RETA Private Members Retreat

You haven't heard from me for a few days because I am away on a retreat with a Real Estate Group I belong to. Yes I know what you're going to say - I'm on holidays all the time - why do I need a retreat? You know it can be stressful not having a daily schedule to keep to? Not really, but who needs an excuse. We are in Tulum, less than an hour south of Casa Mia, staying at a 5-star all-inclusive flash resort. This is my room, or rather my condo

This place is so huge you need to catch a little trolley train between the different areas. There are 21 bars, 4 snack bars, 7 places for breakfast and lunch, 11 A la carte restaurants, 5 buffet restaurants, not to mention a disco, sports bar - in short, it has the lot.
Of course it's on the beautiful Caribbean sea. This is our group "networking", strawberry daiquiri in hand, this afternoon at Tulum beach

As you can see I've been working very hard, hearing about good investment opportunities in Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador and of course here on the Riviera Maya.

That's me working particularly hard!
Actually it's been fabulous, not only listening to the speakers and picking their brains but also chatting with the other attendees, mainly from the US and Canada, finding out their plans and dreams, discussing the logistics of retiring overseas. As well, many of these members have travelled to places that are still on my list and will be an invaluable resource when I do go there.
As well, I've already pickup up some useful hints from the locals here, some of which may give me a source of income, or maybe just new friends to go dancing with.
It's not over yet, still another day and a half, and believe me when the "fat lady sings" it's probably going to be me. I could swear I have already gained 3 or 4 kilos. The food here is fabulous, plentiful, well prepared and presented and it's hard not to want to try everything. Tonight we ate at the Portofino Italian restaurant (right up my alley) and honestly the "salad bar" which included calamari, smoked salmon, carpaccios, lasagne, canneloni, and every vegetable you can imagine, would have been more than enough to make a meal. But no, we started with some prosciutto on bruschetta, then minestrone, then sea bass, then tiramisu and capuchino to finish off. Of course we were lavishly watered as well with whatever wines, cocktails and mixed drinks took our fancy.
We've taken to stopping at the bar to have a cocktail while waiting for the bus to ferry us around, and the colours and tastes are great. The pink, white and blue vodka cocktail was tasty, but I loved the one with light and dark rum, fruit juices and grenadine. I had on an orange dress yesterday and they brought me a drink to match my outfit!
Well, back to the hard slog!  For what it's worth, a small beach house on Ecuador's north coast is looking like a possibility, but an apartment in Brazil also sounds like a wonderful deal. There are "chill weekends" available where you can go and check out these places with a lot of the cost covered by the developers. Better make sure my passport is up to date, looks like it might be a busy year.