Keurig, who provides beverage brewing systems for workplace and commercial use, are the #1 single-cup brand in North America*. Here they take a look at coffee in South East Asia, and provide every traveller with a must-know guide.
Coffee has been grown and consumed in Southeast Asia since the late Seventeenth Century, and each individual Southeast Asian country has a slightly different way of drinking their coffee. Here is our guide to coffee culture in Southeast Asia. Read More
It took us about 19 hours to get here from Madrid but we are finally settling in to Arequipa, Peru. At each of our stopovers in Bogota and Lima, we ended up having about 5 minutes to get to the correct boarding gate so not a lot of time to even see the airport. We flew with Avianca and they turned out to be a great airline.
We arrived in Arequipa with one less suitcase then we left with from Madrid. The folks at Avianca tracked it down to the airport in Bogota within five minutes and delivered it to our front door the next morning. That was pretty good service. It’s also the first time we have ever lost a suitcase on any airline during our travels.
So we have been here for exactly one week now and just moved into our new place. There are many apartments and houses available to rent but most are unfurnished. We went through a realtor since that is the safest bet, especially for newbies in a foreign country. We also went the totally furnished route since that is the easiest way to start. Read More
After almost ten years in Asia, we are making the move to South America. In two weeks, we will be leaving China and moving to Arequipa, Peru with a quick stop in Madrid along the way. We have had a good run in China (6 years) and Thailand (3 years) but would like to be somewhere with a warm climate and more permanency.
After three years of blissful retirement in Thailand, I was convinced to return to China for a four-month teaching sojourn. The four months are already over and we are starting to pack for this next move. After being away from Canada for almost ten years, we have now decreased our life’s belongings to a couple of carry-ons each and about three suitcases. It is great not having oodles of stuff!
As much as we liked Thailand, you need to keep renewing your visa every year and becoming a permanent resident is next to impossible for most people. In most Central and South American countries, it doesn’t take many years before you can apply for permanent residency. Along with residency comes all the benefits such as cheaper health care, the ability to work part-time and the end of the annual visa renewal process.
Our first step will be a one-month visit in July. We’ll take a two week trip to Canada in August and begin the Rentista Visa process when we return to Peru later that month. This only requires a monthly income from outside the country of $1000USD and another 500USD for each dependent. We’ll need to visit the Peruvian consulate this summer while in Ottawa to get “proof of pension” documents certified and then we’ll be good to go to start the application process. Within a few weeks after moving, if all goes well, we should obtain these first visas.
We have been doing our homework and research for the last few months and Arequipa looks like a good fit. The average daily temperature is around 22C and there are about 300 days of sunshine per year. It sounds good in theory but if we hate the place we can always move on!
Stay tuned for more about our new adventure!
