Don't buy an SUV, live in South/Central America for 3 years instead. \ stacker news ~alter

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Don't buy an SUV, live in South/Central America for 3 years instead.

2549 sats \ 13 comments \ @expatriotic 28 Jan alter_native

I was listening to the early days of Radical Personal Finance by Joshua Sheats, who just appeared on the Watchman Privacy podcast by Gabrielle Custodiet.

One thing they mentioned that stuck in my mind was that one could live in South or Central America for a year on $7,000 (this is 2013 money, so $14,000 today I guess). And another statement made was that the guest had calculated that they could go to 100 countries on $30,000 ($60,000 in today's money), and most people would exclaim at, "how would you possible get that much money just for traveling, meanwhile driving an SUV instead.

Now my numbers might not line up perfectly in my title, but the gist of it you get.

Now as an international school teacher, I have a bit saved up, and my wife asked me one day, what would we do if we didn't take a post for next year.

So this is a bat signal to all my nomads and South/Central America enjoyers.

Does anyone have any resources for living mid to long-term in South/Central America?

I want to make a guide for my blog, and potentially use the information for myself.

Things I'm looking for: Tips and strategies Information on relative safety (real and current data about various countries) Local forums that could be used to rent a spot for 1-3 months rather than splurging on hotels Information on Visa issues (My wife is Indonesian and I'm a US citizen) Miscellaneous things I need but didn't know to ask.

@rarepassenger, @DarthCoin, @Natalie tagging you since you might be able to tag others or have info yourself.

Additional context. I've been to Mexico for a few weeks in my youth, but other than that, the only place I'm been to on that side of the world is the US.

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63 sats \ 2 replies \ @OT 28 Jan

In my 20's i did a bike tour for a few years in Australia and a large part of Asia on very little money. Its a cool way to travel as it saves you on transport costs and you see everything in between the tourist spots.

This was in the 2000's but I kept a budget of around $10 a day. Avoiding accommodation in Australia by camping made this possible. Food and accommodation in Asia was very cheap at the time.

There are websites that can help if you want to house sit, look after a pet, wolfing, volunteering, meditation courses etc can all be free. The one I used was specifically for bike touring called warm showers

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Myshkin 29 Jan

Wow. I would love to hear more about this experience if possibile!!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 29 Jan

It was a long time ago now. I think it was an amazing experience. Something you do when you're a young adult.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @stack_harder 28 Jan

i think this is a very cool idea. i think the difference with the SUV argument is that, usually when getting a car, you're just getting a loan and paying of money every month for X years, but if you want to go travel, you need to have the full amount, upfront and ready.

still, far more rewarding and cool to go live somewhere for a year than just buy an SUV, imo

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @79c9095526 28 Jan

I'd recommend perusing the content at: https://www.reddit.com/r/ExpatFIRE/

Also I like this youtube channel, he has some videos on top destinations that are relatively inexpensive around the world in both a ranking type format as well as individual city deep dives: https://www.youtube.com/@VagabondAwake

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury 28 Jan

I love this idea.

If you took off with an SUV's worth of money to live this adventure, what would you actually do? What, concretely, would be the adventure?

I ask you because I ask myself that all the time. Adventure is so abstract. The call to it is strong yet ... diffuse. What's at the heart of it?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @expatriotic OP 28 Jan

Great question. My family and I have very few material needs. We love to go to a place, eat the local food, drink the local coffee (or tea as it were) and see a place in that way...

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @purpurato 28 Jan

I can tell you about a couple of countries in south America, DM if you like.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 28 Jan

I would love to live in a jungle lost somewhere in south/central america even that I never been there.

63 sats \ 3 replies \ @Natalia 28 Jan

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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @expatriotic OP 28 Jan

Tried to zap and failed... I have coinos connected... I have 500+ CC and like 9 sats here in SN... I would think it could at the very least send CC, but I'd be okay with it sending the sats from CoinOS... Guess it can't?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @expatriotic OP 28 Jan

YES! I meant @Natalia

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia 28 Jan

Another interesting thing I've learned is that once you live in certain places with seemingly lower costs of living, you are less likely to meet people who actually want to get shit done or even build things, nothing is wrong with that.

I guess the art is finding the balance, which I'm still learning.