your travel and retirement guide to paradise

Bali. Cost of living a comfortable retired life

After spending 3 months on this popular Indonesian island I have a good grasp of costs to live here. All of these numbers are just for a single retired man. No dog. No wife. No kids. Just me. Here we go with Bali cost of living… The cost to rent on this island, in popular areas, can be absolutely amazing low and can go up as high as “are you kidding me”. For example I booked a few hotel rooms, normally referred to as a “home stay”, for as little as 7 USD per night and this included breakfast!! I Read more…

Travelling and the art of being social

I began travelling when I was about 10 years old. My mum allowed me to travel on the train to see my grandmother. This was such a grand adventure for me and I savoured every moment. Everything about each trip was exciting: the bus to the train station, buying the “day return” train ticket, the ride itself and even waiting in the station waiting room..because it was full of travel posters of distance lands… like London, 100 miles away!!! ha ha ha. I also enjoyed my tea and chat with my grandmother. Travelling has always been multi-faceted. A BIG facet Read more…

Death by bus or bullet?!

As a retired expat living and travelling to several countries the question of “how safe is that area” is at the top of my list of needs and probably yours too. For me, there is no point in living in a town with low-cost of living, clear sunny days and lots to do if you also have a much higher chance of being the victim of a violent crime. I am not the kind of person that worries a lot, if at all. I live my life by managing the risks. Life has plenty of risks without moving to a Read more…

Eating local food in your chosen paradise

Whether you are an American, British or from Australia, eating in foreign countries, can have its gastronomical challenges. The big difference with food outside of a Western Culture is the spices used. Spices can be mild and make the meal more enjoyable or the added spices can also make you cry and choke simultaneously, all the while you are trying to flag down a waiter for some water! Not a pretty sight and it can be quite alarming even for a seasons expat who discovers a new high in the meaning of “spicy”. Many expats who retire in paradise rarely eat the Read more…

Renting a house in Khanom Thailand

Finding a place to call “home” for a few months or a few decades requires patience and certain skills. It is difficult enough to find a house to call home in your home country of Australia, Great Britain or the USA. Throw in the language and cultural barrier and the task becomes tricky at best. After the language obstacle comes the double pricing standard on many things. Foreigners to these exotic paradise beaches and towns come with local people that have a very interesting view of all us Westerners and the biggest myth is that we are all wealthy! Certainly the Read more…

Meanwhile: Thailand 2018

Hello and welcome, again perhaps, to my blog about retiring in paradise. It has been a very long time since I wrote anything here. I am not exactly sure why this is, but probably a combination of reasons. Without further ado, here is a quick update about me for the last 18 months and my retire in paradise for less events: Since January 2015 I have actually travelled to Thailand 5 times. For the first 3 trips that I left Thailand, it was to “move back to Mexico”. I was very hard on myself (aren’t we all?) and was disappointed with myself for Read more…

A closer look at San Miguel de Allende

Meanwhile, back in San Miguel de Allende, the sun is shining and the days are beautifully filled with a festive tone most (all?) of the time. Yes. San Miguel de Allende. If you’re keeping up with my blog, you might remember that I had given up on San Miguel. Turns out I was wrong to do so. What is the most important thing to you right at this moment? OK, not including your coffee if it’s only 8 am. Your family right? Or your friends. Since I am a traveller, explorer, digital nomad and expat then my friends are the Read more…

Turning 60, a Paradigm Shift

18 July , 2012 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

All my adult life have looked and felt younger than the year printed on my British birth certificate. Turning 40..no big deal.. 50.. now married with 3 children.. still no big deal.

Turning 60. Ok, now THIS is getting interesting.

By 60 both my parents were dead, my 2 best friends and a few more friends along the way had also passed. I was also divorced and needed a much smaller home. My life was downsizing big time and I embraced the changes.

Plus in my 60’s, people had begun RETIREMENT; a huge shift in the paradigm of my life and for millions of others. I am speaking of “others” that are/were fortunate enough to live in a country where private and government pensions are the norm. However many of my friends were constantly checking their 401k plans and using “retirement calculators” on a regular basis. Not me, what would be the point, I would just get depressed! So how was I going to fund my life after 60? Many think they have to work until they are dead. Many others think that they would rather work that do nothing.

This website is full of ideas on how to change your thinking of what you need and where you can live for far less and still enjoy a safe and happy life.

My income as an engineer probably maxed out around 2008 and went lower from that point. However since my needs were less, since I was divorced and living alone, I was doing OK.. but unlike the US government I could see that my current lifestyle back around 2010 was not sustainable with my future pension income and changes would have to be made. A huge shift was in the wind. But how? What? Where? So my search for the best place to retire, for me, was now my focus.

Can you the reader can relate to this? Was turning the earlier decades no big deal and 60 IS?! So, what are you going to do now? Literally, what are you going to do now? I contend that many, many people agonize over which big screen TV to buy or which car to buy and give little thought to the BIG things in their lives. Things such as where do you really want to live and enjoy the rest of your life and what is it you will actually be doing while not having to work? You do realize that we get a chance at TWO lives-in-one nowadays? My parents were dead at 69 and 78, enjoying about 10 years of actual retirement. Me, I am hoping to live until 92 (I will die on a Tuesday, not sure which one) which means a whopping 30 years of not having to work.. a thing called retirement.

The mortgage on my last marital home could have supported several hundred, thousands perhaps, people living in a village in a Third World Country. All we all need is to change our way of thinking. For me I am going to think about what I absolutely can not live without. That list will include a comfortable bed with nice linens, a bathroom, a comfy place to sit, good quality food, a few happy friends and a computer so that i can continue this website :). Things that would be nice to have: a kitchen, a patio and so forth. Then a list of things I do NOT want in this huge shift in the wind: a crime ridden area, a polluted area and so forth.

So I am one of the lucky ones. First off, I am ALIVE, second I have great health and third I have a pension to look forward to. How about you? How will you make plans for your “golden years”? Does using on of those “retirement calculators” make you ill? Please make a comment below and share with us all what thoughts you have on this topic of turning 60 and retirement.

Welcome to your retirement guide to paradise

2 February , 2012 By John Arnold

Hello, my name is John Arnold and with my travel and expat experience, I can help you get the information you need! The purpose of this website is to provide information about travelling or moreover, retiring outside your current country of residence. I have set out on a mission to find the Best Place to Retire.

This site is full of useful information about retirement and travel to beautiful and interesting places. What most of us have in common is a sense of wonderment with the possibilities in our lives and this website will help you implement those daydreams into reality. Actually looking back on my life, I have always been in search of the “best place” to live. In my fifties, friends began telling me: “John, nirvana doesn’t exist”. My reply: “maybe so, but there is an opportunity to learn about this beautiful world along with more joy and adventure looking for it”.

So where is this best place to retire? Is it the cheapest place to retire and live in? We all have various reasons to think about leaving our home country; you may be disenchanted with the current state of politics, the economy and affordability, the weather and others just want to experience a change in scenery. A BIG change in scenery!

Click on the menu bar above under “Countries” to find a list of countries that I have focused on. Further over to the right is a menu tab called “infrastructure”, here I provide information about transportation and how you get around your planned destination, how to use your cell phone, how to get cable television and use services like Netflix overseas and many more such topics. Also provided on this site is information on healthcare/insurance options and the logistics of moving your personal or household belongings to your new country and hopefully your paradise. There is also a “Social/Cultural” section where I have gathered information and learned the hard way, about relationships and how to behave respectfully in your chosen country. Last, but least, there is lots of information about “Cost of Living” including important pension information.

Your paradise and priorities in paradise may be different than mine. For me climate and safety are equally as important at the top of my list, followed by the cost of living. I see no point in being able to live very cheaply, in a sunny place but in an unsafe area.

Please enjoy the information and feel free to contact me about a topic that you think should be covered here on Retire in Paradise for Less. Happy reading.. and a very happy retirement.