Expat Retirement with soaring?

On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 4:17:53 PM UTC-5, Jeff Bures wrote:
Hi all,

First post here (at least in 20 years).

I'm a US citizen with private power and sailplane ratings. I'm contemplating retirement in a few years. One possible plan is to spend several years of it as an expat somewhere the cost of living is less than the USA. Parts of Europe, Asia, Central or South America are options.

These years should include lots of recreational (not competition) soaring.. I'm curious about different locations with good soaring. I don't want to be the strange American with the weird airplane, but rather live where soaring is known and I could make some friends. Would people make some suggestions please?

I'm also interested in knowing how difficult it is for a visiting pilot to buy, register, and fly a sailplane locally. Are the requirements different if I become a resident? I've read that my USA certificate is valid in many countries if I'm passing through, but as a resident I might need to take additional tests (possibly in the local language). Is this true?

Are there any Expat Pilots out there?

Thanks for any advice!
It would be smart to consider Australia as an option. Multiple excellent soaring sites. Great people and culture.
UH

About Argentina:

Yes, great places to fly:
Bariloche, Chos malal, Mendoza, Jachal if you like the mountains.
Flatlands soaring is good too at south west of Buenos Aires province ( i strongly recommend not living in buenos aires city).
Very cheap to live if your income is in USD.

Bureaucracy is better than it was in 2012. More if you are planing to be here for a while.
Bring your own bird, it is way cheaper, you can sell it to a local when you return and everybody will be happy.
Lots of foreings come with their own glider to fly the Andes.

Like Hank said, you should look for Australia and maybe New Zeland, same language, great soaring places.