And the Winner is…

International Living Postcards-- your daily escape

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Paris, France

Dear International Living Reader,

Drum roll, please.

And the winner of our Win a New Life photo quiz is…Gabe P. Congratulations, Gabe, tickets for you and a guest to attend our upcoming Live Overseas Latin America event in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, as our guests, are on their way to you as I write. (The photos in the quiz were taken in: Old Town, Panama City; Roatan, Honduras; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.)

To whet your appetite, here is but a taste of what you'll learn in Puerto Vallarta later this month. (Dear Reader, yes, there is still time for you to sign on to join our lucky winner…as well as the 125 other International Living readers expected in PV. See below.)

In destinations like Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Argentina, Belize, Ecuador, and many other hot-spots south of the Rio Grande, you really can enjoy La Vida Buena--with less stress, more freedom, and better living all around. Plus, more often than not, it'll cost you less than your old life back home. Maybe a lot less. Specifically, the biggest opportunities right now to live and prosper in the world's top havens include:

In Panama: Long stretches of sand kissed by emerald and blue-hued water… Coconut palms. Lots of pink, white, and beige seashells. And, during the week, hardly another person in sight. Even on weekends, most of the beaches within two hours of Panama City are rarely crowded. The population here just isn't that big. And, guess what: You still can buy a two-bedroom oceanview condo here for as little as $100,000…with fine finishings and detail work.

In Mexico: Minutes from the centro of San Miguel de Allende, you'll find high-desert sierra with shrub grass, cactus, and mesquite trees that turn lushly green during the rainy season. Surrounded in the distance by mountains on all sides, the vistas seem to go on forever. At an altitude of approximately 6,500 feet, the weather here is wonderful year-round…not hot and humid in the summer and not too chilly in the winter. The opportunity here is a development that caters to mature adults, active in both mind and body, and who want to treat themselves well, but without paying a prohibitive amount to do so. This is U.S.-standard retirement living…at South of the Border costs.

In Nicaragua: Nicaragua's south Pacific coast today is the picture of the California Pacific coast 100 years ago--quiet and untouched, with long stretches of sand and surf…virgin beach unsoiled by development, tourism, or regulation. Even better: This remains one of the cheapest places in the world to own beachfront property, certainly the best buy along this Latin American Pacific coastline. A brand new town is being built from the ground up, right on the beach on the mid-Pacific coast of Nicaragua, about one hour from Managua…a self-contained community with all the fringes and like-minded neighbors. Exciting times.

In Ecuador: Nowhere on the Pacific Ocean enjoys cleaner seas or more exotic sites than Ecuador's Pacific coast. Yet, development here is in the authentic, rough-and-tumble, pre-resort stage. Because sellers haven't yet realized the potential of the new coast road that replaced the old inland road, you can still get serious real estate bargains…with magnificent coastal views.

In Honduras: This is a secret Caribbean destination that most North Americans have overlooked for decades, the last remaining outpost in the Caribbean where you can own a slice of prime beachfront property from $25,000.

In Argentina: Barracas in Buenos Aires is an old commercial area. After the recession, the factories (mostly textile) in this neighborhood closed down or moved to a more economical location. Thanks to government incentives, developers are renovating these factories, and many have already been converted into apartments. To buy a new-built apartment in Barracas costs $80 per square foot, less than half the price you'd pay in Palermo, the area currently most popular with tourists looking for short-term rentals. Barracas has already attracted the artists and art studios…the tourists may not be far behind.

In Uruguay: A personal favorite, the 17th-century colonial homes in Colonia, with their stone and brick houses, flower boxes on the window sills and red tiles on the roofs, qualify as adorable. This town is one of the finest examples of a historic colonial settlement you'll see in the Americas.

In Belize: We have a soft spot for Belize, one of the most fiercely independent nations on earth. We've backed off promoting it in recent years, as prices have risen, and development, especially on Ambergris Cay and in Placencia on the mainland, seems to have to run amuck. Now we've found something in this little, misunderstood country that we think is worth your attention…

For more on all these opportunities, and others that I simply have no room to tell you about here, join us in Mexico later this month (April 27-29) for Live Overseas Latin America. A fun--and rewarding--time will be had by all. For the full scoop, visit here, e-mail conferences@internationalliving.com or tel. +1-866-381-8446 toll-free.

Kathleen Peddicord
For International Living

P.S. Gabe, I look forward to meeting you in PV.