[temujin]

Hey Sargon,

I basically work off my laptop with a good broadband connection for voice over IP, so I never had much to do with the local economy unless I wanted to.

There are US credit cards and bank accounts that offer zero "roaming" fees for international use. Definitely go this route because it'll let buy stuff and take out money without any penalties.

Residence permits become an issue though, so you'll want to look into that if you do the location-independent thing.

[travelbangenjoy]

Quote:

I have a similar experience here in Thailand. I love it for many reasons - food, safety, cheapness, cool expats, ease of girls - but the superficiality and aversion to depth/intellectual convo is a definite downside. I have not found one Thai, even lawyers and physics graduates, business owners etc, really willing to converse with me, really discuss something, etc. And girls, even educated ones, just dont want to "know" about anything, lol. It's all chit-chat and simple jokes and anything else seems to be intolerably tension-causing for them (not their fault of course, its conditioning). Interesting that he found the Philippines more intellectual. I suppose he's talking about in the context of working there amongst educated peers, etc?

I found that with girls all over SE ASia, even the ones in good jobs and seemingly educated don't have an opinion on anything. Trying to have a discussion on anything remotely interesting (news, politics, the world, history etc) doesn't happen.

[qazwsx]

[LobbyWin]

I want you to elaborate on this some more, being a well traveled guy myself. The very last post, would you say this whole archetype (coloration and what not) thing is overplayed?

I have seen men who people on here say would do bad in a given area do outstanding there.

[temujin]

[Sent via PM]

[LobbyWin]

Okay well, I might have derailed this thread by making the post I made. I think it would be best if we talked it over through messages and email rather than just on here, because I have a lot of friends who are non-White and some have shown interest in traveling with me.

[Roustabout]

Excellent post. I take it you plan to continue your adventures for another 11 years?

[temujin]

(08-02-2012 01:19 PM)Roustabout Wrote:  

Excellent post. I take it you plan to continue your adventures for another 11 years?

I might have one more big move left in me, if the stars line up.

Still mulling it over to be honest. That's why I'm considering doing the Great Post-Soviet Road Trip by car.

See the country and meet the people you never would if you fly and think over life.

[WanderingSoul]

(08-02-2012 11:21 AM)travelbangenjoy Wrote:  

I found that with girls all over SE ASia, even the ones in good jobs and seemingly educated don't have an opinion on anything. Trying to have a discussion on anything remotely interesting (news, politics, the world, history etc) doesn't happen.

You have to find the right crowd. I was fucking one educated Thai chick and all she wanted to talk about was Thai politics. Personally, I could give two shits about politics or the news. It doesn't interest me at all. You think that is interesting, but not everyone does. Just like I could talk your ear off about internet marketing or business, something that is interesting to me, but might be boring to you.

[Samseau]

So, Temujin, the question is: How do you find a place where you click?

What would you recommend for first time travelers?

Spending a week in one country to see if things click? Two weeks? One month?



There are hundreds of countries to visit worldwide. How is a man supposed to find the best location?

[Roustabout]

Temujin - you say you might have one big move left in you. Does that mean you're giving up the expat life in the near future?

[travelbangenjoy]

Quote:

Personally, I could give two shits about politics or the news. It doesn't interest me at all. You think that is interesting, but not everyone does.

I find it hard to comprehend that that everyone doesn't have some sort of interest / concern about what is happening in the world, especially people who travel. World issues tend to affect everyone.

[WanderingSoul]

(08-02-2012 07:55 PM)travelbangenjoy Wrote:  

Quote:

Personally, I could give two shits about politics or the news. It doesn't interest me at all. You think that is interesting, but not everyone does.

I find it hard to comprehend that that everyone doesn't have some sort of interest / concern about what is happening in the world, especially people who travel. World issues tend to affect everyone.

Where do you get that I have no concern about what is happening in the world? Just because someone doesn't read the news, or follow politics, doesn't automatically equate to them not having any concern about what is happening in the world. Again, you are projecting YOUR interests and how YOU feel about politics/news.

I obviously have concern about what is happening in the world, but that doesn't mean that I want to talk politics/news with some girl at the bar.

[travelbangenjoy]

The news = what is happening in the world. You said....

Quote:

Personally, I could give two shits about politics or the news. It doesn't interest me at all. You think that is interesting, but not everyone does.

I don't want to get in an argument with you about it. We all have different interests and opinions on things, doesn't mean I can't find it strange however.

[WanderingSoul]

(08-02-2012 08:41 PM)travelbangenjoy Wrote:  

The news = what is happening in the world. You said....

Quote:

Personally, I could give two shits about politics or the news. It doesn't interest me at all. You think that is interesting, but not everyone does.

I don't want to get in an argument with you about it. We all have different interests and opinions on things, doesn't mean I can't find it strange however.

I don't feel like arguing either. It's not that I have no concern with what is happening in the world, it's just that I don't like to watch/read much news. Not watching the news does not equal having no concern with what is going on in the world. That's the point I was trying to make.

Anyways, great post by the OP. Getting a +1 from me.

[travelbangenjoy]

Btw I make my living from social media and other online stuff so I also love to talk about internet marketing if you ever want to discuss it.

What are you into ?

[WanderingSoul]

I'll shoot ya a PM here in a minute.

[LobbyWin]

I have a question to ALL avid travelers, on data sheets you often say X kind of guys do well in Y country, how do you come to such a conclusion?

I went to Brazil one time with two of my friends, one Japanese guy and one White male of German descent (aka Blonde with blue eyes). My Japanese friend did much better than my White friend who had some game and was taller, of course my Japanese friend was better built and more cut but still. How can you come to general conclusions like that?

[temujin]

I doubt I'll ever head back to the US. If the circumstances warranted and I was somehow (not likely) offered huge money to live and work in London, I'd consider it. But it would have to be flexible enough to let me have a 2nd home somewhere else as well.

Personally, I know what I like and what I don't like.

I don't like fat women. I don't like gorgeous women who are not accessible without great effort. I don't like ugly Soviet architecture. I don't like suburban sprawl. I don't like freeways. I like breathtaking, beautiful women with bright green, blue, or grey eyes and pale white skin. I like women with perfect figures who are as feminine as they can be. I don't like loud and noisy people who can't stop talking. I don't like assholes in the corporate rat race who are constantly trying to network and schmooze to further their "career". And I have no particular fetish for Asian, Black, or Latin women.

This narrows is down a lot for me: Post Soviet Europe

If I was able to triple my income on a good month and make that a regular occurrence, then there are a few more places I might add. But I usually keep an eye on this chart before travelling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cou...erage_wage

[The Fantasist]

(08-01-2012 02:32 PM)temujin Wrote:  

Quote:

The moral of the story is this: just because a country is in the news and everybody including your best friend is singing praises to it, it does not mean that it will necessarily be a good country for 'YOU'. Go there and see how you and the people there "jive". It may or may not be a good match. Ask yourself how you feel there after a few weeks or so. There is that certain something that you will feel. It is kind of like ' love'. An affinity.You will feel the same when you meet a person of the opposite sex that you are considering falling in love with. Either there is chemistry or there isn't. If you force it, it will be pure misery, even if your parents think it's a match made in heaven.

Dare to be different. Follow your dreams even if you do not know 'where' they will come true. It is still better than blindly following another person's itinerary.

Wise words.

I concur with your friend's idea about a place having that certain something that you feel intrinsically or not. When I first visited Budapest it blew me away. The architecture,the food,the rickety old trams,the views from Gelert hill,Andrassy,the outdoor swimming pools not to mention more practical things like transport links,cheapness,rental prices etc. I was only there for 24 hours but walking along the banks of the Danube on a cold evening everything about the place seemingly pointed to it being the Arcadia that I have spent years hoping I'd find. I returned home and read everything I could about the place and planned a return trip to test the waters. The thing was when I returned I realised that as much as I loved the city in it's physical form,the Hungarians themselves I had no connection with. After a week there I could not tell you what I thought of Hungarians,if they were outgoing or shy or passionate or cold etc. they were impenetrable for me and there was an utter lack of connection between myself and them. Even my approaches with women that often reap rewards went nowhere,it was an abject failure. It was something I've never felt before in a country. After a night in Poland I had an opinion on Poles or in Belarus etc. but in Budapest nothing. And so I'm going to give it another go,rent an apartment for a month and see if I feel different, but in my heart of hearts I kind of already know that Budapest will be a place that I will visit as a tourist in the future but that I'd never be able to live there full time.

[The Fantasist]

(08-03-2012 01:13 AM)temujin Wrote:  

But I usually keep an eye on this chart before travelling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cou...erage_wage

Good link I do wonder though how much relation there is between cost of living and average wage. The chart says that the Russian average wage is double the Ukrainian one. However is the Ukraine that much cheaper then Russia in people's experience?

Looking at the map of incomes Albania stands out for me. I don't know if anyone here has broken the place down yet but the country seems to be spectacular geography wise. The coast looks awesome with crystal clear waters that are ideal for diving and as of yet untouched by the Northern hordes of tourists each summer. I don't know what the women situation is like but I expect it works heavily on social circle game. Cheap and with good transport links with direct flights to places like London/Berlin and relaxed visa regime means it's worth an investigative journey down there to suss it out.

Beach:[attachment=7070]

Empty coastline:[attachment=7073]

Mountains:[attachment=7071]

Tirana View:[attachment=7072]

[temujin]

Vorkuta,

With places like Albania, Moldova, and the Ukraine, I think the very low average wage found in "official" statistics is probably offset by a high amount of "black" or under the table money.

I feel the same way with Lithuanians as you do with Hungarians. I've been there often, to both Kaunas, Vilnius, and the countryside. I've slept with Lithuanian women. I've hung out with Lithuanian guys. I know foreign guys who have lived in Lithuania for years. But despite all my stays there, I never really felt that familiar click.

In many ways, it would be an ideal location for me. Not yet in the euro monetary union. Relatively cheaper that most modern capitals. A decent % of beautiful women. 3.5 hours drive from Belarus so that I could learn Russian and take time to explore one the last "Soviet" states left standing in Europe. I'm also going to give it another try for a month, but as with you, I have a feeling it's not the place for me.

[WanderingSoul]

Albania seems interesting. My total knowledge of it literally comes from Liam Neeson in Taken, unfortunately hah.

[rhr]

(08-02-2012 03:00 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

So, Temujin, the question is: How do you find a place where you click?

What would you recommend for first time travelers?

Spending a week in one country to see if things click? Two weeks? One month?



There are hundreds of countries to visit worldwide. How is a man supposed to find the best location?

I would like to hear opinions on this too.

[ManAbout]

(08-03-2012 12:21 PM)Vorkuta Wrote:  

Looking at the map of incomes Albania stands out for me.

Albania a primarily Muslim country, that might be enough to dissuade most.