Retirement destinations

[Iran]

Maldives 

[Mapperleyfox]

Either Greece, little village with a couple of tavernas on the beach or California, somewhere in the wine region or on the pacific west coast, Cambria is beautiful.

[Stadt]

Spain has the climate, it's relatively cheap, well located, language isn't too difficult, great food, bar culture, landscapes. I love Britain though, maybe an apartment in Spain for the winter would be perfect.

[Bordersfox]

On 31/08/2023 at 14:15, SkidsFox said:

Assuming you had the funds to do so, where would you choose to retire, and why?

 

A UK Hastings. Loads of great music pubs, not overrun by commuters, great scenery.

 

 

B Europe -- Either Madrid in Spain (football bars, decent climate, cheap eating and drinking) or Belgium (best booze)

 

 

C Rest of World   -- Malaysia looks tempting, warm temperatures all year round. Not sure about the high rainfall though. Colombia seems to have a great climate but a bit dodgy crime wise.

A) Skeggy

B) Skeggy

C) Skeggy 

[Tommy G]

2 hours ago, Iran said:

Maldives 

I think you'd get fed up with it after a month with the lack of infrastructure 

[mazarron fox]

3 hours ago, Mythyaar said:

Good few destinations here. Think I've been to most of them, though not lived in any.

 

If you don't necessarily have the funds, or inclination to buy a property outright abroad, you could become a travel nomad, certainly throughout the winter months.  I'd be wanting to be back in the UK late Spring to September.

 

My need going forward would be to avoid the dark and rain and cold, and visit places of interest that are off the beaten track.

 

By moving locations regularly say every 4 weeks, you'd then not have issues with applying for VISAs etc. It's something I'm investigating once the kids are grown up and have their own lives.

 

I'd say Europe and/ or South and Central America Oct to Nov and Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Philipines) December to May, as you've avoided the rainy season. Obviously, you want to move locations that are close to each other to avoid excessive travel costs and carbon footprint. Flights around the Asian basin region are dirt cheap.

 

A couple of inexpensive but beautiful places folks may never have visited which I would highly recommend - Bariloche on the southern tip of Argentina, in the Patagonia region adjoining the Andes. November and December is their spring. It has several huge lakes that you can tour inexpensively. It's a much better version of the Lakes. You can also ski there, it has an Alpine flavour to it - much like Saltzburg. Look out for the Welsh flags too, where settlers arrived at the turn of the last century, and the reason that Argentina Pumas took up rugby union.

 

Another place that I'd recommend is Koh Lanta in Thailand. From Dec to March you have great weather. It's incredibly cheap, easily navigable if you hire a scooter. Lovely relaxed vibe and friendly people.

 

Also Northern Cyprus. 

 

These 3 are all difficult to get to - and that's my modus operandi. The harder places are to get to, the better value you are likely to get, and the less tourists you are likely to encounter, so you're in for a more authentic experience. For Barlioche you'd need to take an internal flight from Buenos Aires (once daily). For Koh Lanta you'd probably need to fly to Krabi from either Bangkok (or another country/ island in Asia) and then take a 2 hour taxi which includes ferry to the island.  Alternatively you could fly to the tourist trap of Phuket and take the speedboat across to Lanta.

 

For Northern Cyprus you need to fly to Istanbul or Southern Cyprus and take a transfer. I haven't been on a tour of the lesser known Greek islands but I'm sure it's the same scenario - buggeration to get to either boat from Athens or internal flights, but when you're there and over the "travel pain" it's more than worth it.

 

Some food for travel thought. Hopefully you can give me some other thoughts/ ideas.

 

 

Although we live in Spain which traveling around is beautiful , amazing cities and towns, our go to holiday destination is Vietnam. We love the place and to me Hanoi is a great city. In South America Buenos Aires is amazing closely followed by Santiago de Chile and Montevideo. Bit iffy in my opinion is Rio, and Brazil in general. If you love wildlife Costa Rica is a great holiday.

[Stadt]

What I suspect is underlooked is the ease of travel from your destination too. Most of Europe is 2 or 3 hours ways from Britain and intra-country travel is worthwhile in France, Italy and Spain.

Edited 2 September 2023 by Stadt

[bovril]

9 minutes ago, Stadt said:

What I suspect is underlooked is the ease of travel from your destination too. Most of Europe is 2 or 3 hours ways from Britain and inter-country travel is worthwhile in France, Italy and Spain.

Why I could never live in Australia. Plus Australians.

[Bellend Sebastian]

For a while I thought somewhere around the Med/Aegean would be nice but I think there's a risk that they will be on fire more than would be considered ideal in the years ahead

[whoareyaaa]

Probably Holland, Spain or Cornwall if I had the money.

[Stadt]

6 minutes ago, bovril said:

Why I could never live in Australia. Plus Australians.

That’s what I had in mind, the same goes for the ME petrostates, islands in the tropics, Caribbean and NZ.

 

The only drawback of Europe is the income/taxation relative to the US, UAE, AU etc but wrt retirement it’s beneficial with lower living costs.

 

With the exception of the landscape compared to the US, Europe is generally much more interesting too.

 

Is an extra £25k p/a, exchange rate adjusted worth living in San Antonio or Boise? Not for me.

[mazarron fox]

I am probably biased but S.E Spain is great value for money ( probably 50% less  or more of the cost of the UK ) . Wherever you want to go, do your homework maybe rent for 3 months to see if you adapt. Most people worry about speaking the language but whilst it’s very advisable to learn a lot don’t and are happy to pay translators. Anyone want any advice about the mechanics of a move then just ask I will help if I can 

[Jattdogg]

I am 43 and havent thought about where. Just always assumed i will stay here in Canada with the kids (grown up by then and likely still living with me as nobody can afford housing over here).

 

Trinidad would be cool as wifes family all from there but they've had drug cartel issues from venezuela coming up as well as kidnapping if young girls into sex trade in south america. Soooooooo that's out lol.

 

Feckin igloo in thr back garden it is.  Tell myself it's an exotic superman layer.

 

 

[mazarron fox]

42 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

I am 43 and havent thought about where. Just always assumed i will stay here in Canada with the kids (grown up by then and likely still living with me as nobody can afford housing over here).

 

Trinidad would be cool as wifes family all from there but they've had drug cartel issues from venezuela coming up as well as kidnapping if young girls into sex trade in south america. Soooooooo that's out lol.

 

Feckin igloo in thr back garden it is.  Tell myself it's an exotic superman layer.

 

 

We did the Canadian train from Toronto to Vancouver that was great fun. Ontario is so pretty but I don’t have to live there. Do you have a European passport? 

[mazarron fox]

Where I am in Spain a house with a pool on an 800m2 plot will cost you between 200-250 euros about 20k from the coast. Where I live on the coast about 30% more

[Jattdogg]

12 minutes ago, mazarron fox said:

We did the Canadian train from Toronto to Vancouver that was great fun. Ontario is so pretty but I don’t have to live there. Do you have a European passport? 

Officially no but could get a UK one as I was born in Leicester. Not been paying attention to brexit so not sure if it helps me over a british one. Lol

[Parafox]

You even manage to contaminate a non-joke topic 

[fox_up_north]

After my brief holiday this year, Switzerland appeals and they speak a bit of Italian. I'd find that easier to learn than German.

 

Either way, if I retired to another country, I'd learn the language. My GCSE Spanish has got me through a few holidays and it translates to Italian and Portuguese. The Portuguese are so bloody lovely as well.

 

Or I'd stick myself in a wooden shack in some woods near a town where I can wander down for food, but mostly be left alone. Think Unabomber without the bombs.

[fox_up_north]

6 hours ago, mazarron fox said:

Although we live in Spain which traveling around is beautiful , amazing cities and towns, our go to holiday destination is Vietnam. We love the place and to me Hanoi is a great city. In South America Buenos Aires is amazing closely followed by Santiago de Chile and Montevideo. Bit iffy in my opinion is Rio, and Brazil in general. If you love wildlife Costa Rica is a great holiday.

I want to visit all of those places and live that life! 

How did you find the Spanish speaking countries in terms of the Spanish they spoke? Similar to traditional or closer to Catalan?

[Clever Fox]

Portugal or the west coast of Florida for me. Portugal has very favorable tax rates for Seniors.

I think it's virtually tax free for the first 10 years. But don't take that as Gospel I'm only going on what I heard.

West Coast is just Heaven to me I love it there.  Thought it was badly hit with the Hurricane this week again.

[Wrighty22]

So many choices. I’m a fair few years away yet but maybe Germany for me. Such a beautiful country and their beer is amazing. 

[Guest BlueBrett]

I have been nomadding for a few years now and I'd say SE Asia still hard to beat, Vietnam in particular. Laid back lifestyle, low cost of living, attractive Anglophilic women, legal weed, banging Vietnamese coconut coffee, year round sun. Only problem is the food gets samey pretty quickly and generally isn't the best quality. Climate makes me lazy too.

I am going to Eastern Europe next, beginning with a few months in Bucharest I'll try to remember to report back on that.

 

[Voll Blau]

UK - Boring, but I think I'd struggle to leave Leicestershire/East Midlands again after two spells of my life away.

 

Europe - Madeira or the Dalmatian Coast. South of France would be none too shabby and a saner option given I speak a bit of French.

 

World - Can't look beyond Barbados. Granted, there and St Lucia are the only places outside of Europe I've ever been, but I fvcking love that country.

[worth_the_wait]

On 01/09/2023 at 08:01, mazarron fox said:

I moved to Spain ( Murcia region ) 11 years ago. Love it. Climate very good, very inexpensive nice lifestyle.

I suppose it depends on your definitions of "climate very good".    One of my relatives lived out there and he said it was awful.  

 

You got burnt to a cinder in July and August, and any of the ex-pats rich enough to own 2 homes, came back to Britain for those 2 months! 

[Big Dave]

Uk - Welsh borders - stunning countryside

 

Europe - France - lifestyle and wine