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Hi, If anyone is considering migrating or living a digital nomad style of life; I left Europe and reside most in Mexico, but have visited also many other countries working and travelling. I'm happy to answer any questions. All zaps are forwarded to @sn.
How long do you typically stay in one place before bouncing to another?
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I have a base in one town and stay there few months usually and when I feel like it, travel to other places/countries. When I'm away usually I store some stuff so I don't have rent while travelling. The place I rent keeps it for me.
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Well done. when I was younger, I used to think the West could offer a better quality of life or even more freedom, but then it turned out it was only fancy marketing.
As a semi-nomad, I now prefer living in places with less modernization - everything is more real.
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True
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I like places with people with real skills and knowledge, instead of those complaining all the time like the world owns him or her somehow, madness.
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Yeah, there's no sense of entitlement here. The amount of heartwarming smiles I get from strangers when I walk to my coffee shop in the morning. So simple but a lot of western countries have lost this.
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Why'd you choose Mexico? Do you expect to continue to spend most of your time there?
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Mexico has a lot going for it. Very warm&friendly people and culturally a bit closer to the west then other Latam countries. Spanish is not difficult to learn.
Politics/power structures are very complicated (federal/state/town/local tribes), but it has an advantage, not one of those is fully in charge. Freedom as a result of chaos. The covid period confirmed this for me. Some Mexicans were serious about things like masks, but they don't like to tell other people what to do. Mexico was probably the best country to be during covid.
It's big, so if you have a visa/residence, you can do a lot without crossing a border. Desert, jungle, beach, culture, mountains. National flights are good and cheap. In the high lands the climate is just perfect (for me). There are a lot of areas with year round avg daily temperatures between 22-30C (71-86F). No heating, no AC necessary. And when you feel like it, you go to the beach and it's always warm.
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just don't try to start a business, cartels take 35% upfront, lol :)
Haha, yeah well there are certainly issues, but this is mostly in the tourist/beach areas.
Mexico actually has a lot of excellent business opportunities. The thing is, most Mexicans do things on 70%, if it works, they're happy, they don't bother for perfection. If you do/produce anything with more attention for the details, you stick out immediately. You can make good money here.
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Oh your second question, for now I'm good here. But will check El Salvador in the winter. Argentina could be an option too, esp. if things change, either way would like to visit. Turkey is another favorite of mine, I like it there.
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True. A big advantage that Turkey has is that the people are more grounded, more eye for detail/cleanness. Mexico can be very noisy and messy. Truly enjoy it there.
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How are you being paid? In Bitcoin, USD or pesos? Are you saving much living this lifestyle?
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Can get paid in bitcoin, usd and eur. Have a western bank, but total fees to make it to cash pesos is at least 1.5%. Still looking to improve on this. Debit card payments are free.
Yes, I save a lot. I live very good here for 1200 usd and eat steak every day. My house gets cleaned, (shared) garden taken care of, that kind of stuff. Close to a lively centro with a lot going on, international community. Can't get anywhere close to that in W-Europe. And don't forget the time I save not doing bureaucratic paperwork, it doesn't interest Mexico where I get my money from; as long as it's from abroad and I spend it here, they're happy.
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How do you pick your accommodations? Is there a particular website you use to get good deals / places?
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While travelling I mostly use booking.com, but they're going downhill. Their reviews are more realistic then Airbnb and I got good discount because I've used them a lot. Long time stays, well, talking to others or renting on booking/airbnb for a few days and then talk to the owner. In Mexico I've also rented just from a paper sign behind the window of a family house. It's quite common and fun to do it like that. Never had any issues.
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How long would you maintained this nomad lifestyle ?
Then how do you cover your cost of living if you keep doing this for the next let's say 2 decades ?
At some point in life you probably would wanna settle down somewhere
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Yeah well I've kinda already settled down where I live now. Not in the sense of owning a place but where I live is kind of my base. It depends, if I meet a nice woman I would settle down more maybe, buy a home and own more stuff, we'll see.
I notice I get more tired of travelling/moving, but I still like it now and then.
I work online so that's how I cover my costs. I can live of 1200 usd / month here easily, but I don't drink haha. Eg my rent is 500 usd, including cleaning, gas/electricity, internet. But that's high here, it's really pretty, a simple room with shared kitchen you can get for 150 usd.
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What do you feel about sustaining your life in a nomadic way with Bitcoin?
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Do you make your living online? If so how ?
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Yes. I've done several things, mostly digital services that have to do with calculations, visualizing and processing data. Some teaching. And I help people with bitcoin, but that's more like on donation basis. I've done quite well hodling many years, so there's not really an urgent need to work.
Are you thinking of working online and migrating?
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I am ! Very much love Mehico.
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  • Any issues getting a long-term visa? When I wanted to this in Spain years ago there was a mountain of bullshit, and I think you needed something like $70k in the bank, which I did not have :(
  • How do you find a place to live? How do you pay that rent, from your Western bank?
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It's not too difficult to get a visa. Depending on which one you get, you need some proof of income. During covid there was a special program that was even easier, I could use that option because I'd been in Mexico before 2020. Hired a lawyer, it was a breeze, no proof of nada. Cost me around 1100 us.
You also have little 'less official' options in Mexico of course 8-), I hear they work pretty well. There's also scammers active though.
About accomodation: You pay rent in cash almost everywhere. I'm still looking for a better route to get cash pesos, through western bank you pay at least 1.5%.
I wrote before: While travelling I mostly use booking.com, but they're going downhill. Their reviews are more realistic then Airbnb and I got good discount because I've used them a lot. Long time stays, well, talking to others or renting on booking/airbnb for a few days and then talk to the owner. In Mexico I've also rented just from a paper sign behind the window of a family house. It's quite common and fun to do it like that. Never had any issues.
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In the 2000s I did an Argentina version of what you're doing, and getting accommodation was such a PITA -- there were some services in the middle to help match-make but they took such a massive cut. The "rent from some larger org, then arrange something with the owner on the side" is still the best way, apparently.
I don't mind middlemen, but I do like them to provide some value and not just rent-seek.
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To me, just talking with people (locals or other expats) is the best. Markets are more chaotic in Latam, a lot of options are not listed online, that means there are good deals to be found.
George Gammon has made this a business with real estate in Medellin. He finds and buys bargain properties via informal connections, improves them and sells them to expats online.
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There's such a massive opportunity in LatAm for people with super fluent Spanish and a deep understanding of the local circumstances (which are often rife with corruption, requiring bribery to get required legal permits, services, etc. to happen in a timely fashion, or at all) to serve as an interface with gringos.
This is what I meant by the middlemen I'm happy to pay for -- by all means, help me get my internet up and running in less than six months! I'm no longer in a position to occupy this niche, sadly.
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100%.
Here there's actually not so much corruption, but what you said about understanding the local situation is spot on. Not everyone can do this. You have to be patient and smile a lot, invest in connections.
Anyone interested in these opportunities, happy to share my ideas.
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How often are you spending sats in Mexico? What is your favorite place to do this? What of the meetup scene and bitcoin education?
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I don't remember ever spending bitcoin in Mexico. Funny enough, this Saturday I'm visiting a bar where they take it, if the owner is there. I will ask him if he wants to trade regularly with me, bitcoin for cash. The exchange and bank route costs me 1.5% at least. That would be great.
Also I just found out that one of the biggest retailers, Elektra, you can pay online with bitcoin. Haven't tried it yet.
I hardly met any real bitcoiners, it's a lot of cRyPtO-traders. But I'm also not really looking for them. AFAIK there's no real bitcoin meetups where I live. Saturday would be the first time haha, my friend, he's into xrp, told me that when he asked the owner if he also accepts xrp, he got agressive lol. I like him already.
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Big community in Acapulco.
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Bitcoin or crypto? From what I've heard it's mostly the latter.
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A mix for sure.
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Why Mexico? I thought every digital nomad living out of the reach of the government always vie for El Salvador
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I haven't visited there yet. Two downsides of ES are:
  • they don't have high lands, bigger areas that are relatively flat and on altitude (best is around1500m), those have very good moderate climates. ES is very hot.
  • it's small, meaning, you can't make a lot of in-country trips without visa and passport hassle (or worse during covid)
Previous answer:
Mexico has a lot going for it. Very warm&friendly people and culturally a bit closer to the west then other Latam countries. Spanish is not difficult to learn. Politics/power structures are very complicated (federal/state/town/local tribes), but it has an advantage, not one of those is fully in charge. Freedom as a result of chaos. The covid period confirmed this for me. Some Mexicans were serious about things like masks, but they don't like to tell other people what to do. Mexico was probably the best country to be during covid. It's big, so if you have a visa/residence, you can do a lot without crossing a border. Desert, jungle, beach, culture, mountains. National flights are good and cheap. In the high lands the climate is just perfect (for me). There are a lot of areas with year round avg daily temperatures between 22-30C (71-86F). No heating, no AC necessary. And when you feel like it, you go to the beach and it's always warm.
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Fair point and anything can be done remotely nowadays so enjoy your time in Mexico
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Yah, most people don't think about what quality it brings to your life, a moderate climate, being outside most of the day, sun, fresh air, around 25C all through the year.
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