Non7WoodUser wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:58 pm
USA! We experienced the following in other countries:
- no public restrooms
- no or poor air conditioning
- no or limited hdtv (really bad cable - we missed a lot of our shows)
- lots of dog waste on streets and sidewalks
- unfriendly people
- overpriced and nasty food/drink
Nothing wrong with retiring in the USA but I can’t help but disagree with your reasons. It all depends on the specific country or city but most of these reasons don’t make sense to me. And I’ve travelled to over 100 countries.
- no public restrooms - in my experience major US cities have a major lack of public restrooms. Thank God there are so many Starbucks and McDonalds but even they are beginning to lock their restrooms now. Many foreign cities have easily accessible public restrooms in the major centers, albeit usually for a small fee, which goes for keeping them clean which they invariably are.
- no or poor air conditioning - agree this is an issue in Europe and the UK. I have suffered through many summers in those places. But many other places don’t need air conditioning - ever. The well known retirement communities of Cuenca, Ecuador and Antigua, Guatemala have pleasant spring like weather all year round. Tropical cities in South America and SE Asia have plenty of AC.
- no or limited hdtv (really bad cable - we missed a lot of our shows)- this has not been my experience. Although I pretty much stopped watching TV years ago, and am much better off for it.
- lots of dog waste on streets and sidewalks - there is no worse place in the world for dog waste in public spaces than the USA, where I have even seen dogs defecate and urinate in supermarkets, restaurants, hotel rooms. But don’t call this out to the dog owners in the USA because they’ll just scream at you. The dog worship in the USA and other western countries has gotten completely out of hand.
- unfriendly people- Americans were once known the world over as super friendly- sometimes overly and superficially so. Now all it seems they want to do is rant about politics. It’s so refreshing to spend time in other countries and not have to deal with that. The nicest / happiest people I have ever encountered in my life have been in Colombia, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, Ireland, Malaysia.
- overpriced and nasty food/drink - what countries are you referring to? Food and drink as well as lodging/ housing are far less expensive outside of the US in places like Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe etc. which is what attracts so many Americans to retire to those places in the first place. They’re generally far more affordable on every measure.
Not saying the USA doesn’t have its good points too because it sure does, and it all comes down to what you want out of life and as always YMMV.