if you had to move to a third world country...

[fozzie 41]

You can live anywhere and have great life if you have money. I am sure living in Tanzania would be great if I lived in an armed compound and had money to buy the conveniences of living I am accustomed to. I also think people don't understand that you can live with much less than you do because when you live in another country the needs are different. In the US so much is placed on things like where you went to college, what you do for a living, what car you drive, where you live etc but these are not as important in other countries. Most would find it a pleasant surprise to live somewhere else for a while.

[fozzie 41]

oops double post

Edited October 4, 2010 by fozzie

[nab 74]

You can live anywhere and have great life if you have money. I am sure living in Tanzania would be great if I lived in an armed compound and had money to buy the conveniences of living I am accustomed to. I also think people don't understand that you can live with much less than you do because when you live in another country the needs are different. In the US so much is placed on things like where you went to college, what you do for a living, what car you drive, where you live etc but these are not as important in other countries. Most would find it a pleasant surprise to live somewhere else for a while.

very true.

also very true many could live without what they consider "necessities" of life. i live very frugally and prefer it so that i can afford the luxuries i want. so many confuse 'needs' with 'wants'.

[fozzie 41]

very true.

also very true many could live without what they consider "necessities" of life. i live very frugally and prefer it so that i can afford the luxuries i want. so many confuse 'needs' with 'wants'.

We want only that which society around us tells us we should want.

[alienlovechild 75]

We want only that which society around us tells us we should want.

That's true up to a point. A lot of Americans could live abroad as they have the money to move and live a comfortable lifestyle abroad but choose not to. I'm not sure why but suspect it has to do with family and friends here or the difficulty of learning a new language.

If you want to dump societal expectations, there are almost 200 other nations to move to but the vast majority of "independent" thinkers will never make a permanent move to another country.

To answer the question posed, I'd end up in the Philippines for the wife but my brain says Chile or Argentina for cost of living, quality of figures and Spanish language although I've never been to either country yet.

[DEDixon 39]

will rent in a few countries in central and south america just for the experience, but will make my way to the area around the Philippines eventually. i don't know which country yet. maybe i will live in other asian countries for however many years then settle in the Philippines later. i can't see how anyone would say the Philippines or any other 3rd world country is beautiful (tons of litter and stinky creeks and rivers aren't beautiful to me). i can tolerate ugly as long as ugly mean cheap living - i don't need much to be happy.

safety really isn't a major concern in the philippines or neighboring countries when using basic common sense.

i want a little house on the beach. i don't care if the beach is rocky or has white sand since i can build a floating deck over it. even if there is a small cliff and then the ocean, i'm okay with that as well. just want to be able to jump in the water or the boat when i like.

[sachinky 464]

We'd move to India in a heartbeat. I grew up there in an affluent household and all my family and friends are still there. Mr. Sachinky (the USC) is quickly picking up Hindi, watches Bollywood movies and loves chicken tikka masala. The economy is also booming. I got offered seven jobs while I was waiting out the visa process earlier this year there. Eventually, we're thinking about moving there, any way, at least for a few years to see how it goes.

[웃 910]

I like Mexico. Beautiful weather, mountains, oceans, beaches...

Never been to Panama but they do offer nice incentives to retirees. You buy a house there and you don't pay taxes for TWENTY YEARS!! Or so I read the other day.

[luckytxn 2,263]

I have been to many countries in my life and have always found all of them nice and thought I could live there but I have it made where I am at and am very comfortable and able to indulge all my hobbies and fun times so I could never make a move.

I do remember being in many Asian countries and thought how nice it would be to live in them but I also remember that if I ever needed medical care that I was out of luck.

[sara..... 371]

we lived in pakistan for four years i loved it but pakistan is not what it used to be so i would pick india (kashmir) is beautiful there and cheap........

sara