Thanks..you can always fly down stay a month or so and just see if it meets what you are looking for....it is much cheaper to go the b&b route for a month as good hotels are quite expensive. Plus you get kitchen..furnished place..privacy...etc as opposed to hotel stay.
I've lived in Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Panama..been to Argentina..Chile..Guatemala..El Salvador..etc.
However, i am a warm climate type person and don't care for mountains neither. I like flat land ...warm weather..beaches...etc so i could never get used to all the mountains in Honduras Highlands..Mexico Highlands...Guatemala Highlands. Plus i do not do well at high altitudes. I was mostly miserable but on warm sunny days i could sit in the sun and thaw out. I have friends in Canada. The wife and myself loaded up the Goldwing hooked up our combi camper and raced to Mexico to San Cristobal de Las Casas (two hours or so from Central America ...camping as we went.) Then returned back and raced up to Alberta Canada ...camping as we went. It was a dream i had had for years ...to travel on a motorcycle camping. Just decided i had better do it before I got too old to hold the moto up. Glad we did. We saw many sites in Mexico, Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Canada...etc.
We are from the south so it was quite the journey..back to back long trips on a moto pulling a big Combi Camp.
I like fishing..flat land...warm weather. I don't care for mountains of Tn that everyone raves about. Been there and camped there (this time in the motorhome.) Have friends that live in Gatlinburg. They love it.
So, in trying to decide where to settle down at..I'd take the time to visit as many as money would allow..travel around ...sightsee...find a place that "fits" you and of course your wife if married.
We gotton too old now but still may be good for one more long moto trip. Or may go in the motorhome and pull the moto behind on a trailer. I've gotton used to the comforts of a 40 ft motor home. Back when younger the moto/combi camper journey was VERY appealing.