Although I have put off further travel until I have the house on the market, that hasn’t kept me from continuing to research, read and think about the future. I have reached several conclusions:
1. I need to live on or very close to the beach. I love the water and since I have a choice I can’t imagine not being as close as possible.
2. I don’t want to live in a big city. So if the best options involve large cities, I will at least live a small town some distance away.
3. I know myself well enough to know that in addition to returning to Belize, I need to check out a few other countries.
4. High on my list for further research and possible exploration are Mexico (it is close and familiar), Ecuador (it’s currently “hot” and intriguing) and Panama.
If I have the urge to go to the opera (I don’t see that happening any time soon!) or a large museum or any of the other things offered by large cities I can make a special trip. These are not amenities I will use often and I just don’t like living in a big city… been there, done that. I grew up in a town of about 50,000 and loved living in Key West, which was about 30,000.
Based on the above, I have resisted all of the hoopla about Panama. I don’t want to live in the hills surrounding Boquette and I don’t want to live in Panama City with its nearly one million people. At the same time I know there are coastal areas that have strong appeal and Panama is a gateway to both Central and South America with good airline connections to the US. At the very least, I will do more reading before discounting it as a place for me; there may be smaller coastal towns that might be just right.
I love Mexico; always have. The people are friendly and the infrastructure is good. There may be areas of the west coast that are affordable and attractive, but my first draw is towards the southern Yucatan (Tulum and points south) and maybe the area around Merida. Another advantage to Mexico is that the economy is growing, albeit not as quickly or strongly as Panama.
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