part-time living in warmer climates
 

i've been thinking (for a long time) about getting a small place somewhere warm and near the ocean, to reside in a couple of months each year.

has anyone else done this, or planned on it?

i've thought quite a bit about Mexico and the Bahamas. things i'm looking for:

- reasonable stability/security
- somewhat english speaking population
- on the ocean
- warm
- low cost of living
- availability of villas/condos/etc

any recommendations? :glugglug

Hawaii, Australia, Fiji

There are webmasters in Mexico living right now. Merida I believe is the place.

Cable modem, cheap living and warm weather.

do you live in any of these places?

i've been to Hawaii, not the cheapest place in the world. also, i'm not necessarily looking to move to the US.

sounds pretty sweet.

Harlem Island :Graucho

thats my dream, to get out of this shit hole ohio and move somewhere warm.

Quiet, I've thought about the same thing lots of times as well.

There are pro/cons to everywhere.

Caribbean:

-has sun and fun, but not good net connections

Hawaii

-has sun and fun, and good net access, but not cheap

Australia

-has sun, sand, sex and high speed net access. and is cheap

Quiet,

I just moved to MIami and love it.

There is all of the above here.

Australia

Hi Quiet:

We've been living in the Caribbean and Costa Rica for a good few years.. Carib islands are all very different, despite they may be close together. Have a look at St. Martin (don't look for property there on the net - tis a joke for tourists!). English language no problem and I have never ever met more friendly people.

Depends what you are looking for.. another place is Pacific coast of Costa Rica. I've been around a bit, but have never seen a "paradise" like this - it is just something that I could not convey. I'll post more clues if these areas are of interest.

well sure i'm interested. that's why i started the thread. i've checked out Mexico a bit, and it looks like a great option. i've heard lots of stories about the police though.

high speed internet is a plus, but definitely not a necessity. i'm not looking to do much more than relax/read/boat/etc. a relaxed pace is a must...

australia it is.... do they have a good guy/girl ratio too?

Australia?! High speed internet?! Haha boy have you been misinformed. If you're looking for high speed internet, steer clear of Australia.

Lotsa cute girls here tho =)

Warm weather? That is an understatement.

I have never felt such heat in my life. Everything else ruled.

Yes, there is plenty of high speed internet in Australia.

Both cable and DSL.

I can't figure out why Australians keep saying they don't have good high speed net access, they think everyone else in the world has it better than them. The

AUSTRALIA

i've met quite a few Australian's (i lived in Banff Canada for more then 2 years - and the place is crawling with them due to the great snowboarding) - and no one really every said 'come move here it's so great' or anything.

yet everyone one gfy keeps recommending it. what areas do your recommend (right on the ocean, nice real estate, etc)? living expenses? any links?

LOL sounds like my neighborhood (Australia)
low cost of living yes but "very" expensive
if you want to live right next to the water like i do !

is 200-300 meters still close enough to the beach ?
if so, its much cheaper !

Quiet:

Then have a look at the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Country stability is excellent, - it is a very peaceful country. Land is cheap (all negotiable), the environment is ... well "paradise". (that is if ya don't mind a monkey knocking on the door in the morning to say "Hi!). Many US and Canadian folks have moved there. The cost of living is a joke - the government ask that you have an income of $1000 a month*g* - they reckon that is enough to live on and yes, you could live on that, but a few 1000 more makes the world of difference. It is warm.. temperatures are usually in 90's, but can hit over 100 in mid summer.

Generally, Costa Rica has many faces. Within 30 minutes, we can be in "Switzerland" - this area is so close in appearance to Switzerland you'd not know the difference, - log cabins (kinda substantial and luxurious one's!), and temperatures to match.
Within 45 mins we can be in the middle of dense rainforest with lots of wildlife.

Currently, least in that area, net connections are OK, but could be better. Next year it is promised there will be cable available throughout the country.

I have seen lots of land available.. most recent was 77 acres next to a preservation area (national park) for asking price $120K.

The downside as far as your brief goes, is the language is mainly Spanish, but some folks speak English.

:glugglug

I don't find Hawai'i expensive.... but then I came from the SF Bay Area too, which is extremely expensive. Plus, it IS a state, rather than a third world country, so you don't have the fuckin' cocaine drug lords running around with machine guns playing god to the villagers and shit here..... you won't get a fucking botfly growing under your flesh. You won't be eaten by a jaguar. You won't get malaria. You won't have to deal with all the bullshit that some of those other places offer. Granted, some of them are very nice..... and I'd love to see them someday..... but I'm not real sure I'd wanna live in any of them. :winkwink:

Check out these sites, they have thousands of places for sale and rent:

www.realestate.com.au

www.domain.com.au

I would suggest Surfers Paradise in Queensland
http://www.hostelworld.com/images/ci...radise_pic.jpg
http://www.backpackeressentials.com....cle1/gr_13.gif

I think Australia fits your criteria nicely. Maybe you should come and visit and do some research... while taking it easy of course. If you come to Brisbane I'll smoke you out bigtime! :rasta

and how can you resist these guys?
http://www.mang.de/Koala_Baer.jpg

is that a sloth or something?

hmm, i haven't really looked into it - i wonder as a Canadian, what hoops i might have to jump through in order to purchase something there.

remember that place jr bought into - i emailed the mariott, but never got a response. pretty lame, and it sounded sweet.

i've been to Maui before, and i really like it (duh)...

shut up ! do you think i want quiet to live in my neighborhood :Graucho

Quiet:

Sorry.. forgot.. The reason you can go from "Switzerland" to a "desert island" paradise is the country has.. can't remember, either 8 or 12 ecosystems. Basically you can choose your temperature. It is noticeable moving from one into the other.. and this can happen within 10/15 mins driving time.

Costa Rica is probably one of the only countries left with such a diversity of wildlife and plants species and they are making efforts to retain the ecology.

I just happen to be "into" this kinda preservation *s* ... and I kinda like some "interaction" with critters - ya can trust em more *g*

As far as crime rates.. yes, there is crappy petty theft crime, but rarely anything major (in relation to the population numbers). Think we only had one armed robbery this year.. so far *g*

Its a koala, the most laid back animals on earth!
http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/WorldG...ages/Koala.JPG

do they bite?

thanks for all the comments/suggestions so far. the world is just so damn big :glugglug

I'll see your koala, and raise you an anole! :Graucho

http://www.opticalamplitude.com/stuff/anole.jpg

is that a gecko? when I was in hawaii there were geckos everywhere. they're so cool, and you can never catch the fast little fuckers!

What about some places in Asia, like Thailand ?
Cheap labour, nice climate, cheap, alot of thai speaks english and it's easy to get close to the water....

I don't know about the laws for online pornography in Thailand, but maybe somebody else knows ?

no, that's an anole....

this is a gecko:

http://www.opticalamplitude.com/stuff/gecko.jpg

I would go for CanCun.. then videotape all the "spring brake" stunts, and sell the rights to it in our loving forum

spring brake?

and just to show you how nice of a guy i am quiet

i'll reside in the place for the remaining months of each year

making sure that no one breaks in and to take care of any maintenance

:)

and feed the pedes....

Spain has cheap prices, sun, accomodation for sale by the bucket load and speak english for the most part in the coastal areas.

since i've had such great results with being a gopher wrangler

i thought maybe i could create a team of attack pedes

quiet, if you're interested in Australia at all, Surfers Paradies in particular, you must check out this link.

Surfers is kick ass. I'd love to get a place near the beach in years to come, just a place to piss off outta Brisbane now and again when i need to get away from all the bullshit!

http://www.surfersisparadise.com/

Same idea here. So I have been planning a fact finding mission to Costa Rica later this year.

Besides warm weather, stability, low crime rate & low cost of living this paradise has no tax for income from foreign sources.

In the past I had considered Spain but it doesnt offer that great tax advantage and is much more expensive.
I had been to Mexico a few weeks ago but Mexicans have a very strong anti-Gringo mentality so it makes living there much less fun (Merida, by the way, was hit very hard by a hurrican this September)

Though if you consider one of these countries you definitely have to spend some time & money in Spanish lessons.

That's where I was walking not more than 10 hours ago.

Can't beat this place and I know cause I've been everywhere.

forget about the Bahamas. i have a house in the bahamas, windswept, and it's a pain in the ass. we have our own generators for backup power because the power goes out every 5 seconds. the water is a pain, we have our own purifiers. sat internet which has bad latency. the list goes on.

if you're SERIOUSLY interested, it's currently on the market and available.

http://www.windsweptbahamas.com/images/lighthouse.jpg

please only !! SERIOUS !! people bother to contact me.

the word "bahamas" and "low cost" do not mix. that's the LAST place you want to go if you want a low cost of living.

I think that you could easily afford the US Virgin islands....

But by far, the best bet for you would probably be Mexico. You can get whatever you want there and a BIG plus is that you can get back home WITHOUT having to use a boat or a plane. Ya never know what could happen.

Just buy a small island somewhere Quiet. I just got back from http://www.lankayan-island.com

Very Nice!

Costa Blanca, something else to consider.

Love Hawaii, we go every year for 2 weeks. Except for the land prices, it's not a lot more expensive than other places if you learn to shop like the natives, but you will get "island fever", and internet access is spotty, and least in my experience. Constantly losing the connection. If I wasn't in this biz, and I was into surfing, that would be my first choice. Perfect weather almost year-round.

Aruba is a great place, friendly people, quiet if you want, good night-life if you want that, plus gambling. We're going back for our second trip in 3 weeks. But Aruba doesn't allow foreign ownership, only leaseholds. Plus it's a very small island and very windy, and internet is owned by the government. Price-wise Aruba is similar to Hawaii.

Florida is my first choice because of my adult biz. I LOVE the Ft. Lauderdale/South Beach (Miami) area. Many adult internet players in this area. South Beach by far is supurb. Great Art-Deco district, lots of babes, Atlantic Ocean is like the Caribbean, only the water is a little rougher; easy to find lots of babes so it's a great place to get photoshoots or set up adult internet business. Never gets cold, even in the winter, but the summers are a BITCH with very high humidity, even though last August Internext it wasn't too bad. A little expensive compared to other places though.

Number 1 in Florida for me would be the Tampa area. Adult Internet capital of the world. Warm weather, except sometimes in Jan. and Feb., more women to shoot than you can handle, internet access is outstanding, major OC-3 lines. Night life you can't believe. Prices reasonable.

Even though you stated you didn't want to re-locate to the States, there are advantages to being in an infrastructure that is more reliable than most parts of the world.

:stoned

vik