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Old 10-10-2019, 12:47 PM
 
Location: San Diego CA
8,435 posts, read 6,820,968 times
Reputation: 16818

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Quote:
Originally Posted by cebuan View Post
Here's another easily overlooked fact. If you are a political activist or otherwise at odds with the authorities, the US is by far the most dangerous country to live in. In the US, they can seize your property and/or throw you in prison on the slightest pretext. Any other country, if you get in trouble, they will just escort you to the airport and hand you back your US passport. Not even counting the fact that the crime rate is lower in nearly every country.

You cannot be serious about that assertion.
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Old 10-10-2019, 12:53 PM
 
Location: equator
11,035 posts, read 6,589,028 times
Reputation: 25523
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton View Post
Congratulations! Your experience is certainly more knowledge-based than my opinion (based on my own limited experience ... and the reports of others who have considered expat living.) However, it seems that success stories like yours are more anecdotal than the 'standard.'

What type of condo do you have and do you own or rent it - and what type of housing costs do you have? - Would it lend itself to 'snowbirding' for part of the year? --- please
Snowbirds are the majority here. Half Canadians and half Americans. We are the only ones who stay year-round, except for 3 months off to Europe. These are 2nd homes for most. Many rent them out to snowbirds.

We own our condo, bought new in 2013. They go for about $100,000...around 1,000 sq. ft. 2 bed, 2 bath.

Electric is about $60. Internet is about $30. Water is about $30 per quarter. HOA is $160.
Property taxes are $45 a YEAR. Healthcare is about $80 for a couple, monthly. Don't need a car, but some more adventurous types do have one.

I don't know about "anecdotal"---lots of successful expats here.

Condos are concrete block, similar to this:

https://www.vrbo.com/840562?adultsCo...ure=2020-04-07
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Old 10-12-2019, 09:02 PM
 
Location: Cebu, Philippines
5,869 posts, read 4,188,372 times
Reputation: 10941
Quote:
Originally Posted by msgsing View Post
You cannot be serious about that assertion.
That's what everyone says, but offer nothing but anecdotal examples, that are so rare, they go viral.
And those have no follow-up to show whether actually went to jail, or just told when they were detained that they "could face" long jail terms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
Remember those tourists who stole sand in Italy??
Back up your statement with an update that the beach sand smugglers are still incarcerated, and what is the term of their sentence. "Airport agents confiscate around 2 tonnes of stolen sand a year, according to local news" If a dozen of these thousands of smugglers spent an hour in lockup. I'll apologize and retract my remark.
https://www.thelocal.it/20190805/ita...ned-to-beaches

Last edited by cebuan; 10-12-2019 at 09:31 PM..
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Old 10-12-2019, 11:15 PM
 
360 posts, read 1,085,410 times
Reputation: 412
I did some traveling to check out a few countries but found in some that I got sick very easily. I tried to be careful, drank bottled water, etc. Ultimately after spending months in Mexico, Colombia, and Georgia I decided that if I were to get my wife to come to those places it would have to be in the more upscale areas of major cities that had amenities comparable to what we have everywhere in the U.S.. Those areas generally cost more so you aren't gaining too much by moving there other than in some the weather is great year round. To have the really cheap retirement involves some compromises. Fine for me, not for her. So we're looking at more affordable areas of the States, like West Virginia. That's fine too, but no early retirement now.
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Old 10-13-2019, 02:24 AM
 
Location: Cebu, Philippines
5,869 posts, read 4,188,372 times
Reputation: 10941
Finding a house can be a problem. There s a serious housing shortage in most third world countries. With growing economies, demand for better housing outpaces new construction, everyone is keen to move up, and rentals change hands quickly by word of mouth. It took us two months to find anyplace at all in Chile, and a month in Paraguay.
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Old 10-13-2019, 07:00 AM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,535,558 times
Reputation: 22633
Quote:
Originally Posted by cebuan View Post
Back up your statement with an update that the beach sand smugglers are still incarcerated, and what is the term of their sentence.
You first, back up your statement that the crime rate is lower in nearly every country compared to USA.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cebuan View Post
That's what everyone says, but offer nothing but anecdotal examples
Anecdotal examples are exactly what prove you're wrong when you claim tourists just get taken to the airport and freed. It's more than jail, if someone is forced to pay a fine they are being punished as well, something else that is beyond just being taken to the airport and freed.
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Old 10-13-2019, 07:21 AM
 
Location: Cebu, Philippines
5,869 posts, read 4,188,372 times
Reputation: 10941
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
You first, back up your statement that the crime rate is lower in nearly every country compared to USA.


Anecdotal examples are exactly what prove you're wrong when you claim tourists just get taken to the airport and freed. It's more than jail, if someone is forced to pay a fine they are being punished as well, something else that is beyond just being taken to the airport and freed.
You tried to give me examples, but every one fell flat on your face -- not a single documented case of jail. You've committed yourself to picking my post to pieces, do I have to respond to every single silly puerile nitpick, one at a time? My post stands on its feet, knock yourself out.

I can't believe I'm even talking to someone who admits to believing that "Anecdotal examples are exactly what prove . . . " ANYthing.

Last edited by cebuan; 10-13-2019 at 07:39 AM..
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Old 10-13-2019, 10:51 AM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,535,558 times
Reputation: 22633
Quote:
Originally Posted by cebuan View Post
You tried to give me examples, but every one fell flat on your face -- not a single documented case of jail.
Really? We'll start with the first two examples I gave.

https://vaping360.com/vape-news/7727...ed-for-vaping/
Cornu was convicted in court on Feb. 11 and paid a fine of 827 Baht (about $26). She was told to report to the immigration office in Phuket and assumed this was to get her passport back. However, upon arriving she was told she would be transferred to Bangkok — more than 500 miles away — for deportation. Cornu says she spent four nights in a dirty prison cell waiting to be deported. According to Cornu, she shared space with 60 other women, and slept on a hard floor with no sheets or blankets — all for a crime that was settled with a $26 fine. The French woman says the entire legal nightmare cost her 8,000 Euros (about $9,100), and more than two weeks of her life.

Author jailed for insulting Thai king - CNN.com
An Australian author was sentenced Monday to three years in prison in Thailand after falling foul of a Thai law that makes it a crime to insult the country's royal family. Harry Nicolaides was arrested last August over a 2005 book called "Verisimilitude," which includes a paragraph about the king and crown prince that the authorities deemed a violation of the Lese Majeste law.

How about picking up a phone?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-47998395
A British backpacker who was arrested and put in prison in Thailand for picking up a mobile phone he found on the floor has returned home for Easter. Chris Dodd, a 29-year-old tattoo artist from Poole, spent 10 days in a Thai prison accused of theft. He said he picked up the phone to try to find its owner and in doing so he moved it to a different location, which is considered theft under Thai law. Mr Dodd was released on bail after family and friends raised £20,000.

Overstaying a visa?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-111-days.html
An Australian woman has been released from a Thai detention centre and deported after overstaying her visa by more than 100 days. Claire Johnson, 46, from the Gold Coast, spent nine days locked up in Thailand after an 18-month working holiday around the world. She was due home nine days ago but instead messaged her close friend Juliet Potter from a detention centre in Bangkok, begging for help. Ms Johnson was eventually released by Thai authorities on Thursday evening and is due to land on a Sydney-bound flight from Bangkok on Friday morning.


Quote:
Originally Posted by cebuan View Post
You've committed yourself to picking my post to pieces, do I have to respond to every single silly puerile nitpick, one at a time? My post stands on its feet, knock yourself out.

I can't believe I'm even talking to someone who admits to believing that "Anecdotal examples are exactly what prove . . . " ANYthing.
To be clear, you made a claim that was purely anecdotal and when examples proving it false were provided your immediate reaction was bah those examples are anecdotal. It's not picking apart a post when one flatly states it's false, which every part of it was. Notice you're not even going to bother with the ridiculous "crime is higher" one, I guess we're done here...
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Old 10-25-2019, 07:11 AM
 
21 posts, read 9,020 times
Reputation: 84
We're planning to bounce around Europe after age 60, settling down again in the U.S. by age 70.

The plan is:
- Sell all real estate
- Get rid of almost all possessions. I've grudgingly realized that we'll need a small climate controlled storage unit to store artwork.
- Rent Air bnbs in the U.K., Sweden, France, Italy, Portugal, etc, moving whenever we hit the 90 day Schengen limit. Or feel like making a change.
- Carry minimal luggage
- Budget = $5k/month

One huge benefit of this plan is that purchasing an international health insurance policy is far less expensive than buying private insurance in the U.S.
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Old 10-25-2019, 07:45 AM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,535,558 times
Reputation: 22633
Quote:
Originally Posted by pipersville_carol View Post
- Rent Air bnbs in the U.K., Sweden, France, Italy, Portugal, etc, moving whenever we hit the 90 day Schengen limit. Or feel like making a change.
We did similar over the summer May - Sept this year, most of it in Portugal but also Poland and Baltics.

A good way to stay longer than Schengen 90 day limit is to remember options like Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, etc. aren't Schengen (yet) don't county towards those 90 days.
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