This American Couple Retired Abroad—Here’s What it’s Like

When we first spoke to Darrell and Amy Bushnell in 2017, they were already 11 years into an early retirement that had taken them from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Nicaragua at the tender ages of 55 and 49, respectively. Well, their version of early retirement.

Self-described “workaholics,” the couple had always known they wanted to retire overseas, and while they were avid travelers, the decision was largely a financial one. They moved to Nicaragua in 2006, where cheap, quality medical care meant that health insurance wouldn’t eat up their pensions. “The cost of living is what attracted us, but the people are what keep us here,” they said in 2017. “They’re friendly, hardworking, and funny.” After spending time in the coastal town of San Juan del Sur, they moved to the city of Granada and opened an art studio and gallery (La Calzada Centro de Arte); started a website and newsletter for expats (that they’ve since passed on); and began raising chickens, pigs, ducks, and horses on their farm.

“We’re busier than ever,” Amy said at the time, “but we don’t work crazy hours. And we’re doing things we actually like 1716487331. Our lives are joyful.”

“Our idea of retirement is still active. We play pickleball three days a week; we play golf twice a week; I take Spanish lessons,” Darrell added.

The Bushnells just celebrated their 50th anniversary, are now 74 and 68, and aren’t about to slow down anytime soon. In fact, they may be ready to pack their bags (and two dogs) once again.

We caught up with the couple recently to check back in on their overseas retirement—and find out what’s next.

This interview has been condensed for clarity and space.

You retired to Nicaragua in 2006. Do you feel pretty settled at this point? Does Nicaragua feel like home?

Darrell Bushnell: It’s been our home for 18 years, [but] we’re thinking about another adventure now.

Are you thinking about a specific place?

Darrell: Two places are on our minds: Mexico and Italy.

What do you like about each one?

Amy Bushnell: Well, Mexico is easy because we already speak Spanish. And we have quite a few friends that live there. It’s an incredible country; there’s some really good opportunities there. And it’d be an easy move, physically, for our pets and ourselves.

Italy would be fascinating because it’d be a brand-new country. And we’d be in Europe; I’d love to explore that entire area more in depth. My grandmother was Italian, too. And they’ve got good tax incentives in certain parts of the country.

Darrell: That’s really the crux of it. Our number-one choice is Spain, but we’re living on pensions and social security and savings. And [in] most of the EU, we’d have to pay 30 to 40 percent in taxes. We pay zero here—absolutely nothing.

Mexico is the same thing; [in some cases], you pay nothing on worldwide income. Italy has the regime deal, where you pay 7 percent of your social security and pension, but you get to join their national health plans. We think that’s worth it.

Is there a certain region or city in Mexico and Italy that particularly appeals to you?

Darrell: I’ll start with Mexico. It took us 18 years, but we’d like to be a little cooler. Especially this year; everybody’s experiencing climate change. This is the warmest spring we’ve ever had; we’re in the 90s every day. We’re looking at the highlands of Mexico—several hundred miles around Mexico City. [In] all those areas, it’s in the 50s at night.

Amy: You can have a fireplace and wear a sweater.

Darrell: I miss a fireplace.

Amy: I haven’t worn closed shoes in 18 years. I live in sandals, except for when I play pickleball or golf.

You’ve stayed very active over the past 18 years. Would you even consider yourselves “retired”?

Darrell: When we came here, the word was “reinvent.” And it’s not just us; many of the expats that came here reinvented themselves. Like, I started writing, and we pushed Amy into opening her art studio. She’d never taught [before] but she was a natural.

Amy: We taught English to adults and children, to the police. We really jumped into the whole Granada scene. It was so easy to get involved with the community in big ways and little.

Even though we’re saying “retire” this time, people say, “Oh, you’ll do something [else].” And I say, “Yeah, most likely. Because that’s just who we are.” But we’re playing a little bit more now as well.

Darrell: We’re playing pickleball three days a week, and we play golf two days a week. We’re really enjoying it because we never did that before.

You just celebrated your 50th anniversary. Did you go anywhere?

Amy: We had a little party in town. We invited people and said, “Open bar; come on down.” That was kind of nice.

Some people move to other countries and stick with the expat community, but it sounds like you immersed yourselves from the very beginning.

Amy: We got to know everybody quite well and did little things like sponsor a soccer game or whatever. And Darrell did Friday-night movies out on the street, against the neighbor’s house. She allowed us to paint the wall white so the picture would show up even better. People here are super kind in general.

Is that going to be one of the hardest things about leaving Nicaragua—this community you’ve become such a big part of?

Amy: That is a biggie because we both have a lot of friends and things we do on a regular basis with a really wonderful group of people. We’d have to almost start over again. Not that that can’t be done, but it might get a little bit more difficult the older that you get.

Darrell: People don’t want to associate so much with older people. But we don’t care anymore. That’s one thing about getting old—you don’t care anymore. “You don’t like my attitude? Fine, go away.” [Laughs] We have no regrets.

That’s the most important thing, right?

Amy: Yeah. It’s been a lot of fun.

Darrell: We still think people should think about moving to Nicaragua if they’re looking for an inexpensive alternative and the opportunity to reinvent yourself. You can take a thousand dollars into a village and build a community center, library, or playground.

Amy: Becoming part of the community is very rewarding. When we were working in the States, we didn’t do much else. We worked. And the stress was unbelievable. So we decided to retire early, following my parents’ example. It was scary the first year, but otherwise, it worked out really, really well.

Darrell still says, “Why didn’t we do this sooner?” We didn’t because we weren’t ready. We both loved our jobs, but then we realized there’s a whole ‘nother world out there. And living in a city like Granada, you meet people from all over the world.

I didn’t realize this until I left the country, but most people don’t work the way people in the U.S. work. That’s it—you are what your work is. And in a lot of other places in the world, you are you.

This article was originally published in 2017 and was updated with a new interview on May 22, 2024.