Decision time - where to next???

Our lease in Puerto Vallarta expires at the end of September and decisions / new arrangements need to be made well before that for the next leg of our adventure. It's hard to fathom that we have been in Puerto Vallarta for almost 8 months - that went fast - and it is clear that the time has come to get out the spread sheet again and take a look at what has changed / improved / become worse in the 17 places we are analyzing and comparing. Web updates are needed and the "weights" of items that have become more important to us and not so much on others need to be changed. We found that coming to PV first was a wise choice to get acclimatized to retirement life. However, we also found that our perception of retired life (and what was important) and our approach to our daily affairs, has changed. Many of our previously important issues are not as high on the list anymore (crime perception / health care / shopping / mobility) as we have become more relaxed with those items from staying here.

Probably the most influential factor in our adventure decision making is the value of the Canadian dollar against other currencies. Our pensions are paid in Canadian dollars, and while they are indexed to reflect Canadian inflation they are not indexed for surging exchange rates or out of control inflation in other countries. We have been keeping a close eye on that. As Cyndi says, we aren't goin' if we can't afford it....yes dear.

As this is being typed, the Canadian dollar is at a historical peak against the Mexican peso. It would seem the obvious choice to stay where we are and enjoy the ride for a while – perhaps in another Mexican city? ...Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Akumal all come to mind on the east coast of Mexico, and we have friends on that side too. :-)

However, of late, the Canadian dollar has also been steadily improving against the US dollar, and it would make sense to take a look at other potential places to continue our adventure as long as the trend continues.

In addition to updating the spread sheet, we have joined several chat forums and travel forums to get information that might not be on web sites, and we have contacted many real estate agencies in several places to get up to date accommodation costs for long term rentals. Cyndi keeps saying "a pool would be nice"... yes dear...

There are many small tropical countries in the Caribbean and most of them have a strong affiliation with the US dollar. Cyndi says it would sure be a lot of fun if we could find a place to live there for a year or so and then go island hopping. She has also been wanting to visit the Caribbean for her entire life - OK dear - (this is likely the main driving force in all of this, and she really loves the blue water and white sand in those places... I digress). We both know we can always keep Mexico in our hip pocket for a future stay if the islands are not as welcoming as they might appear from the outside.

So, drum roll...........take a sip of your rum punch........

..... after updating our little spread sheet and adding up the scores, four places are coming out on top as potential places for us to hang our hat (based on crime, weather, health / well-being, and day to day living items). Three of those places are in the Caribbean: Antigua, Barbados, Grenada. The fourth is the country of Malta in the Mediterranean – it scored very well in a lot of categories but that's a bit too far away for us at this point, and is a bit too crowded and perhaps too urban. It is off the list for now. Maybe explore down the road...

What are the categories you may ask? They are: crime related indicators, economic indicators, natural disaster items, best rum punch, weather related items, partial cost of living indicators, health and well-being, and day to day stuff, and, of course, what Cyndi wants is on top.... there you have it.

I believe this won't be a big surprise to most people reading this but Barbados came out on top in total points, and also scores best for our short lists of important stuff, and critical stuff. But most importantly, Cyndi wants to go there.

Look out Barbados here we come. :-)