• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result

Granada, Nicaragua, Is One Of The World’s Top Travel And…

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Sep 16, 2014
in Retirement/Living
0
Granada, Nicaragua
208
SHARES
3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Playing Hooky In Granada—This Place Gets Under Your Skin

I felt like a schoolgirl playing hooky. We awoke early Friday morning, dressed, ate, and then, instead of heading to the office, we took off for the airport to catch a flight to Managua. Just Lief and me. No kids. No checked luggage. Not even our laptops. We had planned this quick escape weekend to Nicaragua spur of the moment. We needed to do some scouting in advance of our Live and Invest in Nicaragua Conference in November and rationalized that into a romantic weekend for two in one of our favorite countries, a place where we spent a lot of time early on in our marriage but hadn’t returned together in years.

Almost immediately upon arrival, it all came back, all the reasons I like this country as much as I do. Nicaragua is naturally and dramatically beautiful, but lots of places are beautiful. What sets Nicaragua apart is its heart. You get the feeling, spending time here, that this country is always trying really hard to pick itself up and carry on…to make things better.

Nicaragua and its people have struggled in ridiculous ways over the past 100-plus years. Pre-1900 Nicaragua was on a track to prosperity. Then a series of events took place that, when you study them now, in hindsight, defy understanding or explanation, leave you shaking your head in despair.

That’s the effect Nicaragua’s story over the past century has on me anyway.

Not the Nicaraguans, though. Their collective struggles haven’t left them bitter or despairing but resilient and resourceful. They are also, I was reminded all weekend, surprisingly when you think about all that they have lived through, big-hearted, friendly, and quick with a smile. Gatekeepers and waitresses, taxi drivers and street vendors, businessmen and bankers…they are all cheerful and pleasant with a sense of humor that helps them, I guess, to keep things in perspective. When we passed one of the many posters around Managua showing President Daniel Ortega promising great things in 2014, I asked our Nicaraguan driver what these billboards were all about. What’s going on in 2014, in particular, I wondered.

“Nada,” he replied with a chuckle. “It’s just propaganda.”

Speaking more practically, what’s the scene in Nicaragua today?

Cleaner, for one thing. Granada, San Juan del Sur, and even Managua are noticeably less littered than I’d remembered. We met several people who talked about different “pueblo limpio” projects that seem to be having the intended effect.

Nicaragua right now is cleaner…and busier. Granada, my pick for the most romantic city in Latin America, is more active today, I’d say, than at any time during its near five centuries of history. The setting for this colonial town is like out of a fairy tale—the lake, the volcano, the mountains… At night the backdrop is an ink-streaked sky that, just before the sun sets, illuminates the yellow and white cathedrals in ways that would have inspired Matisse to set up his easel.

That background is there, as it’s always been, but it’s harder to pick it out today for the crowds. The streets of Granada and the central square are packed from early morning until late evening with travelers and backpackers, expats and locals, retirees and investors. It’s a crazy mix of folks that creates the atmosphere of a carnival. One street extending from the square to the lake has been pedestrianized and is lined with restaurants and bars, all with outdoor seating. Musicians and singers wander from outdoor table to outdoor table serenading for tips. Young men set up boom boxes on the sidewalk, hit play, then break into Michael Jackson routines and acrobatic displays. Old women sell scarves they’ve woven, men hawk bootlegged CDs. This isn’t a place to come these days for a quiet dinner.

But you have other options for that. Granada boasts good new fine-dining establishments and five-star hotels, more choices for where to eat and where to sleep than ever.

Everything is a bargain. Panama City, where we call home, is no longer a cheap place to hang out, but everywhere in Nicaragua sure is. We stayed in one of Granada’s best hotels, the Gran Francia, for US$60 a night including breakfast and Wi-Fi. We drank Nicaragua’s Flor de Cana rum (great stuff) and Cokes for less than a buck a go. We bought handmade hardwood serving bowls and platters as souvenirs for US$4 and US$5.

The traveler’s dollar (they take dollars almost everywhere) goes a long way in Nicaragua still, and so does the retiree’s. This is one of your best choices in the Americas for a place to retire for a comfortable and rich life on a modest budget.

In our travels last weekend, we met several who have done just that, including one couple of retirees living in a charming home they’ve built for themselves overlooking crater Lake Apoyo. Brian invited Lief and me inside to have a look. He opened the front door to his living room to reveal a panoramic view of the glass-still indigo lake just beyond. Quite a setting.

Retired now just outside Granada, Brian and his wife Nancy have become very involved in their new community, starting a business that employs dozens of locals and opening a health clinic.

“Nancy and I spend about half the year in Oregon and half the year here in Nicaragua,” Brian explained. “We couldn’t be happier. We’re getting ready to return to Oregon soon, but we don’t want to go. We’ve become very attached to our new lives here, very invested personally, emotionally.”

You can read more about what Brian and Nancy are doing with themselves now that they’re part-time Nicaraguan residents here.

I understand the attraction for Brian and Nancy and all the others who are seeking out this part of the world at this stage of life and putting down real roots in this place. Nicaragua does that to you. Draws you in. Gets under your skin. Stirs your imagination…

Kathleen Peddicord

Continue reading: What It’s Like To Be An American Abroad

Comments

Tags: 'Nicaragua''Retire To GranadaExpats In GranadaTravelTravel To Nicaragua
Share83Tweet52
Previous Post

Discovering Ancient Izmir

Next Post

What It’s Like To Be An American Abroad

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

Related Posts

Active senior couple riding bicycles.
How to

8 Things To Consider Before You Commit To Moving Overseas

by Heather McClenahan
March 4, 2021
0

Retirement is looming. With it comes the challenge of deciding where to live. I plan to take the next three...

Read more
Cascais, Lisbon Area, Portugal

Finding Our Dream Life Overseas In Cascais, Portugal

February 26, 2021
Azenhas do Mar, Portugal coastal town.

Portugal: The Best Place To Live Is Also One Of The Safest

February 25, 2021
Riverside in Tavira on a summer morning, Faro District, Algarve, Portugal.

Why Tavira Is The Best Place To Retire In Portugal

February 24, 2021
Cost Of Retirement In Portugal vs. Panama

Cost Of Retirement In Portugal vs. Panama

February 24, 2021
Dordogne, France.

The Challenges Of Living Abroad And How To Overcome Them

February 22, 2021
Beautiful Caribbean sight with turquoise water in Caye Caulker island, Belize.

10 Reasons To Reinvent Your Life In Beautiful Belize

February 17, 2021
Next Post
sometimes the flag rises as high as the pride of the American Abroad.

What It’s Like To Be An American Abroad

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

how to retire overseas

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2021

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.