The "Grid"

[DJlaysitup]

What with retirement not that far away and all these new "reality" shows about "living off the grid" it makes me wonder how and where I want to live once retirement does roll around. On the "grid"..."mid-grid"...or "off the grid". Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to be like Mick Dodge (Nat. Geo Channel) and be a Wildman who brushes his teeth with pine cones, but it is an interesting thing to think about. When I was younger I always wanted to be "where the action is"...nowadays...with the huge advances in technology...you can pretty much be connected wherever you are (I'm thinking in the U.S. or other civilized countries - Borneo would be out ).

So without dragging this post out too much - I'm leaning towards "mid-grid". A place in the country where I have some space and can garden all I want and do a lot of outside stuff, while still being connected.

What do you all think? Where would you be most comfortable "grid-wise"? I realize we are of very different ages and have different goals and stuff but if you had your "druthers" would you be on the grid, mid-grid, or off the grid?

Note: I am from a small family and parents have both passed - so for me it is different than for folks with large families and strong family ties. But this is just a whimsical question anyway.

Thoughts?

[Guest]

I'm retiring from full time work in December.  The wife and I plan to try four months a year in Belize during the Chicago winters.  

That's "off the grid" in a way.  Biggest worry is medical care is pretty iffy for anything more than a broken finger.  

Monthly living expenses (total) are less than $2,500.  Could be fun. 

We'll see!

[bird_dirt]

I hope to move to Puerto Rico when I retire. Tropical climate with beaches, mountains, history, large city, and it's a US territory, so I don't need any special travel Visa or anything. I really just want to live on a beach with a cocktail in hand til the end of my days.

[DJlaysitup]

Yeah, the beach sounds pretty good to me.  I went with a buddy of mine (his wife was off on an overseas trip) down to Cancun for one of those all-included extends weekends.  It was cool but one day, since we had a rental car, we decided to explore.  Not far away was a place more my speed:

 

http://www.visitpuertomorelos.com/

 

I checked it out more when I got back and I plan to spend a month down there sometime.  Depending on airfare it looks like it would cost about $2500 - 3000 or so for a whole month on the beach and that would include a "decent" hotel, some local fishing charters (brightly painted wood boats with 40 horse outboards to catch the smaller stuff - not chasing the big stuff) and plenty of Rum/Tequila drinks on the beach.

 

I had looked for a big Conch shell in the Cancun souvenir shop and found one that I liked but it was $75...I got basically the exact same one in P-M for $10 and the guy even taught me how to blow it like a horn.

 

It's definitely on my "bucket list".