Which country to live as an ex-pat?

Voyager2002

pendragon_arther wrote: »

Will do. I'm looking at Belize, Colombia and Panama. I'll see which one is good for Airbnb bookings first. But another negative in Phils is the internet is totally crap.

Man, you have not lived! If you want to know what is meant by totally crap internet then try West Africa! (A five-minute wait to read an email is routine there...)

For many years I believed that Colombia was the best country in the world (I now think that Cuba is even better), but for both countries you simply must speak Spanish.

fifeken

It’s the one day this year when the temperature has risen above 20 degrees. I walked to the local pub to see the cricket on TV, as I can’t afford Sky and the price of tickets for the Test match is scary. I won’t be here long, as a pint now costs £3.50 and most of it tastes like old socks in warm water anyway. Besides that, the group of fat, hairless blokes in footie shirts playing the fruit machine are a bit loud for me.

I don’t come down in winter any more as the street lights are usually out, the pavements too cracked to walk on safely in the dark and the one taxi driver in the village retired. The pub always used to smell of wet dogs in the winter months anyway.

The news just depresses me – NHS waiting lists as long as your arm, junior doctors working their fingers to the bone, zero hours contracts everywhere, no go zones in many towns and cities and politicians looking for new ways to scam their expenses. Why we let a party that less than a quarter of those eligible voted for is nuts.

As soon as I see a decent price for a flight I’ll book my two weeks at home for the summer. Until then you can keep it, and ll the expats I know think the same.

[Deleted User]

I can see why the expat lifestyle appeals to single gentlemen of a certain age.
A lot,in my experience,are purchasing a lifestyle they can't afford or more importantly achieve,at home.
Cheap beer and cheap women seem to be top of the list of their rather sad priorities.
And it's not just Brits.Anyone who has visited SE Asia will recognise the sight of overweight Brits,Germans and Dutch men with one arm around their " partner " the other clasping a cheap bottle of beer.It's all a bit sad really.
The reality is the grass is rarely greener on the other side and people who are failures in the UK are more than likely to be failures abroad.
I'm fortunate in that I have homes in the UK,Ireland and the USA and while all three have things that are better than the others on balance with regard to healthcare,bureaucracy,social welfare,crime and such like the UK wins hands down.
And now I'm off for an early evening snifter in that pub I mentioned earlier.:beer:

[Deleted User]

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Man, you have not lived! If you want to know what is meant by totally crap internet then try West Africa! (A five-minute wait to read an email is routine there...)

For many years I believed that Colombia was the best country in the world (I now think that Cuba is even better), but for both countries you simply must speak Spanish.

It certainly was 25 years ago.

Voyager2002

Deleted_User wrote: »

I can see why the expat lifestyle appeals to single gentlemen of a certain age.
A lot,in my experience,are purchasing a lifestyle they can't afford or more importantly achieve,at home.
Cheap beer and cheap women seem to be top of the list of their rather sad priorities.
And it's not just Brits.Anyone who has visited SE Asia will recognise the sight of overweight Brits,Germans and Dutch men with one arm around their " partner " the other clasping a cheap bottle of beer.It's all a bit sad really.
The reality is the grass is rarely greener on the other side and people who are failures in the UK are more than likely to be failures abroad.
I'm fortunate in that I have homes in the UK,Ireland and the USA and while all three have things that are better than the others on balance with regard to healthcare,bureaucracy,social welfare,crime and such like the UK wins hands down.
And now I'm off for an early evening snifter in that pub I mentioned earlier.:beer:

Dangerous to generalise...

My work was the main satisfaction that I found in the Philippines: the level of responsibility and the technology available, and of course the satisfaction that comes from working in a disaster-response organisation. I drank very little there, since fine wine was not available and the local brew cannot really be taken seriously.

Here in India, alcohol costs about three times as much as at home and is of poorer quality, while "watering holes" are so depressing that I end up opting for fruit juice instead. And those famous loose Asian women are remarkably hard to find! At least I have had some deep conversations with local poets and political activists; seen some wonderful sculptures in ancient temples; and even climbed a mountain that is sacred to monkey-gods (several of whom were eating bananas there).

[Deleted User]

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Dangerous to generalise...

My work was the main satisfaction that I found in the Philippines: the level of responsibility and the technology available, and of course the satisfaction that comes from working in a disaster-response organisation. I drank very little there, since fine wine was not available and the local brew cannot really be taken seriously.

Here in India, alcohol costs about three times as much as at home and is of poorer quality, while "watering holes" are so depressing that I end up opting for fruit juice instead. And those famous loose Asian women are remarkably hard to find! At least I have had some deep conversations with local poets and political activists; seen some wonderful sculptures in ancient temples; and even climbed a mountain that is sacred to monkey-gods (several of whom were eating bananas there).

And your wife - does she enjoy living in India ?

pendragon_arther

Deleted_User wrote: »

I can see why the expat lifestyle appeals to single gentlemen of a certain age.
A lot,in my experience,are purchasing a lifestyle they can't afford or more importantly achieve,at home.
Cheap beer and cheap women seem to be top of the list of their rather sad priorities.
And it's not just Brits.Anyone who has visited SE Asia will recognise the sight of overweight Brits,Germans and Dutch men with one arm around their " partner " the other clasping a cheap bottle of beer.It's all a bit sad really.
The reality is the grass is rarely greener on the other side and people who are failures in the UK are more than likely to be failures abroad.
I'm fortunate in that I have homes in the UK,Ireland and the USA and while all three have things that are better than the others on balance with regard to healthcare,bureaucracy,social welfare,crime and such like the UK wins hands down.
And now I'm off for an early evening snifter in that pub I mentioned earlier.:beer:

Reminds me of Harry Enfield; 'I've got loads of money, I'm much richer than you!'
Money, Money, Money
It's loads of money

L-O-D-S
OF E-M-O-N-E
What does that spell?
Loadsamoney
Probly
Made a right load of petish in knolla this week

Right lads, whatch out for the lady's?
LOADSALOADSALOADSA
-MONEYMONEYMONEY
LOADSALOADSALOADSA
-MONEYMONEYMONEY
Right, whop it out
wella loadsamoney
Whop it out!
Whaaa loadsamoney
Whaaa loadsamoney

pendragon_arther

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Man, you have not lived! If you want to know what is meant by totally crap internet then try West Africa! (A five-minute wait to read an email is routine there...)

For many years I believed that Colombia was the best country in the world (I now think that Cuba is even better), but for both countries you simply must speak Spanish.

East Africa is the same.

It looks like Belize could be on the cards.

Voyager2002

pendragon_arther wrote: »

East Africa is the same.

Probably not... My colleagues from East Africa were the loudest complainers about the internet in West Africa. (They were astonished that there was NEVER enough bandwidth to listen to the radio on-line, for instance.)

Belize does sound good, and if things work out you could be the next Tory treasurer! However, you might be able to live happily in a different region of the Philippines: have you spent any time in Mountain Province?

Voyager2002

Deleted_User wrote: »

And your wife - does she enjoy living in India ?

She really suffered from the soul-destroying cruelty of life in the UK (more than I do), and as a result we are no longer together. Actually I think she would rather enjoy the life in India, but that is not an issue.