I guess an awful lot has to do with attitude, it could be possible to be miserable in Paradise. I have had many friends ahead of me in the retirement stakes and have followed with interest what follows. It appears to be important to have friends around. One had dreamed of nothing else but a house built to his specs on a lake full of fish with a boat and a small seaplane. He achieved all this and it lasted two years before he got lonely and ended up moving from Florida to Spain because a bunch of airline chums had all got together in a small village there.
Another bases himself in his home village in Switzerland and he and his wife roam around renting places. I have built a place on the beach in Kenya but mindful of the security, medical etc have kept my place in London, rented it out and retain use of a room/study so can hopefully spend time in each place spending winters out in the sun and the rainy season back in the UK. In the meantime enjoy the sunshine out in Saudi. Not a bad place, it's what one chooses to make it, although we are all braced for loud noises at the moment. Dubai is lovely and has changed immensely from the one or two smart hotels on the creek to the ultra modern metropolis it is now, but saving money was always harder there than here. Less temptation here, besides one had to learn to make it or do without. One becomes a dab hand at imrovision in the arts of dabbling with liquid and yeast it can be quite a stimulating hobby.
I enjoyed places like Hawaii and Brazil Argentina Aus but they were all so far away from where I had established roots and friends, I have opted like the 'Cheers ' motto to go somewhere where somebody knows my name, and have a few people around who might just notice if I stop to say hello, I guess I have decided it might make a difference.