C40's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
theanimal
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by theanimal »

Nice! One of my sisters spent some time traveling in SEA and Cambodia was by far her favorite country. I'll be interested in reading your observations.

RealPerson
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by RealPerson »

I would also recommend looking at Malaysia. Super friendly people.

RealPerson
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by RealPerson »

As for COVID in Vietnam, I don't know if I would let the infection rate be the deciding or even a significant factor. Severe COVID is a disease associated with metabolic syndrome and its well known causes and various manifestations. Being in great shape like you, I suspect that you really don't have anything to worry about. And omicron is so contagious, you will be exposed wherever you go. Just go where you want to go and have a great time, anywhere in SEA.

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

RealPerson wrote:
Fri Mar 25, 2022 3:49 pm
As for COVID in Vietnam, I don't know if I would let the infection rate be the deciding or even a significant factor. Severe COVID is a disease associated with metabolic syndrome and its well known causes and various manifestations. Being in great shape like you, I suspect that you really don't have anything to worry about. And omicron is so contagious, you will be exposed wherever you go. Just go where you want to go and have a great time, anywhere in SEA.

Yes, I agree. The primary way this would impact my decision is what Jacob mentioned - with current PCR requirements for moving between countries, there is the possibility of testing hot (including for some time period after recovering). That could be quite annoying if it occurs at the end of a visa without the normal extension methods possible. For Vietnam, I think their cases will have peaked and went down by the time I would arrive

Something I've started considering is to take a Vietnamese language learning course at a University in Vietnam. I could do this for one year or and perhaps longer (or possibly continue as a student by taking some classes taught in Vietnamese). The cost is reasonable. I need to do some more research on the course, student visas, etc. A big consideration is also that it would lock me into the location for 10 months out of the year, while I'd prefer to be 'stuck' there less than that.

Humanofearth
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Humanofearth »

I’ve been in your situation before. In the end, I appreciated the stability but was bored out of my mind and anxious to leave by the last 5 months. Fortunately for me, they were accepting of me skipping a few months to travel the country. You can do this by front loading some lessons (ie-study double first half of year and free second half), studying online, or maybe they’ll be fine with you skipping a little as long as immigration thinks you’re still progressing since it saves them money. You can also leave the country early but then you lose some capital. Another option is (maybe not possible in Vietnam) to pay for half the year now and pay to extend in 6 months rather than paying all at once.

The school also had an option to study in another city for 1-2 months and I realize that would’ve been a great getaway.

Learning the language will also make Vietnam a completely different experience for the rest of your life. You’ll better integrate and the locals will accept you, give you better rates, gifts, families will be more accepting of you, the benefits go on even after your studies finish.

The other possibility is a work visa teaching English, this takes more time but you’re also put in a respected position and could likely stay as long as you desire.

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

Humanofearth wrote:
Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:22 pm
I’ve been in your situation before...
Oh, cool.

The classes I'm hoping for would be in the same city I lived previously. I lived there for 1.5 years straight, spending only about 15 nights outside of the city. I loved living there, didn't want to leave, and I have a strong desire to go back. If things work out well for me, I can see myself wanting to stay for many years.

Previously, when I was thinking about getting a job, I was trying to think of ways to work the least amount possible (and expect that the pay might be nearly nothing), to be able to work remotely for periods of time, etc. I did have one job possibility where I would have been able to do that. Knowing Vietnamese would help even more with it.

If my language courses could have the kind of flexibility you mentioned, that would be one of the best ways I can imagine to live there. (given that currently I would probably need to either study, work, or be married to stay). With my desire to stay a long time, I should obviously learn Vietnamese well as it will make other methods of integrating in society and of getting long term visas and residence more accessible.

Did you get a student visa while there? Could you share any information with me about that? (how difficult was it to get it? Easier than a work permit and visa? Would it have been possible to continue studying slowly, staying enrolled at the university for numerous years and getting student visas the whole time? feel free to DM if you prefer that instead)

theanimal
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by theanimal »

How’s life in Cambodia?

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

Gonna be quiet in here for a little while, because:
1 - Busy
2 - Thinking about some changes with the journal

2Birds1Stone
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Hey, C40.

Read your post in the "What do you retirees do all day" thread and was wondering what you've been up to.

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mountainFrugal
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

I am also interested in what you are up to these days. I occasionally randomly select a tab in your journal to look at some charts, van stuff, cool plant gardens or various travel photos.

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

Hello. I'm doing well. I'm living in Asia now for a fairly long-term duration. I'm spending a lot of time learning a language, doing normal life/hobby things, and looking for a good girlfriend that would be a good long term partner.

Being busy with those is one reason why I don't post much here. The other reason is related to changes I want to make to this journal. (both cleaning up some parts of old posts, which will take a lot of time, and also thoughts on changes of the type of thing I want to post in the future - hopefully a shift to share some more specific information and ideas on efforts to live well (post retirement)

ertyu
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by ertyu »

C40 wrote:
Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:41 pm
Hello. I'm doing well. I'm living in Asia now for a fairly long-term duration.
Which countries are least immigrationally complicated for this purpose? Where are you now and how much of a pain was it?

2Birds1Stone
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

If you figure out how to clean up old posts here, please share with the class.

jacob
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by jacob »

2Birds1Stone wrote:
Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:37 am
If you figure out how to clean up old posts here, please share with the class.
You send me PM with a list of posts to be deleted or sentences/paragraphs to be edited out. It'll take me a few days depending on the size of the list. In extreme cases, I can wipe the entire journal, but consider the loss to the community/those who come after and those who commented on the journal hoping to answer others as well.

Also note that deleting stuff on the forum doesn't remove it from the internet. It can still be found in various archives and wayback machines. If the goal is to be anonymous it may be a better strategy to simply avoid drawing attention. E.g. if the paranoia is actually justified and the forum journal is 200 posts but the wayback version of the journal is 300 posts, curious people might want to investigate, whereas a small difference of a handful of posts is not "exciting".

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

ertyu wrote:
Wed Dec 14, 2022 1:36 am
Which countries are least immigrationally complicated for this purpose? Where are you now and how much of a pain was it?
If comparing the whole world, it is quite complicated and in some cases depends a lot on which country you have a passport from. There are also differences in types of visas - how easy they are to get, how long they can last, and how complex/good/bad it is to do the thing in the country that you have the visa for.

I have a student visa and study at a university. This is not done by many people in Asia but might be a great option for retired people who don't want to work. I like this because I wanted to learn the language already, so I have two big reasons to do it. I believe a university is a more secure source of a visa than most employers, and I have numerous other reasons why I don't want to work in LCOL parts of the world (low pay, more annoyances and potential problems than U.S. employers).

Some time ago I was using this to check on the status of tourist visas in Southeast Asia: https://southeastasiabackpacker.com/cor ... east-asia/ it was especially useful when the rules were changing quickly in early/mid 2022. There is also: https://www.passportindex.org/ which is a bit tough to navigate at first but has info for the whole world.
Last edited by C40 on Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Salathor
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Salathor »

C40 wrote:
Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:41 pm
Hello. I'm doing well. I'm living in Asia now for a fairly long-term duration.
How are you liking Asia take two? Did you experience from last time color this trip at all, or are you coming at it totally fresh, or does it just feel like a continuation of your first trip?

ertyu
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by ertyu »

C40 wrote:
Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:37 pm
I have a student visa and study at a university.
wise. thanks for answering

guitarplayer
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by guitarplayer »

Hi, how do you find the air quality in South East Asia? I have been to South America recently and the air quality there was very poor compared to where I normally live (UK). It was consistent everywhere except in a couple very remote places like a finca that produces coffee and has coffee fields all round it or a hostel in a remote spot on the pacific coast.

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

guitarplayer wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:21 am
Hi, how do you find the air quality in South East Asia? I have been to South America recently and the air quality there was very poor compared to where I normally live (UK). It was consistent everywhere except in a couple very remote places like a finca that produces coffee and has coffee fields all round it or a hostel in a remote spot on the pacific coast.
It's one of the biggest drawbacks. It is REALLY bad. At best, it is worse than anywhere in the US

It can be mitigated by some amount - perhaps a large amount, by:
1 - Living in the parts of SEA with cleaner air. It varies quite a lot.
2 - Air filtration at home (this makes a big difference as a large portion of life is at home)
3 - Checking air quality and adjusting behaviors (less time outside on bad days and could wear an n95 mask if motivated enough... more time outside on clean days)

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Seppia
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Seppia »

It’s good to hear from you even if sporadically.
Hope you’re doing great in SE Asia.

The study visa is exceptionally underrated in my opinion.
It opens up the opportunity to live freely in countries that are otherwise very hard to crack (legally).
One prime example is Japan - super easy to get a student visa / VERY hard to stay long term otherwise.

The obvious drawback is that one isn’t normally allowed to work, but should not be a huge issue for this community in many cases.

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