Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) November 04, 2015 – The overseas-living experts at InternationalLiving.com are calling on the public to help them decide who should be the overall winner for their “Best Job in the World” contest.

More than 1,000 hopefuls entered the competition, which is looking for a writer to travel to one or more of the world’s best retirement havens and report back on the experience.

The winning entrant will receive a round-trip international airline ticket to the “top retirement haven” of their choice—Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Spain, Malta, Colombia, Portugal or Thailand.

In addition, the winner will receive $5,000 in cash to fund this overseas adventure.

“The winner has complete control over his or her itinerary. All we ask is that he or she spend at least a month in one (or travel to more than one) of the countries on InternationalLiving.com’s 2015 top retirement havens list,” says Jennifer Stevens, InternationalLiving.com’s executive editor.

Each of these top retirement havens offers a great climate, low cost of living, good infrastructure, top-notch healthcare…and various other attributes which make them comfortable for expats to move to and live in.

The 1,000-plus entrants were asked to send in a headline and a 150-word lead describing a favorite travel experience. The editors at InternationalLiving.com had the arduous task of narrowing down that number to the best 20.

The public has until November 18 to vote on who out of the 20 finalists they would like to see win the prize. Voting is open here: Travel Writers Competition Top 20 Finalists.

Winners will be announced on the InternationalLiving.com website on November 30, 2015.

Two of the finalist entries focus on Costa Rica; here are their introductions:

Costa Rica – My Sanctuary

The cry of the howler monkey wakes me at 5 am. It’s his warning call to potential intruders. To me, it’s “Welcome home”. Stepping out on the balcony, I am greeted by the only cool air of the day. The blue jays stare at me demanding to be fed. I carefully place tiny bits of bread evenly spaced along the rail for all to enjoy, but a few greedy jays swoop down, gather up three, four, five pieces, cock their head as if to say “so much for sharing”, and fly away.

Creating the “Food of the Gods”—A Culinary Experience Hidden in the Costa Rican Rainforest

The anticipation of a chocolate tour in Costa Rica had my mouth watering. I envisioned a rustic chocolate shop in San Jose. Sweet delights, supported on green flowing leaves, reaching out like hands from wooden display cases, wistfully beckoning patrons to try a taste.