Jennifer Stevens

JENNIFER STEVENS is International Living's Executive Editor. She's traveled through 23 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa—many more than once—writing about the best locales for overseas travel, retirement and investment. Jennifer is also the author of the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program and teaches travel writing at workshops throughout the year. In past incarnations, she wrote marketing studies for the Foreign Commercial Service in Paris and taught high school English on an East African island, where she served for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

A Bounty of Choice Overseas Today Delivers Plenty of Options

By Jennifer Stevens May 2014

Everybody comes to the “Where overseas?” question with his own set of preferences. This one wants beach, that one cool weather. This woman wants to be four hours from home. And that guy is looking for a place to dock a sailboat. When you’re pinpointing your ideal destination, start with list of what’s most important to you. And understand: No place is perfect. You have to prioritize. For a community she loves, “madame must-be-close-to-home” might just stretch her travel time to four-and-a-half hours.

A Gentler Life Abroad: When Your Dream Takes You Off the Beaten Track

By Jennifer Stevens April 2014

As this idea of living better for less overseas tiptoes into the mainstream, newspapers and magazines mention places like San Miguel de Allende in Mexico or the Central valley in Costa Rica. These communities have long attracted foreign retirees. They’re the “old guard” in expat havens. You can slide into them easily, what with active expat groups, supermarkets, and plenty of homes to rent. They’re convenient, proven, attractive.

Europe’s Seductive Tug: How to Indulge without Breaking the Bank

By Jennifer Stevens March 2014

Europe may be the second-smallest continent by land mass, but it’s extravagantly diverse in geography, climate, language, and culture. From the flamenco-dancing south of Spain to Rembrandt’s tulip-filled homeland, to the rugged cliffs of Italy’s Mediterranean coast, it’s equally rich with opportunity…for gracious travel…comfortable living…even for good-value investing.

Discovering Comfortable Corners in Unexpected Places

By Jennifer Stevens

All over the planet you’ll find little pockets of prosperity…corners where you can live comfortably on a modest budget…destinations rich with opportunity for adventure and profit. Rarely—if ever—are these places you hear about on the nightly news. But that’s not surprising. Our correspondents aren’t looking under bushes for a brouhaha.

The Tempting Middle Ground a “Second City” Offers

By Jennifer Stevens December 2013

A metropolis like Panama City or Paris or Montevideo has its advantages. In large, cosmopolitan communities, you have a wealth of choice in restaurants, museums, and parks. The hospitals tend to be better, the cultural offerings more varied. But a big city has its downsides, too. It can be loud, frenetic, disorganized.

Retirement Reimagined as a Moveable Feast

By Jennifer Stevens November 2013

Fifty years ago, if at retirement age you spent a few months in Paris…then moved on to Lisbon for the winter…settled for the spring in Italy…and then steamed down to Panama and Argentina…you were probably either wealthy, eccentric, or running from the law. These days… you’re just a run-of-the-mill vagabond retiree.

Spotting Opportunity Where Few Others Look

By Jennifer Stevens October 2013

On a sun-baked day 20 years ago, when I was living in the Comoros, off the East African coast, I learned a lesson. The shortwave was tuned to the world news from London, and the broadcaster reported unrest in my village. Only it wasn’t true. I’d just ridden my bike home from the school where I was teaching…and nothing was out of the ordinary. Note to self: second-hand dispatches to be taken with a grain of salt.

On the Other Side of Nature’s Moat: A Slow, Quiet Island Life

By Jennifer Stevens September 2013

Nature’s moat, that liquid rampart that separates an island from the mainland coast, creates a divide in more than land mass. On an island you simplify, slow down, quiet your penchant for deadlines…more by necessity, perhaps, than design. They don’t call it “island time” for nothing.

That Other, Secret Europe—Too Often Overlooked

By Jennifer Stevens August 2013

Everybody has heard of Paris, Florence, Barcelona and the like. But then you have the rest of a vast continent—a treasure trove of time-worn towns and affable villages…secret islands and dramatic landscapes

Beyond Exotic, Asia Reveals Ease, Comfort and Affordability

By Jennifer Stevens July 2013

In Southeast Asia, I expected the exotic. I’d grown up amid artifacts, artwork, and stories from that part of the world, where my father had lived. Monks draped in orange robes…gilded, dragon-sheathed temples…the heady aromas of spice-rich dishes wafting from market stalls.