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    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
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    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
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    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
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    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
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    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
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    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
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  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    LEARN MORE
    DISCOUNT
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

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    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
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    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

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    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

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    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

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Home Countries Belize

Why I Decided To Retire To Carmelita Gardens, Belize

Finding My Self-Sufficient Utopia In Belize

by Live And Invest Overseas
Jan 22, 2021
in Belize, In Focus: Belize
0 0
Carmelita Gardens, a self-sufficient community in Belize

Facebook/CarmelitaGardensBelize

I’ve always wanted to travel, live in other countries, experience other cultures, and live simply and sustainably.

I never got the chance to do this while raising my children, going to nursing school, and then caring for my oldest daughter while she was on dialysis.

Then I started my nursing career, went into management, and was also raising my grandson because my daughter couldn’t due to her health condition.

This all led to a pretty busy lifestyle and not much time to think about living simply (although I dreamed about it quite often), no free time to travel or even think about going on vacation, let alone going to another country.

But, when I turned 50, after spending most of my nursing career working with the elderly and disabled populations (and knowing first-hand what they were experiencing in their daily lives), I seriously began to think that I might be facing that same dismal retirement situation if I didn’t at least start planning for better.

So I began my search for alternative retirement options.

Researching My Options For Retirement

I soon became aware after looking at all the options, both domestic and overseas, that, if I wanted any quality of life, I would have to retire outside the United States, which was fine with me and exciting at the same time.

While I was looking at travel and retire-overseas sites, I came across all types of glossy, too-good-to-be-true retirement information. I ignored most of these and was doing my own research on different countries, but something made me click on a link that said something like “How To Retire Overseas.”

Little did I know what that one click would do…

I started looking at Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, and then Belize.

When I clicked on Belize, I found a wealth of information, including a link to a place called Carmelita Gardens. Everything I read about it was so exciting—it sounded like everything that I was already interested in, knew something about, and even more.

The property was going to be developed into a self-sufficient, off-the-grid community with organic gardens and orchards, and was bordered by a river. I remember seeing a dirt road and the beginnings of the organic orchard. I kept going back to that picture and article many times.

I remember thinking, “This is my kind of place, how much better could it get?”

Then my daughter who was on dialysis passed away, and, for a time, I put everything on hold. I didn’t even look at traveling or any other retirement options.

Picking Up My Search For A Retirement Haven

Six years later, in 2016, I started looking again. I went back to the Live and Invest Overseas website. Thank goodness those emails kept coming.

I found out that a conference was happening in Las Vegas, with representatives from many different countries available to talk to and ask questions.

With an open mind, I went to my first conference with Live and Invest Overseas, and, boy, did I learn. After talking to many representatives and entrepreneurs at the conference, I realized that Belize really was where I wanted to be.

At the conference, I met one of the staff members of Carmelita Gardens and asked her many questions. I ended up taking all the information from every destination that I thought was even a remote possibility to consider to my hotel room. After looking at all the literature, I always circled back to Carmelita Gardens. At the end of the conference, I knew Belize was where I would ultimately want to be.

My next step was going to a conference in Belize to find out more. Finally, in January 2019, I went to Belize. From the moment I saw Belize, I loved it. After reading everything I could get my hands on about Belize, all I needed was a trip in person to confirm this was the right path.

My youngest daughter Shanna, who’s also a nurse, came with me to Belize. After the conference, we went to a tour of Carmelita Gardens.

As soon as she saw Carmelita Gardens, she said “Mom, this is your place. This is so you. You’re done looking.”

After the tour, she asked “Well, when are you coming back? What are your options for buying property? Because I know you’re going to!”

In October 2019, I came back to Carmelita Gardens and stayed for six nights. During my stay, I was able to experience what life is like living there, thanks to their residents offering to take me under their wings and show me what a typical shopping day was like, what they did day-to-day, the activities that they participated in with both the other residents at Carmelita Gardens and the surrounding communities of La Familia, San Ignacio, Santa Elena, and Spanish Lookout.

My goal is to get my cottage built as soon as I sell my home in Texas. COVID-19 crisis or not, I am continuing onward and forward with my journey to Carmelita Gardens.

I’m looking forward to starting a life that I’ve always wanted to live with like-minded people who come from many different backgrounds. This is down-to-earth, off-grid living in a supportive community… with clean, healthy food… and true peace.

Dianne Dodson
Full-Time Belize Expat

Tags: 'Self-Sufficiency'Carmelita Gardenslive in Belizeretire abroadretire in belizeretire overseas
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Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

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HOME

Top Countries

  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Panama
  • Belize
  • Colombia
  • Cyprus
  • Mexico
  • France
  • Montenegro

Best For:

  • Health Care Abroad
  • Retirement Living
  • Cost Of Living
  • Investing in Real Estate
  • Establishing Residency
  • Gun Ownership
  • English Speakers
  • Safety
BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

Budgets

How Much Will It Cost
To Live Overseas?

Super Cheap

  • Chitré, Panama
  • Santa Marta, Colombia
  • Phuket, Thailand
  • Dumaguete, The Philippines

Cheap

  • Medellin, Colombia
  • Boquete, Panama
  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
  • Hua Hin, Thailand
  • The Algarve, Portugal

Affordable

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Cascais, Portugal
  • Las Terrenas, The DR
  • Pisa, Italy
  • La Rochelle, France
  • Mazatlán, Mexico

Luxury

  • Ambergris Caye, Belize
  • Kotor, Montenegro
  • The Panama City Beaches
  • Paris, France

Resources

Global Living

  • Living & Retiring Overseas
  • Raising A Family Abroad
  • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
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Making Money

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Meet Our Experts

Real Estate

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Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

READ MORE

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Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

EXPLORE

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LEARN MORE
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Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

Store

Overseas Havens Reports

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Conference Kits

  • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

Lahardan Books

  • Titles on living and investing around the world

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