Retiring or semi-retiring overseas is the only viable option unless money is not an issue. My wife (37 y.o.) and I (55 y.o.) are planning to do that, in a couple of years as soon as my youngest of four children is out of the house. We are not FI yet, although in the past 5 years, I've traded a high-paying career as a scientist for a part-time gig as a flight attendant that pays little but gives me a lot of free time and the chance to travel on the cheap.
If someone else pays for my retirement, I would probably live somewhere on the California coast, maybe around Carmel or Monterrey. Manhattan Beach is also a good option...Although Mustachians seem to be nice people, I don't think I'll get a cheque in the mail anytime soon...So instead of California dreamin', we are looking at affordable places such as Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, even Spain -Murcia for example, is a beautiful area and real estate is cheap, even on the coast, etc. I am of Latin origin and would prefer a Spanish-speaking country, and my wife being from Okinawa (Japan) would like Okinawa where the cost of living is very low, and the quality of life is high. I love Asia as well, for having spent time in South-East Asia where even a retired North American couple on a shoe-string budget can have it all in places like Thailand, Malaysia, Viet-Nam, etc. On the other hand, as I have grown children and will eventually have grand-children that I will want to see regularly, moving too far for long periods of time, is a factor to consider. Another factor is that we enjoy traveling to other places, and we may not like settling full-time in one place, even one that seems like paradise. So while owning our own place abroad seems to be an attractive proposition considering what you can get for so little, in the end, we will rent. I've been researching the rental market in various places like Panama, Belize, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, etc., and found gems for as little as $300 per month. Believe it or not, you can even find apartments in downtown Barcelona -one of the most beautiful and vibrant cities in the world- for about 600 euros! In many countries, a couple can live comfortably for as little as $1,000 a month (rent, food, expenses, health insurance, maid-cook, etc.). Our goal is to probably spend half our time (most likely from May to October) in Calgary where we own a couple of condos, then find a small apartment or little house to rent in a different country for the rest of the year. Age will eventually take a toll on our plan, so we would do that as long as my health allows it, keeping in mind that my wife being 17 years younger than me and from a place known for its centenarians, will outlive me by 50 years and will need a stable income when I am no longer around.
If you are young or even not so young, why wait for that elusive retirement? Living and working overseas is possible, and options abound. I am a little skeptic about work-from-home options, but why not. If you have portable skills, you can take them anywhere. You can also teach ESL (it's fun and you connect with people: take a one-month ESL teaching course and teach to kids and young adults who will give you the respect that teachers in our countries could only dream of), be a scuba-diving instructor (in a little over one month and for under $1500, you can be PADI-certified instructor or divemaster and work in a resort in Thailand...can life get any better? Seriously, you are on a boat, in the tropics, surrounded by girls in bikinis who think you are some kind of semi-god haha), etc.
So I say: Do a little research and plan according to your own circumstances, don't listen to naysayers, and take the plunge!