Not currently, but maybe in retirement I might consider it. My biggest concerns would be language and how it may effect the frequency I can see my family.
Panama is probably the nicest in central america although that is maybe not saying much lol. Bang for buck is peru and vietnam. A friend is living in Quy nhon and he seems to love getting wasted partying for 25 cents. He also appears to be doing fine not knowing vietnamese. He is on budget you have a better luxury with dough in hand. Still you can go cheap cheap. Its funny to go to some off beat place and then meet random english speakers usually from australia wondering how the hell did they end up here? I met ton of dudes in europe and surrounding like that ..doing day labor in haifa then across the way to greece to chill. The vagabond expat life is huge and many of them are pretty much homeless. You have a luxury they dont.. You sound like you dont have to mix in work which means you can scoot around. If it was me and had your freedoms I would go to spots 3 months at a time and have a cheap home base like tx to leave from. 3 months is about when any place gets stale. Tahiti / fiji s pacific are similar and the stale factor kicks in within a few weeks. I was in fiji and started to feel this way really quick. This one lady in hawaii was asking to come with me in suitcase that she was stuck 'on this rock' and she was talking about hawaii for christ sakes This comes up a lot here and the main thing I always stress is visiting somewhere is not same as living. That is why short trips ( 2-3 months is the way to go) i was trying to convince my wife to go to pacific northwest and get a place for a month this summer. Yeah rona but also that its 'too long' according to her. boo hoo you lucky bastid go and do it please so we can all live vicariously.
I wish I had looked into this before turning 50. Some countries make it a little harder as you get older, it seems, unless you’re bringing a ton of cash.
What's making me think about is is my cousin and her wife in Wellington. They keep inviting me, but if I'm going all the way across the world I'll probably stay for a while.
one of my acquaintance is Viet American; his parents (one a clerk for the City of Westminster, CA, the other a maintenance worker for Boeing) retired several yrs ago. they sold their modest 3-bedroom near Little Saigon, and used the funds to build a mansion (w servants quarters) on the outskirts of HoChiMing City and purchased some income properties in the city. their pension/social security checks more than cover their living expenses, which include a cheuffeur, maid and a maintenance worker awa extensive travel in SE Asia and special cable to get American sporting events, soap opera, etc. English is almost like a 2nd language there; you can easily find American food (burgers, pizza, steak, fried chicken, texmex,) there
My brother is basically the same age and same life situation as you @Buck Turgidson , and he's very, very seriously considering moving to Medellin, Colombia, Buenos Aires, Argentina, or Kiev, Ukraine. He's most apprehensive about Argentina because of the economic unrest, but he feels like he'd still be able to live the life he wants to live there. Colombia seems to be first on his list for various reasons, but he has a serious business opportunity in Kiev that might end up winning out.
I agree with this sentiment but with law of diminishing returns I put the cap at 90 days which lines up just right with a tourist visa. Unless you are long hauling it like Vietnam for budget reasons I think the sweet spot is 90 days and bolt. You can do Kiev aregentina and colombia 90 each in fact i cant see a scenario where I would WANT to be there past 90... Being there past that in many ways is a pointless commitment unless there is something that really sells the place. Where is that place? If you find it let me know
Is your brother Hunter Biden? Sorry couldn't resist.. I'll be honest the last few weeks have made me consider this. I could go to Hong Kong because of family and professional connections but wouldn't emigrate there with the PRC breathing down on it. I've been offered the chance before to become a Singaporean and it's definitely something to consider.
Only thing about Canada is that Toronto and Vancouver have housing costs that are out of control. Vancouver is as bad as any city on the West Coast and Toronto isn't far behind. And unfortunately, for a lot of industries, those two cities are the only places with substantive employment opportunities. If you're crazy, you can always move to Point Roberts and technically live in the US (while being part of the Vancouver metro). But it sounds like a nightmare to cross the border constantly to do anything. On the bright side, housing costs there are actually pretty decent. The other parts of Canada (including Montreal) are affordable for the most part. If you're considering retiring, there are people that I know that do half the year in Canada, half in the US which is already allowed since Americans can stay in Canada for 6 months at a time. Its a good time to buy a house there because the exchange rate favors the US at the moment.
since the 1980s, in response to the return of HK to the PRC, large # of HKers with connectons have settled in these 2 cities, contributing to the rise in the cost of housing in the beginning, the younger HK immigrants would settled in Toronto, cos housing is relatively cheaper, Vancouver for the older HKers, because they hate the harsh winter in Tor suburbs in these two cities, Richmond (near Van) and Markam (near Tor) probably have the best Chinese food in N America, better than SF, LA and NYC
I was looking at some property in Nicaragua. I found a friend who had family there who was able to work with local contractors. I was going to get a beachfront lot. The price was right, but we'd have to put in roads, power, freshwater etc. for a lot of the land parcels. It ended up still being a great potential value but was more than I could afford in the end. I would have loved to have lived on the beach and walk out to surf in uncrowded waters anytime I wished. I can't imagine trying to undertake it without some sort of connection there. I think it depends on where you go and if you are going to buy a property or just rent/lease. I met a wonderful group of ex-pats in a remote Tuscan village this past summer. I could be down with that. The costs of places there were reasonable compared to Los Angeles. I would also love to live in Paris, but the prices are too insane.
Did not know NZ had such restrictions on emigration, interesting. What jobs are on the shortage list?
