USA Expat-a Good Place to Go?

[senormechanico]

Del,
Get in touch with Zeehag.
She ought to be checking in here anyway !

[cards26]

Originally Posted by Parmenter

Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?

Locals do not call us 'immigrants', they call us gringos. In Mexico, that's a pejorative term.

Many sites like International Living make things sound real nice, with very little downside. You'd have to expect that if that's the way they're making a living.

This site is $20 well spent if you're considering Panama:

Panama Guide - Thousands of Articles in English

Lots of NorthAmericans are considered lowlifes by the locals, and by many of us expats as well. Myself, and a lot of my long time friends no longer want anything to do with NorthAmericans. Scam artists, drug tourists, pedophiles, prostitution, running from the law in the U.S., and in general, lowlifes.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by cards26

...

.... In Central America, you'll be raped in medical charges.

Bunk. Ive lived and traveled all over Central America for the past decade. Excellent quality medical care at very reasonable cost is readily available.

[Parrothedd]

I would give Panama a hard look. The government is encouraging retirees with their Pensionato Visa. Major discounts on everything from medical care to air travel and restaurants, hotels, etc. We spent 3 years in and out of Panama, bought a SUV and travelled throughout the country. If you can tolerate the rainy season, it's a real paradise.

Bocas del Toro has a lot of ex-pat cruisers. Check it out.

Glenn & Eddie Tuttle
M/V Tothill
Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Del,

SNIP

I'd recommend following the sun though.
Summer in the sea can be brutal and winter can be windy.

This is something I have also noticed.

It gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

I have lived in Florida almost all my life. My boat is in the Keys. A few months ago there was a waiting list for balls in the marina, now it is not even half full and by June, if last year and the year before are any indication. Even driving on the mainland, which I do on a regular basis, there is a huge difference in the traffic between the season and off season.

I suspect folks with local knowledge from around the world would agree that there is really no where that is perfect all year long. I am now considering sailing from say October to May in the Keys/Bahamas/Windward and Leeward Islands and taking my camper to places like Glacier National Park in the heat of the summer. An alternative might be sailing to Canada for the summer.

I would also point out there are folks who I will call tropical and are uncomfortable when the temp gets lower than 60F and those I will call Vikings who suffer when the temp gets above 85F. You need to assess the limits of your personal comfort temperature wise. Same thing goes for what I will call cultural acceptance, what bothers some folks does not bother others.

A lot of what you asking about has a lot of personal choices that not every one shares.

[monroe0]

Our experience with Ensenada has been excellent. We pulled in to Cruiseport marina, and after checking in, the office staff drove us to the port captain's office and guided us through the whole entrance procedure.

The community is great, it's been a great place to hang out, learn our way around, work on our Spanish, and plan for the Sea for this fall.

[Captain Curran]

I agree - aim for La Paz in the Sea of Cortez - get to know the scene and then start exploring up into the Sea.

I guess I don't mind the rain and chill because I went north up to Alaska - if you can handle the winter - then you are in some of the prettiest gunkholing grounds in the world.

[s/v Jedi]

Pretty sure the place you're looking for is called Panama, on the Caribbean side with now and then a trek to the Pacific side if the call of adventure becomes too strong

Reasons:

1. US Dollar
2. pensionado status
3. a million anchorages in the San Blas islands
4. another million anchorages in the Bocas del Toro region
5. a friendly place with economic and cultural happiness
6. direct flights to many places in the Caribbean, US, South America and Europe
7. tax free boat parts and materials brought to your slip or dinghy dock
8. tropical
9. -no- hurricanes
10, -no- bareboat charterers

[thebootlegger]

Originally Posted by catshopper

Greetings fellow senior.

I will be 69 in a few days and live full time on a 32' sailboat presently 200 miles inland on a river in Alabama doing upgrades and will wait out hurricane season here.

My lady and I also have a small rv in Holland. for the last several years we have cruised and GUNKHOLED (love that word) the rivers from Kentucky to Mobile bay so far and back up river for this season.

Around early Sept. we use our airmiles and fly to Holland, get in our camper and spend about 10 weeks land cruising Europe. We paid less then 5,000 Euros for the camper and 275/year to store it in a covered, private area.

We have a blog with pictures and video as well as stories. So far we have done 10 weeks in Holland and France sampling cheese and wine and 10 weeks in Germany sampling wine, beer, and great German cuisine. This year we plan to visit the Worlds fair in Milan 9only a 10 hr. drive) and cruise N Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

So sell your motorhome, buy one in Holland, come to this side of the continent and look into the "the great loop". Being over here gives you access the the ICW, Bahamas, (700 islands) the rest of the Caribbean and Central America. Gunkhole for years and years.

I have even managed to get a few jobs along the way to help with the cruising kitty.

PM me and I can give you links to our website and the camper Co. in Holland.

We Travel with the Idea That If we have no schedule, we aren't late. If we don't care where we are, we aren't lost. If we have no itinerary we're exactly where we ought to be. If we can't see it this trip, we'll see it next time.

Catshopper, I love your philosophy!!! It reflects ours B U T damn, you said it much better!!!

[cards26]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Bunk. Ive lived and traveled all over Central America for the past decade. Excellent quality medical care at very reasonable cost is readily available.

belize, please take what i said, and not cherry pick. I said in regards to Uruguay. The Touristica Tarjeta is pennies compared to paying out of pocket in Central America.

-You can buy a Touristica Tarjeta in Uruguay for your medical/dental care. In Central America, you'll be raped in medical charges.

There's no comparison between medical care in Uruguay/BA, as compared to Central America, and north South America.

My main reason for wanting to leave South America is because of the medical care. I've had two very serious mis-diagnosis here, and when I went to Miami, the doctors there saw what it was in 10 seconds.

I think Bocas del Toro is a great place and if I stay here in Colombia, that would certainly be the place to keep the boat. But I know the ropes.

I see a lot of talk above about Panama and how eager they are with tax reductions. Those are tax deferrals, you still owe the tax on what you bring in, ten years later; and it's on the value when you came in, not ten years later. Lots of people are ticked off after moving to Panama and reading the fine print.

If I was the OP, I would look at the Sea of Cortez, and first get a taste of Central American life. I may even move up that way myself, and then have a much easier trip for medical care in San Diego, and shopping in general. If things work out, then he can come further south.

Then speak to some people who actually have lived here and not tourists, or Intl Living magazine. I've had many thousands of newbies on my own blogs over the years, and 97% of them eventually left, and all of them disgusted. They can give the OP an earful of truth.

I like this guys FB page too:


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Costa...16792568354347

[cards26]

here's another interesting site and makes for some wild reading:

Bananama Republic - Dispatches from a cynic's paradise


or you can put these names on google search:

Don Winner
Okke Ornstein
Monte Friesner

if nothing juicy comes up, put "fraud", "conman", etc after their names.

[cards26]

OP, I have to give you my thoughts. Every single person reacts differently with their expectations, and then whatever the results are of their new country. None of us know who you are really, or what your needs are, so it would be difficult to give an accurate assessment of what's best. You have to do this on your own. I've mentioned that medical care is something to think about, and how good is your Spanish? Lots of variables here. What about banks? I can't count how many gringo schmucks have withdrawn a large amount of cash from a bank, and then as they're leaving, the teller calls her crime partner outside the bank , and the victim is robbed.

This is the real beauty of a sailboat; if you don't like what you see, pick up the anchor and move somewhere else.

[zeehag]

oh my so many changes!!!!
DO NOT SELL BOAT!!!!
your life willbe filled with regret and it is a rash move.
sail down to barra de navidad.
then sail to zihuatenejo.
then sail to huatulco.
then sail to the next pretty place.
suck up the beauty and learn these lovely folks along the way..
go to costa rica-- golfito,,,
and to panama. i have other sailing friends in panama and they say it is a good ex patriation place. they even offer packages!!!
so come on down, as the old saying went.. this is the price is kinda right and you get to play in your awesomest of ugly ducklings my friend.
if ye do this, please find me wherever i happen to have gotten and say hay over a michelada or something,,,mebbe limonada natural-- regular yummy lemonade made from key limes.. awesome stuff....
and it is beautiful here and there is a volcano to see even from a disytance it is cool...
if you need a shoulder or a friend to rant or talk with, please pm or somehow let me know... me n bubba da boatkat are here for ye.
oh yes--our small numbers of dollars at present are really larger here now th e exchange rate is over my ears....
and did i say the folks here are awesomest i have met yet....

ps..old folks here are respected. medical care is sooooo dirt cheap.
did i say it is absolutely beyond beautiful here?
oh and we still have a french baker...........delivers to boats.


AND.. we have NO crime here--ZERO!!!! is a very intermarried smallest community with accountibility and pride.
SAFE here..VERY SAFE here

[GafferMate]

Though a long way from the Bay Area, I was about to recommend the Philippines, hesitated over the statement "tired of the (South Pacific) culture" then looked closer and saw you are located also in Cavite, PH...and while understanding that your reason was probably due to how difficult it is to adjust to another culture, my fifteen years here can attest to the high population of men (single-handers or simply retired) that are enjoying the low cost of living, the abundance of available, beautiful young women and the great weather. Port Bonbonon, at the bottom of Negros Oriental, is an increasingly popular anchorage due to being relatively free of typhoons. None of the recent ones that have done so much damage elsewhere (even as close as Dumaguete, an hour away) were a problem here. I've learned that letting go of an "@#!!%&* WHY DON'T THEY..." response is the most difficult aspect of living anywhere outside one's own culture.

[svfraidknot]

i have been in panama 13 years , got pensianado cedular so am resident about 600 when i got mine can still get one for about a grand ,, my 42 solaris i am selling but a great cruiser crowd here , they use the dollar so exchange rte dont get you , easy to get parts shipped from the states hundreds of islands to explore ,, i came at ahe 55 at 57 married a 23 year old togther ever since ,, come on down ill show you around