Lifestyle

A Connecticut Couple in Their 70s Traded Florida Retirement for a Condo in Bangkok. Then Came the Part They Didn’t Expect: “Met More People Here in the Year We’ve Been Here”

By Mike Harper · November 4, 2026

Kathy and her husband, Hank, had what many people picture as the ideal retirement. After decades in New England, they spent about 10 years in a Florida gated community with a pool and a clubhouse. Then they moved halfway around the world.

“We lived in Connecticut most of our lives,” the couple explained in an interview with The Bangkok Guide (@thebangkokguide), a YouTube channel run by Cal, who has lived in Thailand since 2015. The video was posted Oct. 28. “When I retired, we moved to Florida for about 10 years.” About a year ago, they moved to Bangkok, and they have lived in their current condo since January.

The idea took hold on a short vacation in Thailand, the couple said, when the country struck them as peaceful and relaxed. The couple, who said they became Buddhists nearly 40 years ago, also felt they fit in there.

They show their home and talk about the move in the video on YouTube.

The biggest surprise was not the food or the heat. It was the social life. Kathy said that in Florida there was so little to do and so little interaction with other people that she used to joke with Hank about how isolated they were. Bangkok turned out differently. “We’ve done so much more here, met more people here in the year we’ve been here than really in the 10 years we spent in Florida,” she said.

Living in a city was new for them, too. Kathy said they had never lived in one, even though they loved the cities Hank worked in, and that they could not afford a comparable city lifestyle in the United States.

Their age shapes some choices. “We’re in our 70s,” Kathy said, explaining that the heat bothers her far more than it bothers Hank and that she plans to be away in the summer. She has also had foot surgery and knee surgery since the move, the knee surgery about eight weeks before the interview, and she said they planned for medical care to be expensive. She now avoids the building’s pool because there are no railings to help her climb out.

That last point matters for anyone thinking about a move abroad. Medicare.gov says Medicare usually does not cover health care outside the U.S., and in most cases you pay all costs. Medicare drug plans also do not cover prescriptions bought outside the country. The CDC’s travel health guidance notes that some Medigap plans cover limited emergency care abroad, generally during the first 60 days of a trip, with a $50,000 lifetime maximum, which is not the same as coverage for living overseas.

A few questions to ask before retiring abroad:

How will you pay for care? Price out local health insurance and read carefully what it covers and what it excludes.

Will your home fit your body later? Kathy’s pool with no railings is a reminder to check stairs, grab bars and access before you buy or rent.

Where will your community come from? For Kathy and Hank, it was the best part of the move.

For Kathy, the verdict so far is simple. She called the move a wonderful experience.

This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.