After greater than 20 years of touring, there’s one query Charles and I appear to ask ourselves again and again.
May we really reside right here?
It’s a surprisingly completely different query from whether or not we like visiting someplace. We’ve liked international locations that will in all probability drive us just a little loopy if we tried to reside there full time. Different locations have grown on us as soon as we stayed lengthy sufficient to grocery store, work out the buses, work from the kitchen desk and uncover all these little particulars of on a regular basis life.
Through the years, we’ve spent fairly a little bit of time in Spain, Portugal and Costa Rica. We’ve traveled by them as a pair and as a household, stayed for longer stretches, labored alongside the best way and skilled at the least a little bit of what extraordinary life seems like as soon as the holiday glow wears off.
Panama is the odd one out right here as a result of we haven’t visited but. It has, nevertheless, been on our radar for years. It comes up time and again once we hear individuals speaking about retiring overseas, expat life and discovering a sensible dwelling base someplace hotter.
So, if you happen to’re dreaming about transferring overseas, how do Portugal, Spain, Costa Rica and Panama really examine?
A fast notice about this text: This submit is sponsored by StartAbroad, a relocation service that helps individuals transfer to Portugal, Spain, Costa Rica and Panama.
They assist with most of the components of a world transfer that may get difficult quick, together with visas, housing, banking, taxes, delivery, faculties and pet relocation. In addition they supply a free planning device known as Navigator, which we’ll speak about just a little later.
Able to see what your transfer may seem like? Begin planning with StartAbroad and use code BAREFOOT to save lots of 5%. We might earn a fee if you happen to grow to be a shopper, at no additional value to you.
What Makes a Nation a Good Place to Transfer To?
Selecting someplace for a trip is comparatively simple. Discover a low-cost flight, guide someplace to sleep and go.
Shifting to a different nation brings a for much longer listing of questions.
Are you able to legally reside there long run? What’s going to healthcare seem like? Are you able to afford housing within the space you really need to reside? Will you want a automotive? In case you’re bringing children, what are the faculties like? In case your canine is coming too, what paperwork does that contain?
After which there are the smaller issues that solely grow to be apparent when you’re residing someplace.
Once we spent a number of months touring by Spain and Portugal years in the past, I discovered myself fascinated by issues like tiny fridges, individuals buying on the small native market virtually each day, late dinners and the truth that discovering one thing so simple as contact lens answer may flip into an expedition. These little particulars instructed us extra about residing in Spain as visiting one other cathedral ever may.
For this comparability, we’re wanting on the larger sensible questions alongside the form of day-to-day life you would possibly even have when you get there.
Portugal: A Relaxed European Life-style With Loads of Selection
Portugal is a type of international locations we’ve returned to in our minds many instances since visiting.
We’ve spent weeks driving round Portugal, exploring from the north proper down by the Algarve. We’ve wandered Lisbon, cruised the Douro from Porto, explored the dramatic shoreline round Sagres and eaten greater than our justifiable share of pastéis de nata.
We’ve discovered individuals pleasant virtually in every single place we’ve gone, and Portugal packs a powerful quantity of selection into a comparatively small nation.
Lisbon provides you big-city power and worldwide connections. Porto feels completely different once more with outdated world allure and incredible websites. Head south and the Algarve brings seashores, hotter climate and cities that may really feel worlds away from northern Portugal.
That selection is only one cause Portugal is sensible on a relocation shortlist.
Who Would possibly Like Dwelling in Portugal?
Portugal might enchantment in order for you:
A European dwelling baseEasy entry to different components of EuropeCoastal livingA slower on a regular basis paceCities, smaller cities and rural choices inside comparatively quick distancesA nation that may work for retirees in addition to distant employees and households
For individuals contemplating a long-term transfer, Portugal presently has residence routes for retirees and other people residing on their very own earnings, together with a residence pathway for individuals working remotely for employers or purchasers exterior Portugal.
The precise route that is sensible will depend on your citizenship, earnings supply, work state of affairs and household circumstances, which is the place the paperwork begins getting significantly much less enjoyable.
One factor price figuring out if a European passport is a part of your long-term plan: Portugal modified its nationality regulation in Might 2026. The watch for citizenship by extraordinary naturalization is now seven years for EU residents and residents of Portuguese-speaking international locations, and ten years for many different nationalities. The earlier rule that counted ready time from the date you utilized for momentary residence was eliminated, so the clock now begins from the purpose your residence is accredited slightly than the day you utilized. Household reunification guidelines tightened in late 2025 too, so if you happen to’re picturing transferring first and bringing household over later, that’s price researching earlier than you apply as an alternative of after.
StartAbroad presently helps with Portugal visas, rental searches, banking, Portuguese tax numbers (NIF), and broader relocation assist. Their Concierge service additionally features a devoted relocation specialist, airport pickup, medical planning and assist with issues like faculties and pet relocation.
Portugal could also be a very good match for: retirees, distant employees, professionals and households who need a European base with loads of completely different way of life choices.
Spain: A Nation We May Truly Image Dwelling In
Spain gave us one among our higher glimpses into the distinction between visiting someplace and truly residing there.
We stayed lengthy sufficient to settle into extraordinary routines.
We walked, rather a lot. In Madrid we used the Metro, and even in smaller cities we frequently managed simply effective and not using a automotive. We received used to buying ceaselessly as a result of our rental fridges appeared ridiculously tiny in contrast with the large fridge we’d had again in Canada.
We additionally realized that Spain operates by itself schedule.
Meals run late. Individuals linger over espresso. Retailers might shut for a number of hours within the afternoon. Our personal work and homeschool schedule meant that we have been typically able to run errands at precisely the identical time half the city gave the impression to be closing.
It was sometimes maddening.
And we liked lots of it.
I’m additionally nonetheless fairly keen on the truth that it took me virtually a month and doubtless 20 cafés to lastly discover a unhealthy cup of espresso. You may learn extra of our love and occasional frustration with Spain in The Little Issues We Love About Spain.
Who Would possibly Like Dwelling in Spain?
Spain provides you an unlimited quantity of alternative.
Dwelling in Madrid is a totally completely different proposition from settling someplace alongside the Mediterranean coast. Northern Spain feels completely different once more.
Spain presently affords a non-lucrative residence visa for individuals who have enough monetary means and don’t plan to work, plus a separate telework route for qualifying individuals who work remotely. The non-lucrative visa prohibits work, together with distant work for a overseas employer, so if working on-line is a part of your plan, be sure you’re wanting on the proper route from the start. Below Spain’s present guidelines, foreigners who’re legally in Spain can apply from inside the nation for a world telework residence authorization in the event that they qualify.
For households, there’s additionally the query of colleges and the place you need your children to suit into native life. For retirees, healthcare and proximity to providers might matter extra. And if you happen to’re planning to work on-line, dependable web and your time zone relative to purchasers or coworkers can abruptly matter simply as a lot as sunshine.
Spain could also be a very good match for: individuals who need tradition, good transportation choices, loads of regional selection and a life-style the place each day life occurs just a little later than many North Individuals are used to.
Costa Rica: Nature, Heat Climate and Pura Vida
Costa Rica will in all probability at all times have a particular place in our hearts.
A few of our reminiscences there are big, like watching an enormous leatherback turtle lay eggs on a moonlit seaside at Playa Grande.
Others are significantly much less profound. From howler monkeys screaming off our balcony to iguanas the scale of small canines, the wildlife in Costa Rica is wonderful.
We developed a barely ridiculous affection for Trits ice cream sandwiches and purchased them typically sufficient that they turned a part of our Costa Rica routine.
We additionally spent lots of time round Tamarindo and Guanacaste with the children. Tamarindo was a type of locations we liked and located irritating on the similar time. The seaside was incredible, the environment laid again and there was at all times one thing to do.
It was additionally unbelievably sizzling throughout our keep, touristy in locations and, at the least once we have been there, a number of the native infrastructure was tough across the edges.
That combined expertise is precisely why we’d by no means inform somebody to maneuver to Costa Rica just because that they had a incredible trip there.
Dwelling someplace means seeing the entire bundle.
Who Would possibly Like Dwelling in Costa Rica?
Costa Rica has lengthy attracted retirees and worldwide residents, and it additionally has a proper digital nomad program for qualifying distant employees.
The present program permits eligible distant employees to remain for one 12 months with the potential for renewing for one more 12 months, topic to this system necessities. Costa Rica additionally has longer-term residency classes, together with pensioner and momentary resident choices.
The place you select to reside issues enormously.
Life within the Central Valley round San José is sort of completely different from residing close to the Pacific seashores of Guanacaste. Local weather, healthcare entry, transportation and even how a lot English you hear each day can change considerably relying on the place you agree.
StartAbroad presently helps Costa Rica strikes involving Pensionado, Rentista and Inversionista residency in addition to digital nomad stays, plus providers together with housing and relocation assist.
Costa Rica could also be a very good match for: retirees, distant employees and households who put heat climate, nature and outside residing excessive on their want listing.
Panama: An Attention-grabbing Possibility for Retirees and Expats
Panama is the one nation on this listing we haven’t personally visited, so we will’t inform you which café has one of the best espresso or what little each day behavior would ultimately drive us loopy.
But.
What we will say is that Panama has been popping up in our orbit for years at any time when the dialog turns to retiring or transferring overseas.
And there are sensible causes for that.
Panama’s immigration system consists of a number of everlasting and momentary residence classes. The primary routes individuals have a tendency to take a look at are the Pensionado for retirees, the Pleasant Nations Visa for working-age individuals who can present financial ties, and the Certified Investor Visa for these placing cash into property or different qualifying property
That makes it significantly fascinating for retirees who’re evaluating worldwide choices.
One sensible wrinkle to find out about earlier than you begin: Panama legally requires functions for momentary and everlasting residency permits to be filed by a authorized consultant. In different phrases, it is a nation the place hiring a Panamanian immigration lawyer is a part of the method slightly than an elective additional.
There’s additionally an enormous distinction between contemplating Panama Metropolis and taking a look at smaller communities elsewhere within the nation. The town and the lowlands are sizzling and humid, whereas highland cities like Boquete, within the cooler Chiriquí area, have lengthy drawn retirees for the spring-like local weather. That is one other vacation spot the place I’d spend time exploring earlier than deciding the place to settle.
StartAbroad affords relocation providers in Panama that may embrace immigration connections, airport pickup, medical planning, pet relocation and housing assist.
Panama could also be a very good match for: retirees and different long-term expats who need to discover a longtime worldwide relocation vacation spot in Central America.
Portugal vs Spain vs Costa Rica vs Panama at a Look
So Which Nation Is Finest for You?
If we needed to slender it down by way of life slightly than attempting to crown one nation the winner, that is how we’d begin serious about it.
Think about Portugal If…
You want the thought of residing in Europe and wish loads of selections between cities, smaller cities and coastal areas.
Portugal is especially fascinating if you happen to’re retiring, working remotely or searching for a European base that feels manageable in measurement.
Think about Spain If…
You need regional selection and revel in a social tradition the place consuming, strolling, espresso and time spent exterior are woven into on a regular basis life.
Of the 4, Spain might be the nation the place we’ve had the strongest style of extraordinary day-to-day residing, and we may definitely image ourselves spending for much longer there.
Think about Costa Rica If…
Your dream life entails heat climate, seashores, wildlife and spending lots of time open air.
Spend a while within the particular area you’re contemplating first. Costa Rica can really feel remarkably completely different from one a part of the nation to a different.
Think about Panama If…
Retirement is a significant a part of your plan and also you’re involved in a rustic with established residence classes for pensioners and different long-term residents.
We’d put Panama firmly within the research-and-go-visit class for ourselves as a result of we haven’t skilled it firsthand but.
Choosing a Nation Is Solely the Starting
That is the half that may sneak up on you.
You spend months dreaming a couple of tiled condo in Portugal or a home close to the seaside in Costa Rica, lastly determine the place you need to go after which understand there are roughly 9 thousand sensible issues between you and truly residing there.
Okay, 9 thousand may be a slight exaggeration.
However worldwide strikes include paperwork.
Relying in your state of affairs, you might must take care of:
Visas and residencyTaxesLocal bankingHealthcare and insuranceFinding a long-term homeMoving your belongingsBringing petsSchoolsUtilities and phonesTransportationThe logistics of really arriving and getting settled
We’ve been touring internationally since 2003, and even in any case these years, new international locations nonetheless usually discover methods to shock us with a course of or piece of paperwork we didn’t know existed.
That’s the aspect of transferring overseas that StartAbroad is designed to assist with.
How StartAbroad Helps With an Worldwide Transfer
StartAbroad is a done-for-you relocation firm centered on strikes to Portugal, Spain, Costa Rica and Panama.
Their providers range considerably by vacation spot and the form of assist you select, however can embrace assist with visas, banking, housing, delivery, faculties, pet relocation and arrival logistics.
One a part of their strategy that caught our consideration is that purchasers work with one devoted relocation specialist from begin to end. StartAbroad describes this as a single one that is aware of your state of affairs and stays with you all through the transfer slightly than repeatedly handing you off to somebody new.
They work with:
Retirees planning a world moveFamilies transferring with children or petsDigital nomadsProfessionals transferring overseas long run
StartAbroad says it has now helped relocate greater than 1,000 purchasers and studies a 100% success charge for qualifying purchasers. Shoppers additionally get entry to a portal displaying what has been accomplished, what comes subsequent and what StartAbroad wants from them.
That final half appeals to me as a result of worldwide paperwork has a outstanding capacity to show right into a pile of emails, paperwork and sticky notes surprisingly quick.
Begin Planning for Free With StartAbroad Navigator
In case you’re nonetheless within the someday-I-might-do-this stage, you don’t essentially want to leap straight right into a full relocation service.
StartAbroad has additionally launched Navigator, a free device designed that will help you arrange your transfer step-by-step.
The present Navigator consists of planning instruments reminiscent of visa checklists, pre-arrival checklists and relocation assets, with particular person providers out there if you happen to want extra assist later.
You may try StartAbroad Navigator right here.
It’s a helpful place to begin if you happen to’re attempting to show a imprecise concept of transferring overseas into an precise listing of issues you should work out.
Discuss to a Relocation Specialist for Free
In case you’re additional alongside and have already got questions on your transfer, StartAbroad additionally affords a free 15-minute session with a world relocation specialist.
Begin planning your transfer with StartAbroad
Use coupon code BAREFOOT to save lots of 5%.
The place May You See Your self Dwelling?
After greater than 20 years of journey, we’ve realized that visiting someplace and picturing an precise Tuesday afternoon there are two fully various things.
May you grocery store there? Get round comfortably? Discover healthcare if you want it? Make associates? Take care of the climate for months as an alternative of every week?
And, simply as necessary, does the rhythm of the place really feel proper?
Portugal, Spain and Costa Rica have all given us moments the place we may image what life there would possibly seem like and we’ve significantly regarded into transferring to 2 of them. Panama remains to be ready for us to come back examine it correctly.
In case you’re contemplating a transfer your self, spend a while considering past the postcard model of the nation. Analysis the sensible items, go to the world you’re serious about beforehand and attempt to keep someplace extra native than a resort or perhaps a resort.
Take note of the little issues when you’re there. Go to the native grocery retailer, try a houseware part and picture what sorts of stuff you would want to do on an everyday go to. When you’ve got children, try the place they’d go to highschool and discover out what choices they’ve for actions.
In case you’re a retiree, look into what providers can be found and what actions you may grow to be part of. If planning to work remotely, discover out what web is like and whether or not there’s any native locations to satisfy up with different distant working expats as they’ll have a greater concept of the realities of residing there each day.
And when sometime begins turning into an precise plan, check out StartAbroad, they can assist you’re employed by the sensible aspect of transferring overseas, from visas and housing to banking, delivery and getting settled.
Use coupon code BAREFOOT to save lots of 5%.