Plan B

There is no Plan B.

At least nothing specific. Not yet and maybe not ever.

If not Portugal then we need to decide upon a place to live that will not meet all of our requirements. That's hard to entertain when Portugal meets all of our requirements and all of our preferences (the nice to have items).

But I would feel better about making our final decision on Portugal if we had specific alternatives in mind that we could directly compare it to, and so I have created a short list of other options: two international and two domestic.

Costa Rica. In my opinion Costa Rica is the best Latin American country for us. The crime rate is the requirement we would have to compromise on here, and for preferences we'd lose out on the climate. Costa Rica looks lovely and has a real focus on preserving its natural areas. It has sea side towns on the Pacific where sailing and scuba are easy and a number of stables for boarding horses -- there is even an international airport relatively close by. But the urban areas are inland, and while that's certainly an option, we'd have to choose between easy coastal access and city amenities. Likewise we could avoid the hot coast for the cooler central highlands, but then we'd have to give up the coast and proximity to an urban area. The east coast has a bad reputation for high crime which is also a concern in the main city of San Juan at the center of the country. Mosquitos and other tropical pests are an annoyance as well.

Barbados. Barbados ticks more of our boxes than any other Caribbean island nation. Isolation (or not being isolated) is the requirement we would give up on this island. It is a small island nation and so horseback riding would be limited, but horses are a thing here and there are stables. Scuba and sailing are easily accessed from anywhere on the island and are first rate. English is the official language, Barbados is far enough south to avoid hurricanes, and the crime rate is low. And while there is easy access to the other windward Caribbean islands the travel costs are somewhat expensive. There are other Caribbean countries that are similarly nice, but they are similarly small and isolated (and without English as the primary language) and most are in the hurricane zone.

Bellingham, WA. For coastal towns in the Pacific Northwest Bellingham is somewhat typical, but a close runner up was Newport, OR (less expensive but no horse boarding stables nearby). Deviations from our requirements are that the climate is colder and wetter than we want and there is no nearby major airport or transit hub. Housing is very expensive and warm water scuba diving is always a long flight away.  Bellingham is a progressive and charming small city (in a progressive state) where both riding horses and sailing are easily done. We have both been here and so know we like it (or liked it back then), but moving here would mean giving up on two of our requirements (climate and lack of a large airport or transit hub) and two of our preferences (health costs and proximity to travel destinations), which is asking a lot.

Tampa, FL. Tampa was an unexpected result in my search -- it is an outlier that is not representative of any other location. While Tampa itself is progressive it is in a conservative region, which is a concern. The climate is hot and humid and there are mosquitos and other pests a plenty. And there is the threat of hurricanes. It is not a good city to get around by walking or public transit. The crime rate is okay but not great. On the plus side sailing, scuba, and horses are all easy and convenient here; some of my family is a little the south; and it has a large airport. Moving here means only partially getting three of our requirements (socially progressive, safety and climate) and one preference (health costs), which makes moving here a stretch.

Where does this leave us with Plan B?

As idyllic as life on a Caribbean island sounds, I think the isolation we'd feel in Barbados is a deal breaker. The cold of Bellingham means I'd be miserable all through the winter months and that combined with the high cost of living takes it off of the table (Newport would be a contender, but not without nearby horse boarding, and it is quite far from any sort of airport -- I'll give it a pass).

Costa Rica could work -- it would mean compromises around safety and an urban lifestyle. Tampa could work but with compromises around safety and cost of health care and insurance. Both have more tropical climates than temperate.

And so Plan B appears to be either Costa Rica or Tampa. We can compare them in more detail later, but only if we actually need to.