Once upon a time, I dreamed of living in San Pedro, Belize. Then I rented an apartment for awhile off and on, went back and forth. It was quite nice to be going home to my own place when on my trips that way, being able to leave some of my stuff in place (but then stopped leaving stuff cuz worried about being robbed while I was away). And really, the end result was that I realized it was a place for me to visit and be a tourist, not a place for me to live full-time or even half time. Since that realization, I just get my usual condo/hotel even though it costs me significantly more. No house cleaning, no hoarding, no extra grocery shopping, no trouble finding clothes/shoes that fit/last, no worries about plumbing, or needing a generator or hoping the complex has a generator (for when the power goes out, which it does quite often especially on Roatan), no real trouble to see my family, etc. etc. blah, blah, blah. As the time, approaches ever closer, that I'll be free to come and go as I please, still wonder what I will do. What I know for sure, is that won't be buying a place wherever. Will keep my house in Canada or trade down into a smaller condo so that I have fewer concerns with my own home and then rent wherever I go. That way, I'm not limited either . . . can stay in SE Asia for a few months or the Caribbean or travel Europe . . .and so on and so on. And also, will always have the backstop comfort of Canadian health care system, such as it is. As jlevine said, whatever or wherever you decide to go, make sure to rent first, try it out. Can't tell you how many people I know that have taken the leap, bought a place and found that ultimately it just wasn't for them. Some even did it before their financial futures were assured and then have found themselves stuck . . . poor and far from home having to stick it out, needing fundraisers for their gallbladder surgeries and such.
---------- Post Merged at 10:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:26 PM ----------
Oh yeah, and no worrying about my place when hurricane season comes!
AND no worries about living in a fish bowl, by that I mean, in small places, everyone knows your business.