You do not hear much about the country of El Salvador in the United States, and if you do it is usually bad news – the violence, drugs or the gangs. Yes, El Salvador has these things but so does every other country in the world including the United States, just pick up today’s paper or check the Internet.

My wife Elizabeth is from El Salvador, I made my first trip here with her in March of 2004 and I must say that I fell in love with the country right away. The warm climate, the beautiful beaches and the tropical atmosphere – I found the good life.

Elizabeth and I returned every year from 2004-2011 for 2-3 weeks a year. With every visit I discovered more and more of what this beautiful country had to offer: the Salvadorian people who are friendly and hard working, the many beautiful beaches, the mountains where the climate is cooler and they grow coffee and the many historical sites. The city of San Salvador, which is a very modern city with malls, stores and restaurants including Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut and others. You can have the best of both worlds in El Salvador.

When my 401K took a big hit in 2011 and the company that I worked for the last 19 years started to lay off key people I started looking at my options. Since I was turning 62 in December I decided to retire and move here to El Salvador.

Elizabeth and I arrived here in November of 2011 to build our home and start our new life. We designed and had our home built from the ground up. It took 7 months to complete. I must say this was a very stressful time. We were at the site almost everyday updating; making changes and making sure our dream home was the way we wanted it. In the end, it was a wonderful and very rewarding experience.

The adjustment has been trying at times; I still speak very little Spanish, so Elizabeth has to take care of most of the business that we have to deal with such as paying the bills and getting things done. This is not always a bad thing because at times I have a short temper when things do not make sense to me or they do not move fast enough. The pace here is slow. There are only two speeds in El Salvador; slow and slower. Even after three years here I let myself get angry over things that I have no control over and they are not going to change. To be fair I must admit that I was also upset with the powers to be in the United States, so I guess it is just my nature.

I am very happy and content here in El Salvador. I cannot think of anywhere that I would rather be at this time. I enjoy traveling the country, visiting sites, meeting people, and writing about the many wonderful experiences that I have here.

I would encourage people to visit, retire and invest in El Salvador. This country has a lot to offer at this time, you can build a beautiful home here for less than $100,000.00; we built our home for $26.00 a sq. ft. less than $80,000.00 Our home in the United States would have cost us around $400,000.00; you can live very well on your Social Security check. If you are looking to invest, there are many business and investment opportunities in the country.