According to a report from the Wall Street Journal,"I am fascinated by archaeology, I didn't anticipate the great recession, and I love my wife. All of which explains our move from our home in Michigan to Lima, Peru.
I hadn't planned on retiring in 2008. But the downturn in the economy, $4-a-gallon gasoline and a sinking building-materials industry (in which I worked for 40 years) made us reconsider. My wife was born in Peru, and we decided we should spend some time there.
So we sold our house and put our favorite belongings in storage, taking only two suitcases each for our adventure. We would give Peru one year; if we didn't like it, we would return to the U.S., enjoy time with our children and grandchildren, and try something else".
Almost five years later, we are still living in, and learning about, Peru.
We aren't strangers to this part of the world. After we married, we visited Peru every few years for vacations. Little known to most Americans, the country offers a wide variety of climates and landscapes: Pacific beaches, coastal desert, the Amazon jungle and the Andes. Here, you can hike the Inca Trail to the ancient city of Machu Picchu (often identified as one of the Seven Man-Made Wonders of the World) or spend a week camping beside the Amazon River (often called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World).
We settled in Lima because we like its oceanfront setting.
Home is a three-bedroom apartment in the Miraflores neighborhood, a nice mix of parks, shops and restaurants.
The weather is delightful, with temperatures rarely above the 80s in summer or below the 50s in winter. There is no ice or snow in Lima. Tornadoes and hurricanes are unheard of (though we do feel the occasional earthquake).
Expenses are low (but climbing). We live what would be considered an upper-middle-class lifestyle for less than $4,000 a month. That covers food, utilities, housing, transportation and incidentals. Health care is adequate and inexpensive. We are too old (late 60s) to buy insurance here, so it is all cash up front: about $40 to see a doctor and just under $100 for lab work.
We don't own a car; we walk almost everywhere—for shopping, dining out, medical care, the local beaches. For longer trips, taxis are plentiful and inexpensive".
