TravelRetire in Costa Rica: What I Found When I Finally Went
The country comes up in every retirement conversation I have. So I went. Three weeks, three regions, and the things the brochures keep getting wrong.
Travel
Travel
TravelWhat I Actually Buy for Travel Insurance, and Why
After forty-seven countries, here's what I actually buy, what the fine print really means, and why medical evacuation is the one coverage you can't afford to skip.
TravelThe Best Time to Visit Portugal
The best time to visit Portugal isn't in August. A case for September, and when to go to each region.
TravelThe Best Time to Visit Japan: What Most First-Timers Get Wrong
Sylvia Chen on timing your Japan trip right, why fall beats spring, and what nobody tells you about cherry blossom season.
TravelThe Best Small Group Tours: What to Look For and What to Run From
Sylvia Chen on what separates a good small group tour from organized misery, and the operators she trusts.
TravelThe Best Places to Travel in Italy: A Practical Guide for the Unhurried
Sylvia Chen on the Italy most travelers miss, and why the second visit is almost always better than the first.
LivingThe Cheapest Places to Retire (And Why Cheap Is the Wrong Word)
The most affordable places to retire are not the saddest ones. They are, quite often, the most alive.
LivingAustin, Texas: What Retirees Actually Think After Moving Here
I spent two weeks in Austin talking to people who moved there after sixty. Some of them love it. Some of them are already looking at the Hill Country. All of them have opinions about the heat.
TravelThe Best States to Retire In: An Honest Assessment From Someone Who Has Driven Through All of Them
Everybody ranks the states. Nobody tells you what they feel like on a Wednesday in January. Here is what I know after seventy years and a lot of windshield time.
TravelRetire in Portugal: What I Found When I Went Looking
Every retirement conversation I've had in three years eventually turns to Portugal. So I went back, walked the streets, and wrote down what I actually found.
TravelThe Best Places to Retire in America: What I Found After Looking at Fifty of Them
Most best-places-to-retire lists are written by people who have never spent a week in the places they recommend. I have spent years.