Living in Bulgaria as an Expat
Disclaimer: I'll try to adjust this thread to all kinds of lifestyles, of course the easiest for me to describe is the one I'm living. I'm doing my PhD here in Sofia, where I live. If you want more information read the thread about Sofia I posted in the travel section http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-30327.html
Abstract for the lazy: There is no country in Europe where you can live cheaper and better than in Bulgaria. Hands down, you get the best bang for your buck. It's safe, there is plenty of girls to game. Business, however, is slow and tricky. Be location independent. Real Estate is a strong buy!
I will divide the first paragraphs into two sections, summer living and winter living. From what I've seen, there are two types of people in the board: All-year-in-one-spot as a homebase with occasional travels. And the snowbirds who hate winter.
If you live in Bulgaria all year long, you want to have your homebase in Sofia. The best seasons are spring and autumn, which are very nice and also longer than in Western Europe. Winter is short, but cruel. Even though Bulgaria is north of Greece and bordering turkey it's rather continental climate influence like Romania or Moldova. So -10° or less can occur. But real Winter is only in December and January. If you actually like winter, you have two options:
One is for the guys who want to save money. You can make the bargain of your life if you stay in one of Burgas or Varna Hotel suits over Winter. They only rent them out on a daily basis from may to october. The rest they're happy to have a 4-6 month tenant. You can get a nice hotel suite including kitchen in a big living room, one bedroom and bathroom (around 30-40 m²) for 200 € a month or less. Including the hotel amenities, so mostly with a free gym and pool and a cleaning lady! At the seaside, it never get's below 0-4° due to the sea influx. No snow, nothing.
Second option: Off to Bansko. Get a job in one of the resorts and game skibunnies. Either go for the snowboard / skiing instructor gig or just work some job in the hotel. The father of a friend of mine actually owns two 5* resorts, if someone is seriously interested and not a douche I can introduce him and I'm sure it'll work out. Payment is shit, but housing is free, food is free, WiFi is decent. Basically a paid vacation and getaway.
Summer in Sofia is a bitch, it's dry, it's hot, there's smog. All clubs are closed, everyone is in a shitty mood. It's the only capital I know of in Europe which is NOT adjacent to a river, where there is no lake in the city perimeter, and it's not on the seaside. Bottom line: You'll go crazy. I went to some public pools just to cool off, you can have some game there with students who need to be there because of some leftover exams, barely legal school girls and some Milfs. Lots of topless tanning. It's nice because everyone is drinking beer there, but still only the poor reside in Sofia. In summer, every sane person is at the seaside. Either in their own apartments, or visiting friends or relatives or staying in cheap hotels.
If you're a snowbird, Bulgaria is perfect for you. Get a nice apartment in Burgas, Varna or in the touristy spots like Sunny Beach / Cacao Beach. If you have a full shelf bar, maybe some blow and some weed and about 1% game you can get tourist girls to your place every night. The Winter you spend in SEA, Australia, South America or Florida/California. I'm going to move to Miami next year October, I'll keep you guys updated then how this is working out for me.
Apartment prices in Burgas/Varna and Sofia are roughly! the same. Except for the bargains at the seaside in Winter. For 200 Euro you get a decent apartment. For 400 you get a place where you can have a good time with chicks (this is my crib: https://www.airbnb.de/rooms/1529869 ...still lots of communist furniture but I'm pimping it more and more, inflatable jaccuzzi is already in the pipeline). For 600 Euro you get a BALLER place! which would set you back at least a 1000 or more in cities like budapest, 1500 in Germany and 2000 in Miami / San Diego. Never go there on your own, take a local with you. Get a real estate agent, mostly they charge only half a month's rent for commission. It's worth it. Insist on an english contract. They'll provide one. Don't pay more than one month security deposit, they want to rip you off then. Water, electricity and housing fees are dirtcheap. You can get a rough idea at http://www.imot.bg .
Transportation: In Sofia the best thing you can have is a motorcycle. IF ! and only IF ! you can ride and are sharp. You won't get a DUI here, just hand the cop 40 lewa and he'll let you go. You drive without insurance: bribe is about 200 Lewa. Since insurance, like everything else in bulgaria, is really really cheap though: just get one. Best and cheapest company: Armeez. Driving a car in Sofia is a pain in the ass. Considering the taksi prices (mostly a ride is about 2,50 €. To studentskigrad and back: 5€. To the airport: 7,50 €) it's not really worth owning a car. Downtown, renting a parking space is expensive. Around 200 Lewa, you can basically get another apartment for that a little further outside. In the real Baller apartments though, parking is included sometimes. A big ass car DOES help you a lot though, if you run that kind of game and you want to have a constant flows of 8's and 9's to entertain you: bring it. Motorcycle game is more for the younger and more adventurous type of chicks, not the golddiggers. See my post here http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-17405-...motorcycle . If you do it right, you can swoop up girls for a ride just like el-mech going loco in a trailer park. And all Bulgarian chicks are still primed to alpha men, I didn't met a single girl, regardless of her age, profession or attitude who didn't like motorcycles. Business advice: If you plan on being here a while and you're from the states: Either get a nice car (preferably BMW X6, Mercedes SL 500+ or any decent Audi, these are the most common types here) or a motorcycle (any type will do, Harley's go best) in a container and ship it over here. Ride it for a year or two and sell it with profit. BEWARE thiefs. These guys are serious here. Public transportation is so/so. Busses and Tram's are pretty rundown, mostly elder german busses still with the german stickers on top. The metro has been built in the 90's and is top notch. Clean, safe, efficient. It doesn't run all night though, which is no problem considering the cheap taxis. A one month transferable metro/bus/tram pass is just 30 Euro!
Crosscountry is a different subject. Busses go everywhere across Bulgaria. ( http://www.centralnaavtogara.bg/index.html# )Some are ok (ride to Burgas) some suck balls big time (Varna, Ruse etc.). You can take buses to Istanbul, Belgrade, everywhere and in every direction. What again makes Bulgaria so much fun and special: domestic flights between sofia and burgas/varna are 40 euro one way with Air Bulgaria. So when I'm bored I fly half an hour to the sea. If you take a Air Bulgaria flight to Berlin or London you already have enough bonus miles for a free domestic flight. Ryanair flies to Plovdiv, Easyjet to Sofia. Wizzair connects you from Burgas / Sofia / Varna to various destinations. Air baltic takes you .. well guess where. The rest you do with Air Bulgaria.
Life expenses: To sum it up: dirtcheap. Mobile Phone (go M-tel, not Vivacom), TV and 50MPs Wifi sets you back 25 euro a month. They'll set this up during 5 days. Gym is between 20 euro and 40 euro a month, depending what kind of gym you're looking for. Big baller gym: Hotel Maxi Spa in Simeonovo. Gas is about 1,30 a Liter. Clothes are about the same as in Western Europe, rather go shopping in US or SEA. You can order stuff very cheap from the UK if you use the truck service company Gepco. They charge per kilo, 2 lewa from UK,4 lewa from Germany (THAT logic is so flawed, I don't even wanna get into it). Food in stores is about 3/4 the price of western europe, besides fancy imports of course. Which you won't need, in my opinion. But to each his own. Another important point is Health insurance. You can get health insurance from the national health service for less than 50 euro a month. The hospitals are western european standard, actually if you slip some extra lewa it's worth it, I got way better treatment than in Germany. You can get all kinds of prescription medicine, viagra, ritalin, no problem. Sidehustle: Get lots of this shit and sell it in western europe, since it's EU they don't check for shit.
Food: Fucking great. It's a mix of balkan cuisine with some greek and turkish influences. Plus the national dishes. Lots of meaty and hearty dishes, great omelets, soups. Everything. Hands down, along with Italian it's my favorite european cuisine. Restaurants are extremely cheap, tip is 10% or less. But beware, once you get used to that you'll cringe everywhere else in europe. If you're into it, I am, they have lots of nice different meats to try: chicken hearts, livers, tribe soup. Everything that sounds disgusting first and is very tasty. Stay away from burgers and kebab, they are fucking disgusting and they put french fries in there. Except when you're in need of some greasy drunk food for 2 euro. You can get some decent Turkish, Serbian and Macedonian cuisine. Forget about Italian, SEA, Western european or fancy fusion cuisine: not happening and not worth it's money.
Booze: Best beer is Zagorka, Bulgarian wines are really good. The best is the homemade distilled shit from plums. It's called Rakiya, you can buy it at every corner from old babas (grandmas) in plastic bottle for almost nothing. All other liquor is pretty cheap too, there is an abundance of 24h nonstops who sell zigarettes, condoms, papers, snacks and booze. Stables.
Drugs: Shitty. The farer away from columbia you are the shittier and more expensive it gets. Coke is about 100 euro a gram here. Speed is 10 Euro, weed between 7-10. Meth, MDMA and other stuff I don't know about, I only take the shit mentioned before. Of course some locals might get it a tad cheaper, but not much to be honest.
Concerning business. Just don't even bother with it. Bulgarians are very streetsmart, every hustle you could think of they're already pulling off. You can learn a lot from watching though. What you can do, is do startup business here. There is very cheap IT labor to be bought, partners and logistics you can find at the only real incubator/coworking space in sofia: http://www.betahaus.bg/ The Beta Haus. (I'm not going to make the joke, forget it). There is no venture capital / business angels / mentors whatsoever. But if you have an idea, and you want low costs of living, decent workforce with european standards for low prices: you found it. If you're a native speaker you can of course also teach english and make a decent living with that at the international schools and at the language schools. The biggest employers are HP and IBM, if you want to make a career you can work your way up very fast. Plus the working environment is way more relaxed than in western europe or the US. Bulgaria has a flat tax of 10% and an easy tax code! I know a guy with a legal office who is reliable and good at what he does. If you plan on setting up a hostel/bar/restaurant make sure you partner up with a Bulgarian who can deal with the local mafia. They are NOT fun to fuck around with.
Real Estate: The best thing you can do is buy real estate at the seaside. The russians and Ukrainians are already at it. The Bulgarian housing market is in a slump since 2008 and slowly picking up again, now it's the time to invest. But the gap is closing. You can get a decent bachelors pad, "ocean" front for 50K-70K. And this is Europe, european law, european union, european currency. It's your land, your building. Taxes on property are a joke, so is the money for cleaning and administration. Get someone reliable to check after your property and rent it out while you're not there. There are no tornados, no floods, the coast is nice, tourism is ever increasing and the climate change will only get it hotter and more beautiful so Gentlemen, start your (V8) engines. Sofia is a different market, some money to be made but I'll put that in an extra post one sweet day. My personal goal: A nice houseboat in Miami for the winter, and a nice crib either in Varna or in Sozopol for summer and even retirement when I'm an old geezer. It basically comes down to which girls you want to molest in your wheelchair one day, eastern europeans or asian chicks.
Game: I'll only type down the differences to the visitors game. If you're here for a longer time, it's worth it to go to okcupid and get some girls from there. If you bother to learn some Bulgarian, some basic sentences and fun vocab it will increase your game 200-300%. Girls appreciate it a lot if you care about their culture, enjoy the country and enjoy their company. Of course if you learn bulgarian, you can get laid BIG TIME! But grammar-wise it's as tough as russian, beware. If on the other hand you do speak russian already, you'll find it easy to learn. It's close to macedonian and serbian. A comparison would be German to Dutch. Or, for that matter, like standard english to scottish. If you have a nice apartment, you can always go for the after party game. It's only common among the substance abusers here, which are plenty. They will gladly come over when the club is getting slower, regardless if you're into drugs or not. They are not like american meth heads, they all enjoy a beer/wine/whiskey and are up for a good time. The rest of the guys will be positively surprised. Guys from clubs and bars don't cockblock much. What is difficult to come over at first is the bar culture. Even in most bars, and in all clubs, there are reserved tables. Go there, ignore the girls, be polite to the guys and get into contact. You don't need to invite them to drinks if you don't want to. Sometimes they invite you, there are no set rules on this. Just go with the flow. The ladies will like you already if you approach a mixed table. As in all of eastern europe, guys can't dance for shit. So go to the dancefloor, don't hesitate. If a girl gives you her number, she's serious. Never got turned down. However, balkan people are spontaneous and always a couple of minutes late, just get used to it. So if she skips 2 dates that doesn't matter and is not to be taken personal, you might forsake an easy lay you'll get at the third or fourth time you set up a date.
Fun stuff: Early March you can trade red and white woven wristbands (Martenitsa) with friends and chicks. It's supposed to bring health and to get rid of winter. It's a fun tradition, and if you participate girls love it a lot. Also, of course, you stay healthy. As soon as you see a stork or a blossoming tree (sign for upcoming summer) you put your Martenitsa under a stone.
Easter is a big holiday in orthodox church, almost bigger than christmas. There's an old tradition of walking around church 3 times with a lit up candle to purge all of your sins (most members of this board are in desperate need I think). Since this is difficult to do and you have to start again when the candle puffs out, Bulgarians melt away the bottom of a plastic cup and just put the candle in lantern style for wind protection. This cheat in turn is so old, it became a tradition itself, tells you a lot about the laid back balkan mentality here.
What will really fuck you up in the first months (despite the cirillic alphabet if you can't read it) is, that Bulgarians (from what I know) are the only people in the world who shake their heads if they mean yes and nod if they mean no! In a way, you'll notice how much you rely on social conventions, you talk to a girl and she really likes you, or a dude you drink with and you're on the same page, and they're constantly shaking their heads.
To sum it up: Bulgaria is perfect for young lads who need to save up money and get into the indipendent lifestyle. Especially those from europe, you just go to the ministry and register and that's it. No Visa, nothing. Americans have to deal with the usual Schengen shit (get an outpost either in southern turkey in antalya, close to burgas, or at lake ohrid in macedonia, close to sofia). You can survive with 500 Euro a month, with 700 Euro a month you have a decent living including going out and occasional trips. Bulgaria is also perfect for guys with an income between 2000-3000 euro. You can live it up in really really nice hotels (my tip: sense hotel. opened up in april, all new, kick-ass spa and rooftop terrace with a great view on sofias alexandr nevski church...80 euro a night!) go to amazing spas and outdoor pools (hotel maxi in simeonovo, hot hot hot chicks there 9+) go skiing in bansko, go to fancy clubs, have a kick-ass apartment including a maid AND STILL SAVE MONEY. Or again just buy a nice place at the seaside. The real ballers don't "need" bulgaria, they can kick the lifestyle in Barcelona, Rio, Miami all year round. But for me, Bulgaria is the best alternative. As I said, overall biggest bang for your buck in all of Europe !
Enjoy !
Disclaimer: I'll try to adjust this thread to all kinds of lifestyles, of course the easiest for me to describe is the one I'm living. I'm doing my PhD here in Sofia, where I live. If you want more information read the thread about Sofia I posted in the travel section http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-30327.html
Abstract for the lazy: There is no country in Europe where you can live cheaper and better than in Bulgaria. Hands down, you get the best bang for your buck. It's safe, there is plenty of girls to game. Business, however, is slow and tricky. Be location independent. Real Estate is a strong buy!
I will divide the first paragraphs into two sections, summer living and winter living. From what I've seen, there are two types of people in the board: All-year-in-one-spot as a homebase with occasional travels. And the snowbirds who hate winter.
If you live in Bulgaria all year long, you want to have your homebase in Sofia. The best seasons are spring and autumn, which are very nice and also longer than in Western Europe. Winter is short, but cruel. Even though Bulgaria is north of Greece and bordering turkey it's rather continental climate influence like Romania or Moldova. So -10° or less can occur. But real Winter is only in December and January. If you actually like winter, you have two options:
One is for the guys who want to save money. You can make the bargain of your life if you stay in one of Burgas or Varna Hotel suits over Winter. They only rent them out on a daily basis from may to october. The rest they're happy to have a 4-6 month tenant. You can get a nice hotel suite including kitchen in a big living room, one bedroom and bathroom (around 30-40 m²) for 200 € a month or less. Including the hotel amenities, so mostly with a free gym and pool and a cleaning lady! At the seaside, it never get's below 0-4° due to the sea influx. No snow, nothing.
Second option: Off to Bansko. Get a job in one of the resorts and game skibunnies. Either go for the snowboard / skiing instructor gig or just work some job in the hotel. The father of a friend of mine actually owns two 5* resorts, if someone is seriously interested and not a douche I can introduce him and I'm sure it'll work out. Payment is shit, but housing is free, food is free, WiFi is decent. Basically a paid vacation and getaway.
Summer in Sofia is a bitch, it's dry, it's hot, there's smog. All clubs are closed, everyone is in a shitty mood. It's the only capital I know of in Europe which is NOT adjacent to a river, where there is no lake in the city perimeter, and it's not on the seaside. Bottom line: You'll go crazy. I went to some public pools just to cool off, you can have some game there with students who need to be there because of some leftover exams, barely legal school girls and some Milfs. Lots of topless tanning. It's nice because everyone is drinking beer there, but still only the poor reside in Sofia. In summer, every sane person is at the seaside. Either in their own apartments, or visiting friends or relatives or staying in cheap hotels.
If you're a snowbird, Bulgaria is perfect for you. Get a nice apartment in Burgas, Varna or in the touristy spots like Sunny Beach / Cacao Beach. If you have a full shelf bar, maybe some blow and some weed and about 1% game you can get tourist girls to your place every night. The Winter you spend in SEA, Australia, South America or Florida/California. I'm going to move to Miami next year October, I'll keep you guys updated then how this is working out for me.
Apartment prices in Burgas/Varna and Sofia are roughly! the same. Except for the bargains at the seaside in Winter. For 200 Euro you get a decent apartment. For 400 you get a place where you can have a good time with chicks (this is my crib: https://www.airbnb.de/rooms/1529869 ...still lots of communist furniture but I'm pimping it more and more, inflatable jaccuzzi is already in the pipeline). For 600 Euro you get a BALLER place! which would set you back at least a 1000 or more in cities like budapest, 1500 in Germany and 2000 in Miami / San Diego. Never go there on your own, take a local with you. Get a real estate agent, mostly they charge only half a month's rent for commission. It's worth it. Insist on an english contract. They'll provide one. Don't pay more than one month security deposit, they want to rip you off then. Water, electricity and housing fees are dirtcheap. You can get a rough idea at http://www.imot.bg .
Transportation: In Sofia the best thing you can have is a motorcycle. IF ! and only IF ! you can ride and are sharp. You won't get a DUI here, just hand the cop 40 lewa and he'll let you go. You drive without insurance: bribe is about 200 Lewa. Since insurance, like everything else in bulgaria, is really really cheap though: just get one. Best and cheapest company: Armeez. Driving a car in Sofia is a pain in the ass. Considering the taksi prices (mostly a ride is about 2,50 €. To studentskigrad and back: 5€. To the airport: 7,50 €) it's not really worth owning a car. Downtown, renting a parking space is expensive. Around 200 Lewa, you can basically get another apartment for that a little further outside. In the real Baller apartments though, parking is included sometimes. A big ass car DOES help you a lot though, if you run that kind of game and you want to have a constant flows of 8's and 9's to entertain you: bring it. Motorcycle game is more for the younger and more adventurous type of chicks, not the golddiggers. See my post here http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-17405-...motorcycle . If you do it right, you can swoop up girls for a ride just like el-mech going loco in a trailer park. And all Bulgarian chicks are still primed to alpha men, I didn't met a single girl, regardless of her age, profession or attitude who didn't like motorcycles. Business advice: If you plan on being here a while and you're from the states: Either get a nice car (preferably BMW X6, Mercedes SL 500+ or any decent Audi, these are the most common types here) or a motorcycle (any type will do, Harley's go best) in a container and ship it over here. Ride it for a year or two and sell it with profit. BEWARE thiefs. These guys are serious here. Public transportation is so/so. Busses and Tram's are pretty rundown, mostly elder german busses still with the german stickers on top. The metro has been built in the 90's and is top notch. Clean, safe, efficient. It doesn't run all night though, which is no problem considering the cheap taxis. A one month transferable metro/bus/tram pass is just 30 Euro!
Crosscountry is a different subject. Busses go everywhere across Bulgaria. ( http://www.centralnaavtogara.bg/index.html# )Some are ok (ride to Burgas) some suck balls big time (Varna, Ruse etc.). You can take buses to Istanbul, Belgrade, everywhere and in every direction. What again makes Bulgaria so much fun and special: domestic flights between sofia and burgas/varna are 40 euro one way with Air Bulgaria. So when I'm bored I fly half an hour to the sea. If you take a Air Bulgaria flight to Berlin or London you already have enough bonus miles for a free domestic flight. Ryanair flies to Plovdiv, Easyjet to Sofia. Wizzair connects you from Burgas / Sofia / Varna to various destinations. Air baltic takes you .. well guess where. The rest you do with Air Bulgaria.
Life expenses: To sum it up: dirtcheap. Mobile Phone (go M-tel, not Vivacom), TV and 50MPs Wifi sets you back 25 euro a month. They'll set this up during 5 days. Gym is between 20 euro and 40 euro a month, depending what kind of gym you're looking for. Big baller gym: Hotel Maxi Spa in Simeonovo. Gas is about 1,30 a Liter. Clothes are about the same as in Western Europe, rather go shopping in US or SEA. You can order stuff very cheap from the UK if you use the truck service company Gepco. They charge per kilo, 2 lewa from UK,4 lewa from Germany (THAT logic is so flawed, I don't even wanna get into it). Food in stores is about 3/4 the price of western europe, besides fancy imports of course. Which you won't need, in my opinion. But to each his own. Another important point is Health insurance. You can get health insurance from the national health service for less than 50 euro a month. The hospitals are western european standard, actually if you slip some extra lewa it's worth it, I got way better treatment than in Germany. You can get all kinds of prescription medicine, viagra, ritalin, no problem. Sidehustle: Get lots of this shit and sell it in western europe, since it's EU they don't check for shit.
Food: Fucking great. It's a mix of balkan cuisine with some greek and turkish influences. Plus the national dishes. Lots of meaty and hearty dishes, great omelets, soups. Everything. Hands down, along with Italian it's my favorite european cuisine. Restaurants are extremely cheap, tip is 10% or less. But beware, once you get used to that you'll cringe everywhere else in europe. If you're into it, I am, they have lots of nice different meats to try: chicken hearts, livers, tribe soup. Everything that sounds disgusting first and is very tasty. Stay away from burgers and kebab, they are fucking disgusting and they put french fries in there. Except when you're in need of some greasy drunk food for 2 euro. You can get some decent Turkish, Serbian and Macedonian cuisine. Forget about Italian, SEA, Western european or fancy fusion cuisine: not happening and not worth it's money.
Booze: Best beer is Zagorka, Bulgarian wines are really good. The best is the homemade distilled shit from plums. It's called Rakiya, you can buy it at every corner from old babas (grandmas) in plastic bottle for almost nothing. All other liquor is pretty cheap too, there is an abundance of 24h nonstops who sell zigarettes, condoms, papers, snacks and booze. Stables.
Drugs: Shitty. The farer away from columbia you are the shittier and more expensive it gets. Coke is about 100 euro a gram here. Speed is 10 Euro, weed between 7-10. Meth, MDMA and other stuff I don't know about, I only take the shit mentioned before. Of course some locals might get it a tad cheaper, but not much to be honest.
Concerning business. Just don't even bother with it. Bulgarians are very streetsmart, every hustle you could think of they're already pulling off. You can learn a lot from watching though. What you can do, is do startup business here. There is very cheap IT labor to be bought, partners and logistics you can find at the only real incubator/coworking space in sofia: http://www.betahaus.bg/ The Beta Haus. (I'm not going to make the joke, forget it). There is no venture capital / business angels / mentors whatsoever. But if you have an idea, and you want low costs of living, decent workforce with european standards for low prices: you found it. If you're a native speaker you can of course also teach english and make a decent living with that at the international schools and at the language schools. The biggest employers are HP and IBM, if you want to make a career you can work your way up very fast. Plus the working environment is way more relaxed than in western europe or the US. Bulgaria has a flat tax of 10% and an easy tax code! I know a guy with a legal office who is reliable and good at what he does. If you plan on setting up a hostel/bar/restaurant make sure you partner up with a Bulgarian who can deal with the local mafia. They are NOT fun to fuck around with.
Real Estate: The best thing you can do is buy real estate at the seaside. The russians and Ukrainians are already at it. The Bulgarian housing market is in a slump since 2008 and slowly picking up again, now it's the time to invest. But the gap is closing. You can get a decent bachelors pad, "ocean" front for 50K-70K. And this is Europe, european law, european union, european currency. It's your land, your building. Taxes on property are a joke, so is the money for cleaning and administration. Get someone reliable to check after your property and rent it out while you're not there. There are no tornados, no floods, the coast is nice, tourism is ever increasing and the climate change will only get it hotter and more beautiful so Gentlemen, start your (V8) engines. Sofia is a different market, some money to be made but I'll put that in an extra post one sweet day. My personal goal: A nice houseboat in Miami for the winter, and a nice crib either in Varna or in Sozopol for summer and even retirement when I'm an old geezer. It basically comes down to which girls you want to molest in your wheelchair one day, eastern europeans or asian chicks.
Game: I'll only type down the differences to the visitors game. If you're here for a longer time, it's worth it to go to okcupid and get some girls from there. If you bother to learn some Bulgarian, some basic sentences and fun vocab it will increase your game 200-300%. Girls appreciate it a lot if you care about their culture, enjoy the country and enjoy their company. Of course if you learn bulgarian, you can get laid BIG TIME! But grammar-wise it's as tough as russian, beware. If on the other hand you do speak russian already, you'll find it easy to learn. It's close to macedonian and serbian. A comparison would be German to Dutch. Or, for that matter, like standard english to scottish. If you have a nice apartment, you can always go for the after party game. It's only common among the substance abusers here, which are plenty. They will gladly come over when the club is getting slower, regardless if you're into drugs or not. They are not like american meth heads, they all enjoy a beer/wine/whiskey and are up for a good time. The rest of the guys will be positively surprised. Guys from clubs and bars don't cockblock much. What is difficult to come over at first is the bar culture. Even in most bars, and in all clubs, there are reserved tables. Go there, ignore the girls, be polite to the guys and get into contact. You don't need to invite them to drinks if you don't want to. Sometimes they invite you, there are no set rules on this. Just go with the flow. The ladies will like you already if you approach a mixed table. As in all of eastern europe, guys can't dance for shit. So go to the dancefloor, don't hesitate. If a girl gives you her number, she's serious. Never got turned down. However, balkan people are spontaneous and always a couple of minutes late, just get used to it. So if she skips 2 dates that doesn't matter and is not to be taken personal, you might forsake an easy lay you'll get at the third or fourth time you set up a date.
Fun stuff: Early March you can trade red and white woven wristbands (Martenitsa) with friends and chicks. It's supposed to bring health and to get rid of winter. It's a fun tradition, and if you participate girls love it a lot. Also, of course, you stay healthy. As soon as you see a stork or a blossoming tree (sign for upcoming summer) you put your Martenitsa under a stone.
Easter is a big holiday in orthodox church, almost bigger than christmas. There's an old tradition of walking around church 3 times with a lit up candle to purge all of your sins (most members of this board are in desperate need I think). Since this is difficult to do and you have to start again when the candle puffs out, Bulgarians melt away the bottom of a plastic cup and just put the candle in lantern style for wind protection. This cheat in turn is so old, it became a tradition itself, tells you a lot about the laid back balkan mentality here.
What will really fuck you up in the first months (despite the cirillic alphabet if you can't read it) is, that Bulgarians (from what I know) are the only people in the world who shake their heads if they mean yes and nod if they mean no! In a way, you'll notice how much you rely on social conventions, you talk to a girl and she really likes you, or a dude you drink with and you're on the same page, and they're constantly shaking their heads.
To sum it up: Bulgaria is perfect for young lads who need to save up money and get into the indipendent lifestyle. Especially those from europe, you just go to the ministry and register and that's it. No Visa, nothing. Americans have to deal with the usual Schengen shit (get an outpost either in southern turkey in antalya, close to burgas, or at lake ohrid in macedonia, close to sofia). You can survive with 500 Euro a month, with 700 Euro a month you have a decent living including going out and occasional trips. Bulgaria is also perfect for guys with an income between 2000-3000 euro. You can live it up in really really nice hotels (my tip: sense hotel. opened up in april, all new, kick-ass spa and rooftop terrace with a great view on sofias alexandr nevski church...80 euro a night!) go to amazing spas and outdoor pools (hotel maxi in simeonovo, hot hot hot chicks there 9+) go skiing in bansko, go to fancy clubs, have a kick-ass apartment including a maid AND STILL SAVE MONEY. Or again just buy a nice place at the seaside. The real ballers don't "need" bulgaria, they can kick the lifestyle in Barcelona, Rio, Miami all year round. But for me, Bulgaria is the best alternative. As I said, overall biggest bang for your buck in all of Europe !
Enjoy !
