Internet is slow but reliable. To get fast internet, you need to spend more than in the US, which is especially high compared to the other COL. For example, we are paying 80s/month ($31) for a maximum velocity of 1 MB/s (the minimum guarantee is 100 kb/s, but it seems like it's usually near the 1 BM/s cap). There are big economies of scale, so you can share with a neighbor or something on a faster plan, the prices are a bit better. But it does seem reliable - for example, I've never lost a poker hand due to it being too slow or dying. I also have no problem with Skype. So it seems like it would work fine for consulting, unless you need to transfer large amounts of data quickly. There is an interloper called Ola promising faster speeds (it's a worse deal for slow speeds, but better for high speeds), but I've heard mixed things about reliability.
I pretty much always shop at Metro, which is the big regular-joe supermarket chain here. Wong is the upscale version of Metro, with more imported products, and Vivanda is like Whole Foods, with a beautiful layout and ambiance and imported and organic foods. I've actually never been to a food mercado - there are none in my district (Miraflores), that I know of, plus Metro seems to have good prices if you focus on things that are on sale (and buy a stockpile when prices are good - that's how I got 4 KG of Corn Flakes), and it's a quick walk. But it's possible that mercado prices are better.
Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Since my last post, not much has changed in terms of progress. Still spending about the same. Just successfully completed a border run to get 6 more months on my visa. Moving to a new apartment. The one danger to my plan still appears to be one-time travel costs.
We are moving to a new apartment over the weekend, which is basically the same price ($617/month for the two of us, but including EVERYTHING vs. $540 + utilities, internet, apt fees), but an upgrade - - a full-size refrigerator, stove, big indoor BBQ, sofa-bed, bigger rooms, cable, newer construction (<1 year). The change in location has upsides and downsides. It's still in the downtown district of Miraflores, but in a quiet residential district with parks and houses, rather than apartment buildings, casinos, and bars (and traffic!), which is what I wanted. We will be about 30 minutes walk from the busy downtown now, but a bit closer (25 minutes walking) to the bohemian/hipster downtown in Barranco, which has the clubs we go to, and much cheaper bars and restaurants. But it will hurt for going to my American library, to the chess tables, and especially for meeting my GF's sister.
We made our visa run to Ecuador, and did it in ERE style - a 6 day, 6/night vacation to a different country for about $87 total on travel and lodging (and pretty standard food expenditures). 4 nights sleeping on overnight buses (18 hours on one leg), 2 nights sleeping in $20/night hotel rooms split between 3 people.
The trip was an interesting view of alternative retirement destinations. First we went to Piura, which is a city of about 500,000 in Peru. It is extremely cheap, but I realized I couldn't live there. It is beastly hot, and it is a bit like a larger version of the small town I visited before - full of squalor, and no real redeeming features or attractions, except that the people are extremely friendly. They're not used to seeing gringos there, and multiple people came up to us to welcome us, offer us advice, buy me beers (rather than for the girls!), and even conduct an interview about my time in Piura and Peru, and all innocently.
Unfortunately, we made the mistake of trying to eat cheap in the market ($3.86 total for the three of us), and I got flattened, I suspect by the evil-looking ceviche. By the time we reached Guayaquil, I was so sick (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea etc.) that I realized I wasn't going to be able to take any more long bus trips, so we just saw Guayaquil, canceling plans for Quito and Loja (and reducing 76 planned total hours in buses to 58).
Guayaquil is an intriguing city, better in some ways than Lima. It's the largest city and economic center of Ecuador. It's definitely cheaper than Lima – I saw ads for nice-looking apartment complexes with pools and sports complexes “Starting at $189,” although I'm sure those are efficiencies and don't include condo fees or anything. And restaurants were cheaper as well, although the supermarkets seemed worse, with some things more expensive. It is also extremely hot, too hot to walk around the whole day, and we ended up having multiple delicious and cheap fresh fruit smoothies from Fruttila every day – Fruttila is the biggest thing Lima needs to adopt, although the transportation system was nice too. Orderly city buses, including a high-speed bus (with its own road) only cost 25c to cross the city, vs. 40c in chaotic combis in Lima. There is also just much less congestion. The Malecon 2000 and riverfront area is really very nice, with attractive, modern architecture and nice parks. It's a poorer city than Lima, but that area looks better than any one area of Lima. It seems like the Mayor has really revitalized the city (he even hired Giuliani's police commissioner to help combat crime). Coolest of all is the Park of Iguanas, which just has dozens of iguanas strolling around, in the grass, on the sidewalk etc. There are some museums and things, but I'm not sure if there's as much of cultural or artistic interest. The city is a bit more Americanized too – not just the use of the dollar, but you see American-style signs, lots of US sports jerseys etc, even though there are far fewer tourists or expats. We didn't venture into that much of the city, though, because Ecaudor is considerably more dangerous than Peru, and Guayaquil is its most dangerous city (and we don't go to plenty of parts of Lima either), so I don't know that well how the larger city compares.
I can definitely see how Cuenca or another smaller Ecuadorian city getting lots of retirement hype could have many of the benefits of Guyaguil, without some of the crime, excessive heat and other downsides. One (possible) downside that won't go away though is that Ecuadorian women are MUCH less attractive than Peruvian women.
Crossing the border to renew my tourist visa was no issue at all. He actually laughed when I answered that I was staying for 180 days, and mumbled some comment, but stamped 183 more days (the maximum) without hesitation – that was his only question and the whole process took less than 30 seconds.
However, the next trip may not be so cheap. My family is visiting, and the problem is that their California conception of expenses is just completely different from mine. During the visit we are going for a week to Cuzco/Macchu Picchu, and a week to Arequipa/Lake Titicaca. Between two round trips flights of $88 and $58, $84 RT for the the Macchu Piccu train, $12 for the MP bus, $60 for the MP hike, fixed costs are pretty high ($300). But then my mom wanted to book double rooms for $80/night. Spending $40/night for 13 nights and suddenly I'm spending $820. Add in more expensive restaurants and other activities (rafting, bus to Lake Titicaca), and I'll probably end up at $1100, which is two months expenses on a vacation. I managed to get a cheaper option for Macchu Picchu at least, and I found a good Groupon in Arequipa, so if I can get nightly hotel costs down more like $16, at least I can save $300. I think I'll have to be firm that they can stay in any hotel they want, of course, but I just can't afford that, and I'll have to look for a cheap option nearby. To them, the money seems like nothing, but if they think of it as two months expenses, then its like $15,000 or something on a two-week vacation.
We are moving to a new apartment over the weekend, which is basically the same price ($617/month for the two of us, but including EVERYTHING vs. $540 + utilities, internet, apt fees), but an upgrade - - a full-size refrigerator, stove, big indoor BBQ, sofa-bed, bigger rooms, cable, newer construction (<1 year). The change in location has upsides and downsides. It's still in the downtown district of Miraflores, but in a quiet residential district with parks and houses, rather than apartment buildings, casinos, and bars (and traffic!), which is what I wanted. We will be about 30 minutes walk from the busy downtown now, but a bit closer (25 minutes walking) to the bohemian/hipster downtown in Barranco, which has the clubs we go to, and much cheaper bars and restaurants. But it will hurt for going to my American library, to the chess tables, and especially for meeting my GF's sister.
We made our visa run to Ecuador, and did it in ERE style - a 6 day, 6/night vacation to a different country for about $87 total on travel and lodging (and pretty standard food expenditures). 4 nights sleeping on overnight buses (18 hours on one leg), 2 nights sleeping in $20/night hotel rooms split between 3 people.
The trip was an interesting view of alternative retirement destinations. First we went to Piura, which is a city of about 500,000 in Peru. It is extremely cheap, but I realized I couldn't live there. It is beastly hot, and it is a bit like a larger version of the small town I visited before - full of squalor, and no real redeeming features or attractions, except that the people are extremely friendly. They're not used to seeing gringos there, and multiple people came up to us to welcome us, offer us advice, buy me beers (rather than for the girls!), and even conduct an interview about my time in Piura and Peru, and all innocently.
Unfortunately, we made the mistake of trying to eat cheap in the market ($3.86 total for the three of us), and I got flattened, I suspect by the evil-looking ceviche. By the time we reached Guayaquil, I was so sick (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea etc.) that I realized I wasn't going to be able to take any more long bus trips, so we just saw Guayaquil, canceling plans for Quito and Loja (and reducing 76 planned total hours in buses to 58).
Guayaquil is an intriguing city, better in some ways than Lima. It's the largest city and economic center of Ecuador. It's definitely cheaper than Lima – I saw ads for nice-looking apartment complexes with pools and sports complexes “Starting at $189,” although I'm sure those are efficiencies and don't include condo fees or anything. And restaurants were cheaper as well, although the supermarkets seemed worse, with some things more expensive. It is also extremely hot, too hot to walk around the whole day, and we ended up having multiple delicious and cheap fresh fruit smoothies from Fruttila every day – Fruttila is the biggest thing Lima needs to adopt, although the transportation system was nice too. Orderly city buses, including a high-speed bus (with its own road) only cost 25c to cross the city, vs. 40c in chaotic combis in Lima. There is also just much less congestion. The Malecon 2000 and riverfront area is really very nice, with attractive, modern architecture and nice parks. It's a poorer city than Lima, but that area looks better than any one area of Lima. It seems like the Mayor has really revitalized the city (he even hired Giuliani's police commissioner to help combat crime). Coolest of all is the Park of Iguanas, which just has dozens of iguanas strolling around, in the grass, on the sidewalk etc. There are some museums and things, but I'm not sure if there's as much of cultural or artistic interest. The city is a bit more Americanized too – not just the use of the dollar, but you see American-style signs, lots of US sports jerseys etc, even though there are far fewer tourists or expats. We didn't venture into that much of the city, though, because Ecaudor is considerably more dangerous than Peru, and Guayaquil is its most dangerous city (and we don't go to plenty of parts of Lima either), so I don't know that well how the larger city compares.
I can definitely see how Cuenca or another smaller Ecuadorian city getting lots of retirement hype could have many of the benefits of Guyaguil, without some of the crime, excessive heat and other downsides. One (possible) downside that won't go away though is that Ecuadorian women are MUCH less attractive than Peruvian women.
Crossing the border to renew my tourist visa was no issue at all. He actually laughed when I answered that I was staying for 180 days, and mumbled some comment, but stamped 183 more days (the maximum) without hesitation – that was his only question and the whole process took less than 30 seconds.
However, the next trip may not be so cheap. My family is visiting, and the problem is that their California conception of expenses is just completely different from mine. During the visit we are going for a week to Cuzco/Macchu Picchu, and a week to Arequipa/Lake Titicaca. Between two round trips flights of $88 and $58, $84 RT for the the Macchu Piccu train, $12 for the MP bus, $60 for the MP hike, fixed costs are pretty high ($300). But then my mom wanted to book double rooms for $80/night. Spending $40/night for 13 nights and suddenly I'm spending $820. Add in more expensive restaurants and other activities (rafting, bus to Lake Titicaca), and I'll probably end up at $1100, which is two months expenses on a vacation. I managed to get a cheaper option for Macchu Picchu at least, and I found a good Groupon in Arequipa, so if I can get nightly hotel costs down more like $16, at least I can save $300. I think I'll have to be firm that they can stay in any hotel they want, of course, but I just can't afford that, and I'll have to look for a cheap option nearby. To them, the money seems like nothing, but if they think of it as two months expenses, then its like $15,000 or something on a two-week vacation.
JeanPaul, I am really enjoying your journal. As someone twenty years older than you I often find that I am imagining myself in your place. Great adventure, thanks for that!
For the last part of this post I imagined myself with the opportunity to spend a few days with my folks at Cusco and Macchu Piccu. What a wonderful opportunity. Don't spend too much energy worrying about the money. FWIW, in my mind that's precisely what savings is meant to be spent on. Enjoy.
For the last part of this post I imagined myself with the opportunity to spend a few days with my folks at Cusco and Macchu Piccu. What a wonderful opportunity. Don't spend too much energy worrying about the money. FWIW, in my mind that's precisely what savings is meant to be spent on. Enjoy.
-
secretwealth
- Posts: 1948
- Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:31 am
"One (possible) downside that won't go away though is that Ecuadorian women are MUCH less attractive than Peruvian women."
Well that's off the list then!
Just kidding--I love the update, and the input on Ecuador is much appreciated. My wife and I are hoping to visit there next, with maybe a short trip to Peru as well, time permitting.
Well that's off the list then!
Just kidding--I love the update, and the input on Ecuador is much appreciated. My wife and I are hoping to visit there next, with maybe a short trip to Peru as well, time permitting.
I should add a very important thing for long-term retirement! I went to the pharmacy in Ecuador to get pills for nausea and for stomach pain - after answering some questions on symptoms from the pharmacist, 8 pills of the first cost $0.50, and 2 pills of the latter cost $1.20. This seemed incredibly cheap to me compared to American drugs, though I can't say I've taken a lot.
I'll definitely enjoy the family trip (especially since my sister's coming too, although my GF's sister has promised to corrupt her at her favorite club in Barranco), but I don't feel like I'll enjoy it more if I stay in a fancier hotel, so I'm just trying to keep costs down. Once the money's spent, though, I definitely won't worry about sunk costs and let it affect my enjoyment.
We certainly don't have a date to leave South America, and we could also see living in Argentina for a while. However, we also definitely want to spend some time in Thailand at some point (she's fixated on it especially), and maybe somewhere in Europe. So long-term we're not committed to living here, but we'll see how things work out. The greatest advantage of retirement (and her job) is flexibility, so we want to keep moving, not just hunker down in one place immediately. However, obviously that's balanced by having to leave friends etc. behind.
I'll definitely enjoy the family trip (especially since my sister's coming too, although my GF's sister has promised to corrupt her at her favorite club in Barranco), but I don't feel like I'll enjoy it more if I stay in a fancier hotel, so I'm just trying to keep costs down. Once the money's spent, though, I definitely won't worry about sunk costs and let it affect my enjoyment.
We certainly don't have a date to leave South America, and we could also see living in Argentina for a while. However, we also definitely want to spend some time in Thailand at some point (she's fixated on it especially), and maybe somewhere in Europe. So long-term we're not committed to living here, but we'll see how things work out. The greatest advantage of retirement (and her job) is flexibility, so we want to keep moving, not just hunker down in one place immediately. However, obviously that's balanced by having to leave friends etc. behind.
Spending your twenties and thirties retired in cheap countries seems a great idea, especially if you can keep increasing your net worth. You could spend a few years on every continent. In a lot of Southern European countries pharmacies seem to have substantial prescription powers, which has probably been inherited in South America.
What would you say is a doable budget for a single person in Peru or Ecuador ?
What would you say is a doable budget for a single person in Peru or Ecuador ?
We went to Peru for a couple of weeks in 2011m and I have enjoyed your journal.
Stayed in Miraflores, went to Cuzco for a few days, did the 4 day hike on the Inca Trail to Macchu Piccu and then took the train from Aguas Calientes up to a terrifying bus ride back to Cuzco.
We found Macchu Piccu a bit overwhelming. We'd spent 3 days on the trails and exploring lesser known Inca "hotels" and other sites with just our group and once we hit the Disneyland tourist site with turnstyles and everything, the huge number of people and commercialization was a bit tough on the nerves. Incredible sight to behold though.
If you haven't done it before, my suggestion would be go to Macchu Piccu as early in the morning as you can to beat some of the rush. Hiking up to the Sun Gate would be fun for you I think.
Stayed in Miraflores, went to Cuzco for a few days, did the 4 day hike on the Inca Trail to Macchu Piccu and then took the train from Aguas Calientes up to a terrifying bus ride back to Cuzco.
We found Macchu Piccu a bit overwhelming. We'd spent 3 days on the trails and exploring lesser known Inca "hotels" and other sites with just our group and once we hit the Disneyland tourist site with turnstyles and everything, the huge number of people and commercialization was a bit tough on the nerves. Incredible sight to behold though.
If you haven't done it before, my suggestion would be go to Macchu Piccu as early in the morning as you can to beat some of the rush. Hiking up to the Sun Gate would be fun for you I think.
We're gonna do the 8 AM Huayna Picchu hike - I'm not sure I've been awake that early when I wasn't catching a plane since high school, but should be fun.
I think the budget for a single person is pretty similar (I'm spending $600, probably more like $700 including travel), as long as they are willing to have roommates, which is obviously not for everyone. My girlfriend's sister pays exactly the same rent as each of us ($300, all-included), living with two roommates in an apartment overlooking the central park of Miraflores, the most expensive district of the most expensive city in the two countries, with technically ocean view and a cleaning lady (I forgot to say our new apartment includes a cleaning lady too!).
So I'd say $700/month is pretty comfortable, living in the best neighborhood of either country. If you live outside of 6 (out of 44) districts in Lima, and especially in Ecuador, it will be significantly cheaper, and no roommate will be needed - you can rent a whole house for $250.
I was creating a spreadsheet today to compare prices between two supermarkets, and I ended up with some other interesting findings. It's amazing how much you never notice even after months of buying things. For example, I found out that sliced bread is expensive (more than fresh bread!), that I was paying 2.5x as much for bagged pita bread as it costs fresh, that pasta is cheaper than flour, and that cheese and canned tuna are very expensive. My takeaway is to eat less cereal, less sliced bread and less tuna, and eat more lentils (yay!), avocados and eggs.
I also ended up comparing prices to US prices, using statistics from the BLS and the USDA. I'm not buying in bulk (e.g. flour is a 1 kg bag), and this is just a quick perusal of local supermarkets - definitely not the best prices out there for either. Peruvian price listed first. The comparison is in $/pound, obviously just a rough guide, since foods have different numbers of servings per pound.
Starches:
Rice: 0.45 vs, 0.71
Pasta: 0.49 vs. 1.32
Flour: 0.68 vs. 0.50
Fresh bread: 0.87 vs. ?
Lentils: 0.98 vs. 1.02
Sl. Bread: 1.35 vs. 2.02
Quinoa: 1.55 vs. 4.50
Brkfst Cereal: 3.49 vs. 2.19
Proteins:
Eggs: 1.40 vs. 1.33
Squid: 1.49 vs. ?
Ground beef: 2.26 vs. 3.32
Chicken filet: 2.36 vs. 2.99
Bonito filet: 3.13 vs. 3.39 (tilapia)
Mushrooms: 3.49 vs. 3.40
Cheese: 4.20 vs. 5.74
Can Tuna: 6.56 vs. 5.68
Vegetables:
Broccoli: 0.52 vs. 1.89
Tomatoes; 0.52 vs. 1.49
Red Pepper: 0.63 vs. 2.13
Avocado: 0.70 vs. 2.50
Fruits:
Mangoes: 0.17 vs. 1.00
Bananas: 0.47 vs. 0.61
Passion fruit: 0.70 vs. 4.00
Strawberries: 3.49 vs. 1.99
Dairy:
Soy Milk: 0.54 vs. 0.91
Milk: 0.58 vs. 0.41
Yogurt: 0.73 vs. 1.06
Unsalted butter: 4.36 vs. 3.54
It seems like vegetables are generally significantly cheaper, fruits depend on whether they are local, starch staples are slightly cheaper, and more processed foods are actually more expensive. Milk is bad here, and people don't drink it just as a drink (but they do drink yogurt). But definitely the cost of eating at home is not that drastically different (unlike the cost of eating at restaurants, a fraction of the price)
I think the budget for a single person is pretty similar (I'm spending $600, probably more like $700 including travel), as long as they are willing to have roommates, which is obviously not for everyone. My girlfriend's sister pays exactly the same rent as each of us ($300, all-included), living with two roommates in an apartment overlooking the central park of Miraflores, the most expensive district of the most expensive city in the two countries, with technically ocean view and a cleaning lady (I forgot to say our new apartment includes a cleaning lady too!).
So I'd say $700/month is pretty comfortable, living in the best neighborhood of either country. If you live outside of 6 (out of 44) districts in Lima, and especially in Ecuador, it will be significantly cheaper, and no roommate will be needed - you can rent a whole house for $250.
I was creating a spreadsheet today to compare prices between two supermarkets, and I ended up with some other interesting findings. It's amazing how much you never notice even after months of buying things. For example, I found out that sliced bread is expensive (more than fresh bread!), that I was paying 2.5x as much for bagged pita bread as it costs fresh, that pasta is cheaper than flour, and that cheese and canned tuna are very expensive. My takeaway is to eat less cereal, less sliced bread and less tuna, and eat more lentils (yay!), avocados and eggs.
I also ended up comparing prices to US prices, using statistics from the BLS and the USDA. I'm not buying in bulk (e.g. flour is a 1 kg bag), and this is just a quick perusal of local supermarkets - definitely not the best prices out there for either. Peruvian price listed first. The comparison is in $/pound, obviously just a rough guide, since foods have different numbers of servings per pound.
Starches:
Rice: 0.45 vs, 0.71
Pasta: 0.49 vs. 1.32
Flour: 0.68 vs. 0.50
Fresh bread: 0.87 vs. ?
Lentils: 0.98 vs. 1.02
Sl. Bread: 1.35 vs. 2.02
Quinoa: 1.55 vs. 4.50
Brkfst Cereal: 3.49 vs. 2.19
Proteins:
Eggs: 1.40 vs. 1.33
Squid: 1.49 vs. ?
Ground beef: 2.26 vs. 3.32
Chicken filet: 2.36 vs. 2.99
Bonito filet: 3.13 vs. 3.39 (tilapia)
Mushrooms: 3.49 vs. 3.40
Cheese: 4.20 vs. 5.74
Can Tuna: 6.56 vs. 5.68
Vegetables:
Broccoli: 0.52 vs. 1.89
Tomatoes; 0.52 vs. 1.49
Red Pepper: 0.63 vs. 2.13
Avocado: 0.70 vs. 2.50
Fruits:
Mangoes: 0.17 vs. 1.00
Bananas: 0.47 vs. 0.61
Passion fruit: 0.70 vs. 4.00
Strawberries: 3.49 vs. 1.99
Dairy:
Soy Milk: 0.54 vs. 0.91
Milk: 0.58 vs. 0.41
Yogurt: 0.73 vs. 1.06
Unsalted butter: 4.36 vs. 3.54
It seems like vegetables are generally significantly cheaper, fruits depend on whether they are local, starch staples are slightly cheaper, and more processed foods are actually more expensive. Milk is bad here, and people don't drink it just as a drink (but they do drink yogurt). But definitely the cost of eating at home is not that drastically different (unlike the cost of eating at restaurants, a fraction of the price)
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Well, I've definitely slacked off this journal, but I'll give an update now, because circumstances have changed a lot.
I, of course, am assiduously avoiding any work, continuing my life as an international bum. I'm done with Lima, now ensconced for about a year in Madrid (I have a German passport, so staying is not a problem). The new plan is a year in each place, rather than stagnating - future sojourns are Berlin and somewhere in Asia - perhaps Chiang Mai, Thailand or Penang, Malaysia.
Lima isn't a much-loved destination, and indeed it's dirty and ugly and sprawling, but it really became “my city” in a way no other has. I know all its complex geography (I could draw a pretty good map from memory of its 43 districts) and crazy transportation and history and important literature (Vargas Llosa is one of my favorite authors now).
Perhaps the best part, though, was the month and a half trip around South America at the end. After hours on Kayak, I managed to get a multi-destination flight through Bogota, Medellin, Rio, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre for $250 then we long-haul bused it through Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Jujuy, Uyuni, La Paz and Arequipa. We got pretty good local experiences, mostly crashing with friends of friends and sketchy Couchsurfers. I think my favorite country was Colombia - great natural beauty, with the friendliest people I've met in any country. For a city, perhaps Buenos Aires. Brazil was a lot of fun, too, especially Rio, one of the few beautiful cities in Latin America, with all the verdant hills within the city (our house in Copacabana was even invaded by wild monkeys), and of course the beach. We also got the best story in Rio since we got mugged at gunpoint by a couple of twitching junkies. All in all, I spent $1540 on the trip, including travel, lodging, food, tours etc. Since my normal allocation for that time is about $1000, I really only spent $540, not bad for 45 days traveling an entire continent!
Enjoying Madrid right now (after family holidays in the pueblo – Spanish Christmas carols turn out to be much lewder than English), living in La Latina, a very lively district right downtown. Fortunately for me, since I'm not playing any tennis, the price of that centrality is that it's a fifth-floor walk-up, so I do get some exercise.
So far it looks like I'll be able to survive in Madrid on my budget - the only things that are really more expensive than Lima are housing and restaurants. Here was my budget for the first month since moving into my apartment in late January. Target is around $650:
Total: $638
Rent: $360
Utilities+Internet: $40
Household: $54
Groceries: $98
Restaurants: $20 (3 meals)
Entertainment (inc. alcohol): $58
This is an encouraging number, not only because its below budget, but because household will likely be reduced a bit, since there were some one-time moving expenses.
The other good news is I've finally got a little bit of an income stream to take the edge off - online poker. In January, I made $250, and so far this month $330. I'm playing tiny stakes, so the hourly will never be anything worthwhile (under $10/hour this month, though that can improve), but I enjoy playing and improving (I've played thousands of hours of online chess without making a dime), and I can do it while lying in bed. A consistent $300 a month would make 4% withdrawal pretty easy.
And with the stock market being hot, my net worth has risen nicely since the beginning of the thread, now at $216,000, up from $193,000 when I started this thread a year ago. For surviving on a SWR, the first few years are the most important, so good to see.
I, of course, am assiduously avoiding any work, continuing my life as an international bum. I'm done with Lima, now ensconced for about a year in Madrid (I have a German passport, so staying is not a problem). The new plan is a year in each place, rather than stagnating - future sojourns are Berlin and somewhere in Asia - perhaps Chiang Mai, Thailand or Penang, Malaysia.
Lima isn't a much-loved destination, and indeed it's dirty and ugly and sprawling, but it really became “my city” in a way no other has. I know all its complex geography (I could draw a pretty good map from memory of its 43 districts) and crazy transportation and history and important literature (Vargas Llosa is one of my favorite authors now).
Perhaps the best part, though, was the month and a half trip around South America at the end. After hours on Kayak, I managed to get a multi-destination flight through Bogota, Medellin, Rio, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre for $250 then we long-haul bused it through Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Jujuy, Uyuni, La Paz and Arequipa. We got pretty good local experiences, mostly crashing with friends of friends and sketchy Couchsurfers. I think my favorite country was Colombia - great natural beauty, with the friendliest people I've met in any country. For a city, perhaps Buenos Aires. Brazil was a lot of fun, too, especially Rio, one of the few beautiful cities in Latin America, with all the verdant hills within the city (our house in Copacabana was even invaded by wild monkeys), and of course the beach. We also got the best story in Rio since we got mugged at gunpoint by a couple of twitching junkies. All in all, I spent $1540 on the trip, including travel, lodging, food, tours etc. Since my normal allocation for that time is about $1000, I really only spent $540, not bad for 45 days traveling an entire continent!
Enjoying Madrid right now (after family holidays in the pueblo – Spanish Christmas carols turn out to be much lewder than English), living in La Latina, a very lively district right downtown. Fortunately for me, since I'm not playing any tennis, the price of that centrality is that it's a fifth-floor walk-up, so I do get some exercise.
So far it looks like I'll be able to survive in Madrid on my budget - the only things that are really more expensive than Lima are housing and restaurants. Here was my budget for the first month since moving into my apartment in late January. Target is around $650:
Total: $638
Rent: $360
Utilities+Internet: $40
Household: $54
Groceries: $98
Restaurants: $20 (3 meals)
Entertainment (inc. alcohol): $58
This is an encouraging number, not only because its below budget, but because household will likely be reduced a bit, since there were some one-time moving expenses.
The other good news is I've finally got a little bit of an income stream to take the edge off - online poker. In January, I made $250, and so far this month $330. I'm playing tiny stakes, so the hourly will never be anything worthwhile (under $10/hour this month, though that can improve), but I enjoy playing and improving (I've played thousands of hours of online chess without making a dime), and I can do it while lying in bed. A consistent $300 a month would make 4% withdrawal pretty easy.
And with the stock market being hot, my net worth has risen nicely since the beginning of the thread, now at $216,000, up from $193,000 when I started this thread a year ago. For surviving on a SWR, the first few years are the most important, so good to see.
Last edited by JeanPaul on Sat Mar 01, 2014 7:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Thanks for bumping your thread. I've considered this option (not sure how seriously) but I had a lot of minor questions you've already addressed.
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
JeanPaul,
I tried to travel with a plan of "3 months in each location", but ultimately discovered that 6 months is a minimum, but a year is probably more realistic. The main issue is the rental lease, it's not typically easy to get a good deal on a place for less than a 6 month lease. Plus it takes awhile to average out some of the costs, and find the deals and get used to the new place you're in.
Great news that your nest egg is still growing, and that you've managed an income stream from the poker.
I tried to travel with a plan of "3 months in each location", but ultimately discovered that 6 months is a minimum, but a year is probably more realistic. The main issue is the rental lease, it's not typically easy to get a good deal on a place for less than a 6 month lease. Plus it takes awhile to average out some of the costs, and find the deals and get used to the new place you're in.
Great news that your nest egg is still growing, and that you've managed an income stream from the poker.
Re:
Oh great ERE story! 
I've lived in Peru for a year, mainly in Piura. I used to be hot easily. After a couple of weeks in Piura, I got used to the climate. When I came home again, I would be freezing my ass of when it was 68F ^^ The atmosphere is so laid back close to Ecuador, also less air pollution than big cities. I never turned on the airco. Although I seem to read that might be harder for Americans
You can find everything in Peru! Lakes, desserts, beaches, jungles, mountains, big cities, small abandoned cities. This population has so many subcultures and tribes to discover. I love Peru. You can't get bored there. Carnival is so much fun when they throw waterballoons We used to drive around in a pick up truck, full of balloons. You'd better not be around then 
Over the year I was never victim of any frauds, robberies, rapes are anything. Often it's also about luck. I always used to take the cheapest bus for far travels, like the ones locals take. I forgot that a cheap bus arrives in cheap -dangerous - part of the city. Coincidentally I didn't have anymore money anymore to get out of that part of the city, I was out of credit on my phone as well and my bankcard didn't work. I only had a lucky coin of 1 or 2 soles.
I don't remember what part of Lima I arrived in. They were selling guns and knifes on the street and it all looked so grey. I heard some thriller soundtrack in the back of my head ^^ I asked for the way to the fancier parts of town to look for my friends and went there walking based on advice some local gave me. Then a guy on a bicycle said I should get away from there as fast as I can, 'cause I was heading to a very dangerous place apparently. Ah ** I was really stuck Looking around what I should do I spotted an old man with a kid, redrawing some money. I mean an old man can't rape me and I didn't suspect he would rob me either if he was withdrawing money. When he saw me he looked really shocked and like "you shouldn't be here!!". he ushered me to follow him into his house (I read his eyes and it didn't seem like some kind of I'll-torture-and-rape-u-later-on-u-dumb-gringa, although that might be naive. My intuition said it was ok). He offered me a meal, called my friends. We had a wonderful chat. He was so nice and caring. Then a friend came to pick me up. You really need to be lucky and just follow your brains and guts. Peru is full of people like this old man.
I did have friends who had the following: taxi drivers trying to harass them, this one for you: there are organized gangs at the boarder who scam foreigners who are there for their passport stamps. It mainly happens when you take a taxi back. A friend lost all her possessions and passport when the taxidriver threatened her.
Oh wait, I did get robbed But from an unexpected corner. I was living at a family and the cleaning lady robbed money from my bag. I saw it too late. I was so angry 'cause I'm always respectful to them and do as much work myself, because often their bosses can be so disrespectful to the helpers. Ah well, it must have been necessary
I've lived in Peru for a year, mainly in Piura. I used to be hot easily. After a couple of weeks in Piura, I got used to the climate. When I came home again, I would be freezing my ass of when it was 68F ^^ The atmosphere is so laid back close to Ecuador, also less air pollution than big cities. I never turned on the airco. Although I seem to read that might be harder for Americans
You can find everything in Peru! Lakes, desserts, beaches, jungles, mountains, big cities, small abandoned cities. This population has so many subcultures and tribes to discover. I love Peru. You can't get bored there. Carnival is so much fun when they throw waterballoons
We used to drive around in a pick up truck, full of balloons. You'd better not be around then Over the year I was never victim of any frauds, robberies, rapes are anything. Often it's also about luck. I always used to take the cheapest bus for far travels, like the ones locals take. I forgot that a cheap bus arrives in cheap -dangerous - part of the city. Coincidentally I didn't have anymore money anymore to get out of that part of the city, I was out of credit on my phone as well and my bankcard didn't work. I only had a lucky coin of 1 or 2 soles.
I don't remember what part of Lima I arrived in. They were selling guns and knifes on the street and it all looked so grey. I heard some thriller soundtrack in the back of my head ^^ I asked for the way to the fancier parts of town to look for my friends and went there walking based on advice some local gave me. Then a guy on a bicycle said I should get away from there as fast as I can, 'cause I was heading to a very dangerous place apparently. Ah ** I was really stuck
Looking around what I should do I spotted an old man with a kid, redrawing some money. I mean an old man can't rape me and I didn't suspect he would rob me either if he was withdrawing money. When he saw me he looked really shocked and like "you shouldn't be here!!". he ushered me to follow him into his house (I read his eyes and it didn't seem like some kind of I'll-torture-and-rape-u-later-on-u-dumb-gringa, although that might be naive. My intuition said it was ok). He offered me a meal, called my friends. We had a wonderful chat. He was so nice and caring. Then a friend came to pick me up. You really need to be lucky and just follow your brains and guts. Peru is full of people like this old man. I did have friends who had the following: taxi drivers trying to harass them, this one for you: there are organized gangs at the boarder who scam foreigners who are there for their passport stamps. It mainly happens when you take a taxi back. A friend lost all her possessions and passport when the taxidriver threatened her.
Oh wait, I did get robbed
But from an unexpected corner. I was living at a family and the cleaning lady robbed money from my bag. I saw it too late. I was so angry 'cause I'm always respectful to them and do as much work myself, because often their bosses can be so disrespectful to the helpers. Ah well, it must have been necessary Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Ups I didn't see the second part of your threat.
JamesR is right concerning long term cheap travel. The best ROI is when you stay a minimum of 6 months, leveling out all travelcosts and taking advantage of "bulk buys" concerning all aspects of life. Definitely if you're interested in getting to know local language and culture.
JamesR is right concerning long term cheap travel. The best ROI is when you stay a minimum of 6 months, leveling out all travelcosts and taking advantage of "bulk buys" concerning all aspects of life. Definitely if you're interested in getting to know local language and culture.
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Awesome and extremely inspiring thread. This is exactly the kind of information I have been seeking. This will be my goal, and seeing your budget, I may be able to achieve it a lot sooner than expected!
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Well, thought I should update so people don't think I've started working or something! Financially, my retirement is on course, boosted a lot by the rising dollar, since my investments are all in dollars, and my expenses all in Euros.
What's Next
Still living in Madrid, and will 'til the beginning of July (breaking the one year rule) because my girlfriend is finishing up a master's degree. Our plans are pretty much decided for the next step. In the summer we will head to California (the wonder of $400 RT Oakland=Stockholm on Norwegian Airlines!) for 1.5-2 months, hang out with my parents in the Bay Area, take a road trip to see my sister who just moved to Seattle, probably head down to SoCal to see friends and family. My girlfriend's 13 year old sister is going to come along for at least a few of those weeks, with the hope of improving her English by abandoning her at the skate park (and maybe a jazz camp) to make local friends her age. She had always wanted to go to a summer camp in England, but she quickly forgot that dream when she heard the word "California" - we'll see if the Bay Area matches her Hollywood image! Then, right before the weather plunges off a cliff, we'll move to ...Berlin! in September. My German is already coming along pretty well, despite not finding too many opportunities to practice in Madrid - definitely way ahead of my Spanish when I moved to Peru, and now I am totally comfortable in all situations in Spanish.
Deluged with Visitors
One thing about living in Madrid is that you get a LOT of visits. in a 6 week period late late summer, we got seven separate visits staying at our small apartment! One from Northern California, one from Southern California, one from Colorado, one from Brazil, one from France, one from Germany, and one more that I can\t even remember right now (I just remember the number 7). And that was merely in that peak period - just this last week, my friend from elementary school came to visit from LA. As if that wasn't enough, we recently had our first Couchsurfer stay at our house. He stayed 5 nights and didn't buy groceries, wash a dish or cook a meal, but hey, it was fun, and we've Couchsurfed quite a few times, albeit contributing much more (we always buy our own groceries, bring them gifts from our currenty, cook them a Spanish dinner, and take them out to a restaurant).
They Pay us to Travel?!
We've discovered the secret to pretty much free travel... renting our apartment on AirBNB. Our apartment costs only €525 a month, but we can rent it out for €60/night for 3-6 days, and €50/night for a week+. So any traveling we do immediately starts in the green, and we often stay with friends for free. Plus, there's times of pure profit, like when we spent Easter Week in my girlfriend's mountain village and rented it out. Really, it's an amazing business, and we should probably just rent an extra apartment and use it for AirBnB.
Travel Details/bragging
Despite this, we've traveled less than we'd like, but still a bit. When my parents came to visit last year, we met in Berlin, then traveled to Prague and Barcelona, then after a time in Madrid and my girlfriend's village in Avila, went to Cordoba and Granada. Then early this year, I let the airline pricing gods decide our trip, so we headed to Israel for 9 days, then London for 6 (miraculously) sunny days, all flights (Madrid-Milan, Milan-Tel Aviv, Tel-Aviv-London, London-Madrid) for only €120. Unfortunately we didn't have time to see Milan, because we could have stopped over there for a few days for the same price. Oh, and I went back to California for a month last summer, while my girlfriend took advantage to go to the beach in Valencia and to Sicily with her girlfriends.
However, coming up is getting much more exciting. Our Brazilian friend whom we met and stayed with on our trip around South America, and who later came to stay with us in Madrid is now living in Lisbon, so we are going to visit him for 3-4 days next weekend, just a 5.5 hour drive. Then in the beginning of June we are going to Morocco for 7 days (at €40 round trip to another world, it's amazing it's taken so long).
We were already excited, but then we got an unexpected bonus - someone on AirBnb reserved for a random 2 weeks in May for €650! We hadn't been planning to travel then, but the dates worked perfectly (my girlfriend submits her theses on the first day of the booking), so now we are thinking of where to go to vacate the house - maybe to visit friends in Paris or the Canary Islands, maybe closer to home in Seville or Bilbao.
But What do You Do All Day??
This is the inevitable question I get when I say I'm retired. This has always seemed a bit sad to me, that one's interests are so few that one needs to have a boss (or a customer) to tell you what to do. I have always been an expert at enjoying free time - I basically had the same lifestyle for 5 years previously, in college and the last two years of law school, since I rarely went to class.
Of course there's just hanging out with friends - going to a bar and just chatting with friends or family for hours is pretty much the defining feature of Spanish culture, and I can get behind that. Also go to a language exchange at a bar every week, looking for German, although I usually end up just chatting in Spanish or English with people I know.
Given all the visitors, there's a lot of time playing tour guide and exploring the city myself. Besides the stereotypical things they have to see, I always try to see new things myself. This last week with my friend I went to El Escorial for the first time, very impressive, with the tombs of all the Spanish royalty. Also went to La Valle de los Caidos, and hitchhiked up to see Franco's amazingly creepy tomb, a giant penis-shaped fascist-industrial basilica (with fresh flowers to his sweet memory!), lined with candle-lit hooded figures, under a mountain with 500-foot cross. There are also a lot of cool repurposed spaces in Madrid - went to the Tabacalera, an old women's tobacco factory (their smaller fingers were more nimble), which preserves the industrial look, including the washrooms etc, and uses it very well for exhibits about factories, labor etc. which use the space perfectly. It's a bit of a scavenger hunt, because you never know when you go into, say, a bathroom if it'll be just a bathroom, or if there'll be artworks inside.
My tennis definitely slacked over the winter, since i am a California wuss, but playing a bit more in this perfect spring weather. We'll see if my weekly basketball game starts up again. And in my girlfriend's pueblo, volleyball is the hot new sport - over Easter we set up our net every day in the mountain field where people hang out. Of course, soccer would give me all the action I want, but I'm a bit intimidated by all these Spanish wizzes - my days in CYSO are a long way back!
I have always been a super basketball fan, although the time zone is very bad for the NBA. I did head to an Irish pub to see my Warriors thrash the Pelicans in game 1. And actually a couple nights before, I went to the stadium to see Real Madrid beat Istanbul in the Euroleague playoffs - definitely an extravagance for my budget at €25 for a good seat, but I figure I have to go to at least one Real Madrid game, and when better than in the Euroleague playpffs?
Other tickets aren't so expensive, though - the opera is 90% off for EU citizens under 30, so we splurged on €200 seats for our anniversary, and we'll also gotten €80 a couple of times. In the Theater of the Zarzuela, the most historical theater in Madrid, they also have some great deals -I saw a double-feature for €5 - the visibility wasn't perfect, but for an operetta and a musical, you still get most of it.
I read a lot, just finished Tenth of December by George Saunders, which I definitely recommend, surreal black comedy. About to tackle a 600 page book in Spanish, by my favorite Spanish-language author, Vargas Llosa, which is a bit intimidating, since I don't think I've read anything longer than about 250 pages in Spanish. And also going through a nice tour of German children\s literature, along with some abridged versions of German classics for language learners. My girlfriend actually started a reading club, so that has also forced me to read more in Spanish. My TV show expertise is reaching worrisome levels, although since I just watch my particular shows, I still watch way less than the average channel-surfing American (although I often find those statistics hard to believe - how can people be watching 4 hours of television a day?). Movies I've been slacking a bit, although I saw most of the of the Oscar contenders (Boyhood wuz robbed, i tell ya!). and I recently really enjoyed Force Majeure.
I have been experimenting a lot in my cooking, and usually make at least one new recipe a day. I enjoy eating good food, but restaurants here aren't as cheap in Peru, so necessity is the mother of invention. That will be a nice thing about Asia, whenever we get there - great food there is very cheap.
My language learning doesn't take up too much time at this point, since Spanish is passive now, and my German I'll focus on more in Germany. But I have the occasional conversation exchange, I'm keeping my vocabulary fresh with Anki, and I'm reading the aforementioned children's books. I have tried to force my girlfriend and I to talk in Spanish more in the last month or so, since when we are along we speak English 95% of the time.
Poker has been one area of a bit of frustration. After playing on and off for two years online, I realized I have no real talent for the game. I'm a chess player at heart, and I like sure things and perfect moves- I can't really stand the swings of poker, which last longer in real time since I don't play that much, so I trap myself at the lower stakes, where I am a sure winner and the swings are manageable, but which don't allow more than about $4-5/hr. Obviously at that point, it's just for fun, and really the fun is in improvement, and at this point I'm pretty stagnant. So I've had to write it off both as a little side source of income, and also mostly for entertainment. My justification before had been that it was good practice for live poker, where you actually can make decent money without being particularly talented (because players are terrible, and stakes are higher), but in Vegas last summer I played about 20 hours, and discovered the game is just too slow for me - online you get 300-500 hands per hour, and quite a few interesting decision. In live poker, you get 25 hands an hour, and only play 4 or 5 of them. You can go for hours without facing an interesting strategic choice.
Difficulties of Early Retirement
So keeping myself entertained is definitely not a problem, but the other threat of retirement is a bit more real - lack of purpose and progression. When you are in school, no matter how lazy you are, you know you're making progress on something: getting a degree. At a job, you have the little deadlines and projects, and the long-term dreams of promotion and success (although, as Don Draper has discovered, "what's next?). When you are retired, there's a danger of stagnancy and sameness - people generally want to feel like they are working towards something. I think my mobile retirement strategy helps a lot; there's always a new country to explore, a language to learn, and at the very least, the next country to look forward to. And there are always new places to travel to.
Still, sometimes I feel a bit restless Poker was a nice hobby, because there is a very clear progression - you improve in skill, your bankroll grows, and you move up to higher stakes. In fact, it's much better than almost any job - promotion is a pure meritocracy, and can be very quick. The problem with a pure meritocracy is if you don't have much merit, you're left by the wayside.
Tennis at this point doesn't provide much room for progression either. At this age, already past my physical peak, I'm never going to be better than I was when I played seriously on high school and college teams, many times per week. Playing on USTA teams provided some thrills in the team trying to win the league, trying to recruit ringers etc., but that kind of thing doesn't exist in Spain.
I wouldn't mind finding a little venture to earn some extra cash, but in more than two years, I haven't found anything, besides AirBNB landlord. I looked into backing poker players by buying shares in tournament players. In theory, it should be a good business - you essentially act as an ensurer so that the player reduces the massive variance of tournament poker, which is very profitable (more so than the cash poker that I play). However, after spending dozens of hours doing an old-fashioned Excel study of the market, I concluded that it is pretty broken - instead of insurers, the backers act as gamblers, taking a negative expected value for the chance of large wins. There are some +EV plays, but they aren't really worth the hassle. There are people who make money backing players directly, but that takes a seriousness and involvement that I'm not interested in. I've often thought that I should offer some kind of travel service, since I see people paying $1000 for a flight, when I could find a reasonable equivalent for $400, but i don't really know how I would go about it - obviously travel agencies are a saturated field. ViajarBarato (elviajerobuson.com) offers a lot of amazing deals publicly, but I don't know how they monetize it.
What's Next
Still living in Madrid, and will 'til the beginning of July (breaking the one year rule) because my girlfriend is finishing up a master's degree. Our plans are pretty much decided for the next step. In the summer we will head to California (the wonder of $400 RT Oakland=Stockholm on Norwegian Airlines!) for 1.5-2 months, hang out with my parents in the Bay Area, take a road trip to see my sister who just moved to Seattle, probably head down to SoCal to see friends and family. My girlfriend's 13 year old sister is going to come along for at least a few of those weeks, with the hope of improving her English by abandoning her at the skate park (and maybe a jazz camp) to make local friends her age. She had always wanted to go to a summer camp in England, but she quickly forgot that dream when she heard the word "California" - we'll see if the Bay Area matches her Hollywood image! Then, right before the weather plunges off a cliff, we'll move to ...Berlin! in September. My German is already coming along pretty well, despite not finding too many opportunities to practice in Madrid - definitely way ahead of my Spanish when I moved to Peru, and now I am totally comfortable in all situations in Spanish.
Deluged with Visitors
One thing about living in Madrid is that you get a LOT of visits. in a 6 week period late late summer, we got seven separate visits staying at our small apartment! One from Northern California, one from Southern California, one from Colorado, one from Brazil, one from France, one from Germany, and one more that I can\t even remember right now (I just remember the number 7). And that was merely in that peak period - just this last week, my friend from elementary school came to visit from LA. As if that wasn't enough, we recently had our first Couchsurfer stay at our house. He stayed 5 nights and didn't buy groceries, wash a dish or cook a meal, but hey, it was fun, and we've Couchsurfed quite a few times, albeit contributing much more (we always buy our own groceries, bring them gifts from our currenty, cook them a Spanish dinner, and take them out to a restaurant).
They Pay us to Travel?!
We've discovered the secret to pretty much free travel... renting our apartment on AirBNB. Our apartment costs only €525 a month, but we can rent it out for €60/night for 3-6 days, and €50/night for a week+. So any traveling we do immediately starts in the green, and we often stay with friends for free. Plus, there's times of pure profit, like when we spent Easter Week in my girlfriend's mountain village and rented it out. Really, it's an amazing business, and we should probably just rent an extra apartment and use it for AirBnB.
Travel Details/bragging
Despite this, we've traveled less than we'd like, but still a bit. When my parents came to visit last year, we met in Berlin, then traveled to Prague and Barcelona, then after a time in Madrid and my girlfriend's village in Avila, went to Cordoba and Granada. Then early this year, I let the airline pricing gods decide our trip, so we headed to Israel for 9 days, then London for 6 (miraculously) sunny days, all flights (Madrid-Milan, Milan-Tel Aviv, Tel-Aviv-London, London-Madrid) for only €120. Unfortunately we didn't have time to see Milan, because we could have stopped over there for a few days for the same price. Oh, and I went back to California for a month last summer, while my girlfriend took advantage to go to the beach in Valencia and to Sicily with her girlfriends.
However, coming up is getting much more exciting. Our Brazilian friend whom we met and stayed with on our trip around South America, and who later came to stay with us in Madrid is now living in Lisbon, so we are going to visit him for 3-4 days next weekend, just a 5.5 hour drive. Then in the beginning of June we are going to Morocco for 7 days (at €40 round trip to another world, it's amazing it's taken so long).
We were already excited, but then we got an unexpected bonus - someone on AirBnb reserved for a random 2 weeks in May for €650! We hadn't been planning to travel then, but the dates worked perfectly (my girlfriend submits her theses on the first day of the booking), so now we are thinking of where to go to vacate the house - maybe to visit friends in Paris or the Canary Islands, maybe closer to home in Seville or Bilbao.
But What do You Do All Day??
This is the inevitable question I get when I say I'm retired. This has always seemed a bit sad to me, that one's interests are so few that one needs to have a boss (or a customer) to tell you what to do. I have always been an expert at enjoying free time - I basically had the same lifestyle for 5 years previously, in college and the last two years of law school, since I rarely went to class.
Of course there's just hanging out with friends - going to a bar and just chatting with friends or family for hours is pretty much the defining feature of Spanish culture, and I can get behind that. Also go to a language exchange at a bar every week, looking for German, although I usually end up just chatting in Spanish or English with people I know.
Given all the visitors, there's a lot of time playing tour guide and exploring the city myself. Besides the stereotypical things they have to see, I always try to see new things myself. This last week with my friend I went to El Escorial for the first time, very impressive, with the tombs of all the Spanish royalty. Also went to La Valle de los Caidos, and hitchhiked up to see Franco's amazingly creepy tomb, a giant penis-shaped fascist-industrial basilica (with fresh flowers to his sweet memory!), lined with candle-lit hooded figures, under a mountain with 500-foot cross. There are also a lot of cool repurposed spaces in Madrid - went to the Tabacalera, an old women's tobacco factory (their smaller fingers were more nimble), which preserves the industrial look, including the washrooms etc, and uses it very well for exhibits about factories, labor etc. which use the space perfectly. It's a bit of a scavenger hunt, because you never know when you go into, say, a bathroom if it'll be just a bathroom, or if there'll be artworks inside.
My tennis definitely slacked over the winter, since i am a California wuss, but playing a bit more in this perfect spring weather. We'll see if my weekly basketball game starts up again. And in my girlfriend's pueblo, volleyball is the hot new sport - over Easter we set up our net every day in the mountain field where people hang out. Of course, soccer would give me all the action I want, but I'm a bit intimidated by all these Spanish wizzes - my days in CYSO are a long way back!
I have always been a super basketball fan, although the time zone is very bad for the NBA. I did head to an Irish pub to see my Warriors thrash the Pelicans in game 1. And actually a couple nights before, I went to the stadium to see Real Madrid beat Istanbul in the Euroleague playoffs - definitely an extravagance for my budget at €25 for a good seat, but I figure I have to go to at least one Real Madrid game, and when better than in the Euroleague playpffs?
Other tickets aren't so expensive, though - the opera is 90% off for EU citizens under 30, so we splurged on €200 seats for our anniversary, and we'll also gotten €80 a couple of times. In the Theater of the Zarzuela, the most historical theater in Madrid, they also have some great deals -I saw a double-feature for €5 - the visibility wasn't perfect, but for an operetta and a musical, you still get most of it.
I read a lot, just finished Tenth of December by George Saunders, which I definitely recommend, surreal black comedy. About to tackle a 600 page book in Spanish, by my favorite Spanish-language author, Vargas Llosa, which is a bit intimidating, since I don't think I've read anything longer than about 250 pages in Spanish. And also going through a nice tour of German children\s literature, along with some abridged versions of German classics for language learners. My girlfriend actually started a reading club, so that has also forced me to read more in Spanish. My TV show expertise is reaching worrisome levels, although since I just watch my particular shows, I still watch way less than the average channel-surfing American (although I often find those statistics hard to believe - how can people be watching 4 hours of television a day?). Movies I've been slacking a bit, although I saw most of the of the Oscar contenders (Boyhood wuz robbed, i tell ya!). and I recently really enjoyed Force Majeure.
I have been experimenting a lot in my cooking, and usually make at least one new recipe a day. I enjoy eating good food, but restaurants here aren't as cheap in Peru, so necessity is the mother of invention. That will be a nice thing about Asia, whenever we get there - great food there is very cheap.
My language learning doesn't take up too much time at this point, since Spanish is passive now, and my German I'll focus on more in Germany. But I have the occasional conversation exchange, I'm keeping my vocabulary fresh with Anki, and I'm reading the aforementioned children's books. I have tried to force my girlfriend and I to talk in Spanish more in the last month or so, since when we are along we speak English 95% of the time.
Poker has been one area of a bit of frustration. After playing on and off for two years online, I realized I have no real talent for the game. I'm a chess player at heart, and I like sure things and perfect moves- I can't really stand the swings of poker, which last longer in real time since I don't play that much, so I trap myself at the lower stakes, where I am a sure winner and the swings are manageable, but which don't allow more than about $4-5/hr. Obviously at that point, it's just for fun, and really the fun is in improvement, and at this point I'm pretty stagnant. So I've had to write it off both as a little side source of income, and also mostly for entertainment. My justification before had been that it was good practice for live poker, where you actually can make decent money without being particularly talented (because players are terrible, and stakes are higher), but in Vegas last summer I played about 20 hours, and discovered the game is just too slow for me - online you get 300-500 hands per hour, and quite a few interesting decision. In live poker, you get 25 hands an hour, and only play 4 or 5 of them. You can go for hours without facing an interesting strategic choice.
Difficulties of Early Retirement
So keeping myself entertained is definitely not a problem, but the other threat of retirement is a bit more real - lack of purpose and progression. When you are in school, no matter how lazy you are, you know you're making progress on something: getting a degree. At a job, you have the little deadlines and projects, and the long-term dreams of promotion and success (although, as Don Draper has discovered, "what's next?). When you are retired, there's a danger of stagnancy and sameness - people generally want to feel like they are working towards something. I think my mobile retirement strategy helps a lot; there's always a new country to explore, a language to learn, and at the very least, the next country to look forward to. And there are always new places to travel to.
Still, sometimes I feel a bit restless Poker was a nice hobby, because there is a very clear progression - you improve in skill, your bankroll grows, and you move up to higher stakes. In fact, it's much better than almost any job - promotion is a pure meritocracy, and can be very quick. The problem with a pure meritocracy is if you don't have much merit, you're left by the wayside.
Tennis at this point doesn't provide much room for progression either. At this age, already past my physical peak, I'm never going to be better than I was when I played seriously on high school and college teams, many times per week. Playing on USTA teams provided some thrills in the team trying to win the league, trying to recruit ringers etc., but that kind of thing doesn't exist in Spain.
I wouldn't mind finding a little venture to earn some extra cash, but in more than two years, I haven't found anything, besides AirBNB landlord. I looked into backing poker players by buying shares in tournament players. In theory, it should be a good business - you essentially act as an ensurer so that the player reduces the massive variance of tournament poker, which is very profitable (more so than the cash poker that I play). However, after spending dozens of hours doing an old-fashioned Excel study of the market, I concluded that it is pretty broken - instead of insurers, the backers act as gamblers, taking a negative expected value for the chance of large wins. There are some +EV plays, but they aren't really worth the hassle. There are people who make money backing players directly, but that takes a seriousness and involvement that I'm not interested in. I've often thought that I should offer some kind of travel service, since I see people paying $1000 for a flight, when I could find a reasonable equivalent for $400, but i don't really know how I would go about it - obviously travel agencies are a saturated field. ViajarBarato (elviajerobuson.com) offers a lot of amazing deals publicly, but I don't know how they monetize it.
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Good to see an update. As others have stated, your journal is very enjoyable.
If you don't mind sharing, I'm curious to hear what your path was to ERE.
If you don't mind sharing, I'm curious to hear what your path was to ERE.
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Wow, I haven't been on this site in forever! Life has gotten crazy, I'm glad I subscribed to your thread to suck me back in! Thanks for the update!
I have recently been looking into the Forex market. You can do a free trial at many sites after some reading and learning about it. On the free trial you basically play the live market with fake money to see how you do. When you feel confident you switch over to a live account. I put in $1,000 after about a month of playing around, and have been averaging about 5%-10% a day profit. If played safely it may be something to look into.
I have recently been looking into the Forex market. You can do a free trial at many sites after some reading and learning about it. On the free trial you basically play the live market with fake money to see how you do. When you feel confident you switch over to a live account. I put in $1,000 after about a month of playing around, and have been averaging about 5%-10% a day profit. If played safely it may be something to look into.
Re: Journal of 25 y/o American retiring to 3rd world country
Well, my path was pretty simple. I graduated from college at 20, went to law school on a more than full scholarship, worked as a BigLaw summer associate ($3k/week), got a stipend before starting work ($10,000), worked in Biglaw ($160K + crappy bonus/year), got three months severance. Even though I didn't work that much in total, because of the summer associateship in one year, starting work in late fall of the next year, and then having severance at the beginning of a final year, my income was spread over many tax years, and my tax burden was minimal. I put 5K in my Roth IRA every year I could, even when my earnings were tiny before law school, and ended up earning real money (and investing almost all of in internationally diversified index funds) at the perfect moment, when the market was in a deep trough.
Despite all this, I only had about $200K. I was intending to save more like 500K before taking the plunge, but being laid off jump-started things. I actually did some interviewing, and was about to go to a final interview at a BigLaw firm, one of two remaining candidates, when I realized how much I would hate it, and went off to Peru instead. I may not really have enough (though I hope I do), but I have enough to last for at least 20 years, and presumably during that time I will find some way to scrounge up some spare change not too painfully.
Of course, the danger is that should tragedy strike or should I develop a sudden taste for luxury cars and fine wines, I am now essentially unemployable due to gaps in my resume. My one fallback is document review (basically being hired as cheap labor by a big firm sit to look hour after hour through potential evidence and determine if it relevant and/or privileged)- it's a miserable, thankless job with no possibility of advancement, but it is skillless, flexible and pays $35/hour (and $40-45/hour for Spanish, maybe $50-55/hr for German). Or there's tutoring, but I hate teaching.
"The vast majority of day traders lose money. In the average year during our 1992–2006 sample period, about 450,000 Taiwanese individuals engaged in day trading. Among thousands of occasional day traders in the average year, 277,000 individuals engaged in day trades in excess of $NT 600,000 per year (about $US 20,000) and about 20% of these day traders earn positive abnormal returns net of fees (commissions and transaction taxes). Of course, some outperformance would be expected by sheer luck."
"We document that only the 4,000 most profitable day traders (less than 1% of the total population of day traders) from the prior year go
on to earn reliably positive abnormal returns net of trading costs in the subsequent year."
http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/odean/ ... 0Skill.pdf
It's possible you are a superstar, but likely you are not (and pretty much 100% of daytraders THINK they are the exception, or they wouldn't be doing it). And my guess is that there is even less room for profit in Forex than stocks, since there's no long-term positive trend, and the stock market is much more complex, with the possibility of some little inefficiency you can find hidden in a corner.
Despite all this, I only had about $200K. I was intending to save more like 500K before taking the plunge, but being laid off jump-started things. I actually did some interviewing, and was about to go to a final interview at a BigLaw firm, one of two remaining candidates, when I realized how much I would hate it, and went off to Peru instead. I may not really have enough (though I hope I do), but I have enough to last for at least 20 years, and presumably during that time I will find some way to scrounge up some spare change not too painfully.
Of course, the danger is that should tragedy strike or should I develop a sudden taste for luxury cars and fine wines, I am now essentially unemployable due to gaps in my resume. My one fallback is document review (basically being hired as cheap labor by a big firm sit to look hour after hour through potential evidence and determine if it relevant and/or privileged)- it's a miserable, thankless job with no possibility of advancement, but it is skillless, flexible and pays $35/hour (and $40-45/hour for Spanish, maybe $50-55/hr for German). Or there's tutoring, but I hate teaching.
It's tempting to look for shortcuts, but this will almost certainly not turn out well, so I would be very careful. If one could get 5% per day, one would quickly become the richest person in the world. In one year, $10,000 would become $542 billion dollars. OK, maybe you are not claiming it is scalable, but trust me, nobody makes 5% per day, and 99% lose money long-term.Psyksis wrote:Wow, I haven't been on this site in forever! Life has gotten crazy, I'm glad I subscribed to your thread to suck me back in! Thanks for the update!
I have recently been looking into the Forex market. You can do a free trial at many sites after some reading and learning about it. On the free trial you basically play the live market with fake money to see how you do. When you feel confident you switch over to a live account. I put in $1,000 after about a month of playing around, and have been averaging about 5%-10% a day profit. If played safely it may be something to look into.
"The vast majority of day traders lose money. In the average year during our 1992–2006 sample period, about 450,000 Taiwanese individuals engaged in day trading. Among thousands of occasional day traders in the average year, 277,000 individuals engaged in day trades in excess of $NT 600,000 per year (about $US 20,000) and about 20% of these day traders earn positive abnormal returns net of fees (commissions and transaction taxes). Of course, some outperformance would be expected by sheer luck."
"We document that only the 4,000 most profitable day traders (less than 1% of the total population of day traders) from the prior year go
on to earn reliably positive abnormal returns net of trading costs in the subsequent year."
http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/odean/ ... 0Skill.pdf
It's possible you are a superstar, but likely you are not (and pretty much 100% of daytraders THINK they are the exception, or they wouldn't be doing it). And my guess is that there is even less room for profit in Forex than stocks, since there's no long-term positive trend, and the stock market is much more complex, with the possibility of some little inefficiency you can find hidden in a corner.