The Right Community is Like a Good Melon

Contrary to popular belief, the French don’t hate Americans.

It’s one of the many things I’ve learned from the locals in La Rochelle, France—my home for the foreseeable future—and from a weekly expat salon, where we drink wine, share hairdressers, and commiserate about our collective idiocy.

As a freshly-minted expat, it’s terrifying to realize your knowledge base is about as good as a toddler’s. Yet all over the world, there are friendly, welcoming communities eager to help smooth your transition.

Time and again, expats say the right place for them boiled down to one thing: The community. When you find the right one, you know—the way you know about a good melon.

Dan and his wife Talula found their community in this month’s “Hidden Place”—a tiny Pacific Mexico town the locals prefer to keep secret, but—may they forgive us—it’s too good not to share…

Amy and Jim built lasting bonds in Costa Rica’s easy-living Central Valley… And newly single Heather felt the pull of the Puerto Vallarta community again and again… until she stayed for good.

In our feature story, IL Thailand Correspondent Bart Walters takes us to the fabled isle of Koh Samui, where the warm, welcoming locals have won over even the jaded Hollywood set.

A big part of our mission is to give you practical tools to make your overseas dream a reality. So this month, Ted Baumann gives you a step-by-step guide to owning property abroad… including how to save on taxes. And Jeff Opdyke explains the smart way to own property in an IRA.

In many places around the globe, including Europe, great real estate buys abound. Jeff hones in on an overlooked area of Thailand… Ronan McMahon has a “killer deal” brewing in one of the most sought-after towns in Portugal… and Japan is offering you the chance to snap up a zen-inducing hideaways for pennies on the dollar.

And if you made it through Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (or said you did), don’t miss Tim Ward’s slightly drunken jaunt through the literary bars of Paris…

Stephanie Reed, Editor-in-Chief