Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil

With a population of just 91,888, Cruzeiro do Sul is a modest outpost in the Amazon basin, hardly the glitzy metropolis many would-be expats dream of. The airport, while the westernmost in Brazil with scheduled flights, is a modest affair operated by the French firm Vinci SA after previously being run by the state. And while the airport has seen its share of incidents over the years, including a 1992 cargo plane crash and a 2009 military plane emergency landing, the bigger headache may be the 14 km trek from downtown.

Bureaucracy is a persistent annoyance here, with the airport only recently shifting from state to private control after decades under Infraero. The climate, too, is a challenge - this is the Amazon, after all, with hot, humid and occasionally stormy weather year-round. Overall, Cruzeiro do Sul is best suited for hardy souls seeking an authentic taste of Brazil's remote interior, not sun-seekers or the corporate-minded.