Featured Stories
A B & B from the ground up in Costa Rica Private vs. public hospitals in Costa Rica: Real-life experiences Dear Miss Move Abroad: Are all expats losers? Should Medicare extend to Mexico? Shopping for a new life on a two-week vacation Swine flu & coups: travel alerts vs. travel warnings The happiest places on Earth
 
A B & B from the ground up in Costa Rica

A B & B from the ground up in Costa Rica

The builder went over budget and there were construction delays, but when the Hideaway Hotel opened its doors in 2008, it all seemed worth it. "Local realtors couldn't believe it," says co-owner Doug Ancel. They said, 'You guys actually opened! So many projects end up unfinished ruins.'"

A B & B from the ground up in Costa Rica
Private vs. public hospitals in Costa Rica: Real-life experiences

Private vs. public hospitals in Costa Rica: Real-life experiences

Costa Rica is known for high-quality medical care at affordable prices. But what's it like to be in the belly of the beast--to be a patient in the country's private and public hospitals? Here, four expats describe their experiences.

Private vs. public hospitals in Costa Rica: Real-life experiences
Dear Miss Move Abroad: Are all expats losers?

Dear Miss Move Abroad: Are all expats losers?

Dear Miss Move Abroad. I’m an executive and I travel a good deal for my work. I’ve visited 41 countries on five continents. I’ve had the dubious pleasure of meeting many so called “expats” and have come to this conclusion: Most expats are losers who can’t cut it at home. I’ve yet to meet an expat, [...]

Dear Miss Move Abroad: Are all expats losers?
Should Medicare extend to Mexico?

Should Medicare extend to Mexico?

U.S. senior citizens living in Mexico should have their medical care covered by Medicare, says Paul Crist, a former senator’s aid who now lives in Puerto Vallarta. In the current debate over health care, Crist’s idea seems to be gaining ground. Right now, retired U.S. citizens cannot claim Medicare benefits for treatment received in Mexico—or Costa [...]

Should Medicare extend to Mexico?
Shopping for a new life on a two-week vacation

Shopping for a new life on a two-week vacation

It’s the last day of your vacation. Far from being ready to go, you find yourself wondering: What if the flight home leaves and I don’t? If you seriously consider what it would be like to stay behind every time you travel, you may be a closet expatriate for whom a week at the beach or [...]

Shopping for a new life on a two-week vacation
Swine flu & coups: travel alerts vs. travel warnings

Swine flu & coups: travel alerts vs. travel warnings

What is a U.S. State Department Travel Alert? How does it differ from a Travel Warning? And how should they affect your travel plans or your plans to move abroad? First, know that a country being on the Travel Warnings list doesn’t mean that you should never in a million years consider going there. Independent travelers and relocators will use the warnings and alerts as starting points, seeking more information from a variety of sources.

Swine flu & coups: travel alerts vs. travel warnings
The happiest places on Earth

The happiest places on Earth

Which are the happiest nations on earth? In a University of Leicester study polling 80,000 people worldwide, Denmark ranked number 1 in happiness, the U.S.A. number 23, and Costa Rica number 13.

The happiest places on Earth
Costa Rica elects woman President

Costa Rica elects woman President

09 February 2010

On Feb 7th Costa Ricans went to the polls and overwhelmingly elected Laura Chinchilla president for the next 4 years. Chinchilla, who is 50 an has one teenage son, takes office in May.

Read the full story

Posted in world culture1 Comment

California to outsource incarceration?

California to outsource incarceration?

27 January 2010

This week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested that the state might outsource incarceration by opening prisons in Mexico. Photo of prison in Durango by flickr user Dexter Perrin.

Read the full story

Posted in world culture0 Comments

Travel Bookshelf: The Geography of Bliss

Travel Bookshelf: The Geography of Bliss

27 January 2010

In The Geography of Bliss, NPR foreign correspondent Eric Weiner travels the world to find happiness. Is that so different from what the rest of us are doing? Well, yes and no. Wiener makes a science of it. He goes about it with more deliberation than most of us wanderers. Before he takes on the geography angle, [...]

Read the full story

Posted in travel bookshelf4 Comments

Leaving your job and country: Don’t burn bridges

Leaving your job and country: Don’t burn bridges

26 January 2010

A taste for bridge-burning seems to go hand-in-hand with being a serial relocator. Most of us tend towards one of two poles: the smoother-over, who never wants to make any kind of break or change, or the bridge burner, who’s always itching to strike that match.

Read the full story

Posted in before you go2 Comments

In Costa Rica, airplane-bar tells tales of covert ops past

In Costa Rica, airplane-bar tells tales of covert ops past

25 January 2010

One of the pleasures of living abroad is starting to see world history and events from another–often radically different–angle. You can start to make that shift pretty much anywhere–reading the local newspaper at your favorite expat cafe, exploring a crumbling castle, or talking politics with the guy who repairs your car with tin foil and fishing [...]

Read the full story

Posted in life abroad0 Comments

Longtime Costa Rica expat writes memoir: Evelio’s Garden

Longtime Costa Rica expat writes memoir: Evelio’s Garden

06 December 2009

From Evelio’s Garden: A Memoir of Costa Rica: It is gratifying to be part of the history of the land, to be growing a farm instead of shrinking it, to be building a forest instead of cutting it down. Here, in one tiny corner of the planet, the question becomes obvious: do we add something by our tenancy of the earth, or do we take it away?

Read the full story

Posted in true expat tales1 Comment

How an American expat survived China

How an American expat survived China

24 October 2009

As an American expat in China, James Fallow wondered “how much long-term damage foreigners do themselves” by living in “smoky, urban China.” He decided to find out.

Read the full story

Posted in travel health & safety, true expat tales0 Comments

Stem cell tourism in Costa Rica

Stem cell tourism in Costa Rica

22 October 2009

Americans are coming to Costa Rica for stem cell treatments, which in the U.S. are often prohibitively expensive if they are available at all. Is this a boon or a boondoggle?

Read the full story

Posted in medical tourism0 Comments

Medical Tourism Congress highlights Costa Rican care

Medical Tourism Congress highlights Costa Rican care

20 October 2009

The focus on Costa Rica's medical system doesn't surprise me. I lived there, and ended up having major surgery in the capital city of San Jose. No hospital stay is fun, but I received very competent care, and the bill didn't push me to the brink of bankruptcy (the biggest cause of bankruptcy is the U.S. is said to be unpaid medical bills.)

Read the full story

Posted in medical tourism0 Comments

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: Paul Theroux not quite his old cranky self

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: Paul Theroux not quite his old cranky self

19 October 2009

Funny that the best travel writers seem to be cranks, curmudgeons, or kvetchers. Paul Theroux is surely one of the great curmudgeons, but with his latest book, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of The Great Railway Bazaar, his rough edges seem to have smoothed out a bit. I'm not sure if that's such a good thing.

Read the full story

Posted in travel bookshelf0 Comments

Older Entries »