Expat Technology

by Julie R Butler

Moving abroad to live a simpler life in a foreign culture just ain’t what it used to be. Today, technology keeps us all in touch with each other as well as with news and entertainment to the point that sometimes, it is hard to believe that I am sitting in a house one thousand kilometers west of Buenos Aires in a place where television only arrived a few years ago via satellite and we are lucky if the electricity doesn’t pop offline for a stretch of two weeks in a row.

But here I am, enjoying the results of all those clever engineers who figured out how to bundle information into strings of zeros and ones and make it possible to see events unfolding all over the world, talk to loved ones via video phones like the Jetsons did, carry a musical library around without needing a wall to hold it all, never ever run out of reading material, look at photos old and new that remind me of who I am and where I have been, learn a language with the aid of live communications with a helpful instructor, and so much more.

Here are just a few of the technological aids – present and soon to be – that might motivate those who are reluctant to let go of many pleasures, conveniences, and lifelines in order to make that leap into the great beyond.

Skype

What did we ever do without it? Even though the signal is almost never good enough to support the video where I live, and even though the audio does not always work either, Skype is fantastic – and the price is sure right. It’s difficult for me to understand how the phone companies can stay in business at all. I guess that as long as cell phones remain popular with teenagers and women wandering aimlessly though the grocery store, they will still be around. In the mean time, seeing as I don’t need or desire to be available to the world 24/7 (especially in the grocery store), and so much of my communications are very long distance, I will stick to the Big Sky with the “pe” on the end.

Online Language Learning

Language learning has gone hi-tech, and the possibilities are endless. You can find people to practice another language with via Skype at The Mixxer, find a tutor for private lessons also via Skype at LearnoutLive, or utilize programs such as Verbalplanet.com that utilize other audio formats for an innovative learning experience.

Netflix

It hasn’t happened just yet, but Netflix will be expanding into 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, they say sometime this year. According to their blog, you can access Netflix.com in your choice of English, Spanish, or Portuguese and watch streaming video on your TV or on your computer. This will provide a great service to people who are attached to their shows or to name your genre of cinema.

eBooks

Speaking of books, there are, of course, digitized versions of almost everything ever published, at this point – and you don’t necessarily need yet another separate eReader gadget, unless you want one. Did you know that you can download free versions of the Kindle and Apple eReaders for Windows and Mac – for FREE? There are also online resources such as Project Guttenberg, which has over 36,000 eBooks available for free download in a variety of reading formats. Sites such as Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Sony’s Reader Store, kobobooks.com, and Deisel offer low-cost eBooks and many free promotional books, while the independent eBook publishing site, Smashwords.com, has thousands of titles by new authors.

And More

Of course, there is digital sound technology that is making music in our ears, and having books and magazines read to us by professionals is a surprisingly enhancing way to absorb material that would otherwise be lines of symbols on a screen or a page.

And there are so many more ways that technology can enhance the lives of people by storing information and allowing for communications. One might call it 21st Century Soul Food.

For more ways that digital technology can enhance the expat experience, see:

The Moving Experience: Dealing With Stuff

The Moving Experience: Dealing With Photos

To contact Julie regarding this article, email: julie@expatdailynews.com

Julie R Butler is a traveler, blogger, freelance writer, and editor who has authored several books, self-published as eBooks, including Nine Months In Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). To contact Julie about writing or editing work, email: julierbutler [at] yahoo.com.

See more Expat articles by Julie at

Expat Daily News Latin America.

 

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Fiji: Paradise Lost

By Jamie Douglas

I write this article with a heavy heart, because Fiji has been a large part of my life, my love for the South Pacific Islands and its wonderful peoples with all their age-old traditions and melodic music is strong. You, too, can get a taste of Fiji by checking out Jane Resture’s Pacific Islands Radio.

My history with Fiji goes back to 1956, when I was a wee lad of 9 years. My family was on an extended stay in Australia, where my father was officiating at the Olympic Games. After the games were over my father decided we should visit Fiji. My mother was fundamentally opposed to that excursion by reasons of bugs and tropical diseases, as was my older brother, who never really developed a sense of adventure. He was my mother’s son and I was my father’s. They stayed behind in Melbourne while we set off on my first ever South Pacific adventure.

Preserving Your Memories

By Jamie Douglas

Whether you are a sedentary expat or the roving nomad, almost every new day brings different memories that may be worth preserving. With the advent of digital photography, the cost of preserving all your precious moments has come way down, allowing us to take more and better photos and videos. I have several hundred hours of video shot on Hi-8 tape, all organized and stored away. The fact is that all that video is way too complicated to view, even indexed as it all is, so my choice is the digital still camera.

Being a professional photographer I of course bought me a proper Nikon camera with all the right lenses, from fish eye to telephoto, with a very sharp macro lens to compliment the whole outfit, as well as that $800 computerized flash. It takes fabulous pictures, and lets me control all kinds of settings manually, including focus, which has been the problem with auto-focus cameras in low light or low contrast situations.

There are many excellent cameras available to the amateur these days which render incredible quality pictures. Now after spending thousand on my system, I also still use a 5 mega pixel Kodak, which has a wide range optical zoom lens, and it produces great images as well.

Depending on what you plan on doing with our photos, the amount of megapixels rendered is important only to a certain degree. Unless you plan on making posters out of your images, you rarely need to set your resolution to more than 5 MP, and even that is wasting a lot of memory on your card. When it comes to viewing pictures on your computer, you might be amazed at how good even very low-resolution images look.

Shop for Memory Cards Here

Memory is getting cheaper all the time as well. For example, an 8GB SanDisc memory card can be had for $5.00 so buying yourself a few is really the way to go as opposed to buying one very large memory card, such as the 32 GB card for close to $50. If however you want to shoot everything in the highest possible resolution, go for it. Just be sure to have a lot of empty space on your computer’s hard drive, or better yet, get a little external USB drive.

Shop for External Hard Drives Here

When it comes to getting a high quality digital camera in an affordable price range that offers amazing features and optics, you have to check out the Nikon L-120. $250 will get you an amazing array of features. With 14.1 MP and a 21x zoom that will blow you away, taking you from 25mm extreme wide angle all the way to 525mm telephoto, along with image stabilization and digital high definition video, this is likely to get you the biggest bang for your buck.

Of course, you will want to shop around the web to discover other amazing products in all price ranges. Should you have an interest in a diverse collection of Nikon equipment, used but in pristine condition, contact me for details jamie@expatdailynews.com.

Now assuming you are out there taking all those photos in hi-res or camera raw format (uncompressed raw JPEG images), you will have plenty of space on that 500 GB or 1 TB external drive to keep a couple of years worth of images, even shooting at a good clip. If you start a folder where you want to store some selected images to email to friends, there is a great program that is totally free to download and use. It is called Faststone Photo Resizer, and it is available here. It allows you to take your selected folder and downsize some or all of the images to an extremely emailable (new word) size. This same outfit also offers a great image viewer with almost Photoshop-like qualities, and it is many times better that the MS version built into Internet Explorer. It is available here as another freebie.

I love freeware! There is a lot of it out there. I have been using anti-virus freeware forever and have never once been infected or affected.



Happy snapping!
Jamie Douglas
Happy photo trails from San Rafael, Mendoza
Where that Fine Malbec Wine does not need a memory card!

I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments and new adventures, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com

See more expat articles by Jamie at
Expat Daily News Latin America.
 

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Your Questions for the week of Aug 26, 2011

By Jamie Douglas
Thanks to all of you who have responded to our call for questions about Expat living.
This week I will answer a question from Mark in the USA first:

“I am always wondering, what is the maximum amount you can deposit in a bank like in the D.R., Uruguay, or Chile? Since I do not fly, and will hopefully be going to South America by cruise ship, is it harder to enter the country that way?”

The first part begs the question: Why would you want to deposit large amounts of money into any of these country’s banking systems? While Uruguay seems relatively stable (out of the three), I go by what the citizens of Uruguay do with their money, and that is to not deposit it in a bank. People in Latin America have been screwed out of their money untold times, and therefore find it safer to keep it in US Dollars or Euros, stashed in their homes, which has led to some spectacular robberies. But as a rule of thumb, there is no rule. You can deposit as much as you want, as long as you can prove that the source of the funds is not rooted in a criminal enterprise such as drug trafficking. And you also have to be aware that any amount of money over $10.000 you expatriate must be declared to the US government.
As for traveling by cruise ship, they do occasionally show up down here, on the round the world or round the Americas cruises, many of them stopping off in the larger port cities along the coast, with Montevideo and Rio being very popular destinations. At the moment, entry requirements in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile include paying the reciprocal visa fee of about US $135, and a visa must be obtained for Brazil before you travel, which is available at a Brazilian consulate or embassy. It is not available at the point of entry. No ifs, ands, or buts! All other Latin American nations require only a valid passport, and entry is a very simple procedure, as long as you appear to be a relatively responsible person. So come on down. Summer is coming!
The next item I would like to address is a question that frequently comes to my inbox:
I want to relocate to (somewhere in Latin America) but I cannot leave my beloved pet(s) behind. Is it possible to bring my (fill in the blank)? What are the requirements pertaining to the importation of pets, as well as airline rules and regulations?
This was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make as well, and in the end, because of the logistics involved with our nomadic lifestyle, I ended up having to put my dog up for adoption. If you are considering traveling with a small pet in a carrier, some airlines will allow you to have your companion in the cabin with you, normally for a fee, or larger animals will fly in the belly of the plane, in a heated pressurized compartment. (Check with the airline about specifics.)
Prior to your trip, about 2 weeks before, take your 4 legged friend(s) to a veterinarian who is authorized to issue the international travel documents required and have a thorough exam performed, as well as getting all the shots.
For more details, see: Transporting Your Pet Abroad
Until next week, please keep the questions coming. Remember that your question will also provide answers to many others out there.
Click here and ask your question.
Jamie Douglas
San Rafael, Mendoza
Where we don’t trust the banks to keep our fine Malbec Wine!
Disclaimer: The responses we give to answers are to the best of our knowledge and belief correct and up to date at the time of writing.
Responses are posted with the understanding that Expat Daily News is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
ExpatDailyNews has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. If you deal with any company or service as a result of seeing a banner, reading an article or clicking on a link located on our website, then you do so of your own choice and by way of your own volition.
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Upcoming Expat Opportunities in Libya

By Jamie Douglas

The situation in Libya has not yet been stabilized, and there is still a lot of fighting and unrest going on in that troubled North African nation. But the final downfall of al-Ghadaffi’s regime is now almost certain. His compound has been sacked and looted, and the Clown Prince of Africa is on the run. Just today, Wednesday Aug. 24^th, the rebel forces have announced a £1 million reward (US $1.640.000) for his capture, dead or alive. So this situation is about to come to a happy ending for the underdogs and one not so happy for the al-Ghadaffi family and their fellow terrorists.

More good news is that the United Nations is getting ready to release $1.5 billion to the victors for humanitarian aid and to help with reconstruction. This is where the expat community will come in. The country will need a lot of help to restore the oil industry at a time when the highly desirable Libyan sweet crude output is crippled to a mere 3% of its potential. It will also be a brilliant opportunity to upgrade many aging facilities with more modern equipment, again providing high paying jobs for the foreign workforce that will have to be hired to supplement local efforts.

Construction projects will also be in very high demand in many areas of the country that suffered heavy damage during the fighting, and they may yet suffer more damage to the infrastructure if the Scud missiles are let loose in final desperation. There are many overdue upgrades to the water, sewer, and electrical infrastructures that may be undertaken simultaneously. Traditionally, expats working in Libya have lived in secure communities, where they lacked nothing. Generally, the families accompanied the workers during their contracted stay, and schools for expat children were always of high standards. The consumable goods in stores were imported duty free and fuel was so inexpensive as to not even rank in the household expenses.

If you are looking for one of the higher paying jobs in the oil industry, your assignment will most likely be a few hundred miles south of the capital, in the Sahara Desert. This destination, while offering higher paying jobs, is not really suitable for bringing your dependents with you, as winters tend to be bitter cold and summer is exactly the opposite. I am certain that the new leaders of the nation will put the most effort into the rebuilding and modernization of this energy sector, as it is really the only viable source of foreign income for the near future.

What is needed right now is a comprehensive 5 year plan, which will address the needs of all sectors of the country, from housing to highways, security, rebuilding port structures and the pipelines to the ports, as well as upgrading the general quality of life of the citizens of Libya to assure them that the era of repression is gone forever, freedom is here. The European Union will be a most grateful customer for all the petroleum products emanating from the desert state.

Please note: The spelling of the despot’s name has many correct ways. Mine may not necessarily be the most correct one. Thank you for your understanding.

Jamie Douglas
San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine tastes good today!

(image: Libya location map: oil and gas, via Petroleum Economist)

I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments and new adventures, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com

See more expat articles by Jamie at

Expat Daily News Latin America.

We would love to hear your comments on this article email us at editor@expatdailynews.com

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The Nomadic Expat Visits the Isle of Man

By Jamie Douglas

For North American Anglophiles, the British Isles are a place where they can really feel at home. There is a connection based on a mutual language and heritage which is not found anywhere in Europe. And there is another great advantage for those who choose to spend time in the region of England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, The Isle of Man, and Wales: None of them are signatories to the Schengen agreement, which effectively limits one’s stay to 90 days in any 180 day period. So it is relatively easy to stay for six months in any of one these countries and then go to another for a visit, and return again for another six months or go on to the continent for a few weeks.

The Isle of Mann is located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland, and while not very large, it has a lot to offer for a short visit. Accessible by air or sea from both of these neighboring island nations, it boasts a climate with mild summers and winters, as it too has its temperature regulated by the great Gulf Stream, which carries warm water all the way from the Gulf of Mexico to Scandinavia, keeping harbors ice free year round.

Expats and Recession

It was not that many years ago that Dot and Bert from Wigan, and others like them, managed to achieve their life-long dreams of opening a bar or a small business in the Spanish Costas and the Portuguese Algarve. They, and many like them, discovered that a pound went a long way in the countries where the peseta and the escudo were king. It was also a time when the equity locked in many British homes was substantial, and could be released to fund a new lifestyle and a new home in the sun.

As well as the silver entrepreneurs, thousands of British pensioners, many nowhere near the UK state pension age, realised that they too could have a healthier and more comfortable life in the sun, either as ‘winter birds’ enjoying the delights of an all inclusive hotel in Benidorm during the winter months, at a much lower cost than surviving the UK winter, or making a full time commitment with a new life in the country of their choice. Low fuel and food costs and comfortable pensions meant a huge improvement in the quality of life for many.

How things have changed. Even though the UK Government, exporters and economists welcome the weakening of sterling to correct the UK’s trade imbalances, it is not good news for expat pensioners, who have fixed incomes.

Many British expat pensioners are now facing real reductions in the purchasing power of their UK state pensions, with some analysts citing that their average monthly pension income has dropped by over €250 since the start of the global recession, with British pensioners living overseas having lost out on over €13 billion of their income since the global recession began.

However, the global economic downturn has meant belt tightening for everyone and most expat pensioners are far better off than many Canary Islanders. I know a number of people whose monthly income is less that 600 euros, with many surviving on around 400 euros, which is the subsistence level provided by the Spanish state to those who are entitled to seek help.

I saw an Italian woman on television the other evening complaining, in response to the Italian Government’s latest austerity measures, that an income of 1000 euros each month is insufficient to live on. I know many Canary islanders who would be very grateful to receive anywhere near that amount.

I know times are hard for most people, but a recent Canary Islands’ Government survey of more than 500,000 homes surprised and shocked me. The survey shows that around 95,000 households in the Canary Islands survive on an income of less than €350 each month. About 16,000 households survive on much less: just €180 each month.

Complaints about reduced spending power and reductions in the standards of living that we are used to are certainly justified, but it seems that many expats are still in a better position than many locals living here.

About the author:

Barrie Mahoney was a teacher, head teacher and school inspector in the UK, as well as a reporter in Spain, before moving to the Canary Islands as a newspaper editor. He is still enjoying life in the sun as a writer and author.

If you enjoyed this article, take a look at Barrie’s websites: www.barriemahoney.com and www.thecanaryislander.com or read his latest book, ‘Letters from the Atlantic’ (ISBN: 978 184 386 6459).

The Roller Coaster Ride Accelerates

 By Jamie Douglas

If you are a US Dollar fueled expat, like many of us, surely the last couple of weeks have been stressful on your kitty. All of the insane fluctuations in the stock market; fueled by rumors of everything from A-Z; up 400 points; next day down 600 points; back up 400; down up down up; all on the flimsiest of excuses... Every night I look forward to the opening of the financial centers in Asia and Australia/New Zealand (available on http://www.stockmarketspore.blogspot.com/). You can always see how the day will go, depending on whether Hong Kong moves up or down. While it is 8 pm on a Sunday night in New York City, the Dow Jones futures are already down 197 points. Hong Kong is not even open yet. Or as the financial talking heads will have you believe, “It is still a bull market, it’s just an adjustment.”

Right! One adjustment follows another. From bargain hunters to profit takers; the market shifts from having hiccups to hemorrhoids, with all those high paid analysts having an explanation for everything that will or will not happen. And after they were proven wrong time and time again, they still spout their bull, and have an attentive audience to boot.

Time has proven that there is no rhyme or reason to what the market may do, because it is not really market driven. It is driven by a group of very corrupt elite bankers and brokers who are “too big to fail.” Today, you will probably hear that some of the largest of these parasites on society have been given altogether 1.2 trillion dollars in secret loans from the Federal Reserve between September 29^th 2008 and February 26^th 2009.

They are listed here in order of amounts received: Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, State Street Corp., Union Bank of Switzerland AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase Group & Co, and Deutsch Bank AG. Would anyone be surprised to find out that any of these financial institutions used these funds to pay bonuses to their executives? Not I!

What is truly abhorrent is that this all took place during the worst financial crisis in the modern day USA, and that it was supported and subsequently obfuscated by the Federal Reserve Bank. Is the Fed operated as a secret bank within a shadow government?

With that money, the US Government could have saved the mortgages of all the deceived citizens who were led into the “liar’s mortgages” that were being peddled out there by criminals like Angelo “The Tangerine” Mozillo of Countrywide Fraud Company along with all the others who solicited mortgages of that type then bundled and sold them as secured debt obligations, derivatives, and other cleverly disguised financial “products” that were invented for one reason only: quasi-legal enrichment of a few, while bankrupting not just the USA, but a substantial portion of the world, as Lehman Brothers was selling these defective financial instruments to municipalities, pension funds, investors, and anyone else they could bamboozle with their commission driven sales skills throughout the globe.

Meanwhile, the housing crisis has gotten worse, if anything. As of right now, 4.38 million properties in the US are more than 30 days past due on their payments, most of them not likely to catch up soon, probably many of them will be added to the 2.16 million homes that are in foreclosure, representing 1.27 trillion dollars in unpaid principal.

So you see, we are right back to where this rant began, at the 1.2 trillion dollars that went to the financial institutions. Now that is corporate socialism, which apparently is OK, because those corporations are job creators (for Senators, Congresspersons, and Lobbyists and their kin). But if the government would have stepped up in 2008 and provided help for those who were inexperienced enough to sign for those toxic mortgages, the whole financial meltdown might have been eased to the point of where we would not be staring a second recession square in the face. (I personally think we never came out of the recession/depression. See unemployment numbers.)

This coming week promises to be even more eventful. Gold will go over $2000 before that bubble bursts, and silver will exceed $50. But it is far too late to get in on either of those. The Swiss are struggling mightily to control the rise of the Swiss Franc as they are being priced out of the international marketplace by the falling US Dollar. Every day - brings new lies and denials from all levels of governments in both the US and Europe. Just a couple of weeks ago, Germany and France were still considered healthy Euro-Zone economies. That is because they were hiding and shuffling figures to put off the inevitable. Look at them now.

Globalization means that no one is an island; we are all too interconnected. So hold on to your hats, folks – it’s going to be a hell of a ride.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where I better stock up on some of that Fine Malbec Wine!

(image via Wikipedia)

I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments and new adventures, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com

See more expat articles by Jamie at
Expat Daily News Latin America.
 

We would love to hear your comments on this article email us at editor@expatdailynews.com

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Q&A: In Greece, Got Fleeced - Where To Next?

By Jamie Douglas

Thanks to all of you who have responded to our call for questions about Expat living.

Dear Readers,

As the world economy is contracting ever more, retired expats everywhere are being squeezed. The cost of living is constantly rising, with several countries suffering debilitating financial crises, and those of us counting on US Social Security as part of our income are being affected by the continuing devaluation of the US Dollar. Already, the US has decided not to give us a cost of living allowance for 2012, making this the third year running that seniors are forced to make do with less buying power. What makes this a double whammy for many is that as we get older, our medical maintenance costs have been going up at an alarming rate, with those who are insured having seen their co-pay go up, and many of those who are not covered having to make hard choices between basic essentials and medical necessities. In this context, I received an emailed question from a reader in Greece:

I retired a little over 10 years ago, with what I thought were sound investments, some income producing real estate in Florida as well as what I thought were decent savings. I first lived in Florence, Italy for a couple of years, but wanted something with a little slower pace of live than the noisy frenzy that is Italy. I took out a second mortgage on my Florida properties in 2006 and purchased a little land with a house on Mykonos in Greece. All was well until I lost all my investments to a massive fraud, and I had to dip into my savings to make my mortgage payments. By the time the housing bubble burst, I was ready to sell my property in the US, to continue to live here in Mykonos. My timing could not have been worse. By 2009 the value of my holdings was 55% of what I owed, and I had no choice but to turn it over to the Bank. I now would like to sell my land here, where the economic crisis has hit hard, and move on to someplace where I could possibly “exist” on my social security payments of $ 1220 per month. I know that I will not be able to stay here in Greece any longer, as everything has gone up this summer. Do you have any places in mind, where I could go, just bringing a couple of suitcases and my Social Security?

Welcome to the Machine! Your situation is by no means unique, and that is why I picked it for this week’s Q&A segment.

First off, I would try to hold on to your property in Mykonos, and providing you have some trusted acquaintances there, rent it out seasonally so as to supplement your income with that. The amount of Social Security you are receiving is a decent sum, and by living frugally, but not too frugally, you should be OK. I understand that you have some reservations about Firenze, which would likely be replicated in any other Italian city, but being as you have gotten used to the slow pace of living on Mykonos, perhaps another look at some rural areas of Southern Italy or even Sicily might be worthwhile, and this time, instead of buying property, rent! I assume you learned some Italian language skills while living in Firenze, and I think you could find something reasonable down on the bottom of the boot. Until you get established, you may just rent a room in a local family’s home, something still very common there, and many times with meals, Chianti and laundry included at a very reasonable price. If it is too noisy, put some cotton in your ears at night, as quite possibly some tradeoff will have to be made, unless you get lucky enough to find accommodations on a farm. That is what I would call the best case scenario. If you have the financial means necessary, may I suggest a trip across the Ionian Sea to go check it out, now that summer is coming to an end? You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find, and I along with our readers would be grateful if you would share the results with us down the road.

Jamie Douglas
San Rafael, Mendoza

Where fortunately the Fine Malbec Wine does not taste one bit like Ouzo!

Keep submitting your questions, and we will do our best to help you find solutions.

Click here and ask your question.

Disclaimer: The responses we give to answers are to the best of our knowledge and belief correct and up to date at the time of writing.

Responses are posted with the understanding that Expat Daily News is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

ExpatDailyNews has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. If you deal with any company or service as a result of seeing a banner, reading an article or clicking on a link located on our website, then you do so of your own choice and by way of your own volition.

We would love to hear your comments on this article email us at editor@expatdailynews.com

If you liked this article and want to receive an email when new content is posted, simply enter your email address below. You will be asked to confirm your subscription before we send you any notifications. You can opt out of receiving emails from us at any time.

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Reality Check

By Jamie Douglas

Being a nomadic expat is a wonderful way to travel; constantly changing scenery, encountering new friends, discovering new places and taking on new adventures. All of that of course, does not come without its inherent risks and dangers. No place in the world is safe from crime and dangers. While it is very important to take precautions while traveling, it is equally important not to be overwhelmed by paranoia.

The paranoid traveler is likely to be a tourist. Constantly guarding yourself from any possible mishap will keep you from doing many things that would otherwise create memories that will last you a lifetime. Recently here in Argentina we had a very brutal crime which destroyed two young lives. It turns out that the victims were assaulted on a hiking trail in a park, and one of the assailants was a guide. There is really no way to protect yourself from such a crime that obviously had been planned with you as the victim in mind.

Being a nomad must involve being open minded and adventurous, taking calculated risks at times, such as going parasailing on a Mexican beach or eating ceviche in an open air market stall in Lima, Peru. You are aware that it is not the safest thing to do, but it is all part of the adventure. It is important, as most of you probably know, that when you hike you should have on the proper attire and leave your expensive looking attachments in your hotel. The same goes for when you are exploring cities anywhere in the world. No matter where you go, evil has beat you there, and being a traveler makes you a particularly easy target because most criminal minds know that should they get caught, they will in all likelihood never be prosecuted, because you will have moved on by the time their trial will finally come around.

Crime is a fact of life. Chances are that if you are from a big city anywhere in the world, you or someone you know has been a victim thereof, and the chances of you getting victimized while you are traveling will not increase while you are on the road, if you follow some common sense advice.

Having lived almost my entire life in resort areas that attract masses of tourists, I long ago came to the conclusion that there must be lockers at the major departure points for tourists, where they can check their brains along with all their common sense for the duration of their holiday. Suddenly it’s OK for them to do the stupidest things imaginable, such as standing on mossy bridge railings to have that special honeymoon picture taken (Oops); hanging out on a completely deserted stretch of beach and falling asleep in the sun (Ouch); forgetting that drunk driving affects you just as much when you are on vacation as when you are at home (Yikes); trying some new and exciting drug being sold by the guy on the beach (Whoa).

Use common sense wherever you go, don’t get isolated late in the day, and always let someone know where you are going, which of course is not always the easiest thing to do. And by all means, if you get into a situation where you are being robbed, don’t try to be a hero. You should not be carrying all your credit cards and money on you everywhere you go. Leave your valuable documents, such as passports, tickets, etc locked away, preferably in your hotel safe (you can always carry a photocopy of the front page of your passport and the page with your entry stamp into the country you are in). In some situations, you might want to carry a couple of freezer zip locks with you and put your stuff in there, and then find a place to bury it temporarily. That has worked for me several times. Generally speaking, you should assume that the housekeepers will try to help themselves to anything possible.

So, when passing that storage locker at the departure lounge, where you could check in your common sense, pass it by. You will need all your wits while traveling, and not just for your personal safety, but to enjoy yourself.

Those two unfortunate victims in Argentina had no chance against the unspeakable evil they were up against. This crime has been a big story in the news here in Argentina, as it is shocking to Argentine sensibilities and offensive to the Argentine national pride, even though being wary of crime is an everyday reality for everyone in this country. But the French visitors were victims of a targeted attack by a group of psychopaths who took advantage of a crime of opportunityk advantage of of he news here in Argentina, as it is shocking to Argentine sensibilities and upsettingn be ov, and there is just nothing you can do about a situation like that, except stay at home.

Jamie Douglas
San Rafael, Mendoza
Please don’t steal my fine Malbec Wine!

I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments and new adventures, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com

See more expat articles by Jamie at
Expat Daily News Latin America.

 

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New Caledonia Calling

By Jamie Douglas

Of all the places in the world that I have had the privilege of visiting, one always stands out. When I am asked what my favorite place is, New Caledonia is the inevitable answer. Ever since my first visit there about 30 year ago, I have taken advantage of every opportunity to return.

For the most part, it is not a very easy place to get to, and back when I was spending time in the South Pacific, there were few direct air services, with the island nation’s flag carrier, Air Calédonie International, flying a small fleet of used but well maintained Caravelle jets serving a few South Pacific destinations with French flair and style.

My first visit to New Caledonia started rather by accident while I was in Fiji, at the Nadi Airport waiting for a rental car. There was a poster calling me to New Caledonia in the window of a travel agency that showed the marvelous scenery there. I had to go! When I went in to inquire about fares, I was astonished to find out that I could go to New Caledonia for about US$150 round trip, but the best part was that it was a weekly flight that left Nadi on a counter clockwise voyage, heading first to Wallis and Futuna, where I could spend a week, then on to Port Vila in Vanuatu, to spend another week, and then finally on to the New Caledonian capital of Noumea, where as a Swiss citizen I would be able to stay as long as I liked. (Ah, I miss the good old days!)

Nomadic Retirement: Ireland



Scenery near Powerscourt Waterfall, Ireland

By Jamie Douglas

After decades of civil strife on the Emerald Isle, we are currently enjoying a stretch of relative peace. In spite of a couple of recent incidents during the “marching season,” which just seems to be maintained for the purpose of creating friction, I wholly recommend a visit to Ireland. Entry requirements are simple, and your passport must be valid for 90 days beyond your expected stay in the Irish Republic, with 90 days granted on entry. For Northern Ireland and the UK, you get a 180 days that is also valid for Scotland, so for those of you just wanting to travel the British Isles for the next few years, that is highly possible!

see also Nomadic Retirement: British Isles

Ireland of course has been divided in two since 1921, with the Republic of Ireland occupying about 84% of the island, while Northern Ireland, still part of the UK, occupies the remaining 16%. The Republic of Ireland has been a member of the European Union since 1973, but its pursuit of a couple of different disastrous economic policies lead to its first economic collapse in the late 1970s. To facilitate the recovery of the nation’s finances, starting in 1989, many neo-liberal economic policies were instituted which included massive tax cuts, welfare reforms, and wisely, a ban on borrowing to pay for current expenses. Things moved along smoothly for a while, until property prices went through the roof and Lehman Brothers got their filthy fingers into the pot along with land speculators so that average Irish citizen were paying a small fortune to acquire properties, and then of course the bubble burst, making Ireland one of the PIIGS. (Portugal, Ireland, Italy Greece and Spain also known as the PIIGS that can’t fly.)

Nomadic Retirement: Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland

By Jamie Douglas

After a little pause from the subject, it is time to move on to my next suggested summer destination, this one being outside of the Schengen zone: Scotland.

This relatively large but under populated, by European standards, nation has some very fascinating geographical features, one of which it shares with the UK, that is, the only land border with another country is the one between the two, while both are otherwise completely surrounded by various bodies of water. Scotland is dispersed between the Northern Isles, the Hebrides, and all told, 790 different islands, with a mere 5,300,000 inhabitants.

The long history of Scotland includes several glacial periods, meaning that after every such episode, early humans had to start all over again when they migrated to the far northern reaches of Britannia to be. The exact origins of the early inhabitants are shrouded in mystery, but let there be no doubt that they had to be a very hardy bunch, considering the climate they were willing to settle in. Perhaps Scotch Whiskey came about as the result of those very long, cold, and windy winters.

Q&A for the week of August 12, 2011



Jamie Douglas - The Expat Answer Man

By Jamie Douglas

Thanks to all of you who have responded to our call for questions about Expat living.

This week I will address several shorter inquiries that came to me over the last few weeks.

The first one is from Marcia:

Q: We have to decide between Mexico (near Guadalajara) or Ecuador near Quito for retirement. Where do you think we could expect the best health care?

A: Facilities in more affluent communities will be of better quality than elsewhere in both countries. Mexico City has some world class facilities. Overall, though, I would say Ecuador comes out slightly ahead. 

Next up, Ernie:

Q: How would an atheist / secular humanist like myself be viewed in heavily religious Latin American countries? I'm Mexican/American and my Spanish is pretty good and I'm fairly familiar with most Latin cultures and so I can fit in somewhat except for the religion part. As a non-religious single person what are my chances of finding a wife? Should I instead focus on secular Europe as a destination?

A: Ernie, Latin America is truly different than the USA. People here don’t wear their religion on their sleeves, nor do people come knocking on your door to convert you, except Evangelicals and Mormons from the USA. As far as a wife goes, if you hang out with the right people, you will find her. Learn to accept and tolerate.

[Julie adds: There is always Uruguay, which is a very secular nation, and many other South American’s are very weary of the collusion of church and state.]

Next, from Dale:

Q: Against what may be better sense from other people, I have fallen in love with Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. I've visited numerous times (up to 2 weeks) and am planning a trip for 3 to 6 months to rent there, better my Brazilian Portuguese and immerse myself in the culture. I have two questions: One - I'm a Black American and have found the indigenous Black culture to be welcoming and warm. However, I've been treated with racist disregard by many whites there until I open my mouth and hear my accent. Any thoughts on handling this if I retire there? Two - the economy seems strong (relatively) but I also know that many Black people have a very low income even though they have advanced degrees. I am thinking of continuing working, at least part time. I'm a writer as well and I don't have a huge amount of savings for retirement. Any thoughts on whether retirement there (for my situation) would be a good idea?

A: Dale, I love Brazil, and being a man of color will be an asset to you, particularly in the region you are looking at. As in the USA, there are still some Whites who look down on the large majority of people that are of Non-White stock. The economy is very strong, but may hit the same brick wall, if this crisis continues to spread. What makes Brazil’s economic engine hum is EXPORTS! But I say go for it!

[Julie’s advice: You might want to check out the blog, Fly Brother, by a Black American Male who is currently living in Brazil and is not afraid to attack racial matters.]

And lastly we go to Bruce who is already in Argentina:

Q: Hi Jamie, I’ve recently arrived in Argentina and staying with a friend in La Cumbre. I would like to retire but sadly I have to find some form of employment. Have you any experience with this?

A: Hi Bruce, join the very large club of expats that are finding it more and more difficult to make do with our meager pensions and social security. Inflation here is at about 25% now. Creativeness is about the only way people supplement their income. I have no idea what your skill set is, but while reviewing your knowledge base, perhaps you can come up with something you may have to offer. After all, you speak English, which is a good start.

Then I received a comment on my article about fitting in that I would like to share with my readers:

Actually, your article hit it squarely on the head. Ugly American Syndrome is what we called it when I worked in Kuwait post war (90's). So, why doesn't everyone practice the Traveler's Golden Rule? Since then my work related travel has taken me to Japan, Okinawa, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, U.A.E., India, Oman, Korea, Germany, and a few other places I'd have to look up in my passport. In only one instance did I have trouble with locals and that was in Haiti with an arrogant Frenchman who obviously hated everyone non-French. When traveling abroad, treat everyone as you would want to be treated yourself, and try to learn the language, Doors open with smiles many times when you are polite and obviously trying to fit in. And, don't "Wave the Flag" as our idiotic State Department seemingly demands you do. Low key, casual dress and an unhurried demeanor will blend you in quite well. After all, you’re there to explore and enjoy, right?

Very well put and thank you.

Until next Friday, I remain in San Rafael Mendoza, drinking your fair share of the Fine Malbec Wine!

Jamie Douglas

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Responses are posted with the understanding that Expat Daily News is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

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The Wild and Whacky World of Air Travel Today

By Jamie Douglas

Taking a trip soon? Welcome to the amazing deceptive world of fares available to you, or better said, not available to you. With the disappearance of travel agents in the USA, most people now have very few choices when making their own arrangements to fly to their chosen destination.

There are a few online services such as Priceline and Expedia where you can select from a variety of airlines and fares. Say you want to go from Los Angeles to New York and back. You go online and select your date and destination, but it will only give you one-way fares, in this instance ranging from $ 278 to $605, without any of the surcharges listed. I chose Jet Blue from LAX to JFK and back to LAX. After going through all the steps and adding fares for both directions, I was finally able to select a seat way in back in the middle section, and my total round-trip fare came out to a mere $ 299.40, on priceline.com. I then contacted aa.com, American Airlines. I selected the same dates and times and came up with a fare that was slightly more than three times as much, $916.40.

Continuing Fallout from the Japanese Mega Disaster

By Jamie Douglas

Those wonderful readers of mine who have been following my ramblings on this forum, may remember my article called Japan: Level 7. It was written within a few days of the devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake with the disastrous Tsunami that followed – catastrophes that took the lives of over 24,000 people.

see also: Evolution and Globalization of a Disaster 

As most of you will probably remember, after the initial double whammy, the power to the nuclear reactor’s cooling system was knocked out, wreaking all kinds of havoc, starting 26 hours into the calamity when a huge hydrogen explosion rocked plant #1 at the massive Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear complex, home to five antiquated facilities.

Blogging as Expat Therapy

by Julie R Butler

I am a firm believer in the Power of the Blog. Especially for expats, it can be a great aid in coping with separation, loneliness, and being in a foreign culture. I wrote about this topic back in January, and since then, I have discovered many more blogs by expats all over the world and even more reasons why expat blogging is one of the best therapies out there.

It usually begins as a way of staying connected with friends and family back home. This instant audience acts as the motivation to keep the blog going. Photos and descriptions provides context that helps friends and loved ones better understand what your experience is like, and the line of connection remains, despite how much you may feel changed by your new life abroad.

More than this, you can open up a dialogue. Often, on the great blogs that I check in on from time to time (there are way too many to follow faithfully), I find interesting discussions that address certain cultural difference that are at the root of misunderstandings, but the dialogue works to correct these. Concepts that are taken to be superior at home are challenged. Eyes are opened to new understandings, and ideas are exchanged.

A Spicy Opportunity in Grenada



By Jamie Douglas

Not too many people are familiar with the Grenadines, a group of islands located north of Venezuela about 12° North and 61°30” to 45” West. They are still members of the British Commonwealth, but are typically laid back, like most of the smaller islands found in the Caribbean. If there is no reason to do it today, then it can be put off for a while.

The political environment of Grenada is relatively stable, having only been invaded once by the mighty USA for building an airport that would allow direct air service to Europe and the USA/Canada markets. Unfortunately, they enlisted the aid of the Cubans to build it, which quickly brought down an invasion by United States forces, led by General Norman Schwarzkopf, resulting in a substantial loss of lives on all sides, including quite a few civilians.

But that was Ronald Reagan’s doing. Over the objections of the UK, Canada, and almost the entire rest of the world, he had the little island nation bombed, strafed, and invaded by Marines and Army Rangers. After a wee bit of regime change and nation building (That part was necessary, as those in power were violent criminals.), the United States graciously completed the airport, which was the original item of contention, returning things to what passes for normal here, more or less, until a rare Category 3 hurricane hit in 2004. Hurricane Ivan hit the island on September 7^th and wreaked major havoc, destroying or seriously damaging over 90% of all buildings.

Q&A: Costa Rica, Ecuador, or...?



By Jamie Douglas

Every now and then, I get something in my inbox that just begs to be made available to a wider audience. I just got back from visiting my lovely Dentista, Barbara, who had the unpleasant task of pulling one of my molars. As the anesthetic is wearing off, I decided to check my email before going prone. As Friday is my Answer Man day, I had to look at what drifted in, and right on top was the following question from Jeff in the good ol’ USA, another good soul that has become a victim to the financial catastrophe that is unfolding like an origami swan in the wind.

Dear Jamie,

My name is Jeff. I very much enjoyed and appreciated your comparison between Costa Rica vs. Ecuador .

The date showing at the top of the web page that showed the date of posting was Mar 11 but had no year. My question is: Do you think the economic or other retirement considerations have changed since you wrote article?

My wife and I are residing in the U.S. and definitely do not have the retirement or Social Security income to retire here. We are looking for a viable alternative and so far Ecuador looks to be the most affordable. The language barrier is a bit troubling though.

We probably would be interested in renting for a bit until we were sure we liked the choice and then would likely buy a condo. We would then have to live off our social security of about $1200 month with any deficits being made up out of savings. That is why affordability is so important to us. The housing market here is so upside-down that we are not even sure we would make a profit off the sale of our house.

Anyway, any comments or suggestions about Ecuador vs. Costa Rica would be appreciated or if you have run into any other locations that you think would make good retirement areas please let us know.

Once again, thank you for your research. We will try to put it to good use.

Thank you,

Jeff

Dear Jeff and all others similarly situated,

First off, the article in question was published this year, 2011.

Now as a secondary thought, the Dow and all other rigged indicators went down by more than 4% today, on fears that the world is entering another recession. I have news for all those Wall Street Oracles: We never left the last recession! There was no recovery. Printing worthless money does not eliminate the crisis; it just put the US into even more debt. As long as the fake unemployment statistics are hovering at close to 10%, but the real number of all the unemployed and underemployed is more like 23%, any talk of a recovery is – how did they put it when Bush lied to take the country to war, bankrupting it with the combination of war plus tax cuts? – I think the word they used was “disingenuous!” I will stick to the tried and true “Bullshit!”

Now to end my rant, I will try to give you some useful advice: Since writing that column last March, things have changed a bit. First off, I have heard from many in Costa Rica, particularly several long time friends, that the cost of living has gone way up. Couple that with the corruption and all the drug-fueled crime in the Central Valley and the beach resort areas, along with some high-profile investment scams, and I am afraid I have serious doubts about retirement in Costa Rica at this time. I will be checking my inbox frequently for dissenting voices, which are sure to come.

Ecuador, formerly one of the most unstable regions, politically and financially, has replaced their currency with the US Dollar. Perhaps not the best move. And President Rafael Correa’s economic policies are shifting ever more to the side of neo cons, while his politics have taken on a most Venezuelan Bolivarian direction. He is goose-stepping in the boot prints of an ailing Hugo Chávez. He is following him so closely that he too had the National Assembly rewrite the constitution to allow him to stay in office indefinitely. Meanwhile the really poor native population is getting even more desperately poor, because as the US Dollar falls, so does the Ecuadorian economy. Inflation is up, along with the cost of living. And buying a condo is actually a worse option than buying a house, as the maintenance costs are constantly going up with inflation. So I am not so sure about Ecuador, either.

Now what? Well there is Argentina, where the Peso is losing even more ground than the Dollar, with Argentineans clamoring to buy US Dollars. It allows me to live here in the countryside, in spite of inflation and currency devaluation, with an occasional contribution from my readers, living the lower standard of life I have become accustomed to, but still being able to buy my groceries, medicines, an occasional tank of gas, and my Malbec jug wine. And there are other regions in Argentina that lend themselves quite nicely to expatriate retirement, depending on what you might be looking for. Just think of learning Spanish as one of those brain exercises that they are always advertising on the internet.

I still don’t quite understand the obsession people in the US have with buying houses and properties wherever they go. To me it is like tying an anchor around your neck, and for good measure a couple around your ankles, and then finding a real deep body of water of your choice. By renting, you avoid being stuck when the revolution goes down, you will not have to fix up the house after that earthquake, or do all the routine maintenance that goes with ownership. Take it easy and enjoy life by paying rent every month, and when you have to or want to leave, pack it up and go. It’s true freedom.

For an excellent discussion of this issue, with many links to further articles, see:

http://studenomics.com/real-estate/buying-a-home-vs-renting-a-home/

 

All right, so by now, the curious reader will probably be asking where that one special place might be. May I humbly suggest a not heard of place called Cochabamba in Bolivia? It is a very lovely cosmopolitan city that is 17.4° south and 66.2° west, lies at an altitude of 2550 meters, (to gringos, that’s about 8500 feet) and has an eternal spring-like climate. The city has a great history, which is apparent in the architecture. May I suggest a visit to the Wikipedia site about Cochabamba? It is packed with mouth-watering information about this city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochabamba

Now some of you may worry about President Evo Morales, who is an avowed socialist. He is actually more bearable that most other Latin leaders with the exception of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil and as well as the President of Uruguay, José Mujica. The kind of socialism they practice is the kind that gives every student one of those hundred dollar wireless enabled laptops, takes care of its citizens by providing decent medical care, good education (although Brazil still has a ways to go) and food on the table, and I don’t mean just before the elections for vote-buying purposes (our beloved Cristina’s favorite political ploy). It is not the scary Marxist version that neo con propaganda machinery in the US has tried to convince the world of. Marxism and Communism are limited to Cuba and a few ideologically misguided academics in this hemisphere. Evo has been listening to good advice from people on both sides of the aisle, and in the process has set up Bolivia to become another Latin economic powerhouse, this time without the famous coca leaves.

I hope this will give some of you inspiration to check Cochabamba out, to fly there with Google Earth and find out more about it. Keep me posted please.

My anesthetic is now wearing off and I will go to where I should be, in bed.

Jamie Douglas
San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine will help cure a toothache tonight.

We encourage you to continue submitting your questions.

Click here and ask your question.

Disclaimer: The responses we give to answers are to the best of our knowledge and belief correct and up to date at the time of writing.

Responses are posted with the understanding that Expat Daily News is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

ExpatDailyNews has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. If you deal with any company or service as a result of seeing a banner, reading an article or clicking on a link located on our website, then you do so of your own choice and by way of your own volition.

(image: Plazuela Cobija, Cochabamba, Bolivia - via Wikipedia)

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We are also happy to answer any questions about life in Latin America. Send us an email - julie@expatdailynews.com or jamie@expatdailynews.com

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