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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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For most who look for new homes after retirement the dilemma is often framed between low prices and high quality of life, when quality is measured mainly by objective criteria such as levels of crime and air pollution, political and economic stability, availability of shopping malls in the neighborhood, and clear tap water. In general, the higher the quality of life, the higher the property prices, which makes the price gap between the rich and not so rich countries with good living conditions getting smaller.

There are unfortunately other independent variables that can increase or decrease our impressions of a good life, many of which are personal and can't be predicted by political and economic surveys for the given country. One of these personalized variables is our allergy conditions, or the way our body reacts to the environment we live in. According to most surveys up to 30% of the entire population of North America suffers from one or another form of allergy, a substantial percentage that it makes worth looking at this aspect of relocation.

Some forms of allergy are produced by factors that can be kept more or less under our control. These forms include food and medication hyper-reactions. Once we know we can't eat peanuts or take penicillin it's easy to follow these rules wherever we live. Peanuts look like peanuts anywhere in the world. It is much more difficult when our allergy symptoms are cause by the environment itself. Only in the most advanced countries we can rely on being informed about the current pollen situation and even there we can't be absolutely certain that "our" pollen(s) are included in the weather report.

Many places on earth look nice on greeting cards and indeed their governments and people try to offer their best to newcomers in terms of economic and financial stability, low prices and good living standards. In general many of these places are located within the warmer climatic zones between the tropics. After two-thirds of their lives or more spent in countries with harsh winters people in retirement prefer believing that life could also be pleasant throughout the year. Countries offering "eternal springs" and all-year-long pleasant temperatures around 20-25 C (70's F) can also offer all-year-long pollen active seasons. If by any chance "your" pollen allergy matches those in the area you decide to move to, then your golden years would turn into a nightmare instead of pleasure.

The best way to save you time, money and to be sure that the area you move to is right not only for your pocket and taste of living but also for your eyes and skin, will be to rent and live for a year before you make final decision to buy. Even with minor symptoms of possible allergy you should ask yourself whether it's necessary at all to embark on a project with far reaching financial consequences. As many specialists warn, allergy is something people often get into and rarely get out. Even minor symptoms can indicate possible further complications. Our good health is essential part of our living standard.