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Doodles · 28-05-2011, 06:10

My recommendation would be SE Asia, more specifically Thailand or Malaysia. The sailing in the Andaman Sea is as good as anywhere or better, and is safe weather-wise year round. No typhoon or hurricane season to worry about. There are more islands and anchorages than you will ever be able to visit, and from what we've seen much less crime and petty thief than you will find in other popular areas like the Caribbean. We have a retirement home ashore in Krabi, Thailand and the cost of living is very low. You should be able to live like a king on $75K a year. As an example, our housekeeper/cook cost us $1.25/hour or about $30 for half a day six days a week. Our electric bill runs $30-40 per month.

As for things to do and see, other than all the islands, there is China to the north, India to the west, Australia and NZ to the south, Japan and South Korea to the East, and all around us Burma, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. You would never get tired of traveling and sightseeing.

The air transportation is first rate. I can fly back to Washington, DC with only one stop. Phuket to Seoul, Korea to Washington ... one layover in Seoul for a total of 21 hours.

The only drawback (there's always something, nothing's perfect ... right?) is as a foreigner you cannot own land. We are allowed to own our house (the structure) but not the land it sits on. You usually get a long-term lease (30 years + renewals) on the land. Or you can buy a condo in which you don't own the land or have ground lease.

Oh, and the food is really, really good here and CHEAP! We can get a nice Thai lunch for $3 and that for both of us!

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jackiepitts · 28-05-2011, 06:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptForce

So many good plans above,- and no "best" answer. As for us, we keep "community" in about 30 ports from Maine to the Bahamas. We select a place to stay for a couple months here and there or often just stop for a few days like now in Charleston, SC. We keep our children in Florida on our route when northbound and southbound. Many, like us, own nothing that's not on the boat and are not selecting a place, but cruise across a seasonal latitude range.

Although we are fairly new to cruising full time (going on 3rd year) it seems to me that the whole point of having a boat is to be able to move it and there is no better reason to move it than to follow the weather. Most places that have perfect weather in the winter are just way too hot come summer and the places that are nice during the summer tend to be too cold (at least on a boat) during the winter.
We tried staying in Mexico last summer and quite honestly it was too hot for my taste so this year we are going to try to follow the weather north and see how that works out.....I guess it is all about finding a good fit

SaltyMonkey · 28-05-2011, 08:51

doodles - how did you end up chosin' Thailand?

Doodles · 28-05-2011, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

doodles - how did you end up chosin' Thailand?

Long story Salty, I'll send you a PM.

denverd0n · 31-05-2011, 05:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodles

Long story Salty, I'll send you a PM.

I'd bet it's a long story that a lot more people than just SaltyMonkey would be interested in hearing.

**boatman61** · 31-05-2011, 05:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodles

Long story Salty, I'll send you a PM.

Thats just plain mean....

Doodles · 31-05-2011, 07:00

O.k, o.k, ...jeez guys didn't mean to offend anyone.

Here's the story (cut and pasted just as Salty got it):

I decided to try and retire a bit early (age 56) to get out of the rat race. I wasn't rich but not poor either so I figured I needed to live somewhere where the cost of living was low and I knew I wanted something tropical. Well, cheap and tropical rule out the US so I started to look at places like the DR, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, St. Vincent, Honduras, etc. We were leaning toward Panama then discovered that the Big Island of Hawaii (Hilo side only ... very wet) was actually affordable. The rest of Hawaii was not. We spent 2 weeks checking the area out and were all set to go house hunting once we put ours on the market. Then an old tennis buddy got wind of our plans and suggested we move to Thailand with him and his wife. They were both Thai although he had lived in the US since his teens and she for the last 20 years. They had land, about 6 acres in Krabi, which is across Panga Nga Bay from Phuket on the mainland. We wouldn't be able to own our lot, we just rent it from them, but we could own the house. The price was about a third of what we had planned on spending in Hawaii so we said what the hell! It's been a challenge, but we wanted that ... to keep us "young." I couldn't see moving to Florida and becoming just another baby boomer retiree becoming more conservative by the day. We are still in our first year (2nd 6 month stay) and can't speak any Thai really but we are managing.

The last of our parents (my Dad) died Jan 1 and we had been keeping the boat on the CB mostly as a condo for when we came back to the States to visit. Now, we are free to go cruising and plan to get started this fall. No firm plans yet and I don't know if I'll try and bring the boat to Krabi eventually or sell it back in NA and buy something here. We want to spend most of our time cruising and this is a great area for it. The house is just a place to retreat to form time to time.