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Claude Monet II
Feb 13, 2010
These days, I feel like I'm constantly being bombarded by articles of happy people who have decided to "ditch the rat race" and re-locate to a tropical island and work bum jobs for the rest of their lives while travelling the world. It all sounds so amazing to me, but surely there must be a down side?

Has anyone on here ever done this or know of anyone who has done this? I have a feeling that the articles I read online or on "hippy" websites are a bit exaggerated and I'm looking to hear about some real stories. What happens to these people as they age? Do they eventually have to come back to their home country? Are they basically screwed as senior citizens?

I realize that some of these are stupid questions that I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to- but just wanted to get some feedback from all of you.

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Xandu
Feb 19, 2006


It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
There's a reason you mostly see people in their early 20s and people who have retired doing that. It helps to be independently wealthy (or at least have wealthy parents). The rest seem to mostly make their money through freelance content generation, web design, Internet marketing, and that type of thing. Not really a career, but it can work. It helps to base yourself somewhere cheap in Asia so you don't need too much money to live off.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
Well the main downside would be that you really can't(or shouldn't) ever have children, because you won't have reliable enough income to pay for them.

And yea you probably have to assume that by age 60 or so you won't really be capable of making a living off of "bum jobs". If you don't have any retirement money you need to be able to have income without doing manual labor because your body will be breaking down.

MisterTurtle
Jul 10, 2001

Cecil Rhodes owns your life.
Some of the people you see who ditched the rat race to travel support themselves with revenue from their blogs where they talk about how they've ditched the rat race and now travel the world, but that market is pretty well saturated at this point (this guy for example https://www.nomadicmatt.com). There are people that have started legitimate businesses while backpacking around, the guys over at tropicalmba.com have a weekly podcast that discusses this very topic in-depth. Assuming you don't have kids, any major financial obligations and a decent chunk of savings something like this certainly is possible if you've got the right skill set and ideas that can realistically convert into a revenue generating business. As a previous poster said most of the people who choose to go this route hang out in SE Asia because you can pretty easily live in most places there on <$1000 month, even far less than that if you're willing to live like a pauper.

Many people go the teach English route but this can be more difficult to make any decent living off of depending on where you are.

The easier route would be to find a job where you can work remotely from anywhere. This shouldn't be too hard in this age of silicon valley tech wiz start up disrupt killer app economy we live in today. Granted you don't get the satisfaction of completely leaving 'the rat race' but at least you've got a steady income and don't need to worry about starting an actual business.

Regarding retirement, etc even if you live and earn your money abroad you can still pay into social security (I think you're technically required to, or at least file taxes) thus you'd still be able to claim that once you reach old age. There's nothing preventing you from contributing a few hundred a month into an IRA from abroad either.

MisterTurtle fucked around with this message at 20:28 on May 1, 2015

Chadzok
Apr 25, 2002

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/

This is as good as it will get for most people.
Which can still be pretty good if you work at it. Read more of his blog if you're interested.

Gatts
Jan 2, 2001

Goodnight Moon

Nap Ghost
Had a friend go around the world but managed to get Coke to sponsor him. Cost about 100,000 but the dude is cool, intelligent, savvy like managing his own business and music company, etc. he did this at a young age in his mid 20s. He posted YouTube videos of his adventure and included him and happy people drinking a coke and having fun.

I got a good job but should have done something like that years ago. Wouldn't need a sponsor so yeah a good savings chunk is necessary.

tsa
Feb 3, 2014

Claude Monet II posted:

These days, I feel like I'm constantly being bombarded by articles of happy people who have decided to "ditch the rat race" and re-locate to a tropical island and work bum jobs for the rest of their lives while travelling the world. It all sounds so amazing to me, but surely there must be a down side?

Has anyone on here ever done this or know of anyone who has done this? I have a feeling that the articles I read online or on "hippy" websites are a bit exaggerated and I'm looking to hear about some real stories. What happens to these people as they age? Do they eventually have to come back to their home country? Are they basically screwed as senior citizens?

I realize that some of these are stupid questions that I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to- but just wanted to get some feedback from all of you.

They don't have to be exaggerated, there's always outliers. It's like thinking basketball is a good career because NBA players are rich. And Good luck ever getting a real job if it doesn't pan out.

Honestly if you just get a good job the whole 'rat race' thing disappears. Challenging work is very rewarding, problem is most goons get some basket weaving degree because 'it's what i love :downs: ' and wonder why they are a miserable box store manager.

A GIANT PARSNIP
Apr 13, 2010

Too much fuckin' eggnog


tsa posted:

They don't have to be exaggerated, there's always outliers. It's like thinking basketball is a good career because NBA players are rich. And Good luck ever getting a real job if it doesn't pan out.

Honestly if you just get a good job the whole 'rat race' thing disappears. Challenging work is very rewarding, problem is most goons get some basket weaving degree because 'it's what i love :downs: ' and wonder why they are a miserable box store manager.

"You should have gotten a better degree" is some pretty lovely advice.

If you honestly want to ditch jobs forever you should head over to the Financial Independence Thread and combine the advice in there with a plan to move somewhere dirt cheap in Asia.

Claude Monet II
Feb 13, 2010

A GIANT PARSNIP posted:

"You should have gotten a better degree" is some pretty lovely advice.

If you honestly want to ditch jobs forever you should head over to the Financial Independence Thread and combine the advice in there with a plan to move somewhere dirt cheap in Asia.

Thank you for this! The financial independence thread is really helpful and realistically I think that this is the only way that something like this could happen. I'm happy to work and don't mind it...but I guess I hate the fact that I don't get to move around as much as I would like. A few weeks vacation really isn't enough for me- I want to be able to really experience other places and live there.

I don't care about owning possessions or career accomplishments.. I guess I'm a bit of a bum and honestly don't mind doing basic manual jobs if it means that I can get by and experience cool places.

bloodsacrifice
Apr 21, 2015

by Ralp

A GIANT PARSNIP posted:

"You should have gotten a better degree" is some pretty lovely advice.

If you honestly want to ditch jobs forever you should head over to the Financial Independence Thread and combine the advice in there with a plan to move somewhere dirt cheap in Asia.

"You should have gotten a degree in a field you were interested in working in" would be better advice. Something like 2/3rds of psychology majors and 1/2 of history majors had no intention of working in the field so its "useless" in that sense not that the fields themselves are useless.

oliwan
Jul 20, 2005

by Nyc_Tattoo
There are no downsides except you will make less money and be less "comfortable". That's literally it op.

oliwan
Jul 20, 2005

by Nyc_Tattoo
also: you will probably not find a cure for cancer.

ToxicToast
Dec 7, 2006
Thanks, I'm flattered.
You could look into teaching English in South Korea. I did it for over a year and remember saving half my salary. I just did a quick look and it appears salaries are still around 2.5 million won a month which you can think of over 2,000 USA dollars. A few co-workers of mine pretty much worked one year teaching English then spent nearly a year traveling around India, Malaysia, and the Philippines. There is a big thread on it in the travel forum if you are interested. If you don't want any distractions just don't get a job in Seoul or one of the other large cities.

EB Nulshit
Apr 12, 2014

It was more disappointing (and surprising) when I found that even most of Manhattan isn't like Times Square.
How much does it cost to live in a place in SE Asia that anyone would actually want to live in? Do I have to live in the Chinese equivalent of Bumfuck, Nowhere to live a comfortable, modern life on $1000/mo or what? And how long can you stay in a country like that if you're not citizen?

Because I want to replace my job with my own work-from-home Internet business within the next few years, and getting my costs waaaaay down while still living really comfortably, PLUS getting to live in a cool city (comparable to NYC in coolness, but not price) foreign country sounds pretty awesome.

Bip Roberts
Mar 29, 2005

EB Nulshit posted:

How much does it cost to live in a place in SE Asia that anyone would actually want to live in? Do I have to live in the Chinese equivalent of Bumfuck, Nowhere to live a comfortable, modern life on $1000/mo or what? And how long can you stay in a country like that if you're not citizen?

Because I want to replace my job with my own work-from-home Internet business within the next few years, and getting my costs waaaaay down while still living really comfortably, PLUS getting to live in a cool city (comparable to NYC in coolness, but not price) foreign country sounds pretty awesome.

I bet your skullet would get you mega laid in thailand.

Xandu
Feb 19, 2006


It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.

EB Nulshit posted:

How much does it cost to live in a place in SE Asia that anyone would actually want to live in? Do I have to live in the Chinese equivalent of Bumfuck, Nowhere to live a comfortable, modern life on $1000/mo or what? And how long can you stay in a country like that if you're not citizen?

Because I want to replace my job with my own work-from-home Internet business within the next few years, and getting my costs waaaaay down while still living really comfortably, PLUS getting to live in a cool city (comparable to NYC in coolness, but not price) foreign country sounds pretty awesome.

You can get by in Thailand or the Philippines pretty easily, though most people who do are on tourist visas so they're having to regularly exit the country and re-enter.

EB Nulshit
Apr 12, 2014

It was more disappointing (and surprising) when I found that even most of Manhattan isn't like Times Square.
Do either of Thailand or the Philippines have cities anyone would actually want to live in? Or would that be like moving to some crappy rural part of the US to save money?

raton
Jul 28, 2003

by FactsAreUseless

EB Nulshit posted:

Do either of Thailand or the Philippines have cities anyone would actually want to live in? Or would that be like moving to some crappy rural part of the US to save money?

If I was one of the lazy rich I'd have an apartment in NYC and one in Bangkok because those are the two best cities. You can have a normal life in Bangkok on 1,000 a month, a good one for two. Bangkok is a first world, top class international city.

Staying long term means getting a visa. Going over the visa options is more effort than I want to put out right now for someone who just asked "Is there a city in Asia that is cool?"

raton fucked around with this message at 19:31 on May 4, 2015

Jeza
Feb 13, 2011

The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.

oliwan posted:

There are no downsides except you will make less money and be less "comfortable". That's literally it op.

I think that's a little glib.

To the OP, unless you have a method of making money remotely, constantly travelling and picking up jobs as you go is really only viable while you are young. And most of those jobs will not involve lounging around on a tropical island. If by "travelling" you mean just relocating somewhere there are tropical islands and then just staying there, then yes, lots of people do that. Here's a story for you that seems appropriate:

I met a guy in Thailand who was an underwater photographer for Getty, and he spent 30 years living on a boat. Back in the days where apparently you could do this sort of thing, he bought a boat with no sailing experience and just left the UK. He travelled the world to amazing places, often sunny and beautiful, and take photos with his specially adapted camera (there were no commercial underwater enclosures in his day, he built his himself). He then sent his photos to Getty reps in certain places and got paid on commission. He'd moor up in a place for a few months, and often take to the sea with an adventurous girl who wanted to see the world with him.

So it went for a long time, invariably swapping girls around or just boating alone. Eventually he got pretty close to retirement age, so he decided to try and settle in Australia. But they didn't like how he had no tax records or passport, and the red tape was too much for him. So he moved to Thailand where they welcomed his money and settled down. Then he married an 18 year old Thai girl less than 5 feet tall and sipped Chang beer on the beaches and rented poor quality housing to tourists. To supplement his income he did modelling/nude photography. He patronised all the local businesses, and enjoyed being grossly knowledgeable about when every schoolgirl turned 18 in his small town.

So if you're a creepy and horrendous paedophile, and with a skill marketable the world over, then the world is your oyster.

EB Nulshit
Apr 12, 2014

It was more disappointing (and surprising) when I found that even most of Manhattan isn't like Times Square.

Sheep-Goats posted:

If I was one of the lazy rich I'd have an apartment in NYC and one in Bangkok because those are the two best cities. You can have a normal life in Bangkok on 1,000 a month, a good one for two. Bangkok is a first world, top class international city.

Living comfortably in a place like NYC for $1-2k/mo sounds amazing.

Why is Bangkok up there with NYC for you? Stories like this one make it seem like a place I wouldn't want to live in:

Jeza posted:

Here's a story for you that seems appropriate:

quote:

Going over the visa options is more effort than I want to put out right now for someone who just asked "Is there a city in Asia that is cool?"

That's fair! Having enough money saved to quit working and never have to work again, even in an area with a much lower cost of living, is years away for me right now.

E: I think I saw you said you lived in China once. That's a huge country, they must have cooler cities than anywhere else?

EB Nulshit fucked around with this message at 03:38 on May 5, 2015

MisterTurtle
Jul 10, 2001

Cecil Rhodes owns your life.

EB Nulshit posted:


Why is Bangkok up there with NYC for you? Stories like this one make it seem like a place I wouldn't want to live in:



Just go to Bangkok and see it for yourself. It really is a world-class city with amazing entertainment, food and a significant international business presence plus very low cost of living. I find it difficult to believe that people in this day and age still think of Bangkok as a third world backwater filled with opium dens and organ harvesters.

I LIKE COOKIE
Dec 12, 2010

Maybe not forever, but I've been saving 60% of my net income for almost 4 years now to travel. Have enough to travel for a solid 2 years, depending on how much I drink and party I could be vagabonding around for 4+ years.

Coincidentally my journey will begin in Bangkok. Southeast Asia is the best place to start, in my mind.

I'm 21 years old, so I may not be qualified for retirement talk, but this has been my dream since forever. It's all I really want. I can't wait to quit my job.

I've also thrown around the idea of sailing, which can be a looooot cheaper than traditional hostel backpacking. Anne Hills book 'Voyaging on a Small Income' is very inspirational.

I'd check out BFC, especially the financial independence thread and the BFC daily discussion thread.

Id also check out squattheplanet, hitchwiki.org, and travel wiki. As well as the tourism and travel subforum.

All I do is read about travel lol. My trip starts at the end of this year!!

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raton
Jul 28, 2003

by FactsAreUseless

EB Nulshit posted:

Living comfortably in a place like NYC for $1-2k/mo sounds amazing.

Why is Bangkok up there with NYC for you? Stories like this one make it seem like a place I wouldn't want to live in

Strong international community -- nothing beats NYC for this but many regions of the world have a neighborhood in Bangkok with their food and their products and their people. There's lots of stuff to do in Thailand and while most foreigners never find it there's a decent art scene, live music scene, and some other interesting cultural items. Travel in the region is very rewarding from spending time with the hilltribes along the Burmese border, to visiting nearby Cambodia and it's current dizzying pace of development, to the pretty islands in the south. Thai people are incredibly sweet and friendly, especially given that the ones you talk to in Bangkok live in a city of 12 million with very little public transport and mindblowing heat. Stupidly affordable. While many in the expat community are hot horrible garbage you also have a lot of people there who are worth knowing -- this is taste dependent but the kind of people I like aren't the kind of people who crave moving to an organized functional and clean environment like Stockholm or some old world decadent snotbox like the south of France or Monte Carlo or whatever. They aren't unemployable pedophiles either, if that's the part of the story you thought was great -- the slack those kinds of people depend on to get by is evaporating in SE Asia really quickly right now, if that's the kind of person you are then maybe try moving to a war ton Eastern European country or something, I don't know.

I had typed up a longer post than the one you quoted above but deleted it because honestly I think the words would have been wasted on you, but the trick isn't getting there or getting by while you're there. The trick is finding a way to make it a home where you could support a family or a real life without pretending you have some special individual conception of what a real life entails that means you don't need money. Anyone can go for a few years (at the possibly worth it cost of going nowhere in your real life back home), staying in another place means having health insurance covered by the time you turn 30 and a home covered by the time you're 40 &c. What happens to most of the people like you is they go over there, meet a girl, have a kid, decide raising the kid there would be a disaster and then either do it anyway because returning home at this point would mean minimum wage work or, if they have the ability or connections or money for this to not be the case they go home and do that.

I LIKE COOKIE posted:

Maybe not forever, but I've been saving 60% of my net income for almost 4 years now to travel. Have enough to travel for a solid 2 years, depending on how much I drink and party I could be vagabonding around for 4+ years.

Coincidentally my journey will begin in Bangkok. Southeast Asia is the best place to start, in my mind.

I'm 21 years old, so I may not be qualified for retirement talk, but this has been my dream since forever. It's all I really want. I can't wait to quit my job.

I've also thrown around the idea of sailing, which can be a looooot cheaper than traditional hostel backpacking. Anne Hills book 'Voyaging on a Small Income' is very inspirational.

I'd check out BFC, especially the financial independence thread and the BFC daily discussion thread.

Id also check out squattheplanet, hitchwiki.org, and travel wiki. As well as the tourism and travel subforum.

All I do is read about travel lol. My trip starts at the end of this year!!

GL goon

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