Hi All
Firstly I feel fortunate to have found this site - lots of interesting information being passed around.
I am an Australia expat, late 40's, living in Dubai and now looking for a long term place to stretch out my savings as I head towards retirement.
I have been seriously investigating for some time to narrow down where I should start visiting to assess and of course have been a little ADHD when it comes to narrowing down my search - every day a new country catches my eye and I get lost on the net for hours. Turkey was the latest one:)
I know that these countries maybe poles apart - figuratively and literally - all of these countries seem to have a good mix of climate, infrastructure, appealing culture and relatively reasonably priced for living.
In Ecuador I have been looking into Cuenca which seems to be winning the vote at the moment however a coastal location near the beach would be preferable.
In Thailand Hua Hin or Cha Am.
Uruguay is still early stages of investigation for me but possible PDE?
I would be interested in opinions from those that have lived in any or all 3 countries.
Safety, decent healthcare, political stability, ease of visa are all things I am interested in BUT not the reasons for the post as there are multitudes of blogs devoted to these.
i am more interested in things like friendliness of the local community, infrastructure esp. internet (I trader FX part time) and would actually prefer a beach location BUT as I said am not graced with an overflowing bank account nor do I have a clouded view of living costs - I would budget $1250 (own) to $1500 (rent) pm which I believe should give me a decent standard of living..?
Also I see differing views on purchase versus rent - ownerships worries aside - would go for a condo or apt anyways - what are your thoughts? Renting just seems to be a way to throw money away or perhaps I am missing something?
Finally - I am single gay man BUT I am not looking for a "gay" place to live - simply a place that is not anti-gay.
So - any thoughts or opinions would be very welcome.
Thanks in advance
Dave
Firstly I feel fortunate to have found this site - lots of interesting information being passed around.
I am an Australia expat, late 40's, living in Dubai and now looking for a long term place to stretch out my savings as I head towards retirement.
I have been seriously investigating for some time to narrow down where I should start visiting to assess and of course have been a little ADHD when it comes to narrowing down my search - every day a new country catches my eye and I get lost on the net for hours. Turkey was the latest one:)
I know that these countries maybe poles apart - figuratively and literally - all of these countries seem to have a good mix of climate, infrastructure, appealing culture and relatively reasonably priced for living.
In Ecuador I have been looking into Cuenca which seems to be winning the vote at the moment however a coastal location near the beach would be preferable.
In Thailand Hua Hin or Cha Am.
Uruguay is still early stages of investigation for me but possible PDE?
I would be interested in opinions from those that have lived in any or all 3 countries.
Safety, decent healthcare, political stability, ease of visa are all things I am interested in BUT not the reasons for the post as there are multitudes of blogs devoted to these.
i am more interested in things like friendliness of the local community, infrastructure esp. internet (I trader FX part time) and would actually prefer a beach location BUT as I said am not graced with an overflowing bank account nor do I have a clouded view of living costs - I would budget $1250 (own) to $1500 (rent) pm which I believe should give me a decent standard of living..?
Also I see differing views on purchase versus rent - ownerships worries aside - would go for a condo or apt anyways - what are your thoughts? Renting just seems to be a way to throw money away or perhaps I am missing something?
Finally - I am single gay man BUT I am not looking for a "gay" place to live - simply a place that is not anti-gay.
So - any thoughts or opinions would be very welcome.
Thanks in advance
Dave
