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Recently, we had some friends visit us in our home in Cuenca, Ecuador. They only had one day before leaving for Lima, Peru, so we did our best to show them around our beautiful hometown in less than 24 hours...
Ecuador’s coast draws people from around the world who are looking to enjoy sun-drenched beaches, crystal-blue waters, and wildlife—including humpback whales during their seasonal migration.
My friend Marie, from the Washington, DC area, recently emailed me: Could I offer her advice on having dental work done in Costa Rica? She’d already heard a lot about living in Costa Rica from me.
Whether you’re looking for a bustling beach resort town with plenty of restaurants, chic boutiques, and nightlife…or you’d rather string up your hammock between two palms and fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves and not see another person all afternoon…you can get it in Costa Rica.
My husband Paul and I first traveled to Costa Rica’s Central Valley in 2008 with the intention of discovering whether or not we might want to retire there. We visited big towns and small towns, looked at apartments, condos, and houses…some very basic and some built to U.S. standards.
It’s another leisurely morning in paradise for Helen Murphy, as she strolls through the garden of her tropical-island home. She repots her plants and reorganizes her purple orchids. She has all the time in the world to spend, as she plants new seeds in her nursery and takes photos of the latest blooms to post online later.
Sailing into the sunset to start a new life in a tropical paradise is the stuff of many retirees' dreams. However, sometimes the fear that they'll also be leaving behind First World amenities holds them back. But there's a place where you can forget those worries...Cebu City, on the island of Cebu in the Philippines, is that place.
Diana Moore and Tim Nutley are thrilled to be living on a Caribbean island. “Our lifestyle now is ‘chillaxed’, as people here say. We are no longer working long hours and then trying to get everything done on the weekend,” says Diana. “We like living here for simple reasons. The atmosphere is awesome. No one is in a hurry. There are no automobiles here. We get around on bikes. So there’s no polluted air or road rage.”
One of the things my wife and I love about living in Costa Rica is our weekly trip to the feria, the country’s farmers market. Growers from the region meet there each weekend to sell just-picked fruits and vegetables. There are also vendors selling quality meats, poultry, and fish. Not only is the food fresh, the prices are incredible. For example, I can buy three pineapples for just $2, or a kilo of potatoes for $1.50. In addition to the great selection and price of foods there are other reasons we love going there.
For Steve and Nancy Riley…it’s paradise. They live on a little over 12 acres of land on a hillside, with panoramic views of the surrounding forest and farmland thanks to the elevation of 4,300 feet. A former coffee plantation, they’ve transformed their property into a botanical garden with walking trails and thousands of tropical plants like heliconias, bromeliads, 550 different species of orchids, and more. It’s Nancy’s vision and passion, and with a helper, she works hours a day in the garden.