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After Mexico: What Now?

If you missed it, the previous blog: Mexico – The Epilogue provides some more contexts to this blog.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1263577153/tpod.html
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This is what I wrote about ten days ago (January 17, 2010)

Uruguay: Why Uruguay?

As I contemplate Uruguay for my next travel destination there is a sense of apprehension that comes over me. Looking at the map of this country, is there enough there to occupy my time?

The size is small and the urbanization based on what I see on the map is very limited. Seems like there is not much to do or see.

Remember we are coming off a great six week trip of Mexico which I have just finished blogging entitled: Mexico: 23 Destinations to Spend the Winter Months. There is certainly no lack of real estate to cover in Mexico and places to visit. One could spend a year checking out the entire country.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/9/1233502800/tpod.html

Two years ago we spent six weeks in Hawaii. Visiting each of the four major islands and seeing as much of them as we did was a real challenge.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1198217100/tpod.html

Three years ago I blogged a 6 week grand tour of Argentina, a vast and interesting country. Six weeks was really pressing it and really not enough time to see the whole country.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/argentina_2006/1139020500/tpod.html

When it comes to travel I have a short attention span so my first impression of Uruguay is that I could check it out in two weeks. My idea of "travel heaven" used to be a 2-month Eurail Pass that allowed for quick flips of the “Travel Channel” so to speak. An overnight train ride could change the scenery very quickly. That would not be the case in Uruguay.

If you have been following “Mexico: 23 Destinations to Spend the Winter Months” you will know that my blogging has taken on the theme of investigating destinations that would be suitable for expats looking for places where money would go a long way and where the weather would make one forget about the winters back home.

So what do the experts say when it comes to the question of “The best place to retire?”

Well it seems that according to Canadian Business Magazine we are not badly placed right where we are because among destinations in Canada and the United States, Victoria, British Columbia, where we presently live, is rated No. 1.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/slideshow/retirement_cities/retire1.html

But the theme of my blogging directs itself at the expat community. I know that in theory a Canadian living part time in the United States would be an expat. In the general context however it implies living part time in a country other than Canada or the United States.

So once again what do the experts say?

According to MSN Money, which cites International Living as its source, in 2009 the top five countries for expats or retirement living are in order:

1. Ecuador

2. Mexico

3. Panama

4. Uruguay

5. Italy

Small, unknown, off-the-beaten path Uruguay rates as the no. 4 country for expat living. I say unknown because when is the last time any story from Uruguay has made the international news. That is in itself a good sign.

As I am about to depart on another trip it may be time to examine the underpinnings of my travels by looking at some quotes:

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilization, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints.


Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
--Mark Twain—

One of the gladdest moments of human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of routine, the cloak of many cares and the slavery of home, man feels once more happy.
--Sir Richard Burton—

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." -- Jawaharal Nehru

And finally, my favourite -

"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." -- Lao Tzu

BBC Uruguay – Country Profile

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1229360.stm

So what do I presently know about Uruguay? Frankly, next to nothing.

I know it is a very small country approximately the size of Switzerland.

Uruguay 176,215 sq km

Switzerland 41,290 sq km

Oops, there is my first point of discovery; it is more than four times as large as Switzerland.

In the past I have heard of Uruguay referred to as the “Switzerland of South America”

http://www.instablogs.com/switzerland-of-south-america/12/

But then Lebanon formerly was referred to as the Switzerland of the Middle East and look what happened there.

My other impression of Uruguay was a long-standing remembrance of a comment made by a Uruguayan that I met in my travels in Europe.

“When it comes to cows, no part of the animal is wasted”. That comment just about turned my stomach.

As I said, my knowledge is not much but then that is my entire purpose of travel – to discover the unknown.

Meanwhile on a daily basis I have been calling Aeroplan to see check the availability of flying on points to either Montevideo, Uruguay or Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires is a relatively short distance from Montevideo.

January 19, 2010

As the days went by without success, my thoughts went more and more towards an alternate destination and sure enough there was availability from January 23, 2010 to March 18, 2010 to Panama City. Yes – Panama, why not PANAMA?

Panama is rated as the no. 3 destination for retirement by International Living and by a competing site called - Live and Invest Abroad - as no. 1. So no. 1 deserves being checked out, n'est-ce pas.

Going to Panama would allow me to spend a month in Panama and another month in either Costa Rica or Ecuador. Costa Rica is right next-door and would be accessible by bus and Ecuador would be a short round trip flight.

So there it is – I am booked to go to Panama.

The flight to Panama City from Victoria, British Columbia will be 40,000 points, 10,000 less than to Montevideo.

The timing is certainly right as I look at the latest offering from Live and Invest Abroad as they tout Panama in a most unabashed manner.

http://www.expatfocus.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=903



Coming Soon: Getting to Panama City and my First Walk About