Wherever you go, go with all your heart ~ Confucious
My fabulous husband and I are heading to South America to explore the possibilities of living in another country. This is our maiden voyage. The first steps into our future and the next phase of our lives. We do not plan to ever “retire” in the conventional sense. The rocking chair on the porch watching the sunset is so embedded in our cultural mind-set that it is hard to replace it with a new paradigm. I keep forgetting that I am at the top of the boom and for those of us up here we are still blazing the trail of transforming and redefining “retirement.” If advertising and corporations would only finally realize what a fountain of riches awaits them if they would reset their “mindset” about the boomer brand!
Carol Orsborn, author, activist, and speaker on the boomer generation and aging says it best “at some point in our aging process we have to decide if we’re going to be safe or live life as fully as possible.” So, my husband and I have decided to go with the “glass half full” and search for our own paradigm and discover what’s next in the “grand scheme of life! ” http://fiercewithage.com/
Over the last couple of years, we have subscribed to a number of websites devoted to living as an ex-pat in a foreign country. http://www.internationalliving-magazine.com Kathleen Peddicord’s newsletter/website Live and Invest Overseas http://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com. I would highly recommend both of these sites. Their newsletters and updates cover the world with first-hand reports and articles in real-time, about real-life experiences about living abroad. We also did a lot of personal research in narrowing down the selection.
South America held the most allure for us, with Ecuador and Uruguay topping the shortlist. Panama, in Central America, also held interest for us, but the one we selected to focus on for this trip is Uruguay. And the more we read about it and explored its history, culture, cities, and towns, the more we think this just might be it. In reading about all three we found Panama to be a safe, very familiar spot that, in some areas, could be mistaken for another state within the US because of the gated communities and ex-pat population.
Ecuador looks like the most affordable, great climate, beautifully preserved colonial architecture, but, perhaps, a little too provincial. The currency in both countries, Panama and Ecuador is the US dollar, in Uruguay, it is the peso and much more stable than the Argentinian peso. So, Uruguay it is. For three weeks we are going to drive along the river deltas in the west, up through the wine country, drop into Montevideo [the capitol] and then head along the Atlantic coast through the Riviera of South America and onto the windswept dunes of eastern Uruguay. All the while asking ourselves – could we live here?
I am going to post on the Platinum Boomer FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/platinumboomer photos, update,s, and fun stuff every few days about our trip. Please click on the FB icon to the right of this column; it will take you directly to the Platinum Boomer FB page. You can also follow us on Instagram under Platinum boomer. From these two sites you can follow our adventure. I hope you will join us for this fabulous 3-week trip in search of “what’s next!”
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