65 sats \ 20 replies \ @nkmg1c_ventures 19 Oct 2023 \ on: Stacker Saloon
Anyone here live/work as a digital nomad / expat? If so what country? Thoughts?
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Escaped? They were going to kick me out due to my unconvincing accent, poor quality moustache and inability to sleep in the afternoon.
Depends why you want to do it… Digital nomad status is a difficult way of life and my advice is find a community of likeminded people overseas doing the same / similar and ask. And you can try it in the US before going overseas - even a different city / part of the US may provide what you are looking for.
Just don’t become one of those white label Amazon shippers hanging around Thailand doing CrossFit, shagging each other and vlogging about how great they are living on $5 a day. They don’t add value to the world they just sell cheap 5hite on behalf of the Chinese. We should aspire to be better than that.
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I am kinda assuming you are in the US to begin with lol. But the poor people crossing the Rio Grande to end up in some cartel sponsored drug farm aren’t really digital nomads.
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I am biased but I would prioritise LATAM. Paraguay residency can cost as little as $5k in a bank and your money goes far there. Uruguay, where I am, is super stable but as expensive as Europe currently to live. Next door is Argentina where you can live like a king on $2k a month. Same as Colombia, which has really got its act together. Some of the warmest people live there, on modest salaries. A great place to do business. Don’t let the stigma fool you. It’s a little thing, but there’s still a huge influence of meat on the culture here.
Many countries in the region offer ‘digital nomad’ visas, but I would try and find a path to a more permanent stay beyond the regular 2 years they offer. If you can. Best thing is to hop around and see what feels right… take a trip and come back to regroup. Don’t try and do everything from a far. Invest a few weeks to get a feel for the place.
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Nice resource. I would say however that only fools pay the ‘expected’ taxes in Colombia. Everyone underreports and has ways of navigating it, for businesses or houses. 95% of the businesses are off the books and informal, unregistered. It’s even better outside the main cities.
An informal economy and people are prepared to ’interpret’ the rules, is what you want. It’s not ideal, but it’s robust and maleable to the politics of government. They’ve had their civil war and are stronger for it. Just like El Salvador, I see a great future for Colombia. Their currency will strengthen/double against the dollar this decade IMHO. They have had a bit of a drag, because of the Venezuelan immigration but hopefully their brothers are through the worst of their troubles now.
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I am not mystic meg either 🤣
I just see their currency has been in an upward wedge for the past 15 years. And despite having Petro in charge who many feared would make COP the next Bolivar… it’s now starting to show signs of strengthening. With all their oil reserves, fertile lands and markets now valuing those resources, 5100/1 may well have been the peak. Pero quién sabe
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No. La verdad está oculta…
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Septic Peg lol
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Buenos Aires was such a colossal PITA when I lived there twenty years ago -- getting basic services for your apartment (e.g., getting internet set up) took an ungodly amount of time -- corruption + bad infrastructure + economic freefall made everything friction-full.
Any idea if it's better now, at least in regard to that stuff?
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No first hand experience with those things, but I don’t believe things have turned around just yet. Sure is a special city though. The Argentinian people deserve their time in the sun again.
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For sure. Remarkable place. I always described it as "Post-apocalyptic New York" and think there's a lot of truth to that. A city where people were trying to make up for economic hardship by teaching Latin and Ancient Greek. Incredible amount of education and culture. I'd move back in a second if family circumstances permitted it.
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I don’t watch rugby anymore, but when I was a kid I remember the way the Argentinian kickers used to make a mound out of sand with their hands, instead of just using a plastic thing for putting the ball on.
It showed a kind humble passion that I still remember. I sometimes think a good dose of hyperinflation could actually do good things here in New Zealand to humble people and get rid of the blind adoration for big government and materialism, especially with regards to housing.
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