Retiring offshore

Yesterday, I was exchanging emails with John. He’s done a good job of running a paddling club, and I’ve come to get to know him. When you’ve done the same thing, you tend to understand the same things, which forms a bond of sorts.

He sent me a link to his blog and photo sites, concerning a recent vacation in Mexico. He keeps an RV there and plans on transitioning there full time. That’s where we part ways. I’ve never comprehended why leaving the country was the best retirement alternative.


He’s far from the first person I’ve known to elect to do this. Maybe that’s no coincidence. Harry was the first to boggle my mind.

We were driving to our next business destination, so it was a chance for him to regale me with some of his thoughts. Mind you, we could’ve been in the throes of a cyclone and Harry would still seize the opportunity to hold forth.

“I have an ingenious retirement plan. I’m not relying on this pension plan.” Harry and I worked for the same company. “Want to know what it is?”

I was in my twenties and retirement had never crossed my mind. It held no interest for me. “Sure.”

“There’s a small village in the Congo. I won’t bore you with how I came across it.” Not right now, anyway. “Every year, I send them a big crate of food and some other stuff. Few hundred bucks worth. That’s the core of my plan.”

“I’m not following you.”

“I’m not done. They look at me almost as a god. More like royalty. Anyway, they’ve built a nice hut for me. When I’m ready, I go there and they take care of me for the rest of my life. All for a few hundred bucks a year. Clever, no?”

No. Aside from not seeing a hut in darkest Africa as a dream destination, I couldn’t imagine living out my life away from everything that was near, dear and familiar to me. Besides, how do you play shuffleboard on mud?

I just wrote the concept off to Harry’s unique mind. But, later on, I’d hear others talk about moving offshore when the time came.

A couple years ago, an acquaintance packed up and moved to Mexico. His subsequent emails sounded like he was enjoying the life. I attributed it, in part, to the fact that his wife had died recently. Maybe he was going away from something instead of to it.

About a month ago, I was in Costa Rica and met Gene. Gene had been a long-time manager with a large company in Virginia, where he had lived since birth. He was in the process of moving to Costa Rica for his retirement. It’s about as unlike Virginia as you can get. My question was why.

“Because it’s a great place.”

Not that great. “But, you’ve always lived in the states. In Virginia.”

“Always is long enough.”

While I was there, I met a quite a few Norte Americans who had already made the move. I must be missing something.

What would I miss if I retired there or elsewhere? It’s a world community and many things are universal. Most places I’ve traveled, you drive your Toyota down to the McDonald’s and get a burger and Coca Cola before shopping for your Nikes, ipod and Samsung cell phone.

The web certainly spans the globe and even television. On my recent trip, I had access to a TV a couple times and got American shows in English (Spanish subtitles), along with local fare in Spanish (English subtitles). Also, English shows with English subtitles and local with Spanish subtitles. The cable network was a little screwed up. Just like home.

Then, there’s the change of season thing. At one time, that might have been a factor for me. Now, a good variety would be nice, nicer and nicest. I wouldn’t pine for ice scrapers and wool sweaters.

Which brings up creature comforts. I’m not that big on luxuries. Reasonable bed and indoor temperature are enough for me.

I guess that leaves family and friends for the deal breaker. True, you could keep in touch by phone and email, much like we do with crowded schedules, now. But, they’re here and some things just cannot be accomplished through electrons or radio waves.

This bridges to another recent topic. To ensure long-term service to an area covered by a nonprofit service agency I run, I initiated and negotiated its acquisition by a much larger entity. The first thing people ask is why I would do that. Won’t I miss my job? Or, the advantages of being in charge of something?

My job, which was to bring the agency back from the brink of bankruptcy, is done, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been in charge of things before and it holds no magic for me. What I’ll miss is the people I work with.

Palm trees and balmy breezes are nice. But relationships are gold.