Escape Artist
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • News
    • Field Notes
    • Trending
  • Your Escape Plan
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Second Citizenship
    • Events
    • Shop
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
      • Spain
      • United Kingdom
      • Rest of Europe
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
    • Others
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • North America
      • South America
  • Travel Tips
    • Know Before You Go
    • Packing List
    • Food + Culture
    • Health + Wellness
  • Subscribe
Escape Artist
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • News
    • Field Notes
    • Trending
  • Your Escape Plan
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Second Citizenship
    • Events
    • Shop
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
      • Spain
      • United Kingdom
      • Rest of Europe
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
    • Others
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • North America
      • South America
  • Travel Tips
    • Know Before You Go
    • Packing List
    • Food + Culture
    • Health + Wellness
  • Subscribe
👤

THE NUMBER ONE SOURCE FOR EXPATS, DIGITAL NOMADS, AND DREAMERS.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Your Escape Plan

How We Chose Our Expat Destination, Part 2

  • BY Don Halbert
  • February 9, 2014
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

The Melting Pot Simmers

Our process of elimination proceeded as follows:

The Bay Islands are quite nice, but they are a part of Honduras. Honduras, as we saw it, was a corrupt, and economically poor country. We did not like the idea of being restricted to a couple of islands, either. Also, the Bay Islands have hurricanes and the only way to escape one of those, if they are headed in your direction, is to leave the islands. Coming down with a case of island fever was not on our list of priorities either.

Belize uses English as their official language, which was a plus, but our research told us that if you leave your home unoccupied for any length of time without someone such as a full-time caretaker who lives there to protect it, you might have problems. Additionally, Belize is a fairly expensive country and the mosquitoes and sand flies can be quite thick and a very real nuisance. Also, when we read that we should not listen to those who want to take us to a witch doctor to treat that snakebite, we were done with Belize. Please keep in mind these are only OUR perceptions and we did not ever travel to Belize. We always stress the importance of finding out for oneself what is the best for you.

Costa Rica had and probably still DOES have potential, so it survived our first round of cuts. We will leave Costa Rica for a bit later. It is a very nice location.

Panama, ditto on the above, it has fine potential. Panama made it to our final round as well.

The Dominican Republic was fairly high on our list at first. We think that is because of the Humpback Whales that visit there and calf each winter. What a joy that must be to look forward to every year! We have read and continue to read the monthly newsletters by John Schroder and there are many aspects of the D.R. that appealed to us. We ruled out the D.R. due to population density and the serious economic challenges they were undergoing. We also were not very keen on having our electricity going out on a regular basis and there are growing reports on increasing crime and safety issues so we grudgingly put a line through the D.R. and moved on.

New Zealand has always seemed like a wonderful place for us to live. In many ways, New Zealand fit the bill for us. One of the things we did not particularly relish was that, in a sense New Zealand is really two large islands and is quite far removed from any other large landmasses. We would have probably looked past that except for two other problems. The first one was that the New Zealand dollar has almost doubled in value against the US dollar. That would make everything a lot more expensive for us. The second major problem was that due to our respective ages and other extenuating circumstances, we did not think we qualified for residency in New Zealand. There was also that snakes, sharks, spiders and crocodiles issue.

Canada had a very strong appeal to us. It has magnificent natural beauty, wide open spaces and a generally quite friendly and well-educated population. The language spoken is familiar (discounting Quebec….), as well as many of their customs and ideals. Canada was fairly close to our original home and moving would not be much of an ordeal. One of the big problems, from our perspective was that Canada WAS too “close-to-home.” So much of what is happening in the USA is mirrored in Canada and let’s face it, Canada is NOT a very warm climate, come winter, something we had all become a bit tired of, while living in the mountains of Lake Tahoe, CA. Also, while we felt we probably had a good shot of getting Residency visas, it was not a sure thing. Our gut feeling said that Canada was headed for some serious political fall-out in the not-too-distant future.

Ecuador was very reasonable, cost-wise. It also has great beauty and a low population density. The problems were crime/education, poverty (which do all seem to go hand-in-hand) and that sense of security issue. Ecuador has a seemingly unstable political climate and we simply would not feel safe there at the present time.

Argentina had some appeal, we must say. At the time we were looking, it was in the grips of a very serious financial collapse. We were listening to stories including many interviews with Argentineans on NPR (National Public Radio). At that particular time, the banks had all been shut down for withdrawal of funds. Argentina was just too much of a Wild Card for us to consider at that time. While things have improved since then, they still have unacceptably high unemployment rates, the educational system, once the best in all of Latin America is in chaos and inflation continues to plague Argentina. Also, there is considerable corruption throughout Argentina and with the politics of the country, one could easily become trapped there, in a sense. Thus, we dropped Argentina from our list, but it still is an amazingly beautiful, diverse and wonderful country to visit. We simply do not wish to base the future of our family in the future of Argentina. This is not to say that things couldn’t change.

Uruguay was feeling the effects of the Argentinean financial collapse quite dramatically. The banks in Uruguay also restricted account withdrawals and this country was experiencing a severe recession. Also, Uruguay being a small country did not seem to have the diversity we felt we would have wanted for our new home.

Chile was quite far away and we really could not find very much information in the beginning, but one simple quotation we read somewhere piqued our interest and we wound up finding just enough information to become MORE than a little interested. Chile stayed on our list. The idea that Chile was the Southern-most country in the world and was, after a fashion, the farthest country from the rest of the world, or at least that is how it has been thought of by much of the world for a long, long time, did not seem to bother us after we had come across ONE most intriguing bit of lore. We are not sure where this came from but it goes something like this, “After the world was created and all of the oceans were in place, the mountains, volcanoes, the rivers and valleys, Glaciers and Deserts, the Creator of the Earth had saved up left-over bits of all of the most beautiful and precious pieces, during the period of the Earth’s creation. The pieces he had were precious and rare. He wanted to put them in a very special location, far from the ravages of the rest of the world. He put together these most magnificent mountains, waterfalls, lakes, volcanoes, flowers, berries and dazzling beauty and peace filled the land. Rivers and valleys filled with many fish, plant and animal life all lived in peace and harmony. There were no poisonous snakes or truly dangerous creatures. He called his secret spot of joy, beauty and wonder Chile, which means ‘at the land’s end.’”

The Final Cut

Okay, so now we were left with the following:

  1. Costa Rica
  2. Panama
  3. Chile

Excerpted from “Moving To Chile, Part Two: Chile Measured Up!” in Escape From America Magazine, Issue 76.

If you’re interested in buying a home abroad and want to weigh up your options, visit ECI Developments, who specialize in creating exceptional residence and resort communities across the world.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Related Topics
  • Chile
  • choosing a destination
  • retirement
  • South America
Previous Article
  • Your Escape Plan

5 Ways Vacation Improves Kids Health

  • BY EA Editors
  • November 9, 2013
View Post
Next Article
  • Food + Culture

Typical Food In Paraguay

  • BY EA Editors
  • September 11, 2014
View Post
You May Also Like
Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City
View Post
  • Mexico
Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • October 8, 2025
Buying a Property abroad
View Post
  • Your Escape Plan
Why More Investors Are Buying Homes Offshore
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • October 8, 2025
Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025
View Post
  • Spain
Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • October 8, 2025
Hungarian Citizenship by Descent Journey from Amercia
View Post
  • Second Citizenship
Our Journey from America to Hungarian Citizenship
  • BY Ethan Cohen & Learn Hungarian Anywhere
  • October 1, 2025
The Tale of the Tael - A timeless store of value across centuries
View Post
  • Finance
The Tale of the Tael’s: A Hard Lesson about Hard Money
  • BY Michael Checkan
  • September 24, 2025
Craggy cliffs and quiet harbors frame life in the Isle of Man
View Post
  • Your Escape Plan
Life and Opportunity on the Isle of Man
  • BY Aneesa Marufu
  • September 19, 2025
Central America’s strategic position is reshaping the global offshore banking map
View Post
  • Plan B
The Future of Global Finance Runs Through Central America
  • BY Luigi Wewege
  • September 17, 2025
Tokyo's infamous cherry blossoms.
View Post
  • Japan
How I Built a Life in Tokyo in 3 Months
  • BY Annie Nagel
  • September 8, 2025
Trending Posts
  • 1
    • Mexico
    Top 10 Things to Know if You’re Moving to Mexico
    • September 26, 2025
  • Hungarian Citizenship by Descent Journey from Amercia 2
    • Second Citizenship
    Our Journey from America to Hungarian Citizenship
    • October 1, 2025
  • Abkhazia jewel of Soviet summer escapes 3
    • Field Notes
    Secrets of the Soviet Riviera
    • October 3, 2025
  • Buying a Property abroad 4
    • Your Escape Plan
    Why More Investors Are Buying Homes Offshore
    • October 8, 2025
  • Summer in Lapland: Lapland’s wild landscapes glow under the endless Arctic sun 5
    • Field Notes
    Before the Snow Falls in Lapland
    • September 29, 2025
InterNations
Know Before You Go
  • Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City 1
    • Mexico
    Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City
    • October 8, 2025
  • Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025 2
    • Spain
    Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025
    • October 8, 2025
  • Expat Child Syndrome 3
    • Wellness
    The Untold Story of Expat Kids
    • October 6, 2025
  • Abkhazia jewel of Soviet summer escapes 4
    • Field Notes
    Secrets of the Soviet Riviera
    • October 3, 2025
  • Hungarian Citizenship by Descent Journey from Amercia 5
    • Second Citizenship
    Our Journey from America to Hungarian Citizenship
    • October 1, 2025
Learn More
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Why Subscribe

The newly imagined Escape Artist brings you fresh content with a global focus, and sharp, up-to-the-minute coverage of the joys, challenges, and opportunities of life abroad.

For a limited time, we’re offering a special discount on all subscription deals, so be sure to lock-in these incredible savings and start receiving top-notch travel and expat content today!

Sign up for the EA Newsletter

Get important news delivered directly to your inbox and stay connected!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Escape Artist
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Disclaimer

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Newsletter Subscription
Our Spring Sale Has Started

You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/