If you wanted to live like many of us do here and live in South America, which country/city would you choose? 

Colombia.

Armenia, Pereira, Manizales,  or Bucaramanga. 

Crime rate and cost is too high in Medellin. Bogota too cold 

Beach?

Santa Marta

Mexico if you meant Latin America. 

 

Queretaro, Guadalajara, or too hot Merida 

 

Beach?

 

La Paz Baja or Puerto Vallarta 

Edited March 13, 20215 yr by Jingthing

I was thinking about Columbia too when c19 situation settles down. Just to have a look around first. 

7 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Colombia.

Armenia, Pereira, Manizales,  or Bucaramanga. 

Crime rate and cost is too high in Medellin. Bogota too cold 

Mexico if you meant Latin America. 

 

Queretaro, Guadalajara, or too hot Merida 

A friend lives in Armenia.. It did sound interesting. He is married to  a retired civil servant, and got a pretty cheesy Uni English teaching job.  They were paying 450 usd for a townhouse.  He joked about their rubber stamp mentality.. How ones status is often determined by their stamp.  Already familiar with Mexico... generally don't like resorts, but I was somewhat fascinated bt the Sonora capital, Hermosillo.  

1 hour ago, moontang said:

A friend lives in Armenia.. It did sound interesting. He is married to  a retired civil servant, and got a pretty cheesy Uni English teaching job.  They were paying 450 usd for a townhouse.  He joked about their rubber stamp mentality.. How ones status is often determined by their stamp.  Already familiar with Mexico... generally don't like resorts, but I was somewhat fascinated bt the Sonora capital, Hermosillo.  

You mean Armenia Colombia?

Please explain the rubber stamp comment.

Are you referring to how each district is rated with a number system indicating economic level?

There are a lot of lesser known options in Mexico that could work for the more adventurous. Such as Aguascalientes , Cholula, etc. I know a lot of people like Oaxaca but I recently heard its degrading (prices rising quickly combined with gang tagging all over town).

Edited March 13, 20215 yr by Jingthing

Peru is beautiful, friendly and if you live outside the major city centers, US $1500 will give you a good life. People are very friendly and accepting as well.

 

16 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Peru is beautiful, friendly and if you live outside the major city centers, US $1500 will give you a good life. People are very friendly and accepting as well.

 

Peruvian food is amazing. My only experience there is Lima, which is a great city, but high crime, weird depressing weather, and largely filthy. I think Arequipa sounds interesting but it's very geographically isolated.

Yes, Armenia Colombia.. The rubber stamp comment applies mostly to civil servants whose rubber stamp may determine what you can and can't do.  Those with important rubber stamps hold all the cards.. similar to our beloved immigration Bureau.  But we were comparing Colo to Thai, and he said that was one thi g you don't want a Colombian to have... My response was a bullhorn would be something you don't want to see a Thai with, but there is a rubber stamp culture here, too. 

A friend of mine lives in La Paz, Bolivia and said life is real good there. Easy. Cheap. Very nice people.

17 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Peruvian food is amazing. My only experience there is Lima, which is a great city, but high crime, weird depressing weather, and largely filthy. I think Arequipa sounds interesting but it's very geographically isolated.

I lived in Miraflores, Peru for one year.  It's a very cosmopolitan city with restaurants, shopping, and a nice beach.  However, I still would rather live on Samui or Phuket.

I have heard that Argentina offers terrific value due to the collapse of the Peso. I would expect the wine, steaks, and Italian-influenced cuisine to be excellent.

Have also heard that Chile is very civilized, forward-thinking, and has a Californian climate. Some coastal area such as Valparaíso sounds pretty good.

Ultimately, though, it all comes down to cost of living. How well would any Latin country compare with the cost of living in Spain or Portugal? My impression is that crime is far more of a problem than in Europe.

 

Edited March 14, 20215 yr by donnacha

I liked Quito, Ecuador.  La Paz is so high in the mountains, it's hard to breathe.  you will finally get used to it, but.....  Cusco, Peru is preferable to Lima, IMHO.  I wouldn't recommend Columbia unless you can afford a 24/7 armed militia.

I wouldn't go further south than Prachuap... that should be fine.

Back in 2005 I told myself I wanted to live in the Patagonia Region of Argentina or Chile for the rest of my life, I loved it that much, still do but I ended marrying a Thai women so Thailand is Home but my first choice would have been Patagonia Hands Down!

Colombia doesn’t have a tax treaty with America so you end up paying double taxes on your US income if you stay there more than 183 days per year.  So...as nice as it looks, for me it would be a no go.

https://www.taxsamaritan.com/us-expat-tax-in-colombia/
 

Lima, Peru looks interesting as does Montevideo, Uruguay 

18 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Peru is beautiful, friendly and if you live outside the major city centers, US $1500 will give you a good life. People are very friendly and accepting as well.

 

Stayed one month in Lima last January. I was about the only gringo in town. I had visited Lima about 20 times over the past 15 years. This time was very disappointing. Everywhere evidence of bankruptcy. One in three businesses had gone bust. Prices in restaurants were twice the prices in Brazil where I flew to Peru from. I didn't venture far afield but I was advised under no circumstance to roam Lima with my best smartphone since real crime had taken hold. Venezuelan refugees were blamed for organised crime. Elections are due in April and they may lead to violence after a grotesque string of political scandals.

In a stark contrast to Brasil, escort girls were difficult to get hold off and sounded scared (by what? crime? police enforcement of lockdown rules?).

Regarding cost of living, Peru had not been cheap for many years already, some say owing to the mining bonanza (Dutch disease). 

All this is a pity because Peru's retirement visa is cheap and not too hard to get. Plus, it goes hand in hand with full residency rights, unlike some other retirement visa we know about on this forum.

Uruguay or Chile. Sure not Argentina even I have relatives over there. However, I continue to live in Thailand and would never think to emigrate to South America.

Edited March 14, 20215 yr by AlfonsV

Ecuador, Columbia 

1 hour ago, donnacha said:

I have heard that Argentina offers terrific value due to the collapse of the Peso. I would expect the wine, steaks, and Italian-influenced cuisine to be excellent.

Have also heard that Chile is very civilized, forward-thinking, and has a Californian climate. Some coastal area such as Valparaíso sounds pretty good.

Ultimately, though, it all comes down to cost of living. How well would any Latin country compare with the cost of living in Spain or Portugal? My impression is that crime is far more of a problem than in Europe.

 

Steaks with chimmichuri sauce and empanadas Yummmm

48 minutes ago, JackGats said:

Stayed one month in Lima last January. I was about the only gringo in town. I had visited Lima about 20 times over the past 15 years. This time was very disappointing. Everywhere evidence of bankruptcy. One in three businesses had gone bust. Prices in restaurants were twice the prices in Brazil where I flew to Peru from. I didn't venture far afield but I was advised under no circumstance to roam Lima with my best smartphone since real crime had taken hold. Venezuelan refugees were blamed for organised crime. Elections are due in April and they may lead to violence after a grotesque string of political scandals.

In a stark contrast to Brasil, escort girls were difficult to get hold off and sounded scared (by what? crime? police enforcement of lockdown rules?).

Regarding cost of living, Peru had not been cheap for many years already, some say owing to the mining bonanza (Dutch disease). 

All this is a pity because Peru's retirement visa is cheap and not too hard to get. Plus, it goes hand in hand with full residency rights, unlike some other retirement visa we know about on this forum.

Brazil girls are too Catholic 

1 hour ago, 1Gringo said:

I liked Quito, Ecuador.  La Paz is so high in the mountains, it's hard to breathe.  you will finally get used to it, but.....  Cusco, Peru is preferable to Lima, IMHO.  I wouldn't recommend Columbia unless you can afford a 24/7 armed militia.

La Paz Bolivia?

I had mentioned La Paz but the La Paz in Baja California Mexico.

I would usually avoid very high elevation areas anywhere.

Its true there are areas in Colombia that should be considered no go violence zones such as the Pacific coast and sections of Medellin and Bogota, there are plenty of others that are considerably safer than most U.S. cities. But its good that so many people have dated impressions of Colombia. Keeps the riff raff out ha ha 

Edited March 14, 20215 yr by Jingthing

11 minutes ago, AlfonsV said:

Uruguay or Chile. Sure not Argentina even I have relatives over there. However, I continue to live in Thailand and would never think to emigrate to South America.

Backups 

 

1 hour ago, Airalee said:

Colombia doesn’t have a tax treaty with America so you end up paying double taxes on your US income if you stay there more than 183 days per year.  So...as nice as it looks, for me it would be a no go.

https://www.taxsamaritan.com/us-expat-tax-in-colombia/
 

Lima, Peru looks interesting as does Montevideo, Uruguay 

Colombia tax depends on your specific situation. They won't tax foreign sourced pension income. The general advice is to seek local advice. 

19 minutes ago, Aomelia said:

Ecuador, Columbia 

Ecuador visa will be a problem if moving from Thailand because of the needed Thailand officialized Police report with a strict and too short time limit as the Ecuador visa process is very slow and a bureaucratic nightmare.

Edited March 14, 20215 yr by Jingthing

Colombia retirement visa recently got harder because of a weird glitch related to health insurance.

 

Without going into detail it used to be first one three years, second one three years, but you can apply for citizenship at five years.

Now its first time usually one year, second one and following three years, meaning three instead of two applications before citizenship. 

I have only been to Brazil, Argentina and Chile, but Chile would by far be my choice, despite some political unrest and depressed economy. But the climate at the pacific cost, west of the Andes, is just great, maybe comparable with Vancouver in Canada in the warmer seasons. The food is also great, the people in general friendly, and everything very affordable.

Where is South America?

If it's not near Buriram, I would'nt have a clue!

Bocas del Toro, Panama. Lots of islands of you want beaches and if you want a change of weather, up the mountain to Boquete in less than two hours.  

I have been living 5 years un Brazil (Curitiba), Argentina for seven years (Cordoba), 3 years in Chile (Valparaiso) and also 3 years in Uruguay (Montevideo).

*Brazil and Argentina never again thanks, Chile is very nice and relatively low cost, Uruguay by far the best quality life but not cheap.

If you want to go a bit north, and if you like beauriful beaches and cool life, Nicaragua is not a bad destination. Politically unstable like most of the banana republics but cheap and nice people. My son is living there for now 8  years so I know about it. Costa Rica vey nice but very expensive

Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia just visit these countries but don't live there not speaking about Venezuela ( nice country by the way but......)

 

Some where in Argentina.

Edited March 14, 20215 yr by khunPer

Not even close, Ecuador without a doubt.