John Mitchell

It sounds as if in you're in a classic "Catch 22" situation. Canada also offers free emergency healthcare services, but I'm undoubtedly not telling you anything new at this point. "All provinces and territories will provide free emergency medical services, even if you don’t have a government health card." https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/new-life-canada/health-care-card.html

Too bad about Ireland. It sounds like it might be a solution to the healthcare issue. I imagine that you've looked into private medical insurance in Spain.

Good choice. I love Mexico and have spent a lot of time in the country. I'd probably move there myself if it didn't mean disqualifying myself for Canadian healthcare. As it is, I have to spend six months -- not necessarily consecutive -- per year in Canada in order to keep my medical coverage, something I don't want to lose at the tender age of 70. Lots of places to choose from. I prefer the highland regions of Mexico, where the year-round climate is more temperate. Lake Chapala certainly qualifies in that department.

That's no doubt true. However, I know someone who used to go to Ajijic every year but stopped visiting because the town has changed so much. He also didn't like the disrespectful attitude some new expats have towards the locals. It's an area of Mexico that I haven't visited, but it does look like an attractive place to live, close to Guadalajara too, which is a plus. If I were to move to Mexico, though, I think I'd look for a less inundated spot. There is no shortage of them.

One of the zooms was an image of an artifact in the sculpture museum next to the ruins, and the other was taken at the ruins themselves (see below). My Copan images haven't been especially big sellers. However, two or three license every year, often for good prices. My first trip to Copan was in 1996. I took three buses from Guatemala City. It was quite an adventure back then as most of the road to the Honduran border wasn't paved. I remember spending the last leg the journey sitting next to a Maya lady with a rooster on her lap. She also had a heavy sack of potatoes that sat on my left foot. They don't call them chicken buses for nothing.

From what I've heard and read, the Lake Chapala area may not be the retirement paradise that it once was. More and more expats from the North have been settling there in recent years, which has changed things considerably -- e.g. increasing crime, crowding, higher costs, etc.

They do good work at Macaw Mountain, giving a home to lots of rescued beautiful birds. I've met the American owner a couple of times and even wrote an article about the reserve for a US magazine. Coincidentally, two of my Copan ruins images were zoomed yesterday, which doesn't happen very often. Hmmm...

Coincidentally, I'm having the same problem. Reactine ( Cetirizine Hydrochloride) works quite well for me. Sorry to change the subject...

Not sure if that's ginger, but I have been to the Macaw Mountain Bird Park in Copan Ruinas -- twice in fact. It's a wonderful place.

I had four Montreal images zoomed earlier this week, all with identifiable people in them. Can't say I'm terribly worried. Regarding The Brooklyn Bridge, I seem to remember Bryan mentioning that he is now the proud owner of said bridge. Apparently, some nice guy -- Parker I think the name was -- sold it to him on his last visit. 😉

I'd be unsettled as well, especially if access to healthcare was still unsettled, super important to get that one sorted out.

I agree. The list is more "pro-active" than current. Back in the 90's, I used to get "subject needs" lists mailed to me from a specialist stock agency that I contributed to. The needs seldom got updated significantly, so I treated them with a grain of salt and didn't go out of my way to fulfill them, especially since it would have involved extra travelling and expense. The lists did serve as useful guidelines, though.

Have to admit that I don't consult the list often as I find it a bit frustrating to navigate. The requests don't seem to get recycled very often either -- i.e. they linger there for ages, which makes me wonder if they haven't already been filled or the buyers have found what they need elsewhere. That said, having such a list certainly isn't a bad idea. However, I find Alamy Measures AoA much more useful.

I took this years ago to illustrate a travel article that I was writing. Love it when these old (and not exactly perfect) images license (mid $$, distributor).

Does "giving consent" necessarily mean signing a model release, though? Model releases are typically needed for commercial uses only. Perhaps a "nod and a wink" plus a positive response from a subject qualifies as consent if an image will be -- or at least might be -- used editorially. If someone swears at you or covers her face when you point your camera her way, I guess that's enough evidence that no consent is being given. A search for "france people" brings up over 670K images. Check out "quebec people" as well.