 10 reasons why I don't recommend Florida (Ivan, Jeanne, Katrina, Wilma, Andrew, Al Gore, Georges, Charlie, Hugo and no state income tax). Without state income tax Florida makes their money from property tax. If you own a nice home, expect a big tax bill and insurance costs if you live near the coast can be astronomical from the need for both flood and hurricane insurance, not part of home owners insurance in Florida.
Fortunately we had flexibility. We were self employed and had both the time and money to continue our search. We were ahead of the curve and were already subscribing to one of the oldest expat newsletters and were gathering information from both books and the internet. We'd heard recommendations about a number of countries that North Americans were heading to. We set a strategy, developed a list of priorities pertaining to our search and came up with a short list of countries to visit. Keep in mind that everyone’s requirements list will be different. We thought our top priorities were healthcare quality, political stability and climate.
Our first foray took us to Asia. Though we loved Thailand, the culture shock, accessibility issues and travel costs quickly took Asia off the list. For those with less need to return stateside, Thailand and Singapore were enchanting. But the nearly 24 hour travel time was oppressive as was the language barrier. We realized it was time to rework our requirements list. Accessibility to the United States moved to the top of our list. With aging parents and children to tend to we had some baggage that others might not have. Again I remind you that everyone’s list of requirements will differ.
Back to our short list, we reworked our perspective countries and planned our next trip. Mexico was near the top of the list and I’d operated a jewelry manufacturing business there when in college so knew much of the country already. We returned to the few places I’d thought might work, Cuernavaca (the land of perpetual spring), San Miguel Allende (home to a large expat community), Guadalajara and Guanajuato. We’d already realized that we did not want to live in any of the tourist towns like Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan or Cancun. The transient populations in the tourist towns and the harassment we’d received from vendors, kids selling Chicklets and the lessons we’d learned in Key West had convinced us not to choose a tourist town for retirement. From that voyage we put Guanajuato to the top of our list, a college town with wonderful colonial architecture located a few hours north Mexico City. Our main concern however was the emerging drug cartel battles that were starting to plague Mexico.
Our next stop was Central America, first Belize, then Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Panama made the short list but we weren’t still overly impressed. We’d been to Costa Rica 10 years earlier and were more impressed with Costa Rica than Panama but Panama was offering new incentives to expats that seemed enticing. Belize was a bit to remote and rugged and lacked the first world amenities we were looking for. Sure we liked Ambergris Caye but that was too much like Key West, still sitting in the middle of the hurricane belt and just another small tourist town with tourist town problems. The other areas we visited were either too remote or lacked the community we also were looking for. Belize got crossed off the list.
Next was Ecuador, in fact we took almost 3 weeks to really get a feel for what the attraction was to many expats who’d already decided Ecuador was the place. We were not impressed. I suppose if cheap was your number one requirement Ecuador would top the list along with Nicaragua and Haiti. But the lack of well placed healthcare facilities, the nearly constant presence of military, armed guards and lack of basic services did not work for us. Sure Quito might be nice for some but living over 10,000 feet above sea level made breathing difficult for us. Sure the Andes were beautiful but we also wanted some of the comforts of home. Cuenca was our favorite spot in Ecuador. Guayaquil, though the largest port city in Ecuador, was a combination of slums and upscale city living. The Malecon along the river was nice but we were advised not to venture out at night in Guayaquil. We thought we’d like the coastal towns more, places like Salinas, Manta, Bahia and Esmeralda but found a poverty level we’d not anticipated. We were again warned not to carry anything of value, even a camera. In recent years doing shows in Ecuador, I have become aware of the large presence of tropical diseases, Cholera, Dengue, Yellow Fever and Parasites. Leishmania parasites are a problem in Ecuador as are food and waterborne parasites. Once we’d read the World Health Organization’s assessment of Ecuador, it too came off our list.
Back to Costa Rica. Our short list now consisted of Costa Rica. We ended up buying our first piece of property there sight unseen from my next door neighbor in Key West. They’d bought it nearly 12 years earlier but aging and health issues kept them from doing anything with it. After we visited, we sold our houses in Florida and bought an incredible ocean view property. If you want to learn more about where we ended up, visit www.PacificLots.com
