Moving Out

All the different ways of solving the shelter problem. To be static or mobile? Roots, legs, or wheels?
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slowtraveler
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Moving Out

Post by slowtraveler »

I feel the time is approaching to move out and I wanted some wisdom on moving out in general or a nomadic lifestyle. I've made a date for after Christmas before New Year and I've been preparing for the transition but I keep catching myself fantasizing about leaving early. The prep work (update passports, move address, etc.) should be done within a month

Planned Lifestyle: Explore various low col countries through short term rentals and stay for 2-5 months, then catch a flight/bus/camel/boat/train/bike to the next country. If I don't like the current spot, I can take a bus to another part of town or of the country. I own no vehicles and will live out ofly a 35L backpack. Just thinking about it sounds thrilling.

I'm expecting around 24k in annual expenses as an upper limit:
$7000 rent/utilities
$2400 distance transport (includes travel hacking bonuses)
$1200 local transport
$3600 food
$4800 entertainment
$350 phone+data-will drop to 0 if realize wifi is more prominent than expect
$1200 unexpected
$1200 health self insurance (all insurances looked at have low limits, may do state HI +HSA)
*This is meant to have breathing room so I'll likely spend less than I expect.
*Vaccines are free on my current health insurance

So any advice or wisdom on moving out?
Last edited by slowtraveler on Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

wolf
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Re: Moving Out

Post by wolf »

Is your future lifestyle sustainable? How is you imcome compared to the 24k expenses per year?

slowtraveler
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Re: Moving Out

Post by slowtraveler »

I'm not sure on the sustainability. Environmentally it is high fuel as I'll be flying every few months. In terms of socially it will get lonely at times. In terms of health, it'll feel harder to stay healthy when I keep moving so I can't chill on a surplus of healthy food as long or find it as readily. Finally, it is sustainable at these expenses. I'm planning to slow down the travel once I've made it around once and enjoy my favorite spots more.

Is that what you meant?
Last edited by slowtraveler on Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

wolf
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Re: Moving Out

Post by wolf »

Yes. I meant financially sustainable. 50%SR is great. Sometimes I also dream about such a lifestyle, at least for a while.
Have you had a try already for some weeks/months? Do you already know some things how you feel about it? Maybe you can try it first before you make big change.

wood
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Re: Moving Out

Post by wood »

Felipe, may I ask how old you are?

I'm curious to see your actual expenses after doing this for a while. I'm also curious about what you will pack.

I would expect wifi to be very available in cities, but hard to find (for free) in villages.

slowtraveler
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Re: Moving Out

Post by slowtraveler »

@MDFire
I spent some weeks in Thailand and Europe. I loved it but I volunteered and had living conditions that make me grateful for a running shower with warm water(sorry Jacob), private room/bathroom, ac, and kitchen access. So no family stays or volunteering for food/home, a private studio near groceries and public transport is ideal.

Also, language differences can be hard so English or Spanish speaking countries for 90% of the first year.

@Wood
I'm 24.

I'll pack 4 shirts, a light jacket, warm jacket, a pair of pants and socks, sandals, shoes, sunglasses, water bottle& lifestraw, headlamp, newskin &few bandages, pc, phone, travel docs, floss, brush, paste, night guard, essential oils, US-EU adapter, earplugs, headphone, chargers, outlet splitter, Chromecast, electric razor and head shaver. Maybe a safety whistle for when I scuba in caves in case I get lost.

I'll post the real list and expenses as it happens.

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Viktor K
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Re: Moving Out

Post by Viktor K »

PC as in personal computer? A laptop may be more convenient

slowtraveler
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Re: Moving Out

Post by slowtraveler »

No, definitely laptop. I confused the two terms.

I think my expenses still look reasonable after looking at other blogs of people who've done similar things (gocurrycracker, millenial-revolution, edventure).

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Viktor K
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Re: Moving Out

Post by Viktor K »

I'm spending about $7-9k/year in China now, in Shenzhen which is one of the major cities. I would imagine cost of living differences, transportation (international and otherwise), and temporary housing (hotels and the like, could be eliminated by couch surfing, cheap hostels, etc) would be your more expensive, variable expenses.

slowtraveler
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Re: Moving Out

Post by slowtraveler »

That's ERE level. You got me curious now. How you liking that lifestyle there?

I want to see China but the Visa need and my perception that it's going to be crowded or polluted make me more cautious and lean towards visiting Taiwan instead.

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Viktor K
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Re: Moving Out

Post by Viktor K »

Well, first I'll say I have friends in Taiwan from college and they love it there. They do deep-water soloing at the beach every weekend.

As for China, I prefer the lifestyle to that of America, at least for now. That being said, I've opted for Shenzhen which is a very modern city (used to be a village in 1980, now its one of the largest in China), right next to Hong Kong (easy visa runs), and is still Chinese cheap with air pollution that is about what you would have in L.A. There are mountains in the city limits that you can hike, and right next to your little rinky dinky Chinese noodle stand are western bars and restaurants featuring cuisine anywhere from Mexico to middle-eastern (in addition to all the various eastern Asian countries).

Would you like it? Can't say. I'm here for what I described above, as well as the people, but also the work opportunity as a foreign teacher. If it wasn't Shenzhen, though, I probably wouldn't be here. I also don't look forward to visiting Shanghai and Beijing until 20 years from now when hopefully they've cut the pollution.

If I was in your shoes and looking to get on the international road, my first stop would be Malaysia, not China. I haven't been, but everyone here raves about it.

slowtraveler
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Re: Moving Out

Post by slowtraveler »

Deep-water soloing. I've done rock climbing and I've done cliff diving but not at the same time, I'll have to look into it. Sounds fun.

A big part of the reason for China is that it's been a dream of mine to learn Chinese, considering how many people I could understand that I can't right now. That seems worth giving a shot, there's probably even some smaller towns in China that are modern with less pollution if I get there and explore around. How easy was it to set up the visa/foreign teacher situation? I've volunteered teaching English in Thailand and have an Associate's but most paid opportunities I found required a Bachelor's.

My first stop is to scuba the cenotes in South Mexico and explore Latin America then Europe and North Africa so by the time I've reached Asia, I'll be adapted to travel. I pictured Thailand as the spot people rave about but you know the area better. What's in Malaysia?

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Viktor K
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Re: Moving Out

Post by Viktor K »

It depends on what you mean by modern. Shenzhen has been one of a kind for us so far. We have blue skies near everyday that it isn't overcast... I know that sounds like a silly and obvious thing to say, but when we were in a smaller city in 2015, we never saw a blue sky. We were next to a coal power plant, so everyday was gray.

Foreign teaching is easy here, it is super high demand. Throw your resume online and see what you get. If you do it now, since it is hiring season, you'll have dozens of interviews to sort through.

The visa is another story. The Z visa has gotten more and more difficult to get lately. The requirements are a bachelor's degree, a TEFL, 2 years of work experience (i.e., can't graduate and come right away), and a non-criminal record check (local). There's a lot of notary services and document authentication (secretary of state and Chinese consulate) needed.

If you don't or can't get the Z visa, you join maybe half of the other foreigners that work illegally here. You get an M visa (business) or an L visa (tourist) which has a 60-90 day duration and find a school that doesn't mind that you don't have the work visa (a little more difficult in a popular city like Shenzhen). Every 60-90 days, you hop over to Hong Kong (another reason Shenzhen is popular), and then come back across to refresh your stay duration.

Actually, working illegally is much easier because there are less hoops. You do have to worry about the immigration people randomly showing up at your school and checking passports, but I have neither seen this happen, nor met anyone who knows of someone this happened to. It does happen (apparently), though, so something to keep in mind.

Teach at a public school and you're looking at <10 hours/week of class-time, potentially no office hours, some sort of compensation during winter vacation, with a fat end of contract bonus and potentially a re-signing bonus after the 2 month summer holiday. Your housing will be paid for and/or you will get a housing allowance for rent and/or utilities. And there's no pressure to perform.

One last option is part-time work. This would be difficult without connections, but you might be able to pull it off. A lot of kindergartens and training centers have opening for foreign teachers to do part-time work, maybe once or twice a week in the evening, or in the morning on saturday. These jobs don't have contracts, they usually pay you directly after your shift, there's no requirement to work during holidays/breaks if you don't want to, and they should drop 300 RMB/hour. Since they're paying you under the table and you're not on a contract (i.e. the government knows nothing about your arrangement), they could care less what visa you have or don't have.

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Viktor K
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Re: Moving Out

Post by Viktor K »

@Felipe Sorry, forgot to mention about Malaysia. I've only heard good things. There's a buddy there right now on summer vacation, and his WeChat story seems pretty awesome. It is cheap, sometimes cheaper than parts of China. There are a lot of beaches.

There's at least one journal on here of a guy traveling country to country who spent some time in Malaysia.

search.php?keywords=malaysia
...settled into my new chapter in Asia. After traveling about 3 weeks in Thailand (fun, but too hot!), I am spending about 3.5 months in Penang, Malaysia. We rented a fully-furnished 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo a block from the beach. With cross breezes from the mountain in the back to ocean in front,
His story is almost identical to a story from some coworkers at my training center. They lived on the beach and taught English. They made less than you can/do in China, but rave about the culture there. More laid back, more personal space, English is the lingua franca with equal parts people who speak Chinese and people who speak Malay.

slowtraveler
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Re: Moving Out

Post by slowtraveler »

Wow that's good pay. I wasn't expecting that. Lots of options. But staying a non-resident is a higher priority than earning more in my current situation so tourist or student Visa may be a better start to my Chinese learning.

I looked up the Z Visa but didn't see the Bachelor's requirement. Maybe it's flexible as that and TEFL are the main things I'm missing?
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84245.htm
https://www.visafirst.com/en/china_work_visa.asp

Malaysia sounds worth a stop, I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

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Viktor K
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Re: Moving Out

Post by Viktor K »

And so we can start to see the headache that is working in China! I can't be 100% sure, but it may be that the Bachelor's degree is required for getting the invitation letter if you want to teach, but maybe you can land a Z visa for a different industry without needing a degree.. Different industries invitation letters may have different requirements.

I think a better resource than a Z visa information page would be a teach in China page, if that is what you're interested in.

AFAIK, if you want to teach without a degree, you'll want to get a business or tourist visa instead, come to a city like Shenzhen which has easy access to a border crossing for visa runs, and find a school or company that doesn't mind employing you without the official visa (it won't be hard to find one).

For some insight, consider the following:
  • Of the 12 teachers at my training center, my girlfriend and I are the only ones with Z visas
  • If I don't get my Z visa transferred in time, my new public school won't employ me.
  • My girlfriend's new public school doesn't care if she has a visa or not
  • We are both looking for part-time work in the fall. We will most likely work for companies who won't even have us sign a contract, let alone worry about our visas.

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