Snowbird Lifestyle

Guatemala Bound

2010-12-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

Heading to Guatemala City on New Year's Eve to study Spanish and live with a local family in Antigua for 2 weeks. We leave Calgary, Alberta that evening and fly all night. We will be picked up by someone from the school early on January 1, 1011 and start out the year there. Not looking forward to the airports in the USA as we are flying through Los Angeles and have heard so many horror stories

In Merida!

2010-01-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Well here we are in a Mexican homestay with Sophia through the ECORA Spanish language school where my husband is studying for 25 hours per week. We are really enjoying the warm hospitality and working hard at picking up as much Spanish as we can... me through immersion in a conversational mode and my husband through the formal schooling plus the immersion experience. Hard work! Fun to trade

Counting the Days....

2009-12-22T22:57:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is Lisle's last day of work in a 33 + year career ..... wahoo! We are counting down the days until we fly south!

Winter Winter Everywhere....

2009-12-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Oh my, we were having such a nice long fall without too many major cold spells or inches and inches of snow. However, that has all changed with the more recent weather and blizzard conditions here in Alberta. Don't like it one bit..... cold aggravates me both physically and mentally. I am just frozen and cannot get warm! That said there remains much to be thankful for as we have sunny skies

Plans for Mexico

2009-10-19T21:36:00.007-06:00

So found a condo in Playa del Carmen for the month of January... subletting a bedroom with private bathroom and use of the house and condo pool. We are renting from a fellow who happens to be an Albertan. Small world. He is also a scuba diving instructor. So it will be interesting to share his space. Now I need to find a school for Lisle to take his Spanish classes... not sure what I will

Rentals

2009-10-03T21:03:00.004-06:00

Well now our challenge is to find "affordable" accommodation. Looks as if Cozumel and Playa del Carmen are just too expensive to spend 3 months in. Maybe we can spend a few days on the way home if we have enough money left. Think we may just head up to Merida right off the bat. We viewed a house last year that we really liked and would love to rent it if we could. Have been trying to reach

Flight Booked!

2009-09-19T21:44:00.005-06:00

After all the angst over where to go we decided to let the dollar make the decision. So Cancun here we come on January 1st. Got a return flight there for both of us with insurance for less than $1,000 CAD. That price beat out Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama as we would have had to spend that and more for just one of us. Someday I hope we can see those places. For now we will go to Mexico.So

September 6th Already!

2009-09-06T08:33:00.002-06:00

My summer break from work has come and gone. I am so lucky to have the employer that I do. Returning to work is always a bit like coming home... it feels familiar and comfortable but there is always so much to do. Being able to work at my own limited pace is so helpful when every day can be a challenge.I am continuing to research plane fairs and options for our winter get away. So many

Manta, Ecuador perhaps.....

2009-08-17T11:19:00.005-06:00

Well I spoke with a lovely woman from Manta, Ecuador through the couchsurfing site who was very inviting and a great ambassador for her city. She was very generous with her time and information. If we can possibly afford to make Manta our destination and still get Lisle into a Spanish school perhaps we will consider going there. Pros are the weather and a sense of knowing someone there. I

Guatemala for Spanish Language Learning

2009-08-12T09:43:00.003-06:00

After much researching, it appears we may choose Guatemala to study Spanish this winter. I found San Pedro Spanish School at Lake Atitlan in central Guatemala. That lake is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world and we both like being around water.My learning ability is way lower than my husband's but I can try to pick up a bit here and there. The weather won't be as warm as I

Shall We Learn Spanish?

2009-07-21T14:35:00.005-06:00

We bought a Rosetta Stone computer program a year ago hoping to learn Spanish. We also have several Spanish language course CDs for driving. My husband has faithfully listened most week days with his hour drive to and from work. He has done quite well. He can pick out words now but it still all runs together for me. Unfortunately, I don't retain new information very well these days.

Where Oh Where?

2009-07-14T08:59:00.006-06:00

Seems flight prices are not going down.... at least what I have been able to find for the first 3 months of 2010. It would cost substantially more to fly to Merida than it did last year. I look and look but can't find much for under $2,000 return for both of us to fly anywhere and it is more like $4,000! Now that is an awfully lot of money just to get somewhere. And the somewhere keeps being

What to do? Where to go?

2009-07-02T11:45:00.007-06:00

I am thinking about our next trip south. We are not high maintenance people and do not expect to live fancier than we do at home which believe me is not fancy. So what next?My goodness but life is full of choices. Return to Merida which we so enjoyed or strike out somewhere entirely new? If so then Ecuador or Panama? Panama or South Western Mexico? Coastal or inland? Rural or urban? B&B or

House Sharing is Our Answer

2009-06-17T11:25:00.004-06:00

Who would have thought multigenerational living could be such fun? This is the 6th month our daughter and granddaughter have been living with us. This came about after she kindly stayed to look after our house when we went south to Mexico last February. Her relationship had ended so she was glad to spend some time with us while she house hunted. We had made arrangements for a house sitter but

Finally Some Warmth

2009-06-14T14:48:00.004-06:00

We actually got to 27 degrees today which is the kind of temperature I enjoy. We haven't had much of this even though we are mid June already. Perfect day with blue skies, sunshine and warmth. Had coffee on the deck, ate breakfast on the deck, enjoyed watching the grand daughter play in her little splash pool. Ahhh life is good.Still can't help dreaming of retirement in southern climates

Air Travel and prices

2009-06-12T11:51:00.002-06:00

Seems to me that every site out there claims to offer the best search engines for finding the best prices. Kayak at least quotes in Canadian and includes taxes. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to figure out what the bottom line really is when it comes to cost.Interestingly enough, when a couple of my family recently visited my son in the Dominican Republic he found it was just as

Figuring this out....

2009-06-07T11:07:00.005-06:00

Please be patient as I figure out how to manage this site. The directions are all Greek to me so I am struggling. I want to add information that would be helpful to you, if you like me, are trying to make the Snowbird lifestyle happen. I am not a quick study so it is taking awhile to find out how to do all of this. I added Bill Cosby just because I love his sense of humour and find I need to

What I have found out so far...

2009-06-06T10:59:00.002-06:00

Ecuador is promoted by many as the country with the lowest cost of living and the best options for climates. I am subscribed to 3 well known sites and I receive regular updates from all of them. They do promote their products all the time which can be a bit annoying but they also do seem to do thorough research as well.International Living check out Google ads and search EcuadorLive and

Here I go....

2009-06-05T11:39:00.006-06:00

Hi there. I am new to this so just learning how to post and everything. My desire is to share my experiences with you as I research everything we need to know to embark on the transition to our Snowbird Lifestyle. Here we are seniors I suppose since we both are well over 55. Hopefully we will both see semi-retirement at least, as of December 31, 2009. Retirement planning isn't easy... so