I'm really liking what I'm researching about Belize, but I do wonder if there are other opportunities with better promise. I've been to Panama and found some of that to be promising but it too has drawbacks. I'm not looking to live in a city but rather a more laid-back agricultural setting. I can always get to a city if needed.
For me, the criteria would be:
*Ability to establish a permanent residence
*Not overly expensive for modest living
*Healthcare not impossible to come by
*Ability to own/lease land, esp for agriculture
*Ease of importations for business
*Telecommunications, esp high-speed internet availability (might be wishful thinking)
*Can bring kids, who will be 15 and 13 at the time (a few years from now)
Its tough without language skills. Belize appeals because its more familiar to me and English-speaking. But it does seem to be a tough place to setup a business, even if it is relatively small and menial. Though for most of Central and South America, I'm not thinking English-only will be very viable. And business prospects without the language skills will probably be heavily challenged.
What would you suggest in lieu of Belize? I'm not a Costa Rica fan and Mexico is too unstable for my likes. Suriname and Guyana give a sense of adventure but lack political stability. Uruguay seems to look promising also. Ideally the place would be economically and politically stable, and I'd actually have a chance there doing something. Not looking to be wealthy, just not destitute.
I like to SCUBA dive, so that helps, but I wouldn't make my choice based solely on that.
I mean, ideally I'd love to move to the eastern provinces in Canada. But it seems just about impossible to immigrate and setup a permanent residence for small scale business.