What is the most beautiful affordable lake in world

Do you know what is the most beautiful affordable lake in the world? It is Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

Armand’s Links are at bottom of this webpage, scroll down

You are probably wondering where we decided to go when we left Mexico. Well, we headed south to discover what many call the most beautiful lake in the world. I have been to many lakes, but this lake is not only beautiful, but the weather is near perfect year-round, And, the cost of living is so low that you may start thinking what I have after spending the last week here. Many of you may decide that this lake is so beautiful and affordable, you may never leave once you see it with your own eyes.

When I was a kid, my father would take my sister and I camping once or twice per year. My father had a tent, a stove, and a water cooler. My father loved to fly fish and he needed silence. We were loud children, so he would rent a small rowboat for my sister and I. We fished for bass from the rowboat. He would fly fish along the shore.

My father would buy us Tootsie Rolls and we would row off into the lake and focus more on having fun than fishing. Dad was more serious about fishing. My sister was 2 years older than me. She was captain of the rowboat, Captain Ootsie and I was Private Toosie.

Later when I was about 10 years old, my father bought an old water ski boat. It was about 15 years old and had a 65 Evinrude motor on the back and some old water skies. At about the same time, my father discovered that he loved women. So my mom would drive my best friend and me to the lake several weekends per month during the summer months. We brought the tent, the stove, and the water cooler and water-skied all weekend. We got pretty good. My mother would sit and read a book at the campsite.

Eventually, my mom got tired of being alone and she divorced my dad. She moved us a few hours away closer to the pacific ocean. So I grew up loving both lakes and beaches. I was a lucky boy long before I was a lucky man.

I have lived a charmed life. Over the last 14 years, I have been slow-traveling the world. I have lived in or visited 65 countries in my life. Presently, Qiang Hui of HoboVentures.com, and I, are traveling the world. We completed 6 months in Mexico and flew to Guatemala to slow-travel south through Central America. I have 80+ reports on the best places to retire early cheap in paradise.

So, when Qiang said she wanted to spend time in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, I was intrigued. Normally, you are more likely to see us walking on a white sand beach. I told you about my childhood so you would know why I love lakes.  Click here or the below Google Map to see where Lake Atitlan is located.  

We arrived in March and I was afraid it would be too cold to swim in the lake because Lake Atitlan is 1562 meters (1 mile high), but I was surprised to learn it almost never gets too cold or too hot in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.

I had a travel blog before I started Vagabond Buddha and Vagabond Awake in 2016. On that travel blog, you will see that I visited Guatemala in 2012. I visited Antigua, Tikal, Lake Flores, and Semuc Champey (links provided). But this was my first time in Lake Atitlan Guatemala.

Eternal Spring and Eternal Vacation Resort

Lake Atitlan has perfect weather. The weather is so perfect, people don’t have heaters or air conditioners in their homes. Lake Atitlan has eternal spring weather and Qiang found us the perfect spot to stay. The resort where we stayed is an eternal vacation. You will never want to leave. But most perfect vacation spots, you have to leave because you run out of money. But this spot in the world is so affordable, you may just decide to stay forever. I will give you my estimate of what it would cost me to stay here forever along with links to the resort. But first, let me tell you about all of the amazing things we did on our eternal vacation.

They have stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, swimming, hiking, and waterskiing. Plus, there are nine little villages you can visit around the lake with indigenous people and their arts and crafts, local and worldly foods, hippie villages, party villages, and spiritual villages.

You can jump on a public boat every 20 minutes and go to any of the villages around the lake for about 25 Quetzales ($3 USD). Plus, the eternal vacation resort has a gourmet Guatemalan chef that prepares gourmet three-course vegan meals for about 95 Quetzales ($12 USD). But the apartments have fully equipped kitchens so we were preparing most of our meals for around 10 Quetzales ($1.30) per person.

You can grab the public boat to any of the local markets in most of the villages where you can buy locally grown cheap healthy ingredients. Or, you can hike a few kilometers to the local village near the eternal vacation resort.

Qiang and I loved it so much, we may sneak back to the eternal vacation resort before we head further south into Central America. From now on this place will be on our path as we slow travel the world. It would be a great place to retire for a few months or years, or to stop in and rejuvenate for a few weeks or months as you slow travel the world. Links to my estimated cost of living and to the resort are in the “More Information” link in the detailed description below this video.

Estimated Cost of Living Eternal Spring Paradise

We paid $232 in rent for a week but that included $71 of fees that the landlord didn’t get including Airbnb fees, cleaning fees, and tourist taxes. You may be able to get some or all of that discounted by renting directly from the landlord for a longer-term but you will have to talk to the landlord to find that out. You have to talk to him anyway since rates change by season. His direct contact information is below. If you can get him to knock off the booking fee and you clean it yourself, your weekly fee would be $181, using what we paid as a base for negotiations. If you stay longer than a few weeks or months, you may be able to save even more. That would including all utilities and internet. His contact information is below. Thus, our estimated cost of living at this resort per month in dollars would bed as follows.

Monthly Estimated Cost of Living

Rent	724 (USD)
Transportation	80
Restaurants	240
Groceries	240
Snacks	28
Tips	20
SIM Card	20
Month (USD)	$1272 USD
Optional
Alcohol	$100 USD
Total Estimate	$1372 USD

We are not offering you these prices.  We are just telling your our thoughts based upon what we paid to stay there.  

The host’s name is Armand and you can contact him directly and avoid some of the booking fees that we had to pay because we didn’t know how to contact him directly. He can also help you find other property in Lake Atitlan. He is also a great source of information since he has lived in Guatemala for 30 years. He is from France.

Armand’s Links (The “Eternal Vacation”)

• www.atitlansunsetlodge.com
• www.realestateatitlan.com
• www.atitlanvacationrentals.com
• Armand’s YouTube Channel:
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSC2UWtRtqtDVDNYBYVWqAQ

Armand is not paying us to promote him or his property. Nor did we receive anything of value from him such as a rent discount. We are just sharing this information with you because we love the place and we appreciate both you and Armand. Thank you for the value you add by watching our videos, liking, subscribing, and commenting.

Make sure to grab a free copy of my eBook: How I Fired My Boss and Traveled the World for 14 Years.

This is Dan of Vagabond Awake, the YouTube Channel for Vagabond Buddha. The world is your home. What time will you be home for dinner?