Top Ten Things I Love about Chile by Lori Dorchak
By Lori Dorchak
1. The breathtaking natural scenery: the Andes with snow capped volcanoes, the rugged Pacific coast, the sparkling blue lakes, and the lush green Valdivian rain forest.From the driest desert in the world, the Atacama, in the north of Chile, to the Mediterranean climate of central Chile, to the rugged sub-antarctic climate of southern Chile, the diversity is incredible!
Punto Godoy facing south to Isla de Chiloe
2. The clean fresh air that blows up from the Antarctic. It’s some of the cleanest in the world.
The southern hemisphere is a lot less populated and less polluted and the winds from the more polluted northern hemisphere stay there as well as the ocean currents. So it’s a lot cleaner down here!
Rainbow over Petrohue on Lago Todos Los Santos
3. The kind, gentle people of the campo. Country folk are much different than those of the city so I am not speaking for the people of Santiago. But the people in the south of Chile in the country are for the most part kind and helpful and understanding as you stumble through their language!
Plus they love Gringos!
4. The culture is more family oriented. While most Chileans have small families, they admire large families.
The country is not filled with trashy billboards of a questionable nature.
The grocery aisles are not filled with porn and the streets are still safe for children to play and walk home from school unattended.
Celebrating Fiestas Patrias
5. Smaller, less invasive government that doesn’t spend money it doesn’t have.
Less taxes and fees, less rules and regulations. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, the government has shown prudent public financial management, keeping public debt low and budget deficits under control.
Plus government corruption is the lowest in Latin America.
Military parade in Frutillar Alto
6. A stable economy that produces more than it consumes. The country exports more than it imports. Chile produces wine, copper, and veggies which are exported all over the world.
This culture is not based on consumption. Life is not about buying and buying, who has the nicest car, and clothes, who is wearing the latest fashions (It may be that way in Santiago but not here). And the quality of life is high. You don’t see much third-world poverty here like in Peru or Brazil.
7. The small town atmosphere where everybody knows everybody. Life is centered around the town plaza where people hang out to socialize. It’s reminiscent of the USA in the 1950’s.
Volcan Osorno on Lago Llanquihue
8. There is little to no social and civil unrest. No race wars. The level of crime here is half of what it is in the USA. though the communists are often causing minor problems in Santiago.
9. You don’t need any vaccinations to visit Chile as there are no tropical diseases and the water is always safe to drink.
10. Great tasting local fresh produce and seafood and the meat is always pasture fed! Little to no fast food here. Comida rapida (fast food) here is picking up a handmade empanada.
11. Less densely populated. With a population of 17.6 million, 1/2 of which is in Santiago, the rest of the country is pretty empty. No traffic jams, except at milking time when the cows cross the road–and no road rage.
12. A rich Christian cultural heritage where religious holidays are national holidays and it’s not illegal to show your faith.
Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Patroness of Chile
13. Inexpensive quality healthcare- $15 to see the doctor at the local hospital with the meds (antibiotics) running about $2-3.
14. Oops! What can I say? I got a little carried away and I could go on with more but I think I already went over my top 10!
Well, I just love Chile 🙂
They are on YouTube at Chile Expat Family and, especially if you are interested in country living and self-sufficiency, we think you’ll really enjoy their blog at ourchileanadventure.blogspot.com.
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Great story ! Really makes us want to revisit Chile. We visited a few years ago before ending up in my wife’s native Paraguay, and really REALLY liked the country. Santiago had a bit of a problem with pollution and the usual “overcrowding, congestion and poverty” that you find in Lat Am but to a lesser extent by far than “our” Asuncion in Paraguay or other places we visited. The coastal area was fabulous and the sceanary everywhere else in the campo we visited was breathtaking. Our relatives who hosted us lived in Santiago and they likewise commented on the low crime rates and lack of official corruption. Plus we kept getting the feeling we were in Europe, like in Italy or maybe Spain, and NOT Lat Am.
So much of the good you wrote about regarding living in the Chilean campo also apply’s to the campo in Paraguay (and probably the “campo” in any LatAm country as opposed to the big cities). I had to smile at the not so subtle “negatives” the writer attributes to Santiago or the “big city”. We do the same in regards the evil “big city” of Asuncion. Living the tranquillo lifestyle is the way to go, or how did John Denver put it…”Thank God I’m a country boy” !
Only problem we had with Chile was that it was the most expensive regarding living expenses of all the countries we visited, even more so than Brazil or Argentina. Would really like to see how that is now for typical living expenses. We’re still thinking of finding a place to escape the murderous heat of the Paraguayan summer season. And southern Chile would fit that requirement nicely…
Thanks for the kind comment, Brad.
Yes, I am very biased against city life 🙂
but to each his own!
You are right about how expensive it is to live here and it’s not getting any better. But, I figure, it’s the price we pay to live in a stable, growing economy and all the other benefits I noted in the article. I will be doing an article on the cost of living on my blog soon with actual prices of products here and links to numbeo.com which has price comparisons the world over. Very interesting site and you can add info from your own city to make the site better and more accurate.