Escape From America Without Leaving America
11 Nov 2009
by: Jim Scherrer - PVNN
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| Relatively speaking, cities such as Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles are virtually next door to Puerto Vallarta |
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As
we all know, Christopher Columbus, while searching for China, first
discovered the Americas when he arrived in San Salvador in 1492. On his
second voyage, he landed in the Caribbean Islands, and on his last
voyage in 1498, he arrived in the area of Venezuela.
In
1497, the Italian sailor Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), exploring on
behalf of England, landed in Labrador and Newfoundland. Unfortunately,
neither of these sailors was very well educated nor inclined to
thoroughly document their voyages.
In
1499, an educated Italian named Amerigo Vespucci joined a Spanish fleet
and sailed to Venezuela. A few years later, the king of Portugal
enlisted Vespucci to pilot another voyage to Brazil and by 1508, the
voyages that Vespucci participated in were well documented. Although
Amerigo Vespucci was a relatively insignificant person and had never
led an expedition or discovered anything, his name appeared on much of
the documentation and many of the New World land surveys.
Using
all of the freshly generated documentation, a German cartographer named
Martin Waldseemuller prepared the first map of the New World in 1507.
With documentation prepared by Amerigo Vespucci as his guide, he merely
used the word Americus, the Latinized version of Amerigo, to indicate
the New World.
Consequently,
the entire Western Hemisphere eventually took on the name Americus
which later became known as the Americas. It probably should have been
called Columbus or Cabot but it could have been even worse; just
imagine, The United States of Vespucciville!
Before
we get too far into this article let's first define "America". The
Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World,
comprising of the North American and South American continents with
their associated islands and regions.
Today,
in the minds of most United States citizens and for that matter, in the
minds of people throughout the world, the term "America" refers to the
United States of America; however, that term is open to debate. For the
sake of this article, we'll be referring to the United States of
America when we use the term "America".
The
next term that we must accurately define is "North American"; all too
often we think of North Americans as those from the United States and
Canada. Again, that's a misnomer because North America actually
encompasses the entire North American continent which includes the US,
Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands.
Therefore, "North Americans" are those residing anywhere in the North
American continent. However, for the sake of this article, we'll be
referring only to those from the US and Canada as "North Americans".
Typically,
when we think of escaping from America, we're referring to Americans
emigrating from the United States to some other locale. With the
current depressing state of the economy, politics, crime rate, standard
of living, etc., there are numerous reasons why US citizens are more
interested than ever in retiring abroad (beyond the boundaries of one's
own country).
Today's
broad availability of inexpensive international telephone, Internet,
satellite TV, transportation, medical care, etc. have essentially
eliminated the primary reasons for retiring and remaining in the US.
Now,
more than ever, with the numerous reasons why one might desire to
escape from America, the question is; where in the world would be the
most logical retirement destination? Most would agree that it would be
somewhere that has a lower cost of living without compromising on the
standard of living, someplace that has relatively close proximity to
the U.S., a safe and clean place where English is understood, etc.
Other
important criteria for retirement include the size of the community of
like minded North Americans (US and Canadian citizens), the
availability of activities for retirees, of world class medical care,
fine dining, telecommunications, etc.
Most
travel and retirement magazines list a number of wonderful retirement
havens in the Americas including Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador.
Although all espouse fine climates, beautiful scenery, low costs of
living, etc, Mexico generally tops the list.
Many
of these locations are either too far away or lack all of the amenities
that North Americans are accustomed to and require whereas certain
Mexican retirement havens have all of the required prerequisites for
North Americans retiring abroad.
After
residing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for almost 13 years, we can state
emphatically that PV has it all! During the past decade of growth in
Puerto Vallarta, the city has more than doubled in size with its
infrastructure being completely upgraded to current international
standards. Every amenity that one would expect in a city of 350,000
inhabitants can be found in Puerto Vallarta.
Regarding
Vallarta's proximity to America, please refer to the North American map
above. You might be amazed to see that PV is approximately the same
distance from Chicago, Minneapolis, and Portland as New York is from
Houston, Dallas, and Denver. Relatively speaking, cities such as
Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles are virtually next door to
PV. Another factoid; Puerto Vallarta is nearer El Paso, Texas than is
Texarkana, Texas.
For
comparison's sake, let's consider Maui, Hawaii which lies on the same
latitude as Puerto Vallarta and obviously has an ideal winter climate.
However, Vallarta's winter weather is better; during the seven month
period of November through May, the average daily temperature in
Vallarta is 73°F with virtually no rain whereas Maui's average
temperature is about the same but with more than two inches of rain per
month. Needless to say, as great as Maui is, traveling to and from
there is quite expensive and time consuming; retiring there could be
cost prohibitive.
This
map puts the whole concept of moving abroad into a totally new
prospective. With the many advantages that Vallarta has to offer,
including its proximity to the US, it's quite obvious why approximately
50,000 Americans (those from the US) have escaped from America and now
call Vallarta home. The fact is that their new home is still in America
(the North American continent) and generally a short 2-3 hour flight
away from their family and friends.
In
summarizing, now you know how you can escape from America without
leaving America. Puerto Vallarta still has all the charm of a Mexican
fishing village yet now has all the amenities necessary to make it one
of the finest retirement destinations in the world. Just pack up your
bags and head south to PV this winter and find out for yourself, but do
so with caution; you'll not want to return home!
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