There are numerous small towns(of 2-10,000 people), very little crime, inexpensive medical care and the cost of living is easily under $1,000 per month including rent. You are never more than 10 minutes from a beach or 20 minutes from the largest city of Porlamar where the nightlife goes til 2 or 3am or until whenever. I say, sometimes, you just gotta go for it. You only go around once in life, so go for the gusto NOW!

Activities are plentiful. Golfing, horseback riding, jeep rides across the countryside, windsurfing & kite surfing, or tours around the island. You can drive around the western side of the island.....called Macanao(very dry, arid, 1500 ft mountains, cactus everywhere). On the western side of the island, there are numerous small fishing villages. Life here is very simple. You can visit the many churches & musuems, or climb a mountain, play tennis, or simply relax on the beach.

So, what changes do I make as I inch toward retirement. Let's see, I visited Mexico 4 times in the past 20 months and thought central Mexico was wonderful. I love the area south of Guadalajara, and specifically on the north shore of the largest lake in Mexico, the area is called Lake Chapala and I thought this is the place for me. The weather touches 70 degrees everyday and there are about 10,000 Americans and Canadians living there. The locals are friendly. So as I read about the area, I found out there is a large Gringo population there, good weather, cheap medical, less expensive to live there than in the States...what's not to like about this. This is where I am going to retire or so I thought. Then, I began reading Escape Artist newsletters and discovered Costa Rica and began emailing several people there and thought this could be interesting but the infrastructure isn't that good.

Realtors are driving up the prices rapidly. And as I continued to read and surf the net, along comes some info on Panama and I read and read about Panama and felt I needed to take a trip there and check out this unique country. Panama is currently my overall 2nd choice at this time. So much to see and not enough time to do everything. Just when I thought I was getting close to a decision, along came some information about a small island off the coast of Venezuela called "Margarita Island", Venezuela”. You might want to do a google or dogpile search on this island. Some call it "La Isla" or the "Pearl of the Caribbean". I call it "MY" future retirement home.

As I read everything I could find on the internet, I was so charmed by this small island that I just had to see it. You might ask Why? Well, the temperature rarely varies and is generally between 78-85 with moderate humidity. There are gentle breezes of 5-15 mph all day and night, sunshine over 320 days per year and one of the lowest costs of living in the world. They have very good infrastructure and very friendly people. The price of beer is between 40-80 cents and gasoline cost 12-16 cents a gall.....you say you gotta be kidding me. What's not to like about that. This can't be real or so I thought. I have got to take a trip to Margarita Island and check this out for myself.....and I did just that.

Well, 4 of us guys, living all over the country began emailing each other and all wanted to see this Island of Paradise for ourselves. We all decided to meet on the island for 7 days or more. My stay was for only 7 days, and what a wonderful and enjoyable time it was. This little island is truly everything I was hoping it would be and I fell in love with everything I saw. It is now all I can think about and I yearn to return to Paradise. You should visit Margarita and check it out for yourselves. Can you imagine buying a nice 2-3 bedroom house for about $40-50,000 and wah la, you have a 2nd home on a georgeous Caribbean island. You can visit Paradise anytime you like...well you can dream can't you? 

We drove the entire island looking at anything and everything we could see. Everyone was impressed. Driving was no problem as gasoline, was between 12 and 16 cents a gallon. I know, you are thinking that is a bunch of Bull, but it is true, so go and check it out for yourself. As soon as I returned to the States and filled up my car, I realized the price of one gallon in my city was ($2.07 a gallon) and was more than a complete fillup on Margarita Island...amazing! This little island is 100% duty free and since Venezuela is a member of OPEC and the world's 3rd largest producer of oil, they pass the low cost of gas along to anyone on the island.

Beaches are everywhere. Regardless of where you are on the island, you are no more than 10 minutes from water. You gotta visit El Yaque beach - one of the top windsurfing places in the world. My favorite beach was la playa el Guacaco. The waves are very gentle and it is quite shallow for about 50 yards out. There are nice palm trees along the beach and a few restaurants/bars. You can swim, sit under a palm tree, have a drink and watch all of the people. Beer is so cheap...about 40 cents each, so we indulged again and again and again.Another reason to live on Margarita Island. Believe it or not, the bars do not know what a Margarita drink is. We taught our local hotel barmaid how to make one, and it was't bad for a first try.

I was very impressed with the infrastructure or the road system. All roads were paved and for the most part nice and wide with an occasional pothole here and there. The locals drive very fast, weaving in and out of traffic but suprisingly very few accidents. Everyone is courteous and patient. People make U-turns anywhere they want, without any problems. People also drink and drive, but don't get into an accident, or it could be a problem. The police are virtually non existent, and the few they have, keep a low profile. The sidewalks are nice and wide as well. Most towns are small or about 2-10,000 in population, very charming. Every town has a nice block square plaza where people hang out to relax and visit with their neighbors. I wish that Americans would do this.

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