Archive for May, 2007

Grenada: Cost of Living

Grenada is a strange mix of cheap & expensive. Probably not surprising given that most of the locals don’t earn that much but in comparison it’s also full of yachties who clearly have enough cash to sail round the world permanently and not work.
This means it’s great for L.I.Ps. You have a choice between expensive [...]

Grenada is a strange mix of cheap & expensive. Probably not surprising given that most of the locals don’t earn that much but in comparison it’s also full of yachties who clearly have enough cash to sail round the world permanently and not work.

This means it’s great for L.I.Ps. You have a choice between expensive (supermarket shopping) or really quite cheap living (local roadside vendors).

How to get up the CN Tower for free

The CN Tower is apparently the world’s tallest building (probably not for much longer though). It also boasts the world’s highest wine cellar.
You usually have to pay to go up it in a super-speed elevator and can then walk all over the glass floor and watch the ants (sorry, people) below.
Great tip though - [...]

The CN Tower is apparently the world’s tallest building (probably not for much longer though). It also boasts the world’s highest wine cellar.

You usually have to pay to go up it in a super-speed elevator and can then walk all over the glass floor and watch the ants (sorry, people) below.

Great tip though - go for an excellent, very good value (considering the quality of the food) meal there and you get to go to the viewing bits for free. The cheapest meal to go for is lunch and they do a very good set course menu for around US$40.

Toronto: As a LIP Location

So how does Toronto measure up as a destination for Location Independent Professionals?
We decided to go to Toronto, firstly because we’d always heard excellent things about it and secondly because we wanted a bit of an easier time of it, after the challenges of Buenos Aires & Panama.
Based on our original list of criteria below, [...]

So how does Toronto measure up as a destination for Location Independent Professionals?

We decided to go to Toronto, firstly because we’d always heard excellent things about it and secondly because we wanted a bit of an easier time of it, after the challenges of Buenos Aires & Panama.

Based on our original list of criteria below, here is how it measured up…

1) Has a lower cost of living
2) Is English-speaking, or at least we could get by in English
3) Is a bit more ‘exotic’ and different from the usual expat places
4) Has good internet & telecoms structure
5) Is politically stable & safe
6) Has a decent infrastructure that wouldn’t require us to ‘rough it’

1)
The cost of living in Toronto is fairly high. It’s comparable with any major city outside London in the UK and it’s definitely not a ‘cheap’ place to live. Our cost of living was made that little bit higher because we found & loved the Whole Foods supermarket which meant we could eat 100% organic again - expensive but well worth it and something we’d missed in Panama & BA.

Public transport (except taxis) is fairly good value - compared with London - and very efficient & easy to use. Food (not organic) is probably comparable to most UK supermarkets and furnished accommodation whilst plentiful, is by no means cheap.

2) Big plus this one - and more ‘British’ English than the US version of it! It was most definitely nice to be back in an English-speaking country and made everything 110% simpler & that bit more enjoyable.

3) I wouldn’t say Toronto is ‘exotic’ as such. It’s also got a huge expat community and so clearly isn’t an undiscovered gem just waiting to be found. However, it is easy to see why people like Toronto. It’s hard to put your finger on but it is just so civilised, sensible, organised, friendly and above all, an easy city to live in.

4) High speed internet access is fine - no better or worse than anywhere else we’ve been. Our apartment came with free local
calls which we hardly used. Skype worked fine there.

5) As politically stable & safe as you could get on this continent.

6) Most definitely a first world infrastructure. And you pay for it too!

In Summary

Toronto is a lovely city. It has a very good vibe about it and the people are really what make it special.

As a L.I.P location however, it’s not one of the best places we’ve found because of the cost. You could well live on less than we did, but we found that in the true sense of living in a commercially-focused place, if it’s there…you want ti!!

If you’re not concerned about paying twice as much for a taxi ride, a basket of groceries or a meal out, then it’s a great L.I.P location. However, for us, there’s not enough of a difference between here & the UK to decide we’d want to spend too much time as L.I.Ps here.

Toronto: Cost of Living

Definitely a 1st world city this one…and you
pay for it too! Anywhere we went after Buenos Aires was bound to seem
expensive but at least here you don’t mind paying a bit more when
people are so genuinely friendly and service is typically great.

Here is a rough cost (in US$) of typical things in Toronto, Canada (2007)…
Bottle [...]