Please bear with me b/c we are not quite ready. I am simply curious about possibly "retiring" at Belize
I've done some reading, so am looking for answers to other, not so typical questions as found on articles circulating around the web.
My wife is more typical than me, in that she is employed in LA law firms as an office administrator etc. At age 61, retirement is four years away in terms of SS benefits. But a looming inheritance may change all that, so...
As I stated, please bear with me. I just want to know if I'd enjoy Belize at all. I've only been to Carib once, a short two day stay on a gig playing at Nassau, Bahamas for, of all things, an NAACP convention awards ceremony.... I'm white, but this happens often where I'm the only white guy in the band, in that case I was practically the only white guy in the entire hall! LoL
My handle on this site is DrummerPete, but actually I'm a pro pianist/keyboardist more often. I'm also a percussionist/drummer but not so often professionally. I've played with several celebs on tours etc. I'm from Hollywood, born n raised.
I don't need to find suitable work as a musician in Belize b/c this is about retirement, particularly for my wife. However, I wouldn't mind, that is, I never mind playing music. I am very relaxed about all that, jamming etc, being the old hippie I am. Mostly, however I will spend my time at home with my personal music (orchestrating, classical music practice etc). So, a bit of a retirement for me as well. This is, of course, the point of moving to a quiet paradise. We are also considering buying vacation property & possibly letting to acquaintances during other times of the year.
So, the first burning question: do you have hurricanes? I've read countless articles on Belize, yet somehow nobody ever talks about the weather. I guess b/c it's obvious to everyone that the weather is beautiful. But, don't forget, here you are speaking with a weather brat, as I'm from LA. So I might be somewhat more picky than others. Anyway, that's easy enough to find out.
More importantly, what are the price ranges for property in areas that are safe & convenient for shopping? Actually, that's easy enough to find out, too. But I'm really looking for personal opinions of specific areas, personal experiences of members on this forum in order to get a clearer picture than can be found from real estate websites.
I would like to live near the sea, given there is no danger of flooding from storms. What about infrastructure? Is water safe to bathe in? Is electricity affordable & consistent? Do dwellings normally provide gas for stove cooking? Have there been any disease epidemics in recent years? Are there mosquitoes? What about large bugs? I absolutely despise spiders & ants. Honestly, if I visit & discover the place is swarming with large insects, I will not consider this to be a place I could live at.
We are looking for the best value for the price. Obviously we don't want to get ripped off. So there are some things we appreciate & others aren't so necessary. Makes no sense to pay for things you don't appreciate. right
So my wife is an experienced catering chef who claims she is too old now for that biz. Nonetheless, I benefit from her talented home cooking. So a priority is to have a lovely kitchen in which she may indulge her innate culinary talents. Is a luxury range so rare there? More specifically, does desiring such an amenity as gourmet kitchen appliances mean that we will be forced to live in an overpriced neighborhood? Is it impossible to get such appliances repaired when they break? What is the best way to own such things when living in your jungle? Does it make more sense to have them shipped in from the states than to pay a high price for a dwelling which provides them? Do you have a thriving middle class? Or is the atmosphere & spirit of Belize devoted to extreme class separation? Because if the latter is true, that is definitely a downer IMO. Racism (condescending whites toward natives) is also absolutely out of the question for me.
We of course love shopping at open produce markets & fresh beef from local farms (from what I hear is available there) is also desired, if not actually a priority. As to local stores, an excellent bakery is a high priority for us. Much more than, say, a shop which sells high quality surf boards. We already understand about no big boxes etc & are prepared to reduce lifestyle accordingly. Embrace the beachcomber, I say.
Furthermore, neither one of us is very sociable., just a nice, quiet couple. For example, my wife, also born/raised in LA, used to be a prestigious producer/set designer for film productions & merchandiser for famous rock bands. But she has never been obsessed with ambition, like so many who work in the industry. Rather, she found herself working in the biz only b/c she was hooked up from a young age as a result of growing up in Malibu. Actually, she is a quiet personality & her favorite activity is sculpture & things like taking old furniture & sprucing it up to look more artistic. So you see, she is likely a perfect fit for the beachcomber life. No? But she has simply never been in a position to reward herself with such a quiet life, even though she has certainly always deserved to live quietly in a paradisaical setting.
So both of us are quiet, artistic types. I like to wander around on a bicycle or on foot. I'm not by any means a serious naturist. I wont be considering scuba diving or even swimming much in the sea. Just have always enjoyed wandering about in the sunshine, wherever I might find myself, such as on tour in some place or other.
So, we are laid back personalities at heart. Absolutely fed up with how crazy overpopulated our hometown LA has become in recent years. Oh my god, traffic. A nightmare!
But we also understand that reduction of a nation/city's financial status means there is a possibility of hardship in one thing or another. Obviously in a place with a smaller population like Belize, which depends on tourist trade for its income, will be a huge switch from LA. We suspect some basic amenities will be much more expensive. We don't drink rum. But we do like to brush our teeth with toothpaste & I personally like to use fine, mild soap when bathing. Clean fresh water for drinking is a must; we currently buy bottled water. Even a golf cart requires minor repairs & that means oil, tires & other auto parts may become necessary to purchase & install. So if such basic necessities are very expensive at Belize, it would certainly help if reports on the web would admit to it.
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