Forced to live the rest of his life in the dreaded "3rd world" Let go of your fears!

MisterT

Rising Star
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If you had to live in the 3rd world where would it be?

I did, and never looked back. In fact, I’ve now lived three countries that might be considered third-world.
I left the USA in 2011 at age 60 to retire to Ajijic, Mexico. It’s a beautiful little Mexican village, sandwiched between some pretty impressive mountains and Lake Chapala - Mexico’s largest lake. It’s home to some spectacular sunrises and sunsets, a wonderful climate year-round, and a thriving community of American and Canadian expats. Here’s a sunset view from my furnished rental home - a 2 bedroom 2 bath literal art gallery of a home with a heated swimming pool on the side of a mountain. Monthly rental little more than what you’d pay for a nice 1BR apartment in any decent sized American city.
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I absolutely loved almost everything about Ajijic. It seemed like heaven on earth to me, on a Social Security budget. Great people, great restaurants, Guadalajara International Airport 45 minutes away…. oh hell, I could go on for an hour about what to love about Ajijic!
But, when traveling to SE Asia in 2014 I happened upon Ubud, Bali. During my first evening there I went to a cultural dance performance at a Balinese Hindu temple. Breathtaking. (Guess which one is me, following the dance performance on my first night in Bali).
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Two days later there was a cremation ceremony for the King of Ubud, who had died sometime earlier. It was the most amazing spectacle of my life, where hundreds of men lifted the king’s 80-foot-high ceremonial stand on their shoulders and ran with it over 5 kilometers to the site where he was cremated.

In between those two events I had attended several other local gatherings and befriended several very interesting people from around the world. I decided to remain in Bali rather than return to Mexico. My only worldly possessions were those that I had in my backpack. I called my friends back in Mexico and told them to sell, give away or keep everything else I had left behind. I found I could live very comfortably with only what I could carry on my back.
I loved everything about Bali - the sacredness of the Balinese Hindu traditions, the beauty of nature, the international community of outstanding and interesting people, the simple yet elegant home I was able to rent at less than $400/month. The temples and rice terraces were amazingly sacred and beautiful - as were the beaches everywhere.
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Speaking of beaches
When living on a tourist visa in Bali, you must leave the country every 60 days, then restart the clock on another 60 days when you return. Lots of people would get a same-day, round-trip flight to Singapore. But for my visa runs, I chose to explore other countries in SE Asia - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
I traveled to Boracay Island on the Philippines - which Conde Nast Magazine calls one of the world’s most beautiful beaches. I have to agree. Every sunset there is a picture of perfect serenity.
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And then something unexpected happened. I met an amazing Philippine woman while in Boracay. She took my breath away with her beauty, her fun nature, emotional maturity and compassionate heart. She came back to Bali with me for a one-month visit then returned to the Philippines. I followed her one month later.
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Three years later, we live in a new, furnished 2 bedroom 2 bath condo overlooking a pool, banana and coconut trees, the ocean, and the next island over. For about half the cost of an American 1 bedroom apartment.

We take advantage nearly every day of the excellent climate and amazing natural beauty of this area - waterfalls, mountain streams, beautiful beaches, hot springs, world-class scuba diving. We live an upscale lifestyle on my Social Security income.
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This lifestyle isn’t for everybody.
I’m a long way from the USA, so it’s neither convenient nor inexpensive to visit family and friends.
Driving here is about as screwed up as anywhere I’ve been - no enforcement, thus no adherence to traffic laws.
Sometimes the power goes out unexpectedly.
The internet is neither as reliable nor as fast as I’d like.
I have to go to both a grocery store and a local market to buy groceries, fish, fruits and vegetables. A lunatic must be in charge of grocery stocking, because I never know if something I bought last week will still be on offer this week; if it is, it’ll probably be in a different aisle.
So if you’re hung up on convenience, don’t even think of leaving the USA for a third-world country.
But I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else’s in the world. I’m the happiest man on earth.
 
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GRENADA GRENADA GRENADA ! If you're going to move to the islands that's the only place to go. You get all the benefits of island living without the crime and violence of Jamaica and Trinidad. 90% black, great educational system, strongest internet infrastructure in the Antilles, stable government, no covid, good food, direct flights to the states, best carnival, boat ride away from Trinidad and south America. The only drawback is US currency is not aggressively strong there.
 
GRENADA GRENADA GRENADA ! If you're going to move to the islands that's the only place to go. You get all the benefits of island living without the crime and violence of Jamaica and Trinidad. 90% black, great educational system, strongest internet infrastructure in the Antilles, stable government, no covid, good food, direct flights to the states, best carnival, boat ride away from Trinidad and south America. The only drawback is US currency is not aggressively strong there.
That's not the only drawback. Cost of living is quite a bit higher than other regional destinations. And while the cost of living is comparatively high, an expat being able to work or otherwise earn money is comparatively difficult. Grenada is tops if money is of absolutely no concern.
 
This is every retired 60 yr old white man's story. Serve in military or own a business, retire, travel around Asian country, fuck and marry a desperate(or smart) Asian woman and settle down.


Outside of real life if you'd seen 60 Day Fiance its like a living White Man/Asian Woman meme.

This is the exact reason 99% of the "living abroad" resources are worthless. They are all from the perspective of an old cac looking to be "king" somewhere because he doesn't have the resources to do it in the US or Europe. :smh:
 
GRENADA GRENADA GRENADA ! If you're going to move to the islands that's the only place to go. You get all the benefits of island living without the crime and violence of Jamaica and Trinidad. 90% black, great educational system, strongest internet infrastructure in the Antilles, stable government, no covid, good food, direct flights to the states, best carnival, boat ride away from Trinidad and south America. The only drawback is US currency is not aggressively strong there.
Hurricanes?
 
This is every retired 60 yr old white man's story. Serve in military or own a business, retire, travel around Asian country, fuck and marry a desperate(or smart) Asian woman and settle down.


Outside of real life if you'd seen 60 Day Fiance its like a living White Man/Asian Woman meme.
Not so..... Blacks are leaving the USA by the thousands and not just to Africa. Soi Cowboy in Thailand was started by a Black guy... an old Nam vet.... go to Subic Bay (what's left of it ) and you'll see it ain't just white guys. I'm in Central America and I know quite a few Black expats from the US here in Belize and there is a bunch in Colombia and Brazil. We used to be mostly restricted to Ghana in Africa, but now we have loads of Black amerikkkan expats in Gam, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria and a sprinkling in almost every country in Africa. Getting the hell outta the US aint just a cac move anymore. And the good thing is the dredge of society people among us ain't coming! The best and brightest leave and leave our human trash to the US! Perfect.
 
This is the exact reason 99% of the "living abroad" resources are worthless. They are all from the perspective of an old cac looking to be "king" somewhere because he doesn't have the resources to do it in the US or Europe. :smh:
No dont tell that big old fib! The reason you haven't seen material from the Black is cause you aren't physically looking for it. Nothing is gonna come knock on your door. There are more Black expats doing regular expat info vlogs on YouTube than I can count! Natural Ghana Girl, Dule Oshea Jackson, Maya, Hood Alchemist, GwapaRose in the Philippines, Sandra Peachy, FreeIslandGirl, AfroAmericaninAfrica, MelanatedExpat, OneikaTraveller, Walter Ray & Rollin' with the hot sauce, I can go on for hours! There are online groups, facebook groups, meetup groups.... you're not expecting them to find YOU are you?

theblackexpat.com
thrillist.com
cntraveler.com
expatica.com
ebonyexpats.com
travelnoire.com and on and on..............
 
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No dont tell that big old fib! The reason you haven't seen material from the Black is cause you aren't physically looking for it. Nothing is gonna come knock on your door. There are more Black expats doing regular expat info vlogs on YouTube than I can count! Natural Ghana Girl, Dule Oshea Jackson, Maya, Hood Alchemist, GwapaRose in the Philippines, Sandra Peachy, FreeIslandGirl, AfroAmericaninAfrica, MelanatedExpat, OneikaTraveller, Walter Ray & Rollin' with the hot sauce, I can go on for hours! There are online groups, facebook groups, meetup groups.... you're not expecting them to find YOU are you?

I have lived/worked abroad and traveled abroad often pre-covid. I am well aware that there is content more relevant to Us but, like I said, the vast majority of content produced is aimed at older cacs.
 
I have lived/worked abroad and traveled abroad often pre-covid. I am well aware that there is content more relevant to Us but, like I said, the vast majority of content produced is aimed at older cacs.
I cant believe you said that.... they make up 70% of the country, we make up 12% yes they will have more things directed toward them... In China more things are directed toward Chinese people. That's the way it works. You said "They are all from the perspective of an old cac looking to be "king" " and I would GUESS that you dont personally know one single expat, cause when you do you'll find they typically are NOT trying to be king, they're trying to survive. The number one cause of bankruptcy in the over 50 population in amerikkka is MEDICAL COSTS. These are people who have small or no pensions, living on SS .... life sucks in the US for a retiree living on 1500 a month. In developing countries, life is good, medical is cheap. I go to the doctor for 16 dollars! Dental cleaning 25 dollars. A knee replacement in Ecuador is 6000 dollars, in the US its 40,000! Yes there are wealthy expats who just wanna live as best a life they can for the least money. Nothing wrong with that. You gotta quit shooting from the hip with wives tales. Most white expats stay in their own little circles... it's the black ones who typically mix. The white ones generally seem to wanna be left alone, not be king. Thats why they form groups and buy out places like Chapala and Huatulco so they can be all together with their own kind.
 
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Not so..... Blacks are leaving the USA by the thousands and not just to Africa. Soi Cowboy in Thailand was started by a Black guy... an old Nam vet.... go to Subic Bay (what's left of it ) and you'll see it ain't just white guys. I'm in Central America and I know quite a few Black expats from the US here in Belize and there is a bunch in Colombia and Brazil. We used to be mostly restricted to Ghana in Africa, but now we have loads of Black amerikkkan expats in Gam, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria and a sprinkling in almost every country in Africa. Getting the hell outta the US aint just a cac move anymore. And the good thing is the dredge of society people among us ain't coming! The best and brightest leave and leave our human trash to the US! Perfect.
I hear what you saying but my comment didn't refute ir challenge anything in the OP. I simply made note that the man in the article isn't doing anything differently than what's expected of old white retired men.

That being said I dont think black people should be looking at this from the same POV as white folk. Our experiences will be different as well as the end goal.
 
I hear what you saying but my comment didn't refute ir challenge anything in the OP. I simply made note that the man in the article isn't doing anything differently than what's expected of old white retired men.

That being said I dont think black people should be looking at this from the same POV as white folk. Our experiences will be different as well as the end goal.
people of any color will all likely have their own deeply personal reasons for choosing to leave and deep personal reasons for which country they select.... make me a millionaire and I'm gonna select a different place than where I'd go with SS and 50K. One thing I will always guarantee is wherever I go I will be with my own color. I did a year in England cause my wife is from there and she had things to finish before she could leave. England sucks. But no way would I set up home base in europe or down under or any crap like that.
 
I cant believe you said that.... they make up 70% of the country, we make up 12% yes they will have more things directed toward them... In China more things are directed toward Chinese people. That's the way it works. You said "They are all from the perspective of an old cac looking to be "king" " and I would GUESS that you dont personally know one single expat, cause when you do you'll find they typically are NOT trying to be king, they're trying to survive. The number one cause of bankruptcy in the over 50 population in amerikkka is MEDICAL COSTS. These are people who have small or no pensions, living on SS .... life sucks in the US for a retiree living on 1500 a month. In developing countries, life is good, medical is cheap. I go to the doctor for 16 dollars! Dental cleaning 25 dollars. A knee replacement in Ecuador is 6000 dollars, in the US its 40,000! Yes there are wealthy expats who just wanna live as best a life they can for the least money. Nothing wrong with that. You gotta quit shooting from the hip with wives tales. Most white expats stay in their own little circles... it's the black ones whi typically mix. The white ones generally seem to wanna be left alone, not be king.

Man stop. Poor cac retirees are not moving en masse to damn Ecuador or anywhere else for that matter and you know it. :lol:The cacs moving abroad are almost exclusively upper middle class and affluent. My point and the point that others have made is that the content you originally posted was not relevant to Us because it is about an old cac.
 
Man stop. Poor cac retirees are not moving en masse to damn Ecuador or anywhere else for that matter and you know it. :lol: The cacs moving abroad are almost exclusively upper middle class and affluent.My point and the point that others have made is that the content you originally posted was not relevant to Us because it is about an old cac.
who said anybody was moving to Ecuador? I gave an Ecuadorian price but I never claimed anybody was moving there.
"The cacs moving abroad are almost exclusively upper middle class and affluent." Source???????
 
Man stop. Poor cac retirees are not moving en masse to damn Ecuador or anywhere else for that matter and you know it. :lol:The cacs moving abroad are almost exclusively upper middle class and affluent. My point and the point that others have made is that the content you originally posted was not relevant to Us because it is about an old cac.


Contrary to an apparently widespread belief back in the U.S. – and especially, it sometimes seems, among certain lawmakers in Washington – most American expats are not rich, and don’t live abroad in order to avoid their U.S. tax obligations, a new survey has found.
Just 33% of some 602 American expats living in 47 countries who participated in the survey said their annual household income was more than US$70,000 (£54,000, €62,570), and just 10% said they enjoyed more than US$150,000 in income a year.
Rather than to avoid tax or experience a new culture or language, meanwhile, the No. 1 reason given by the survey participants for living abroad was "love" (see pie chart, below).
The online survey, the results of which are contained in four separate reports (the links to which may be found by clicking here), was carried out between late September and early November of last year by a Paris-based American expat named Laura Snyder, who, as reported here earlier this year, was named the overseas representative for the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, which exists to help identify tax issues of importance to taxpayers.
Snyder conducted her research, using the open source LimeSurvey software, in association with an American expat organization that subsequently decided not to remain involved with the project.
She decided to see the project through to completion on her own, with the help of two similarly-motivated colleagues, explaining that she felt she “owed it to the 602 people who took the time and trouble to respond to the survey to find a way to put the results into the public domain.”
Snyder told the American Expat Financial News Journal this week that her report will be the subject of a presentation in early December at a conference in Prague, on the subject of diasporas. A 25-page conference paper, which examines portions of her survey'd data that address "the myth of the wealthy America expat," may be found by clicking here.
 
Man stop. Poor cac retirees are not moving en masse to damn Ecuador or anywhere else for that matter and you know it

I have no idea who is moving to Ecuador and in what numbers but Ecuador is one nice place to be!

Ecuador
RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
On a list of best places to live as an expat, almost no one would have picked Ecuador. Paris? You bet. Vietnam? Thailand? Sure! You can't take five steps in Chiang Mai without tripping over a farang, and the Latin Quarter's backpacker-staffed Shakespeare and Company is legendary. But Ecuador?
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Evidently we've all been missing out.

Ecuador ranked high on almost every metric surveyed, including personal finance, making friends, and personal happiness. "It is," according to Expat Insider's report, "unsurprising that over nine out of ten expats (91%) report being satisfied with their life in Ecuador. [And] it makes sense that almost half the expats in Ecuador plan to stay there 'possibly forever.'"





Gotta go get pics taken for the immigration folks... keep sending your thoughts, will respond when I return.
 
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Aruba, I love this little island.

I want to visit Panama, Belize and Costa Rica.

Namibia is dope. I like Senegal too. Mauritius is a cool place with good food and great beaches
Senegal= French language but a pic in front of the Renaissance statue in Dakar is a bucket list buster. Hope I get there in a year or two. Will stop in the gam and bang some beach hookers while I'm that close. Panama and CR Spanish needs to be tight to get most out of your trip.... Belize not so big a deal.
 
people of any color will all likely have their own deeply personal reasons for choosing to leave and deep personal reasons for which country they select.... make me a millionaire and I'm gonna select a different place than where I'd go with SS and 50K. One thing I will always guarantee is wherever I go I will be with my own color. I did a year in England cause my wife is from there and she had things to finish before she could leave. England sucks. But no way would I set up home base in europe or down under or any crap like that.
agree
 
west B-more is no joke
Had to grow up fast and always be on the lookout.
Mufuckas would steal ya clothes off the line.
2 friends got shot over jordans & 8ball jackets. Saw 2 dudes get beat to death in the middle of the street wit a bat. Was held up in the corner store while it got robbed.
All this shit happened one summer from Monday to Friday within ONE WEEK.
Moms said fuckit & sent me & my brother to live with grandma down in charleston sc until she could join us.
Saved our life no doubt.
 
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