American woman (possibly family) needs to relocate out of the USA

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by City of Rain

you want to live in your fridge?

If you lived where I do right now (blasting hot), and you were mainly a cold/cool weather person, you would want to live in your fridge too! Du er meget heldig i Bergen.




MovingSouthGal:

My reasons are mainly social/cultural issues with the US. Perhaps living in South America for a time has 'ruined' me, but I vastly prefer the laid back lifestyle even if it means not making big bucks, having a big house, nice car, and some of the 'things' we have in the US. Of course not all of South America/latin America is 'laid back' like that... but practically none of the US is. Perhaps I'll PM you and share some of the places I've found or have been referred to.

[Conroy25]

How can one teach english without knowing the local language? Go to Puerto Rico! Feels like a different country but you can keep of your US perks. Leave the large cities and crime, congestion, and cost of living drasticly decreases. Flights to and from the mainland are far less than abroud in most cases as well. You will no longer allowed to vote for president or obligated to pay federal taxes; to me, this sounds like pretty much what you want.

[vantexan]

It's the most expensive country in Latin America, but Chile is probably the safest, most corruption free country in Latin America. It's police force is always voted the most respected public institution in annual surveys by Chileans. If you buy property there you can rest assured that a proper title search will be done and everything will be done in accordance with the law. I read last year that Chile is ranked 31st among nations for internet infrastructure, ahead of some European countries. The climate in the middle of the country is a true Mediterranean climate, very mild. Like most of Latin America you can get DirecTV Latin America which has most of the English channels we have. Highways are very much like U.S. highways. And you can get residency but many expats have lived there for many years on tourist cards, running to the border every 90 days. And yes, it's that easy. I say it's the most expensive country in Latin America but $25,000 would be a very comfortable living there. Like most developing countries average citizens don't get paid well. You might land an English teaching job but don't expect more than $500 a month, probably less.

That being said, I prefer the geographic and climate choices of Argentina. Still very easy to move to, easy to stay in. But it does have corruption issues, although I've read from several sources that if you stay out of Buenos Aires it's a lot better. Argentina is the most European country in Latin America, Uruguay next door isn't far behind.

Google Chile forum for a very good forum in English about expat life there.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by Conroy25

How can one teach english without knowing the local language? Go to Puerto Rico! Feels like a different country but you can keep of your US perks. Leave the large cities and crime, congestion, and cost of living drasticly decreases. Flights to and from the mainland are far less than abroud in most cases as well. You will no longer allowed to vote for president or obligated to pay federal taxes; to me, this sounds like pretty much what you want.

It is possible to teach English without knowing the local language. I have done it and my students learned a lot. (There is a way to do it and you just have to have the right training!)

[robertjohnson]

Cuba.