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Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey
#1

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Polymathguru’s Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey
Table of contents
I) Who should read this book?
II) Why Reconnaissance is important
III) How to perform a Reconnaissance
IV) Logistics, Finance and Education
V) Where to Recon


I)Who should read this book?
There are three target demographics for this book. The first group is adolescents who want to perform some foresight on where to move on in life. The second group are 20 to 30 year old people who haven’t figured out what they want out of life. The third group of people are those who are unsatisfied with their lives despite and have more established careers and may want to understand why their current lives are less than satisfactory.

The main emphasis on traveling in this book is to help people to relocate to a new location within the United States of America. The main reason why someone might perform a reconnaissance is because they are unsatisfied with their lives and where they are living. Examples can include high taxes, cold winters, shitty culture and ect. Aaron Clarey explains why you should do a reconnaissance, how to do a reconnaissance and which states you should investigate.

II) Why Reconnaissance is important
The importance of Reconnaissance is to find communities you would enjoy living in. People’s ties to communities is very important. We tend to form social and career networks around the places we live. Trying to restart this pattern all over again is very cost inefficient. There is a reason why there are still Iraqis living in baghdad and why Jews stilled lived in Nazi Germany while the politics of Germany was aiming to push them out. Even if those areas are unlikable or inhospitable to us, we still have financial realities we have to consider.

The only way someone can truly know if they are living in a less than ideal location is to explore other areas. You need to socialize with people in the new area. You need to explore it and have an idea how you feel in the environment. If you go there for too short of a period, your judgement is going to based on a novelty basis. However, you need to explore other areas to figure out what is best for you, which means you only have so much time to actually do any reconnaissance.

The other problem is a lot of people tend to make decisions based on what they did when they were young. A lot of people at a young age don’t understand what they want to do, where they want to live, understand who they are and lack the experience to make a good judgement.


III) How to Reconnaissance
There are three stages in a reconnaissance. Stage One is to survey the United States. The second stage is to focus on places you like. The third stage is the Trial Run.

Stage one is to help figure what which places you would want to explore. Due to the large size of the united states, you aren’t likely be able to thoroughly comb through every nook and cranny within the united states. Before you take a trip you should be start researching places that you might find interesting. The whole part of this stage is to take a peek into what that area offers you. You should be able to figure out what places you don’t like from that list and start finding places you like. The amount of time that should be spent is about 2 days during this stage. You are to zip in and out of the area.

Stage two is to focus on what the area offers. You should have about 10 different places on your list places to explore. The whole purpose is to reveal things you didn’t know about that location that could be a deal breaker. The period should be done in roughly 14 days.

Stage three is to figure out if the place is actually what you like. Part of the problem of stage 1 and 2 is you haven’t experimented living in regions based on a change in the season. Southern states are going to be intolerable during the summer heat while northern states are going to be much colder. The idea is to really understand what it is like to actually live there. The ideal time space is 3 months to one year. At this point, you should have two or three places you really want to experience year around.

IV) Logistics, Finance and Education
Logistics, finance and education are three factors that would hold back someone from being able to perform a reconnaissance. You need to be able to finance your trip, find places to sleep and know how to deal with idiosyncratic situations.

Logisitics requires some planning in advance. Some parts of the united states is so vast you may never come across a town for miles. In addition, timing is very important. All reconnaissance should be done by car as a transport vehicle.

Most reconnaissance should be done during the summer. In colder regions of the USA, it becomes much more difficult to perform. If becomes necessary to sleep in your car or in a tent, attempting to do these things at temperatures of 50 degrees fahrenheit or below can be quite uncomfortable. Most young folks are going to have the summer off from school. Summers generally offer seasonal work for a young person to work. This allows for some cash flow during the your trip.

You should also make use of planning your route. The parts of the united states can be very clustered will generally offer more services available to you in a concentrated area, but you will generally come across rush hour traffic which can impede any exploration you would want to perform. Learning to plan your time around traffic can be important. Other parts of the united states can be very vast with no towns within sight very each other. A lot more planning will be required under these conditions. You will need to know where gas stations are located, how far your can your car travel without refilling for gas, places with mechanic shops, grocery stores to resupply you with food and most importantly, sites you want to visit.

The Importance of a car is critical for reconnaissance. Planes, Buses and Trains all direct you to a hubs within the United States. You cannot see much of the United States on a guided trail. Unless you rent a car within a city, you cannot cover much of the area outside of a walking distance.

The car also serves another important purpose. You have a portable lodging device which the only costs associated with it are the car itself, insurance and repair. You most likely benefit from having a car in your life than not having it. Being able to go to where you want on a pulse is very useful. In addition, you learn the useful skill of auto mechanics.

Lodging will be the most important factor, determining how much you can budget. The variable here is how much you are willing to rough it out. If you want to do some camping, all you really need is a tent and a place to put it. Legally, you are allowed to camp for free in any National forest or National Grassland. If you want a place to find to do some camping, check out https://freecampsites.net. As previously mentioned, your car can easily be used as portable lodging device. Just find a safe place to park and you are good for the night. Although it should be mentioned, parking at a wayside is illegal, you most likely will not be bothered. Internet friends can also be a great way to get some lodging. They can provide some housing, a place to shower and a way to do some laundry. Two great sources can be facebook and the Roosh V forum if you become a respectable member here. Couchsurfing is useful as long as you are cautious. Air BNB can be a cheap alternative to using a hotel. You can also do some research on Hostels in you local region, which can cost from $20 a night to $100 a night.

Some basics for your travel will be food, hygiene, safety. In the United States, food is an easy problem to address. All you need is non-perishable food you can store. Hygiene is going to concern yourself of two issues, bathing and laundry. If you cannot lodge somewhere indoors, you will still need a way to take a bath. A gym chain such as Planet Fitness or Anytime Fitness can help you there. As for Laundry, you also could use a laundromat and carry plenty of quarters on hand. If you cannot find a laundromat, you’ll need to use a freshwater stream. Shirts and pants can go a much longer time without being washed. Socks and underwear are more vital. You should always have extra socks and underwear on hand. Safety requires a few extra precautions. Keep in daily contact with people you know. Carry two cellphones with you and well charged, your main cellphone and a burner cell phone. Carry a gun. Buy some bear mace and learn to use an attack alarm.

Finances are going to be the main constraint for people. Most jobs still require people to show up at a physical location. Figuring out how to finance yourself without showing up to work. This means you will need a fair amount of savings on hand to have the choice to leave your job at anytime. The other option is to start an internet based business or have a job that only requires contact through the internet.

Due to the all traveling that can be done, Aaron has advised people pursue some education outside the classroom. He had advised everyone to study in four different subjects: Philosophical education, Prerequisite education, Employment education and Entrepreneurship education. With a lot of sources available in audiobooks and podcasts, this gives you a lot of content to listen to while you are out on the road driving.

V) Where to Recon
Every person is going to be different from each other on where they want to live. The problem occurs when you only have so much time to actually do a reconnaissance. This may not be the perfect list for everyone. But is based on a general rule of thumb what will be important to most people. There are 5 listed criteria to measure this short list: No Go Zones, Climate, Taxes/Economic Opportunities, Beauty/Scenery/Outdoor Activity, Metropolitan Presence. The list of states will be whittled down as more we go down the criteria.

  1. No Go Zones- No Go Zones are states that have very little going for it. Either too much traffic, shitty weather conditions, lack of culture, or a lack of anything meaningful. The following States listed are exempt from the No Go Zone List. This leaves us with 28 of the 50 States.

    1. Alaska
    2. Arizona
    3. California
    4. Colorado
    5. Florida
    6. Georgia
    7. Hawaii
    8. Idaho
    9. Illinois
    10. Indiana
    11. Kentucky
    12. Michigan
    13. Minnesota
    14. Montana
    15. Neveda
    16. New Hampshire
    17. New Mexico
    18. North Carolina
    19. Ohio
    20. Oregon
    21. Pennsylvania
    22. South Dakota
    23. Tennessee
    24. Texas
    25. Utah
    26. Washington
    27. Wisconsin
    28. Wyoming
  2. Climate-This basically eliminates states with harsh winter climates. Unless you want to be in an environment where you have to shovel whenever it snows or when deal with heat bills frostbite or health related problems with the cold climate. This leaves us with 25 of the 50 states.

    1. Alaska
    2. Arizona
    3. California
    4. Colorado
    5. Florida
    6. Georgia
    7. Hawaii
    8. Idaho
    9. Illinois
    10. Indiana
    11. Kentucky
    12. Montana
    13. Neveda
    14. New Hampshire
    15. New Mexico
    16. North Carolina
    17. Ohio
    18. Oregon
    19. Pennsylvania
    20. South Dakota
    21. Tennessee
    22. Texas
    23. Utah
    24. Washington
    25. Wyoming
  3. Taxes/Economic Opportunities- This is based on the fact you are going to want to hold onto most of the money you make. This factor elements of cost of living(rent) and local and state taxes. This leaves us with 18 of the 50 states.

    1. Alaska
    2. Arizona
    3. Colorado
    4. Florida
    5. Georgia
    6. Idaho
    7. Illinois
    8. Montana
    9. Neveda
    10. New Hampshire
    11. New Mexico
    12. North Carolina
    13. South Dakota
    14. Tennessee
    15. Texas
    16. Utah
    17. Washington
    18. Wyoming
  4. Beauty/Scenery/ Outdoor Activity- This is self explanatory. We have 15 states left over.

    1. Alaska
    2. Arizona
    3. Colorado
    4. Florida
    5. Georgia
    6. Idaho
    7. Montana
    8. Neveda
    9. New Hampshire
    10. North Carolina
    11. Tennessee
    12. Texas
    13. Utah
    14. Washington
    15. Wyoming
  5. The Presence of a Major Metropolitan Area- Being in a metropolitan area allows for some culture to be appreciated, dating, social life, employment. Basically Wyoming is being cut from the list. Basically 14 states to check out.

    1. Alaska
    2. Arizona
    3. Colorado
    4. Florida
    5. Georgia
    6. Idaho
    7. Montana
    8. Neveda
    9. New Hampshire
    10. North Carolina
    11. Tennessee
    12. Texas
    13. Utah
    14. Washington
Aaron goes onto to detail on why you should visit those states. If you want to know more, pick up his book Reconnaissance Man from Amazon. Keep in mind, this is basically a 5 page summary of a 200 page book.
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#2

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

This is a very interesting concept. I'm trying to compare it to Europe in my head, though I have to say I don't like the results I'm getting [Image: lol.gif]

"Imagine" by HCE | Hitler reacts to Battle of Montreal | An alternative use for squid that has never crossed your mind before
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#3

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

So it's not cold in Alaska? Record low in Anchorage -38F, Fairbanks -66F. Sure, it's nice and mild in Ketchikan, but you get 229 precipitation days a year and 153 inches of rain and snow. Great climate.
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#4

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Is there any value in this book for someone not from the United States? Could the principles be applied to other countries?
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#5

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

New York didn't even make the first cut? I am clearly not his target audience.

Also, based on...

Quote:Quote:

Taxes/Economic Opportunities- This is based on the fact you are going to want to hold onto most of the money you make. This factor elements of cost of living(rent) and local and state taxes. This leaves us with 18 of the 50 states.

... Illinois should've been immediately removed.
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#6

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Quote: (10-26-2017 03:22 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

This is a very interesting concept. I'm trying to compare it to Europe in my head, though I have to say I don't like the results I'm getting [Image: lol.gif]

The only problem is Europe is not as uniform as the United States. But there is one major difference. The United States is designed with Cars in mind. Europe is designed with people in mind and is better suited for public transport.

Quote: (10-26-2017 04:12 PM)Akwesi Wrote:  

So it's not cold in Alaska? Record low in Anchorage -38F, Fairbanks -66F. Sure, it's nice and mild in Ketchikan, but you get 229 precipitation days a year and 153 inches of rain and snow. Great climate.

The author made a good point of Alaska being a terrible place to live due to the small economy and climate being terrible in the winter, but has stated every person should go there at least once in their life in the summer.

Keep in mind, I cut out a lot of filler information and cut out two chapters of the book.

Quote: (10-26-2017 11:38 PM)Savage Wrote:  

Is there any value in this book for someone not from the United States? Could the principles be applied to other countries?
More of the specifics apply to the united states. Just keep in mind a few things.

You do not need a passport to travel within the united states. This isn't true for the rest of the world with a country as expansive as the United States.

The United States on the overall is a developed nation. Even the poorest state in the United States, Mississippi, has a median household income of $37,000. If Mississippi was its own country, it would be ranked as the 11th wealthiest economy in the world by median household income.

As stated before, Europe is not as Uniform as the united states. We have a federal government that rules over all the land. Whatever powers it does not have is reserved for the individual states. The real differences is simply geography/climate, jobs and state/local government laws. Even traveling within Europe is fairly easy to travel thanks to the Schengen Area. Although some countries may have similiar features like the Schengen Area (i.e. CA-4), it isn't quite the same.

Quote: (10-27-2017 02:43 AM)Peregrine Wrote:  

New York didn't even make the first cut? I am clearly not his target audience.

Also, based on...

Quote:Quote:

Taxes/Economic Opportunities- This is based on the fact you are going to want to hold onto most of the money you make. This factor elements of cost of living(rent) and local and state taxes. This leaves us with 18 of the 50 states.

... Illinois should've been immediately removed.

This isn't meant to be a perfectly uniform list for everyone. Everyone has individual tastes. The list provided is meant to be a short hand guide.

New York City and the state of New York is great for young people without much responsibilities. When you get older, you generally don't tolerate the same bullshit. Especially when your life is going to revolve around working 60 to 100 hours a week. A lot of people from NYC move out to Long Island to reduce the cost of living. A lot of people from Long Island move down south, usually to North Carolina or Florida. Unless someone really likes the hustle of working in New York City and can imagine themselves working there for the next 30 to 40 years, or has a lot of passive income to work with, they should skip over NYC and the state of New York. I say this as a native New Yorker who has been researching states to relocate in.

The only thing Illinois has going for it is the north side of Chicago. Otherwise, Illinois is a fucked up place to live. There is a reason why the democrat state of Illinois voted for Republican Bruce Rauner as Governor.
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#7

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Thanks for the extensive summary, PMG. Very worthwhile considerations. I've also spent a good bit of time looking at FBI reported crime stats of large and medium size cities (Wikipedia). I've also looked at places that lean more conservative. I think Clary skews more left of center.

I've eliminated any states that vote for sanctuary cities. This eliminated many from my list. A very few have come out with laws banning sanctuary cities. I believe these policies will be important to us in years ahead (and right now).

Tennessee has a 'hidden' tax on property and assets. I am intrigued with Nashville but probably more to visit than live as it may be growing too fast.

Texas has a problem with pollution due to all the fracking / oil & natural gas extraction. I love the people there but the pro-oil lobby railroads the little guy. Plus a big pro-illegal immigrant lobby in Dallas and Austin.

For those bringing their own income source, I would not have eliminated Kentucky from the list.

Washington may experience severe damage from a Cascadia quake / tsunami in the Juan de Fuca fracture zone. It's also a leftist state and has the idiotic minimum wage laws. Plus cold and dreary most of the year.

I highly recommend looking up videos and articles related to 'Grand Solar Minimum' to get a sense of expected climatic changes which could make more northern areas very hard places to live in coming years and certainly within the decade. IMO / from my research you want to be in a more temperate, food growing region with option to grow some of your own food.
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#8

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Wow this post really resonated with me. As someone who is 100% location independent (online biz), I am midway through a similar search. Even though I’m an American, I want to raise my future family in a foreign country with a foreign wife (with the caveat of perhaps briefly relocating my family back to the US during my children’s high school years so that they can get into a top-tier university, and then returning back to my future wife’s foreign homeland after that).

In fact, the RVF is the source of all of my candidate locations (pussy paradises), and now I am systematically visiting each one for 3 weeks to 3 months each to find the best one for me specifically. Since as we all know, one man’s pussy paradise is another man’s dryspell desert (me in Zagreb).

So far, the only place I’ve visited that is still on the candidate list is Bangkok at #1. All others have been eliminated for various reasons (feel free to ask), either from a direct visit or proxy (so since Barcelona was out, I judged Lisbon similar enough to eliminate without actually visiting).

Candidates:

1.) Bangkok
2.) Saigon
3.) Bogotá / Medellín
4.) Lima
5.) Taipei
6.) Seoul / 2nd Tier Korea City
7.) Tokyo / 2nd Tier Japan City
8.) Sao Paulo / 2nd Tier Brazilian City
9.) Budapest

Eliminated (but used to be on the list):
- Shenzhen
- Bali
- New York City
- Los Angeles
- Barcelona
- Lisbon
- Zagreb
- Sofia
- Mexico City

I expect to be able to visit all of my remaining candidates in the next 2 years, before choosing one to settle down in and begin fully integrating (i.e. becoming fluent, even in a “useless” language like Thai or Vietnamese, etc).

Personally, the only issue I am struggling with is that a single man’s pussy paradise is not the same as a family man’s. Travesty’s 10/10 Wife Hunting Abroad thread speaks to this, so if my top choice remains Bangkok (a place not well regarded on that thread) I’ll need to do some thinking... Any opinions here on that tradeoff?

Off Topic --- As this is my 25th post, I sure am glad to finally get to cast off the "Male Feminist" label and become a "Game Denialist" at last [Image: lol.gif]
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#9

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Road to 100: very interesting, like that you are actually making a truly systematic effort to figure out the best location for you. Hope to see a datasheet on this in the future.
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#10

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Quote: (10-31-2017 11:27 AM)Truth Tiger Wrote:  

Thanks for the extensive summary, PMG. Very worthwhile considerations. I've also spent a good bit of time looking at FBI reported crime stats of large and medium size cities (Wikipedia). I've also looked at places that lean more conservative. I think Clary skews more left of center.
Believe it or not he actually leans to the right. He is an old school libertarian(before they became fucked up). Most of the states listed are either swing states or right leaning states. Although I should warn people, this guy fucking hates east coast people. So his bias on that is strong but he made an exception for New Hampshire.


Quote: (10-31-2017 11:27 AM)Truth Tiger Wrote:  

I've eliminated any states that vote for sanctuary cities. This eliminated many from my list. A very few have come out with laws banning sanctuary cities. I believe these policies will be important to us in years ahead (and right now).

Tennessee has a 'hidden' tax on property and assets. I am intrigued with Nashville but probably more to visit than live as it may be growing too fast.

Texas has a problem with pollution due to all the fracking / oil & natural gas extraction. I love the people there but the pro-oil lobby railroads the little guy. Plus a big pro-illegal immigrant lobby in Dallas and Austin.

For those bringing their own income source, I would not have eliminated Kentucky from the list.

Washington may experience severe damage from a Cascadia quake / tsunami in the Juan de Fuca fracture zone. It's also a leftist state and has the idiotic minimum wage laws. Plus cold and dreary most of the year.

Like I said, he made the list as a general rule of thumb. It isn't meant to be a one size fits all list. He clearly hates paying taxes so he would never consider moving to New York or California. He also has a preference to the great outdoors. If you read the book, you can tell describes him very well.

Quote: (11-01-2017 08:08 AM)RoadTo100 Wrote:  

Wow this post really resonated with me. As someone who is 100% location independent (online biz), I am midway through a similar search. Even though I’m an American, I want to raise my future family in a foreign country with a foreign wife (with the caveat of perhaps briefly relocating my family back to the US during my children’s high school years so that they can get into a top-tier university, and then returning back to my future wife’s foreign homeland after that).

In fact, the RVF is the source of all of my candidate locations (pussy paradises), and now I am systematically visiting each one for 3 weeks to 3 months each to find the best one for me specifically. Since as we all know, one man’s pussy paradise is another man’s dryspell desert (me in Zagreb).

You should really consider writing a corollary to this guide. It is for some to do what was described in this guide. It is much harder when traveling between borders.
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#11

Polymathguru's Summary of Reconnaissance Man by Aaron Clarey

Quote: (11-01-2017 08:08 AM)RoadTo100 Wrote:  

Personally, the only issue I am struggling with is that a single man’s pussy paradise is not the same as a family man’s. Travesty’s 10/10 Wife Hunting Abroad thread speaks to this, so if my top choice remains Bangkok (a place not well regarded on that thread) I’ll need to do some thinking... Any opinions here on that tradeoff?

Live in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai or somewhere similar. You can essentially fly to Bangkok and back whenever you want for less than a hundred bucks.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling
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