The Big ?

“If we could live anywhere, where would you choose?” was the question put forth to ponder. Easily answered was the first reaction…of course it would be somewhere within the equatorial belt to ensure temperate, tropical environment…with an ocean nearby (outside the front door being ideal!). But, having already lived in several places around the Caribbean, I was truly having more trouble than expected trying to pinpoint a spot that would be suitable to call paradise. Discussion and pondering went on for a couple of days.

And then the research began. Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. The Philippines, Singapore and Japan. All very attractive in many ways, believe me. However, already having lived the experiences of language barriers, paying police to take a robbery report, regular electricity blackouts, and getting lost in the spiderweb of the Tokyo train system overshadowed all of the positives.

OK, so 1. English is a must. 2. US-type protective services are needed for comfort. 3. Relatively good health services. 4. Connectability in the form of satellite and cell tower internet. All these have become necessary evils of life today. Oh yeah, what about Prime delivery? Could this possibly be given up? Where in the world could all of these boxes be checked and have promising markets in real estate? And where is it possible to have income generated by the property through a growing tourism market?