Living Abroad: Reality vs. Marketing Hype

By Ilene Little on Saturday, February 11, 2012

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Give Yourself the Option to Live Abroad

Living in Costa Rica – Living in Mexico – Living in Panama – Medical Advice for Expats

If the rich and famous, like James Cameron – Hollywood Director of Avatar and Titanic – are moving abroad to shore up lifestyle and financial strategies, perhaps that’s a “heads-up” to the rest of us.

And if worrying about your own lifestyle options is keeping you up at night, you might want to learn about the expat experience.

Resources you can Trust

Traveling 4 Health & Retirement (T4H&R) is pleased to introduce you to David J Gregerson, the owner of OverSeasRadio.com (ORN), a talk-radio network for expats and people who are interested in living abroad.

ORN is about “listen and learn”; picking up on nuances from live-audio that you can’t get in a “white paper” presentation. (more…)

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New Best Hospital in Costa Rica . . .

By Ilene Little on Sunday, November 27, 2011

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New Best Hospital in Costa Rica . . .

Where the President of Costa Rica goes for surgery

Medical Tourism in Costa Rica – Health Care in Costa Rica – Hospital Metropolitano

Dr. Roberto Herrera, Medical Director of Hospital Metropolitano, flanked by sons Dr. Felipe Herrera, and Luis Diego Herrera

Boutique hospital in Costa Rica offers first-class care at middle-class prices

There are some genuinely good people in the world.  And at the time when many foreign doctors and hospitals are raising prices for procedures and catering to the wealthy medical tourism trade, this family-owned hospital is serving the needs of the middle class residents and medical tourists.

Hospital Metropolitano opened its doors nearly two years ago under the leadership of Dr. Roberto Herrera, the former Medical Director of CIMA Hospital in Costa Rica.

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Talking Turkey Over the Holidays

By Ilene Little on Monday, November 21, 2011

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Retirement Planning – Retiring Abroad – International Living

10 important conversations to have about retirement over the holidays

10 Conversations to have over the holidays . . . about retirement.

Extended families and friends gather to celebrate over holiday dinners.  What better time to start an informal conversation about the serious matter of retirement; retirement planning, retiring abroad, and international living.

Typically four generations are being affected by the retirement decisions of people in their 60’s.  So, the subject is worthy of discussion.  The trick is to not make the discussion about finances.  Make it about choices.

If the subject of limited finances tends to loom over the discussion, here’s how you can be the bearer of hope:

Check out the Google interactive map on the home page of Traveling 4 Health & Retirement where you can see at a glance most of the popular places where others, like yourself, are living better lifestyles requiring less income and enjoying better healthcare benefits sometimes as cheaply as $22 a month.

Does that cheer you up?  It should.  Everyone likes having more choices. (more…)

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Taking a Vacation to Explore Retirement Abroad

By Ilene Little on Thursday, November 17, 2011

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Traveling 4 Health & Retirement CEO on vacation to explore retiring abroad

Vacation to Explore Retirement in Panama, SA – Panama Central America

Let me tell you about three friends of mine.  I think they are typical of those who would be excited about taking vacation time to join Traveling 4 Health & Retirement on a guided tour to Panama, Central America to explore what Panama might have to offer for the next phase of their lives.

Catherine

Catherine is a nurse practitioner who heads a hospice division of one of the largest managed care companies in the U.S.  She is responsible for instructing hospice nurses and monitoring the work standards of home-healthcare givers in the Seattle area, and she loves her work.

I met Catherine over 30 years ago when she was a sailing student on-board one of the charter-boats I captained.  She and her husband moved to Washington State because I was here.

She’s made her decision to retire in six months to a year.  She told me she’s no longer willing to keep working 12 hours a day just to make mortgage payments on property that the bank owns.  The only way she can scale back her hours is for her and her spouse to sell their acreage and downsize to an apartment close to work.

She feels the change may be difficult for her husband because he needs to be outdoors where there is sunlight and fresh air.  The prospect of him giving up his garden for apartment living; well, it’s just too depressing.

If she could live more affordable abroad, even three months a year in some sunny destination, then the rest of the year living in an apartment might be bearable.  If she stays in Washington State, she’ll have to continue working part-time just to pay for medical benefits.

Kristin

Kristin is a recent friend, an author of three books on medical tourism and a nurse practitioner specializing in Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery.

She’s an excellent writer and writes investigative-style stories about surgeons and surgical facilities.  She’s lived in St. Thomas and Colombia.

She recently took a position as a nurse practitioner in Arizona.  She says, “As much as I love my job as an NP, I find I miss meeting doctors, and seeing facilities, and technologies around the world.  I also miss writing.”

And then there’s…..

Angie

Angie is a vibrant and young-looking grandma who has worked in a leadership role for a global philanthropic company for 19 years.

I’ve known her for five years.  Angie lent me seed-money to start Traveling 4 Health.  She has always been excited about our company.

Angie is a very social Filipina.  Last week she told me she and her friends sat with a reader who encouraged her to decide what was most important to her spirit.  She said it was to travel . . . and her other comment was “I am so done with this job”.

Each of these ladies has loyal circles of friends in their professions and at their jobs who feel the same way and would love to add a little choice into their lives.  It just takes one to show by example that it can be done.  And who doesn’t like the idea of a vacation with friends to see how other Americans are living abroad?

Each one will feel more comfortable living abroad part-time before committing to anything more permanent.  Support from a company culture while people make friends in a new neighborhood is key to making integration into a new country culture less stressful.

The icing on the cake is a company’s ability to offer affordable, transitional housing for short-term or extended stay and home-ownership plans to defray mortgage payments and even provide job and revenue opportunities .

The beauty of such a business plan is that it provides the security of a company culture as well as job and income opportunities for home-buyers who desire to supplement their income while living in Panama.

And that is exactly what Traveling 4 Health & Retirement is going to do.

Vacation to Panama to Explore Retirement Abroad

Why Panama?  Because Panama offers the biggest variety of expat and retirement community destinations that most closely resemble what Americans want and need, especially the excellent medical and health care resources.  Political stability, personal safety, and healthcare; those are the three top criteria that will cause Panama to boom in the next several years.

If you would like to join us on an excursion to Panama, Central America, we welcome you.  Our first tours will be friends and family trips intended to experience all Panama, SA has to offer while blazing new trails of support for those who follow in our wake.

If you have questions or something to offer that will add value to this venture, I’d like to hear from you. Email me (or contact me through out “contact us” page)

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