Interesting Stuff in My Belize News Feed this Week…

A few interesting things have popped up in the news recently so I thought I’d just recap them here.  Overall, things in San Pedro seem MUCH busier than they were just a few months ago.  Parking is again tricky to find.

(Looking back on these June 2020 pictures of an empty San Pedro seems crazy now!)

We are not back to pre-pandemic numbers – I would suspect that we are not even close but people are clearly well in need of a vacation and despite the additional safety measures (social distancing, masking in public, mandatory testing coming into the country – required by Belize – and then out of the country – required by the US), tourism numbers are growing.

You can see people out and about in town – and it feels good.

Work Where You Vacation Program:  Hoooray!  But…not just yet.

It started with Barbados in July of 2020.  The country announced a $2000US “Welcome Stamp” and made headlines across the world.  All you need to do is fill in an easy online form, pay the fee and head to Barbados for up to a year to work remotely.  Since then over 3500 people have joined and are helping give a major boost to the small tourism based economy.

Smart and SIMPLE.  And a win for everyone involved.

I saw social media posts from all over Belize – why can’t we do this?  Attract a younger, working crowd who normally could not legally come to Belize to work online – so that they could stay for the medium-long term, work AND enjoy the country.  AND spend money here.  AND tell all of their friends how awesome Belize is.  WIn, win, win, win, win.

Could this be your new office?

Anguilla got with the program in August.  Aruba announced the One Happy Workcation ONLY for US citizens, Bermuda, a One Year Residential Program…

And FINALLY I saw this headline this morning:  Belize To Introduce “Work Where You Vacation” Program”

I was excited…this is fantastic!  And then I clicked through.  And found that this is “click bait” – where a catchy headline grabs me to CLICK and then the “article” tells me…nothing.

But I did see this post from the recent Govt of Belize cabinet meeting.  Hopefully, more information on this and the QRP program will be available soon.

What do you think about working remotely in Belize?  I hope they are as inclusive as possible.  We don’t want to weigh it all down with too high fees…or too many restrictions.  Let’s get this going and not kill it with bureaucracy!

We want to welcome people to visit Belize while they abide by the safety restrictions in place.

NEW COLA in Belize

Just a few weeks back, I wrote about new beers in Belize.  Testing the Three New Beers of Belize on a Gorgeous Day at Koko King on Caye Caulker

Now this new beverage company in the northern Orange Walk District of Belize (producer of Pirates’ Beers) is putting out a new cola.

Interesting.  Are Coke drinkers (Belize is a COCA COLA COUNTRY) willing to try something new?

Could My Cola become Your Cola?  Could you be ordering a My Cola and One Barrel Rum at your next bar stop?  Hmmm…

Here is the facebook page for the Brewery.

Retro, huh?  Kinda reminds me of Tab!

COLD FRONT in Belize – Maybe Our Last?

Clearly this is NO WHERE NEAR what many parts of the US are suffering right now.  Hearing temperatures just above zero in Dallas?  And in the teens in Houston?  It’s…hard to believe.  And scary.

This week on Ambergris Caye has been hot, sunny and humid but things are starting to change today.  We have seen rains this morning (VERY un-February like!) and the later in the day, the winds will come from the north and drop our temperatures by 5-10 degrees across the country.

Tomorrow morning the temperature is predicted to be about 70.  

It actually sounds pretty perfect to me.

Brent’s Two Cents Podcast = “The Semi-Serious Thoughts Of A Guy in Belize”

If you want to take a bit of deeper dive in Belizean politics – there is a great podcast coming out of Belize City that focuses on the “hot topics of the week”.  He keeps them short, informational and entertaining…

This week’s a good one!   Here is the podcast Facebook page but you can download a new one every Monday where ever you get your podcasts.

That’s all I’ve got for now!  Hope you have a great weekend and try to stay warm!

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