[bjjay]

In couple of years from now I want to move completely to a different country with very low expenses. A place that is good enough for raising kids and buying a house, safe, cheap, good weather.

Some destinations that Ive considered:

Thailand

Cuba

Belize - English

Costa Rica

Russia - Winters are cold but summers are nice and warm.

Spain

I prefer English speaking destinations but they are sucks, so that's what left.
The advantage of Spain and Latin countries is that I look Spanish.
Should I start learning Spanish? or just move to Thailand?

[iknowexactly]

If you've never lived in the second or third world, you should do extended visits before you plan on moving somewhere permanently .

I'm from USA, and even someplace as similar as Italy was kind of alienating. In gas stations you can't pump up your bike tires because it will turn on a pump and that will use several cents' worth of electricity.

The paranoia and pessimism of Slavic countries can be hard to take long term.

People here like to bash the USA/Canada/England, I take a contrarian viewpoint-- the reason these countries suck for women is that the men are tough competition-- they do their jobs well and these countries have economies and infrastructure that WORKS.

Once you've had that all your life, and you have to deal with the shoddy quality of some products/services in other places, it's hard to endure for a long time.

Roosh commented on long-term living in Ukraine in a somewhat similar way, in that he was dissatisfied with long term life there. I forget his exact reasons, but the women are definitely hot. That's not all there is to life.

[Gopnik]

I'm a Spaniard and I've lived abroad for 2 years now and traveled extensively to other countries. I honestly think Spain is one of the best places to raise your kids in (the UK being one of the worst). Even though you don't get the nanny state of Scandinavian countries, the lifestyle, culture and western standard services there make up for an ideal place to live in provided you have a good job or are already retired/have an online or residual income. This being said, for long term purposes, you'll need to visit and find out for yourself, there's just so much you can learn from other's opinions.

[John L]

I am also planning my retirement at this moment. I am focusing on Medellin Colombia. I have been traveling there for the last 4 years. Here are my list of positives:

1. Very nice weather, year round. it gets a little warm in the afternoon but other that that its almost perfect.
2. Its a beautiful country. Very scenic and diverse.
3. The people are warm and welcoming.
4. The women are mostly very beautiful, dress beautifully, sweet, polite, feminine and sexy as hell!
5. Its a modern, progressive city. Low cost mass transit and taxis are cheap. The streets are normally very clean and well kept. Decent infrastructure in the city proper.
6. Low cost of living. You can live "gringo style" in a modern high rise with all the amenities including maid service, 24 hour security, food and entertainment, etc. for under $35K per year.
7. Great place to party and have fun.

Now, here are the negatives:

1. Although it is generally safe, you could be the victim of crime, especially if you are a light skinned gringo. You will be OK, if you listen to people, stay out of bad areas, taxi it at night, etc.. Its probably as dangerous as Washington DC, Detroit or Chicago.
2. The people dont always tell the truth and can rip you off if you are too trusting. As charming as Colombians are, lock up your shit and be careful who you associate with. If you try to pick up women in bars, you could be drugged.
3. I am not sure I would want to raise a family there, especially female children. Its a very sexual culture and she could get knocked up young. Also the education system is not that great. If you can afford private school, you will be good.


PM me for more info.

[FoxRocks]

I'd personally rather raise kids in the developed world. Also make sure you have it in you to learn a language to fluency before you go anywhere if you haven't already. The failure rate for learning new languages among anglophones is well over 99%.

I'd go with Malaysia. The language is quite easy to learn and they have not terrible schools by middle-income standards. Even Spain does better in the PISA tests though, which is rather troubling. It's also a rather exciting place that's always changing and is the only middle-income country where I would raise kids outside of an expat bubble. Awesome weather.

If Greece leaves the Euro and thus gets a lot cheaper that's also a great place to check out. Their schools are rather in line with rich countries and they also have good weather but terrible unemployment.

[lavidaloca]

You can't own property in Cuba outside of a few excessively expensive condo buildings that are only for foreigners. It's also not that cheap. I'm unsure of what you mean by cheap but for a good lifestyle in Cuba you'd need 3k a month.

[bjjay]

how come cuba is expensive? I read they earn 25 dollars per month.

[rishboy77]

Great thread as my long term my plan is to live 4 months outside the country primarily in the Winter months. How idea's on Dominion Republic or Jamaica ? I wanted something 3-4 hours flight time from the East coast.

[elcidcampeador]

Malaysia and Panamá come to mind as places that have excellent benefits to foreigners moving there as well as good infrastructure and security. International schools all over the place as well and of course culture.

Is this a long-term move or one to get laid? Having kids in Colombia sounds like a horrible idea but the women there are sexy. Malaysia doesn't have hotties but is affordable and is an excellent choice for a long-term move.

[TopPanda]

I lived in Thailand for 6 months. It was fun but dating was rubbish really. Also beer was more expensive than at home. If you retired to somewhere like Pattaya you'd go quite mad. I could only last 2 days there at a time.

This year I spent 4 months in Barcelona and 3 weeks in Berlin. Both are awesome cities with low cost of living and plenty to do.

My brother came to Berlin for his stag do and all his mates gave it a big thumbs up. Upside: cheap sausage and beer. Downside: sometimes bad weather and you'd might die from heart failure in an all you can sex establishment.

[bjjay]

what about koh samui in thailand? fuck all day and tan on the beach. what are the cons there?
spain sounds nice but are spanish women really that hard?

[WanderingSoul]

(08-07-2015 05:56 PM)TopPanda Wrote:  

I lived in Thailand for 6 months. It was fun but dating was rubbish really. Also beer was more expensive than at home. If you retired to somewhere like Pattaya you'd go quite mad. I could only last 2 days there at a time.

This year I spent 4 months in Barcelona and 3 weeks in Berlin. Both are awesome cities with low cost of living and plenty to do.

My brother came to Berlin for his stag do and all his mates gave it a big thumbs up. Upside: cheap sausage and beer. Downside: sometimes bad weather and you'd might die from heart failure in an all you can sex establishment.

Dating in Thailand is only rubbish if you're an overweight 40-50 year old guy with no style or game.

Otherwise it's pretty good.

[iknowexactly]

(08-08-2015 02:45 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  

(08-07-2015 05:56 PM)TopPanda Wrote:  

I lived in Thailand for 6 months. It was fun but dating was rubbish really. Also beer was more expensive than at home. If you retired to somewhere like Pattaya you'd go quite mad. I could only last 2 days there at a time.

This year I spent 4 months in Barcelona and 3 weeks in Berlin. Both are awesome cities with low cost of living and plenty to do.

My brother came to Berlin for his stag do and all his mates gave it a big thumbs up. Upside: cheap sausage and beer. Downside: sometimes bad weather and you'd might die from heart failure in an all you can sex establishment.

Dating in Thailand is only rubbish if you're an overweight 40-50 year old guy with no style or game.

Otherwise it's pretty good.

Could you guys describe what kind of girls you're looking for? That might explain the widely varying opinions.

[Biologist]

If you're looking for a country to raise a family or retire, I would definitely recommend Australia. The thing about Australia is that for retirement or raising a family, it is probably the best country in the world to do so. This is because Australia is:

1) English speaking.
2) Generally a very safe place, meaning that you and your children will be safe.
3) If you're a permanent resident or citizen you will be able to access Medicare. Medicare is a universal health care system which is generally very comprehensive, accessible and the quality of health care received is very high.
4) Commonwealth supported tertiary education with student allowances available via the government. Also, public primary and secondary education is relatively good and there is a good chance that your children will go to a decent school.
5) It's very clean and there is little-to-no pollution, even in the large cities.
6) Good infrastructure.
7) Comprehensive public transport.

However, it is expensive as hell. It's one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in. Also, the sexual marketplace in Australia for men is probably the worst in the world (due to factors such as female obesity, feminism and extreme male competition) so I would never recommend it for a single man.

[Que enspastic]

I second Australia as a family raising super power. As much as I bash it as a place for single men in their 20s, my upbringing was probably top 0.01% in the world.

I had :
1) A nature reserve with colourful birds outside my backyard where I played with other kids from the street
2) Clean, pristine beaches and parks
3) A very high trust society which placed a premium on being 'a good bloke' and 'a good mate', low corruption
4) Cheap and regular access to biking, tennis, athletics, rowing, Australian Rules football, beach volleyball, any sport I wished to play. A heavy emphasis on being physically active. Benefits (social skills, mental health, physical well being)
5) Heavy exposure to debating as an intellectual pursuit
6) Extremely low crime environment
7) High value placed on live music and theatre
8) Leadership programmes at school
9) School camps out in stunning wilderness (Cross Cut Mountains on Great Australian Dividing Range, Squeaky Beach on Wilson's Promontory, Anglesea down Great Ocean Rd)
10) Anti-drug environment
11) Strong expectation at school that I would go onto a top 50 university worldwide
12) Expectation that I would travel Asia / Europe and would be 'weird' if I didn't
13) 90% of society considered middle class
14) Non-violent, zero exposure to knife or gun crime
15) Healthy food, fruit and vegetables, quality ingredients.

When I started travelling it dawned on me just how good I had it. I have travelled to maybe 20-25 countries and yet to stumble across a place that I would consider a place as suited as Australia to raising kids.

Retirement - I'd pick Thailand or Spain

[lavidaloca]

(08-07-2015 03:58 PM)bjjay Wrote:  

how come cuba is expensive? I read they earn 25 dollars per month.

You can't own property. You rent by the room. If you require two plus rooms minimum you will pay in Havana is pretty much 750 CUC per month. (About 800 USD)

The cheapest rental you'll get in Havana is $450 / month and that won't be easy to get in a good area.

Cheapest new vehicle is 92k. A 4 year old audi a4 that was used as a rental car sells for 45-70k USD. (Minimum 100,000 km on it)

Many places charge higher covers for foreigners.

Because there is not much of an economy you have to pay for absolutely everything.

Public transit system is lousy. You will end up using lots of taxis. Late at night from the clubs taxis will almost universally charge you 10 CUC even if it's less than 5km.

Internet is expensive and you can't have it in your house. (2.25 / hour)

All people except Canadians and Permanent residents can only stay 2 months before leaving the country and have to pay to renew their visa after 1 month.

It all adds up.

[elcidcampeador]

The issue with Thailand for me is that foreigners can only own property in a development that is at least 51% Thai owned. The allure of Thailand for me is having a nice beachfront residence that isn't part of a cookie-cutter community a la Florida. That, and I wouldn't have much interest raising a family in a Bangkok condo although it certainly is a nice place to go to get laid.

Malaysia is basically the same climate, better English, and a lot more incentives for foreigners pursuing property in the country. The women are a bit less attractive, but I was under the impression this was an actual serious move and not a temporary-bang-lots-of-girls mission. If it's a serious, long-term move, you shouldn't have any trouble meeting a top-shelf girl in KL.

[bjjay]

1. How safe is Spain for foreigners? what is the crime rate of the country?
2. Do I need a good level of Spanish?
3. What areas in Spain should I check? thought about the islands.
4. By the way, is Gibraltar a good option?

[Troubled Joe]

(08-09-2015 03:36 AM)bjjay Wrote:  

1. How safe is Spain for foreigners? what is the crime rate of the country?
2. Do I need a good level of Spanish?
3. What areas in Spain should I check? thought about the islands.
4. By the way, is Gibraltar a good option?

1. Very safe
2. Absolutely. Most Spanish people suck at English
3. It depends on your taste, do some research, there's many nice regions
4. Gibraltar belongs to Britain. Idk much about it, but climate-wise it should be nice

[262]

(08-07-2015 06:15 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

If you've never lived in the second or third world, you should do extended visits before you plan on moving somewhere permanently .

This. I'm doing this now. I'd even argue between first world countries, you'd want to "try before you buy."

bjjay, you can read and ask all you want, but you won't know for sure, and you won't know for yourself, until you try these places out. As you can see from some of the responses here, even guys who have been to the same places have had different experiences, likely because they're different people.

Also, the last thing anyone wants is for you to commit to somewhere based solely on what you read online. Don't be the guy blames the Internet for his problems.

The reason I say the above bjjay is that I'm pretty sure you're South Asian. "Give me a custom solution so I don't have to read the forums myself" unfortunately is a common South Asian attitude. Take it from someone who can pass as South Asian.

Also, don't say, "I'm asking because I can't afford to try before I buy." If you're not willing to put in this effort, you don't deserve the results.

[NewMeta]

Funny you mention Gibraltar since I was born and raised there till I was 18.

It's a great place to raise a family but there are issues, I'll give you pros and cons:

Pros:
1. Seasonal weather, rarely gets colder than 10 degrees in the winter and warm summers over 30 degrees.
2. English speaking, we speak Spanish as well but English is our first language .
3. Good community of people that looks out for each other, with a good educational system to boot (they currently cover locals student loans when we go to university).
4. Conservative mentality, no feminism, raised catholics, so generally people are friendly and the girls are stunning (I've always rated the girls there really highly in terms of looks, however they can be abit over entitled at times).

Cons:
1. Population of 30,000. That's nothing. After living there a year you will know so many people that walking down the street will end up in a handful of conversations alone. Your mistakes will follow you so its easy to build a bad reputation, don't fuck up.

2. The system is built heavily around looking after locals, foreigners have a hard time getting jobs outside of English owned companies and you won't be eligible to apply for affordable housing and various educational benefits such as the aforementioned cover of student loans .

3. High rent and housing is in a shortage. If you move there you will have to rent or buy a place in Spain near the border almost guarenteed. Generally a studio apartment itself is near 1k in rent a month (no joke). A shared house will still be around 700-800 pounds a month.

4. Life is boring there, there is a reason I never moved back. There isn't a lot of infrastructure for niche to slightly popular hobbies and sports. It's mainly stuff like football, basketball, rowing, running, climbing and racket sports.

If you want to know more pm me.