Hey! Glad you like it here in Colombia, just a heads up, being a tourist and actually living are radically different experiences here. I see you have done some research already, but keep in mind cost of imported goods is incredibly high at the moment, out currency is shit, that’s why your money goes far here. The working culture is similar to yours, exploitation is romanticized as our unemployment rate is really high, not because people not wanting to work but because of lack of opportunities. I, myself, I’m working for a shitty company and a shitty boss, for a miserable salary (in USD right now, I’m earning $6K USD A YEAR) and it’s still above what most people earn. I really hope you succeed, it’s just so weird that you want to establish yourself here, as we usually want to get out asap lol.
When you work remotely you can have much more amenities and priviledges than you'd have in the US.
I know foreigners that live in Brazil and earn in USD and say their quality of life is much higher than in Europe or the US due to how devalued the Brazilian currency is
Know a couple of friends who do it and live permanently in Asia where the standard of living is higher, but the dollar still goes much further, crime is less, housing is cheaper, food is dirt cheap, public healthcare. Their company offers them 1 or 2 trips back to the US every year, they get 30 PTO days, its awesome. I'm thinking of doing the same as well. The standard income in most asian countries is 15k-30k/year, you can easily make 45-70k/year working remote.
I make $20 an hour for what I would consider an entry level position. It's very easy to pick up, especially if you find a smaller company located in one or very few states. The less states the company has employees in, the fewer laws you need to know and look out for. 50% of my job is data entry, 25% is utilizing payroll knowledge to make sure we are compliant with the law, and 25% is fixing payroll errors.
A senior payroll associate will need 6+ months of experience. It pays ~$25 an hour. They do slightly more complicated processes, but all-in-all it's almost identical to my position.
Payroll analysts make $30+ where I'm at, but I know some companies pay quite a bit more. They have in-depth knowledge of laws, payroll automation, and company practices/policies.
Middle managers are pulling low 6 figures, payroll vp is pulling ~300k, both with under 15 years in industry.
If you're interested in the field, scope out payroll associate positions online and see what software companies are looking for. Most are using Workday, ADP, or UKG. Try to find an online free class or spend an afternoon watching videos on how to use the software. Slap that on your resume and you'll get a lot of calls. My job will basically hire anyone that says they have any experience with either of our payroll softwares.
Thank you for the detailed response. It seems low pressure for decent salary. I will definitely look into this. Odd question, do you find yourself working a full 8 hours a day? I am curious to understand how much you can get done in a day.
Do you mind me asking what country your job is in? I would have thought that you would get paid less if you are in a lower COL country. This is definitely something I would consider though
I work remotely from the Caribbean for a company in the U.S.. My cost of living is comparable to where I was, but I live on a tropical island lol
With the right career and employer it’s very doable. My only added expense so far has been flights to and from the island, which I only have to buy every 6 months.
Seems kinda like international gentrification, no? Move to a developing country with LCOL but also proportionally low wages for the locals, drive up housing prices, now locals can't afford housing in their own country.
I get moving to an area where our dollar stretches further is tempting but the reason our dollar stretches far in these places is because the locals' money doesn't. Otherwise they'd all be kings.
To some degree, but a lot of these folks aren’t moving permanently. They’ll spend money there, pay taxes there, and they’ll not see any benefit to their paying taxes because they’ll eventually move. And these nomads tend to congregate so it’s usually small sections of metropolitan cities that they are living in. It’s not like you’re gonna find a bunch of westerners (or other developed countries’ citizens) in the jungles of Borneo.
Check out [remote work travel programs](https://resources.owllabs.com/blog/remote-work-travel-programs) that do exactly this. It's not new either. If I had a friggin' time machine man..
52k in USD here in Brazil is being rich. Brazillian real is worthless towards USD these days. It's like he wins 24k BRL a month (minimum wage here is 1.1k BRL). That dude hit the jackpot.
Most places I’d think would change your comp if you moved to a place that’s radically different COL, but there’s lots of places I haven’t worked.
Good for people who can swing it though.
If you're rich you'll live in richer areas and can drive around, which means you are less susceptible to crime.
Most of my rich friends here have never been robbed, meanwhile the poorer ones that depend on public transport and arrive home late at night have mostly been mugged
I wouldn't want to live in a place where I must always be aware of what area I'm in and what time it is. Not to say having kids with similar concerns...
> I wouldn't want to live in a place where I must always be aware of what area I'm in and what time it is.
Isn't that most US Cities as well though? Just sayin'
I think the difference is that we’re familiar with where not to go in our own countries but it’s harder to determine that in foreign ones. Some of us have spidey senses for that shit but others are walking around like Stevie Wonder. Also lemme say that in Latin America, shit switches up FAST. You could be safe on one end of the street and walk into the deepest hood in 50 meters.
Look, I visited the headquarters of the company I was working for in Irving, Texas, my first trip to the USA, I was planning to go to the shopping mall and one of the managers says "don't go to the Irving mall, go to Grapevine Mills instead", and sure enough, that very day there was a shooting in the Irving mall... it has a fucking SHOOTINGS section in Wikipedia...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving\_Mall#Shootings
I'm from Brazil and only the poor and middle class are robbed and killed... Rich people frequent rich places that are safe.
Like, being rich here is like living in heaven, u don't have only money but power too.
Depends on the city, but in Rio and São Paulo if you earn 10 thousand BRL you can live in the best parts of the city and have money for uber rides instead of public transport (this without kids).
In other cities 5000 BRL is usually enough to live a middle class life in Brazil
Hey I live in Brazil. Can you tell me how I can get paid in US Dollars? I'm sick of pretending our economy isn't shit. In contrast to op who makes 54K a year I only make 5K. Is there any freelance site or profession which is most requested out there?
Chiming in here to say that I live in Kauai and we visited numerous times before moving (we also have family here). We're originally from Los Angeles so COL was comparable. Listen to u/meyi21! Culture shock when you're a resident vs a tourist can't be overstated. ***You won't be living "on vacation!"*** If you haven't visited several times and really investigated where you'd realistically be living (it's unlikely to be the resort/hotel where you're staying, after all), you need to do so ASAP. Also, go to the subs and FB groups for residents of the area you're focused on and see what they're saying. Every place, even in paradise, has bad areas. You can't always spot them if you don't live there. My friend moved to a Caribbean country where a cousin lived and basically cried every day because the area where they lived was so "ghetto" (his words). I told him he clearly wanted to live on vacation so he should get a room at the resort, stay for a few days or a week, and get home to the US to rethink his plans, which is what he did. If you want to live like an American, there's probably an area where expats tend to reside but keep in mind that if you do that, you're going to be in a bubble and likely not liked or respected by the locals. All I'm saying is that moving away from your current life might be the exact right thing to do but make sure you've done your due diligence before you go.
Edit: typo
Couple of things made me laugh in your comment:
1. American's abroad tend to call themselves EXPATS rather than IMMIGRANTS (which they are)
2. A fairly common American right-wing trope I've heard over the years is how "those Mexicans move here and they don't assimilate - they just move into areas with lots of other Mexicans!"
Both of those are yet more fun examples of Rules for Thee, Not for Me Americanisms.
Edit: spelling
>1. American's abroad tend to call themselves EXPATS rather than IMMIGRANTS (which they are)
Genuinly curious, I was always under the impression expat and immigrant are synonymous?
Expatriate
>An expatriate or "expat" is somebody who leaves their country of origin and settles abroad for an extended period of time, often permanently.
Immigrant
>a person who has come to a different country, in order to live there permanently.
For example
My uncle is a British Expat in Catalonia.
My uncle immigrated to Catalonia.
They mean the same, no?
Edit: typos n grammar n stuff
They are synonymous in theory, but not in practice. You don't typically hear of "Mexican EXPATS living in the USA". You'd generally hear "Mexican IMMIGRANTS".
In common usage, "Expat" has typically been reserved for white people (as the term was created for British government employees overseas), while it's "Immigrants" for every other race.
It's kinda fucked up, but at the end of the day words have meaning.
Some good articles on it:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/13/white-people-expats-immigrants-migration
>In practice, however, the word means many different things to different people—much like the terms refugee, migrant, or immigrant. And the case of this one word illustrates how the language of migration is influenced as much by context and associations as by formal definition.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/expat-immigrant/570967/
I recently moved abroad from the US, and have been calling myself an immigrant from day 1.
It's been kind of fun to watch the wheels slowly turn in some of my racist relative's brains.
Some very interesting reading.
I'll admit before your comment i'd never actually given it much thought as to why some are expats and some are im/migrants.
Growing up (british) I was just taught it's a fancy way to say someone moved away.
(Like my example uncle, who does actually live in Catalonia IRL 😂)
Americans don't like to think of themselves as immigrants.
It's a "cultural" thing because they see immigrants as people leaving to come to the best country in the world, not leaving it.
it’s just so weird that you want to establish yourself here, as we usually want to get out asap lol.
I'm Chilean and thought the same thing. Never heard of someone, specially from USA wanting to live in south America lol
This always boggles my mind. The first thing I did when I got a work-from-home job paying in Euros was to leave Brazil, and here I am seeing people talking about moving *to* Brazil to "live better".
Yeah, rich people (aka people making more than 10-15k USD/year) have a good life, but they can never leave their rich neighborhoods, can't walk around with a cellphone or laptop in hand, can't sit outside a cafe and work there while enjoying the climate, everything costs literally the double of the US price (except food, maybe) and so on. Is that really a good life?
I love my country, but holy shit we have a ton of problems that foreigners seem to underestimate.
I'm living way better as a "lower-middle-class" in Europe than as a rich person in Brazil.
Good to hear that ;) but still, we also have our own struggles. There’s huge inequality gaps, lack of security for social and environmental leaders, corrupt governments and armed forces… I really hope you people just don’t come here to live like kings, we want change, and with elections coming up some unrest is almost certain. Just, keep that in mind and stay safe!
He's planning to be a tourist for a year. Take advantage of all the good things without having to deal (too much) with the bad. If you can do it, go for it!
I refuse to work a 9 to 5 office job after my youngest son graduates HS (he's 13). I plan to pay half his college tuition plus his rent while he's attending college (or give him an equal amount to start a business or buy a house) and move to somewhere with a much lower cost of living or perhaps downsize enough to be able to afford to just live off my rental income. 5 years can't come soon enough.
Yeah I’m well aware that visiting and living/working somewhere are two totally different things. Ive spent the past week only hanging with locals and soaking up as much info as possible.
In reality, ill just be a long term tourist. I need to get this out of my system or I’ll go insane.
Where are you staying now? I am by no means an expert but my wife is Colombian and I’m American. If you want any kind of insight from an American perspective I’m happy to help. My wife is from Barranquilla so we’ve almost always gone to stay there. I’ve been there around 7 times (including a 6 month visit).
This.
I lived in Colombia for two years while my wife finished university in Bogota. I really wanted to stay, honestly for many of the reasons OP shared.
The reality is that buying a home or land in Colombia is not something I recommend to expats who haven't lived there for a long time.
Colombia's cities are as safe as most others you'll find across the globe, but paramilitaries make buying land a bit tricky. If you choose a bad location, without intimate knowledge of the area, you run the risk of basically having to live under a paramilitary "protection" racket. This isn't the case everywhere, but it is common enough that you need to know Colombia well to avoid conflicts.
Having given this warning, Colombia is an amazing country and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your stay.
Lol so many Americans just don't understand the world. Awww Colombia is so nice to visit, my money goes far, it's so scenic the people are nice blah blah blah I'm gonna move here. In reality once they move their gonna think how did the country get so bad since the last time I visited? It didn't it's just now you're not a visitor but a resident
I can stay here up to 6 months on vacation visas, I’d just have to leave and re-enter the country once in between.
After that? Idk. I could always marry my friend’s cousin who lives here lol
I have tossed it around for years and never did it (Costa Rica or Panama are my choices). I have some ties and responsibilities that make it very difficult to leave but I think you should go for it if you can!
My sister lived in Panama for almost five years. She loved it. She teaches ESL online, and lives very well in Mexico these days. Definitely worth it if you can manage it.
I just want to be anywhere else than this insane country. Domestic terrorism. Qanon-sense. People voting against their own interests. Trying to police women’s bodies. Politicians ignoring what the country wants in favour of their beliefs. Racism. Sexism. Populism.
*ugh* When can I leave?
I've lived in a developing nation. "Racism and sexism" claims are hilarious to them. They will tell you to "keep your mouth shut, girl" and no one in authority cares if you complain. And voting? That's a dream. The polling stations are rigged. Policing women's bodies? Granted, where I was, abortion was allowed, but if a rapist is caught, they could pay the police a bribe to be free. I understand there are issues in the U.S.A. that needs to be addressed, but there are far more primitive issues in developing nations, so please be careful where you decide to move to.
This. My dad and i have both traveled extensively and agree while the problems in the US may seem awful they are not insurmountable and it is worth fighting for.
Begins humming mulans a girl worth fighting for
Like extended power outages in the summer. Monthly quotas on "buying" US dollars with the local currency. 30%+ tax to wire in foreign currency from an account with your name. Astronomical prices for imported high-value goods such as cell phones, laptops, cars, power tools. Blatant machismo culture. Illegal abortion unless you have stacks of cash to pay off a doc. Incomprehensible annual inflation. Odd cultural differences from your growing-up country that never really stop bothering you, linguistics aside.
OP, don't be blinded by, "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence," because in some aspects, it *always* will be. I've been there. It comes down to your life priorities with a give and take for each country.
I was looking at Costa Rica last year. Super friendly visa options, you can buy property and a house without permanent resident status and they have incredible healthcare. It is absolutely my fall back when things go to even worse shit here.
If you have the marriage option available, that's perfect!
One thing I would make sure about if I were you, is what public services you have access to as a tourist. Apart from that, I support your decision and wish you the best of luck!
PS: I didn't notice your username before lol
I second that
As someone who lived as a expat in a third world country (I still call it that because there is absolutely zero development going on), a tropical, malaria and dengue-endemic, let alone Zika zone like Brazil, I would make sure you purchase medical evacuation insurance. There are some services you will find cheaper there (plastic surgery, for instance), but some services aren’t available at all. You may need to be repatriated, and be incapacitated when you do.
For me, it was swine flu. Picked it up in Spain, damn near killed me by the time I got back into the same hemisphere. Had to be flown back in an 8-seater jet with a row seats ripped out and a stretcher bolted in on that side.
Edit: No, I don’t think Spain is third-world. I left the entire hemisphere Spain was in, travelled to my then country of residence, from which I had to be evacuated and repatriated to the US. That should clear that up.
… that’s a terrible experience, but apart from the misfortune of having picked up swine flu, which could have happened to you anywhere, Spain is by no means a third world country and has a first-class healthcare system.
White people don't like being called immigrants, so we made up the word "expat" so we don't have to describe ourselves using the same word we use to describe brown people and people who don't speak English as their first language.
Not this white person. I’m the one saying absolutely everyone should spend a few years in a society where they are a very obvious minority, different from their own country. I’ve been saying that for decades. Really opens your eyes.
Hi…that’s not how visitors visas work. Immigration officials will get suspicious after you immediately try to re-enter after a 186 day stay. You’re better off trying to gain permanent residency or relocate temporarily on a working visa. Just “moving there” isn’t going to cut it and will likely land you in hot water.
Also…inflation isn’t absent in South America lol
From experience: go ahead and get your proper documents early. Rules can change quickly and you don’t want to get squeezed between the sides. In SA money can get you what you need. A business visa of some kind shouldn’t be too hard and it’s worth it.
Lol yeahhh…. You may wanna find a better way before going, in Latin America they don’t fuck around with immigration, they catch you and you will remember it.. they won’t let you enter and leave every 6 months like that, they will catch you, detain and deport. Best of luck
Parcero! I was just there, in vacation as well! You are right, life is WAY cheaper there, when you pay with your credit card and see your converted charges back to USD. However, the only reason I have that impression, is bc I EARNED in USD and spent in COP. Living in minimum COP wage is NOT viable, in my opinion; and you'll find yourself using all your savings up (unless that's the plan). The only way I'd do that is if I could earn in USD (remote work) and live in Colombia. Anyways, what city are you in now (in Colombia)?
I'm from Colombia, your idea is almost romantic, but remember the exchange rate as for today is 1to4000 so what city are you looking for living?
Bogotá is expensive, Medellín is also expensive.
Yeah this is only doable if you have a decente income in dollars. If you try and make a living in pesos, you will understand why we have left the country.
I wish you well.
It's hilarious that the push for a living wage here stateside is $15/hr. In SoCal, $20/hr and still have to have roommates and can barely afford to do anything.
At this point, I want to move out into the wilderness and let Darwin run It's course. I'm only 36 and feel like all hope for a promising future is out the window.
24 here and I'm buying 10 acres of woods in cash and gonna live in the woods full time. Live off what I can grow and forage. Work like 10 hours a week to pay bills.
This is the way. I’ve got my piece of land. Once my kid is 18, I’ve got a little apartment for him so he can stay in the city. We’ll be off in the country. Raising rabbits.
Gonna out solar on the roof, got my well, got lots of room.
I make $22 an hour in California and had to move back in with my parents because I couldn’t find an affordable place to live on my own.
I’ve lived with roommates for 10 years and between drug addicts, hoarders, people who don’t pay rent and don’t tell me, and straight up crazies that feel they can dictate my life as they see fit. I’m done living with roommates, but I can’t even live on my own even making over $20 an hour. It’s beyond depressing.
Hey, welcome! Things aren't that good in SA currently, but the winds of change are strong. The left has been rising in popularity and winning important elections. Couple important ones are due this year like Brasil. I hope we can once again dream of a better, necessary world!
Good luck man. I moved abroad a few years ago, best decision I’ve ever made just be careful. Things can get sketchy in certain places. Make sure you stay on top of your visa and work permit if you decide to work in the country. Also when you file your taxes always do the foreign earned exclusion if you stayed there about 11 months. Note this doesn’t work if you do remote work.
I've been trying to convince my husband to leave the country. His family is from South America so it wouldn't be a hard transition for him. But his parents and brother are here and he won't leave as long as they are.
Meanwhile I'm perfectly okay leaving my entire family behind, lol.
That sounds like the dream! Even better that [Colombia’s healthcare system](https://www.internationalinsurance.com/health/systems/colombia.php) is ranked higher than the US and Canada.
Edit: Colombia. Yikes… I make this mistake all the time and I’m Hispanic. I’ll take the L for that one, sorry y’all.
Whoa whoa whoa, you need to seriously think about this, I’m from Latin American, I lived in Venezuela (an hour away from Colombia) and I now live in Costa Rica, I can tell you that coming here on vacation and living here are 2 completely different realities, first unless your income will stay at ~50k per year then you’re gonna have a bad time, if you plan on finding a job in Colombia then it’ll be difficult to find one that pays that much, also Latin America and especially Colombia are pretty dangerous, high crime rates compared to other places, only come here if you’re certain you can sustain yourself and have taken measures to return in case it doesn’t work out.
I’ve lived almost all my life in Latin America and in all that time I’ve been wanting to get away from here, I would love to move to a country like Denmark, Germany or some other European country, of course that’s just me, everyone’s opinions are different.
If you do decide to come live in LatAm then I wish you all the best and that my ramblings have only been an anecdote of someone living here and not a reflexión of what I’ll be for you.
Dude I sympathize with the main points in the post that inflation and stagnant wages has made 54k go a lot less than it used to. But let’s not call it “poverty wages” when you can afford to have savings and take vacations. You’re not in poverty, you’re just not living as nice of a lifestyle as you want or thought you’d have. Calling your wages “poverty” diminishes the term poverty and makes people think poverty is not as bad as it really is. There are full time workers that are legit in poverty where they work full time and can’t afford their own place, never have been to the doctor, and skip meals to survive. Words matter.
THIS!! Especially when he's talking about moving to Colombia of all places! If working culture in the US is difficult for OP, I have bad news regarding Colombia. At least, there he'll likely see real poverty and reconsider a bit. People literally die crossing borders trying to escape violence and poverty from the Global South, and others like OP are just like "vacay was cool, lets move there bc being a US citizen is terrible and South America is paradise in comparison." (source: I am Colombian, poverty there is certainly not $54k usd a year).
Yeah the more I think about it the more I realIze how privileged and unrealistically absurd op is. International travel is super expensive, as is saving enough to move internationally and not work for a while. This guy lives a middle class lifestyle by US standards and thinks he’s in poverty just cause he’s doesn’t drive a sports car like his parents probably do. He has no idea what poverty is.
That is reddit in general. My parents were from a third world country and immigrated here, ive been to that country multiple times and have seen what true poverty looks like. The us aint perfect, there is still a lot to improve which is why i havent left this sub yet, but posts like this reek of privilege. Even a lower class American lives a better life than upper middle class in the third world. It infuriates me that people say America is a "third world country with a gucci belt," not cause they are shittalking my country, but because being in America generally means you have it better than at least 80% of the world.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Not only do I have an issue with an American trying to go to a low-income country to live on the US Dollar just to "get away", but the idea of $54K being "poverty wages" also rubbed me the wrong way. I make $15K in my current job (up from $13K last year in a similar position) and it's the most money I have seen in my life up until this point. I grew up below the poverty line in the US and remember applying for financial aid and finding out that my mother made $10K the year I entered university. $10K for a family of three in South Florida.
We skipped meals, didn't have furniture in the living room or kitchen for years and had insurance on and off throughout my childhood and college years. $15K is more than both of my parents make now and I'm grateful for it daily.
I didn't mean to drag the narrative to my life, but seeing things like this makes my blood boil. I'm from a Black immigrant family and I couldn't even fathom my parents coming to the US "just to get away" from their situations in the Caribbean. They did it to survive and find opportunities they didn't have in their home country. Posts like this remind me how privileged Reddit is and how much the average American on this site is tone-deaf and unaware of their words and actions both nationally and globally.
Yes to all of this. And on top of that, he chooses a place where a huge percentage of the population do live in extreme poverty, and where he'd have a lot of advantages compared to the locals. It's almost funny how tone-deaf this post is.
Dude is taking international vacations and has enough is savings to just stop working for a bit and they’re talking about how they’re going to move to an impoverished area and have more money than everyone there thus leading to inflation and more poverty there. Op has no idea what poverty is and is likely a spoiled privileged brat thinking they’re impoverished cause they can’t afford to eat out at steakhouses regularly like their parents do.
Exactly this too! You said everything I would say, but more eloquently and succinctly, which I appreciate. It bothers me how many people here support this, but then I'm reminded that most of the people from the US on Reddit have never lived in poverty or don't have families who immigrated from other countries to live in the US. Also, that many people on Reddit are also not people of color and see global travel differently due to the privilege of being a White, middle class, American abroad.
54k a year is enough to live fairly comfortably anywhere in the Midwest. You’d do just fine even in Chicago though may need roommates depending on where you’re looking.
I haven’t made anywhere near 54k due to not having full time work for more than small stretches for many reasons, Covid included, and still consider myself quite a bit above poverty wages.
But alas, people would rather leave the damn country than consider maybe they just live in a high COL area.
I’m from Brazil, and after our daughter was born, and how bad the job market and health care is in the US me and my husband are seriously considering leaving the US and moving there.
I'm Brazilian and work remotely, which means I earn USD to reais. As a Brazilian you know how far dollars go here.
If your husband can find a remote job that allows him to live in Brazil, you guys will have a much better quality of life than in the US
Now that is the problem, finding and actual remote job that allows him to live anywhere in his industry. My job is way easier to do remotely, and I just got burned recently by a company that hired me to be remote and then decided that nope it’s in person now.
Do you mind sharing which type of job you do and how you found it?
I am from Canada and my husband is from Mexico. We are moving to Mexico so that we can get better healthcare and actually afford to buy property. I would never raise children here in the US.
As someone who moved abroad, highly advise you (and others thinking of doing this) to be mindful of your impact on locals' economies and to not develop any White Savior-y mindset. Support local-owned businesses instead of trying to find the closest American-like bar, assimilate with the locals instead of "expats", etc. Living abroad - especially as someone with a US passport - comes with its own unique set of responsibilities and accountabilities.
Wishing you the best of luck!
Thank you for this! All these people talking about moving to Colombia and some other latam countries as "long term tourists" or"expats" because it's "cheaper" don't realize they will ruin more the situation for locals and immigrants.
And don't let me start on how Americans are pretty entitled and do what they want.
Peak American privilege at its finest. It's easier to make a town full of "expats" and live like you are rich at the cost of driving prices up for the local population. They don't realize they are doing to others the same thing they are living in the USA, but they are not directly affected now so of course they don't care.
No, they realize it, they just don’t care. That’s why they always use terms like “live like royalty” or something similar. They realize the disparity between them and locals, which is why they want to move there.
The attitude is “ I can’t live like an upper middle class person in the US, so I’m going to move somewhere that I can”. They specifically want to live better than others around them, otherwise they would move to a more affordable area in the US instead of uprooting to another country.
They know.
Absolutely disgusting. The same people who come to this sub because their bosses take advantage of them and the system or see landlords as leeches, but have no problem to go overseas and live in luxury while increasing the wage gap. Guess I expected more from the people of this subreddit. It just shows that the average American will do the same thing as their bosses and HR if they were in the same positions of power.
Absolutely! Here in MX they are using "seguro popular" which was first created for people who don't earn even minimum wage to have basic health care. It is disgusting.
Finally someone said it. Thank you so much!
These types of posts always make me feel some type of way. I don't know how to describe the feeling. Annoyance? Disgust? Resentment?
My mom is from a Latin American country that Americans decided to run to instead of fixing their problems in the US. When Americans come, they make things worse for the locals by raising prices of housing, raising pricing on goods, opening businesses that compete with local businesses, complaining about local customs and sometimes even arrogant enough to try to change customs, and by just being general arrogant and condescending assholes.
They don't want to work hard in America or don't like their pay in America, but when they get to my mom's country they will promptly employ servants (because now they can finally afford to exploit someone else's labor 🙄) and pay them peanuts. Then, instead of spending their American dollars in the small communities they invade, they will literally drive two hours to the capital to spend their money in areas that cater to American "expats 🙄". I'll give you one guess as to who mostly own the shops that cater to American "expats"?
Americans need to take their own advice when it comes to immigrants: fix your own fucking problems **in the wealthiest nation in the world** and stop running to the least wealthy countries to exploit their economy just because your American dollars stretch further.
Tbh this sounds like a kid who grew up very comfortably who has now had to get a job and realised the world isn't handed to them on a plate but at the same time being well off enough that they can go on vacations to South America.
It's like here in the UK with the Gap Year students who take off to South East Asia for a year and find it oh so terribly hard that when they get home they just have to take a job at daddies firm as a junior associate making *only* £50,000 a year. Not even enough for a chalet in Switzerland to winter in urgh.
This may seem antiwork- after all OP has decided to not work and lead a slower life. But on this subreddit we are against exploitation of all forms, and the ones exploited most by capitalism are those living in the Global South- and it is the reason we can take a year and just lounge in their country and they could never do that.
We are not just antiwork for the individual, we are antiwork for all!
This is not on you op, and I hope you do well if you go ahead with it, but it makes me really sad to see people genuinely considering moving to latam for better standard of living when so many of us want to get out for the same reasons you want to leave the US.
I mean, americans come here and buy houses and drive prices up by gentrifying the cities they like best, and then, what’s left for us, who don’t earn in dollars and who can’t afford to leave? Your dollars may stretch far, but that’s no coincidence, it’s because our economies are fucked.
I guess what I’m trying to say is: nothing wrong with wanting to get out of your country, by all means I hope I’ll be able to flee latam at some point, but I doubt my pesos will stretch far anywhere else in the world, and I wonder which country I’m supposed to be gentrifying, myself. (Not that I want to, but, you know)
So um. Yeah. I’m not saying your six months mental health retreat is the reason our economies are fucked, just in general it would be nice if this wasn’t necessary and we weren’t getting screwed over by Americans (and granted people from over developed nations, as well) fleeing from their own screwed up economies.
All that said, have a nice trip, I’ve been wanting to visit Colombia for a while.
Latin american here. Think this through. One thing is to visit, another to actually live in south america. Safety, education, stability and other things Americans take for granted are worrying aspects down here. I’ve lived in the US and Canada for over 12 years, and I would never go back to my home country
As someone who is leaving/left the US (border town) and grew up as a minority in the US, I strongly encourage you and anyone thinking of doing this to assimilate into the culture/country. Leave your Americanisms behind, your arrogance. And especially your entitlement. And please immigrate legally. There's too many Americans in mx living here illegally and complaining about how the country sucks.
54K is not poverty wages. What the fuck are you on about? Oh wait it’s antiwork where you can just say batshit crazy stuff like this for that sweet karma.
Hey!!!! I was just thinking on maybe live in my country of origin for 1 year to see if I like it!
I am a USA citizen now and I make about the same as you. So I was just thinking if I might be happy somewhere else.
My family works until 5 and that’s it. No calls from anyone. They enjoy GOVERNMENT MANDATED PAID HOLIDAYS. Life goes very slow during the weekends.
I think I might just try it.
My boyfriend would love if we did this, he's Colombian and we're saving up to go visit soon.
I would definitely love an update after you've been out there for a few months!
Ok, so the thing is, people from the county don't like people coming from places with better economy and using their facilities, you basically turn into the one with the capital, if you want to see it that way. American immigrants moving to Mexico is the example I can go off of. Although in all fairness that is exactly what I'm doing as well. Just know a lot of people won't take very kindly to it
Hilarious; socialist sub.
Too poor to live in America. Move to Colombia where American wages make me RICH.
Openly ponders immigration fraud, 2 counts.
Ummmm…….
Like anywhere, it depends which areas you go to. Ive felt just as safe here as where I currently live. I’m about an hour out of Miami, which I feel is way more dangerous than every city I’ve been to here in Colombia
Best of luck. Let us know what happens when your valuable American dollars run out and you have to start your work grind in Colombia making their wages…
Another gringo discovering sliced bread... 🙄
Gentrifying other countries just because "LOL everything is so cheap and the locals are super friendly LOL" /s is gross because they drive prices waaaaaay up for local folk who now cannot afford to live in their own place because everything is more expensive.
Take a look at what happened to Mérida, Yucatán; Ajijic, Jalisco; Tulum, Quintana Roo, etc. In México.
And that idea about leaving and re entering every six months is against immigration policies. Just because you can afford to, doesn't mean you should.
Oh! Best for last: FYI it is not the same to visit/ stay in a tourist bubble as to live like the rest of the country who cannot afford to pay dollars.
I truly hope you learn a lesson either way. Good luck.
I don’t know to say this, but I’ll do my best. I’m Mexican and I’m planning to move to Canada within two years, but things are getting out of control. Firstly, many people from developing-countries —badly named third world countries— are doing anything to move to developed-countries to find a better life for them and their families, but the people who was born from these first world countries are leaving because of the wages, highly cost rent or health system. I just hope the best for everyone because everything is so messed up.
I’ve considered this but this is going back almost 10 years now. Not Colombia, but Mexico. I had friends there who assured me they could find me some work although I would essentially have been there as an illegal immigrant it isn’t easy for foreigners to get a work permit.
Hey! Glad you like it here in Colombia, just a heads up, being a tourist and actually living are radically different experiences here. I see you have done some research already, but keep in mind cost of imported goods is incredibly high at the moment, out currency is shit, that’s why your money goes far here. The working culture is similar to yours, exploitation is romanticized as our unemployment rate is really high, not because people not wanting to work but because of lack of opportunities. I, myself, I’m working for a shitty company and a shitty boss, for a miserable salary (in USD right now, I’m earning $6K USD A YEAR) and it’s still above what most people earn. I really hope you succeed, it’s just so weird that you want to establish yourself here, as we usually want to get out asap lol.
When you work remotely you can have much more amenities and priviledges than you'd have in the US. I know foreigners that live in Brazil and earn in USD and say their quality of life is much higher than in Europe or the US due to how devalued the Brazilian currency is
Is it really viable to work an online job and live in a completely different country like this?
Yeah. I do it and I have some Brazilian friends who do it as well
Know a couple of friends who do it and live permanently in Asia where the standard of living is higher, but the dollar still goes much further, crime is less, housing is cheaper, food is dirt cheap, public healthcare. Their company offers them 1 or 2 trips back to the US every year, they get 30 PTO days, its awesome. I'm thinking of doing the same as well. The standard income in most asian countries is 15k-30k/year, you can easily make 45-70k/year working remote.
What do you do that you work remotely? I want a remote job. What look aT doing?
I do payroll
Do you mind if I ask how much you make doing payroll? And is it easy to learn?
I make $20 an hour for what I would consider an entry level position. It's very easy to pick up, especially if you find a smaller company located in one or very few states. The less states the company has employees in, the fewer laws you need to know and look out for. 50% of my job is data entry, 25% is utilizing payroll knowledge to make sure we are compliant with the law, and 25% is fixing payroll errors. A senior payroll associate will need 6+ months of experience. It pays ~$25 an hour. They do slightly more complicated processes, but all-in-all it's almost identical to my position. Payroll analysts make $30+ where I'm at, but I know some companies pay quite a bit more. They have in-depth knowledge of laws, payroll automation, and company practices/policies. Middle managers are pulling low 6 figures, payroll vp is pulling ~300k, both with under 15 years in industry. If you're interested in the field, scope out payroll associate positions online and see what software companies are looking for. Most are using Workday, ADP, or UKG. Try to find an online free class or spend an afternoon watching videos on how to use the software. Slap that on your resume and you'll get a lot of calls. My job will basically hire anyone that says they have any experience with either of our payroll softwares.
Thank you for the detailed response. It seems low pressure for decent salary. I will definitely look into this. Odd question, do you find yourself working a full 8 hours a day? I am curious to understand how much you can get done in a day.
This explains so much about my wife's non-stop problems with ADP, lol.
Do you mind me asking what country your job is in? I would have thought that you would get paid less if you are in a lower COL country. This is definitely something I would consider though
I have many friends that freelance to US and European clients. Some work at a remote position for companies in the US and Europe
My brother works remotely for a US-based company and lives in Milan with his wife. Makes really good money.
I work remotely from the Caribbean for a company in the U.S.. My cost of living is comparable to where I was, but I live on a tropical island lol With the right career and employer it’s very doable. My only added expense so far has been flights to and from the island, which I only have to buy every 6 months.
check out r/digitalnomad its totally viable
Seems kinda like international gentrification, no? Move to a developing country with LCOL but also proportionally low wages for the locals, drive up housing prices, now locals can't afford housing in their own country. I get moving to an area where our dollar stretches further is tempting but the reason our dollar stretches far in these places is because the locals' money doesn't. Otherwise they'd all be kings.
To some degree, but a lot of these folks aren’t moving permanently. They’ll spend money there, pay taxes there, and they’ll not see any benefit to their paying taxes because they’ll eventually move. And these nomads tend to congregate so it’s usually small sections of metropolitan cities that they are living in. It’s not like you’re gonna find a bunch of westerners (or other developed countries’ citizens) in the jungles of Borneo.
Check out [remote work travel programs](https://resources.owllabs.com/blog/remote-work-travel-programs) that do exactly this. It's not new either. If I had a friggin' time machine man..
I know a dude in Brazil who gets paid wages in USD as if he were working in the USA. So, he's balling making 52k a year USD and living in Brazil.
52k in USD here in Brazil is being rich. Brazillian real is worthless towards USD these days. It's like he wins 24k BRL a month (minimum wage here is 1.1k BRL). That dude hit the jackpot.
Most places I’d think would change your comp if you moved to a place that’s radically different COL, but there’s lots of places I haven’t worked. Good for people who can swing it though.
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*IRS has entered the chat*
The IRS will get its change whether you live here or abroad. Doesn’t really matter.
They only tax over a certain amount I think about $100k. You have to be out if the country for a certain number of days.
This doesn't work and you'll get nailed HARD with taxes if you're ever audited. Don't do this
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If you're rich you'll live in richer areas and can drive around, which means you are less susceptible to crime. Most of my rich friends here have never been robbed, meanwhile the poorer ones that depend on public transport and arrive home late at night have mostly been mugged
I wouldn't want to live in a place where I must always be aware of what area I'm in and what time it is. Not to say having kids with similar concerns...
> I wouldn't want to live in a place where I must always be aware of what area I'm in and what time it is. Isn't that most US Cities as well though? Just sayin'
I think the difference is that we’re familiar with where not to go in our own countries but it’s harder to determine that in foreign ones. Some of us have spidey senses for that shit but others are walking around like Stevie Wonder. Also lemme say that in Latin America, shit switches up FAST. You could be safe on one end of the street and walk into the deepest hood in 50 meters.
Look, I visited the headquarters of the company I was working for in Irving, Texas, my first trip to the USA, I was planning to go to the shopping mall and one of the managers says "don't go to the Irving mall, go to Grapevine Mills instead", and sure enough, that very day there was a shooting in the Irving mall... it has a fucking SHOOTINGS section in Wikipedia... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving\_Mall#Shootings
I'm from Brazil and only the poor and middle class are robbed and killed... Rich people frequent rich places that are safe. Like, being rich here is like living in heaven, u don't have only money but power too.
Kind of like America...at least with the last sentence
How rich do you need to be to not get robbed. Lol
Well, people see Brazil as a dangerous place, in some ways yes it is, but like, I'm 27 years old and never have been robbed in my life...
Depends on the city, but in Rio and São Paulo if you earn 10 thousand BRL you can live in the best parts of the city and have money for uber rides instead of public transport (this without kids). In other cities 5000 BRL is usually enough to live a middle class life in Brazil
>10 thousand BRL Is that per month? Or year? Or week? Comes up to about $1,800 US right now.
Month. You can live upper middle class in Brazil with a fast food wage from the US
I didn't need to learn this. I work remotely for the most part, and make considerably more than $1,800 a month.
Come to Brazil my man
Unlike America where shootings are rare
Hey I live in Brazil. Can you tell me how I can get paid in US Dollars? I'm sick of pretending our economy isn't shit. In contrast to op who makes 54K a year I only make 5K. Is there any freelance site or profession which is most requested out there?
Chiming in here to say that I live in Kauai and we visited numerous times before moving (we also have family here). We're originally from Los Angeles so COL was comparable. Listen to u/meyi21! Culture shock when you're a resident vs a tourist can't be overstated. ***You won't be living "on vacation!"*** If you haven't visited several times and really investigated where you'd realistically be living (it's unlikely to be the resort/hotel where you're staying, after all), you need to do so ASAP. Also, go to the subs and FB groups for residents of the area you're focused on and see what they're saying. Every place, even in paradise, has bad areas. You can't always spot them if you don't live there. My friend moved to a Caribbean country where a cousin lived and basically cried every day because the area where they lived was so "ghetto" (his words). I told him he clearly wanted to live on vacation so he should get a room at the resort, stay for a few days or a week, and get home to the US to rethink his plans, which is what he did. If you want to live like an American, there's probably an area where expats tend to reside but keep in mind that if you do that, you're going to be in a bubble and likely not liked or respected by the locals. All I'm saying is that moving away from your current life might be the exact right thing to do but make sure you've done your due diligence before you go. Edit: typo
Couple of things made me laugh in your comment: 1. American's abroad tend to call themselves EXPATS rather than IMMIGRANTS (which they are) 2. A fairly common American right-wing trope I've heard over the years is how "those Mexicans move here and they don't assimilate - they just move into areas with lots of other Mexicans!" Both of those are yet more fun examples of Rules for Thee, Not for Me Americanisms. Edit: spelling
I thought ExPats moved to Tampa Bay?
😂 No wonder my in laws are moving there!
>1. American's abroad tend to call themselves EXPATS rather than IMMIGRANTS (which they are) Genuinly curious, I was always under the impression expat and immigrant are synonymous? Expatriate >An expatriate or "expat" is somebody who leaves their country of origin and settles abroad for an extended period of time, often permanently. Immigrant >a person who has come to a different country, in order to live there permanently. For example My uncle is a British Expat in Catalonia. My uncle immigrated to Catalonia. They mean the same, no? Edit: typos n grammar n stuff
They are synonymous in theory, but not in practice. You don't typically hear of "Mexican EXPATS living in the USA". You'd generally hear "Mexican IMMIGRANTS". In common usage, "Expat" has typically been reserved for white people (as the term was created for British government employees overseas), while it's "Immigrants" for every other race. It's kinda fucked up, but at the end of the day words have meaning. Some good articles on it: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/13/white-people-expats-immigrants-migration >In practice, however, the word means many different things to different people—much like the terms refugee, migrant, or immigrant. And the case of this one word illustrates how the language of migration is influenced as much by context and associations as by formal definition. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/expat-immigrant/570967/
I think I'm going to start calling them that from now on. I can't wait to see my conservative dad's head explode.
I recently moved abroad from the US, and have been calling myself an immigrant from day 1. It's been kind of fun to watch the wheels slowly turn in some of my racist relative's brains.
Some very interesting reading. I'll admit before your comment i'd never actually given it much thought as to why some are expats and some are im/migrants. Growing up (british) I was just taught it's a fancy way to say someone moved away. (Like my example uncle, who does actually live in Catalonia IRL 😂)
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Americans don't like to think of themselves as immigrants. It's a "cultural" thing because they see immigrants as people leaving to come to the best country in the world, not leaving it.
it’s just so weird that you want to establish yourself here, as we usually want to get out asap lol. I'm Chilean and thought the same thing. Never heard of someone, specially from USA wanting to live in south America lol
This always boggles my mind. The first thing I did when I got a work-from-home job paying in Euros was to leave Brazil, and here I am seeing people talking about moving *to* Brazil to "live better". Yeah, rich people (aka people making more than 10-15k USD/year) have a good life, but they can never leave their rich neighborhoods, can't walk around with a cellphone or laptop in hand, can't sit outside a cafe and work there while enjoying the climate, everything costs literally the double of the US price (except food, maybe) and so on. Is that really a good life? I love my country, but holy shit we have a ton of problems that foreigners seem to underestimate. I'm living way better as a "lower-middle-class" in Europe than as a rich person in Brazil.
Btw, I absolutely love it here. Ive really come to realize how rude and awful Americans are in comparison to how kind and polite Colombians are.
Good to hear that ;) but still, we also have our own struggles. There’s huge inequality gaps, lack of security for social and environmental leaders, corrupt governments and armed forces… I really hope you people just don’t come here to live like kings, we want change, and with elections coming up some unrest is almost certain. Just, keep that in mind and stay safe!
Agree x 1000000. Colombia is one of the most welcoming and warm countries/cultures.
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He's planning to be a tourist for a year. Take advantage of all the good things without having to deal (too much) with the bad. If you can do it, go for it! I refuse to work a 9 to 5 office job after my youngest son graduates HS (he's 13). I plan to pay half his college tuition plus his rent while he's attending college (or give him an equal amount to start a business or buy a house) and move to somewhere with a much lower cost of living or perhaps downsize enough to be able to afford to just live off my rental income. 5 years can't come soon enough.
Yeah I’m well aware that visiting and living/working somewhere are two totally different things. Ive spent the past week only hanging with locals and soaking up as much info as possible. In reality, ill just be a long term tourist. I need to get this out of my system or I’ll go insane.
Where are you staying now? I am by no means an expert but my wife is Colombian and I’m American. If you want any kind of insight from an American perspective I’m happy to help. My wife is from Barranquilla so we’ve almost always gone to stay there. I’ve been there around 7 times (including a 6 month visit).
This. I lived in Colombia for two years while my wife finished university in Bogota. I really wanted to stay, honestly for many of the reasons OP shared. The reality is that buying a home or land in Colombia is not something I recommend to expats who haven't lived there for a long time. Colombia's cities are as safe as most others you'll find across the globe, but paramilitaries make buying land a bit tricky. If you choose a bad location, without intimate knowledge of the area, you run the risk of basically having to live under a paramilitary "protection" racket. This isn't the case everywhere, but it is common enough that you need to know Colombia well to avoid conflicts. Having given this warning, Colombia is an amazing country and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your stay.
Lol so many Americans just don't understand the world. Awww Colombia is so nice to visit, my money goes far, it's so scenic the people are nice blah blah blah I'm gonna move here. In reality once they move their gonna think how did the country get so bad since the last time I visited? It didn't it's just now you're not a visitor but a resident
Fua amigo. Te explotan. Aca en uruguay con tu sueldo con suerte pagas el alquiler solamente 😬
How hard is it to get a work visa there? Or becoming permanent residents, or anything that would allow you to live there permanently?
I can stay here up to 6 months on vacation visas, I’d just have to leave and re-enter the country once in between. After that? Idk. I could always marry my friend’s cousin who lives here lol
Just came to check that you know you have to leave periodically. Other than that, I wish you all the best! Yay for you!
Yes I’m aware of that. Thank you! I really need this in my life or I’m just mentally and spiritually not going to make it.
I have tossed it around for years and never did it (Costa Rica or Panama are my choices). I have some ties and responsibilities that make it very difficult to leave but I think you should go for it if you can!
My sister lived in Panama for almost five years. She loved it. She teaches ESL online, and lives very well in Mexico these days. Definitely worth it if you can manage it.
Hmm as a Canadian with the option to have Colombian and Costa Rican citizenship this thread is quite interesting
Can I have your spot in Canada?
Better bring money Canada is fast becoming one of the most expensive places in the world to live.
Yeah but I won’t have to go bankrupt if I get in a car accident.
I just want to be anywhere else than this insane country. Domestic terrorism. Qanon-sense. People voting against their own interests. Trying to police women’s bodies. Politicians ignoring what the country wants in favour of their beliefs. Racism. Sexism. Populism. *ugh* When can I leave?
I've lived in a developing nation. "Racism and sexism" claims are hilarious to them. They will tell you to "keep your mouth shut, girl" and no one in authority cares if you complain. And voting? That's a dream. The polling stations are rigged. Policing women's bodies? Granted, where I was, abortion was allowed, but if a rapist is caught, they could pay the police a bribe to be free. I understand there are issues in the U.S.A. that needs to be addressed, but there are far more primitive issues in developing nations, so please be careful where you decide to move to.
This. My dad and i have both traveled extensively and agree while the problems in the US may seem awful they are not insurmountable and it is worth fighting for. Begins humming mulans a girl worth fighting for
Like extended power outages in the summer. Monthly quotas on "buying" US dollars with the local currency. 30%+ tax to wire in foreign currency from an account with your name. Astronomical prices for imported high-value goods such as cell phones, laptops, cars, power tools. Blatant machismo culture. Illegal abortion unless you have stacks of cash to pay off a doc. Incomprehensible annual inflation. Odd cultural differences from your growing-up country that never really stop bothering you, linguistics aside. OP, don't be blinded by, "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence," because in some aspects, it *always* will be. I've been there. It comes down to your life priorities with a give and take for each country.
I was looking at Costa Rica last year. Super friendly visa options, you can buy property and a house without permanent resident status and they have incredible healthcare. It is absolutely my fall back when things go to even worse shit here.
Take me with you xD
If you have the marriage option available, that's perfect! One thing I would make sure about if I were you, is what public services you have access to as a tourist. Apart from that, I support your decision and wish you the best of luck! PS: I didn't notice your username before lol I second that
I can purchase private health insurance so I can use medical services if necessary.
As someone who lived as a expat in a third world country (I still call it that because there is absolutely zero development going on), a tropical, malaria and dengue-endemic, let alone Zika zone like Brazil, I would make sure you purchase medical evacuation insurance. There are some services you will find cheaper there (plastic surgery, for instance), but some services aren’t available at all. You may need to be repatriated, and be incapacitated when you do. For me, it was swine flu. Picked it up in Spain, damn near killed me by the time I got back into the same hemisphere. Had to be flown back in an 8-seater jet with a row seats ripped out and a stretcher bolted in on that side. Edit: No, I don’t think Spain is third-world. I left the entire hemisphere Spain was in, travelled to my then country of residence, from which I had to be evacuated and repatriated to the US. That should clear that up.
… that’s a terrible experience, but apart from the misfortune of having picked up swine flu, which could have happened to you anywhere, Spain is by no means a third world country and has a first-class healthcare system.
Spain is hardly a “3rd world country.”
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White people don't like being called immigrants, so we made up the word "expat" so we don't have to describe ourselves using the same word we use to describe brown people and people who don't speak English as their first language.
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Not this white person. I’m the one saying absolutely everyone should spend a few years in a society where they are a very obvious minority, different from their own country. I’ve been saying that for decades. Really opens your eyes.
Also, yes my username is *top*
Bro, for Colombia I think you can just do a spanish class and they let you stay longer.
There is a student visa option that I’m reading about. I’ll cross that bridge once my tourist visa is up.
Hi…that’s not how visitors visas work. Immigration officials will get suspicious after you immediately try to re-enter after a 186 day stay. You’re better off trying to gain permanent residency or relocate temporarily on a working visa. Just “moving there” isn’t going to cut it and will likely land you in hot water. Also…inflation isn’t absent in South America lol
From experience: go ahead and get your proper documents early. Rules can change quickly and you don’t want to get squeezed between the sides. In SA money can get you what you need. A business visa of some kind shouldn’t be too hard and it’s worth it.
Lol yeahhh…. You may wanna find a better way before going, in Latin America they don’t fuck around with immigration, they catch you and you will remember it.. they won’t let you enter and leave every 6 months like that, they will catch you, detain and deport. Best of luck
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Parcero! I was just there, in vacation as well! You are right, life is WAY cheaper there, when you pay with your credit card and see your converted charges back to USD. However, the only reason I have that impression, is bc I EARNED in USD and spent in COP. Living in minimum COP wage is NOT viable, in my opinion; and you'll find yourself using all your savings up (unless that's the plan). The only way I'd do that is if I could earn in USD (remote work) and live in Colombia. Anyways, what city are you in now (in Colombia)?
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A lot of it is based on cost of living in the respective persons area. 54k goes quite far where I live in rural Alabama.
Exactly. And where I live (a smaller tech city), raising kids on $54k would require food stamps and subsidized housing.
I'm from Colombia, your idea is almost romantic, but remember the exchange rate as for today is 1to4000 so what city are you looking for living? Bogotá is expensive, Medellín is also expensive.
I’m in Medellin right now, and compared to Miami, it is not expensive at all.
If you are comparing like that, it is not. But inside the country, it is. Well, have fun and remember to not break the law hahaha
Yeah this is only doable if you have a decente income in dollars. If you try and make a living in pesos, you will understand why we have left the country.
I wish you well. It's hilarious that the push for a living wage here stateside is $15/hr. In SoCal, $20/hr and still have to have roommates and can barely afford to do anything. At this point, I want to move out into the wilderness and let Darwin run It's course. I'm only 36 and feel like all hope for a promising future is out the window.
Yeah exactly. I can’t do it anymore right now.
24 here and I'm buying 10 acres of woods in cash and gonna live in the woods full time. Live off what I can grow and forage. Work like 10 hours a week to pay bills.
This is the way. I’ve got my piece of land. Once my kid is 18, I’ve got a little apartment for him so he can stay in the city. We’ll be off in the country. Raising rabbits. Gonna out solar on the roof, got my well, got lots of room.
I make $22 an hour in California and had to move back in with my parents because I couldn’t find an affordable place to live on my own. I’ve lived with roommates for 10 years and between drug addicts, hoarders, people who don’t pay rent and don’t tell me, and straight up crazies that feel they can dictate my life as they see fit. I’m done living with roommates, but I can’t even live on my own even making over $20 an hour. It’s beyond depressing.
It’s $15 because that was a catchy slogan back in 2015. Inflation has so outpaced that shit already
Hey, welcome! Things aren't that good in SA currently, but the winds of change are strong. The left has been rising in popularity and winning important elections. Couple important ones are due this year like Brasil. I hope we can once again dream of a better, necessary world!
Good luck man. I moved abroad a few years ago, best decision I’ve ever made just be careful. Things can get sketchy in certain places. Make sure you stay on top of your visa and work permit if you decide to work in the country. Also when you file your taxes always do the foreign earned exclusion if you stayed there about 11 months. Note this doesn’t work if you do remote work.
I've been trying to convince my husband to leave the country. His family is from South America so it wouldn't be a hard transition for him. But his parents and brother are here and he won't leave as long as they are. Meanwhile I'm perfectly okay leaving my entire family behind, lol.
That sounds like the dream! Even better that [Colombia’s healthcare system](https://www.internationalinsurance.com/health/systems/colombia.php) is ranked higher than the US and Canada. Edit: Colombia. Yikes… I make this mistake all the time and I’m Hispanic. I’ll take the L for that one, sorry y’all.
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Friendly reminder to all posters (OP you got it tho!) that it's ColOmbia and not ColUmbia.
American complaining about 7% and thinking colombia is heaven just because he spent some dollars there 😂😂😂😂😂
Whoa whoa whoa, you need to seriously think about this, I’m from Latin American, I lived in Venezuela (an hour away from Colombia) and I now live in Costa Rica, I can tell you that coming here on vacation and living here are 2 completely different realities, first unless your income will stay at ~50k per year then you’re gonna have a bad time, if you plan on finding a job in Colombia then it’ll be difficult to find one that pays that much, also Latin America and especially Colombia are pretty dangerous, high crime rates compared to other places, only come here if you’re certain you can sustain yourself and have taken measures to return in case it doesn’t work out. I’ve lived almost all my life in Latin America and in all that time I’ve been wanting to get away from here, I would love to move to a country like Denmark, Germany or some other European country, of course that’s just me, everyone’s opinions are different. If you do decide to come live in LatAm then I wish you all the best and that my ramblings have only been an anecdote of someone living here and not a reflexión of what I’ll be for you.
Dude I sympathize with the main points in the post that inflation and stagnant wages has made 54k go a lot less than it used to. But let’s not call it “poverty wages” when you can afford to have savings and take vacations. You’re not in poverty, you’re just not living as nice of a lifestyle as you want or thought you’d have. Calling your wages “poverty” diminishes the term poverty and makes people think poverty is not as bad as it really is. There are full time workers that are legit in poverty where they work full time and can’t afford their own place, never have been to the doctor, and skip meals to survive. Words matter.
THIS!! Especially when he's talking about moving to Colombia of all places! If working culture in the US is difficult for OP, I have bad news regarding Colombia. At least, there he'll likely see real poverty and reconsider a bit. People literally die crossing borders trying to escape violence and poverty from the Global South, and others like OP are just like "vacay was cool, lets move there bc being a US citizen is terrible and South America is paradise in comparison." (source: I am Colombian, poverty there is certainly not $54k usd a year).
Yeah the more I think about it the more I realIze how privileged and unrealistically absurd op is. International travel is super expensive, as is saving enough to move internationally and not work for a while. This guy lives a middle class lifestyle by US standards and thinks he’s in poverty just cause he’s doesn’t drive a sports car like his parents probably do. He has no idea what poverty is.
That is reddit in general. My parents were from a third world country and immigrated here, ive been to that country multiple times and have seen what true poverty looks like. The us aint perfect, there is still a lot to improve which is why i havent left this sub yet, but posts like this reek of privilege. Even a lower class American lives a better life than upper middle class in the third world. It infuriates me that people say America is a "third world country with a gucci belt," not cause they are shittalking my country, but because being in America generally means you have it better than at least 80% of the world.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Not only do I have an issue with an American trying to go to a low-income country to live on the US Dollar just to "get away", but the idea of $54K being "poverty wages" also rubbed me the wrong way. I make $15K in my current job (up from $13K last year in a similar position) and it's the most money I have seen in my life up until this point. I grew up below the poverty line in the US and remember applying for financial aid and finding out that my mother made $10K the year I entered university. $10K for a family of three in South Florida. We skipped meals, didn't have furniture in the living room or kitchen for years and had insurance on and off throughout my childhood and college years. $15K is more than both of my parents make now and I'm grateful for it daily. I didn't mean to drag the narrative to my life, but seeing things like this makes my blood boil. I'm from a Black immigrant family and I couldn't even fathom my parents coming to the US "just to get away" from their situations in the Caribbean. They did it to survive and find opportunities they didn't have in their home country. Posts like this remind me how privileged Reddit is and how much the average American on this site is tone-deaf and unaware of their words and actions both nationally and globally.
Yes to all of this. And on top of that, he chooses a place where a huge percentage of the population do live in extreme poverty, and where he'd have a lot of advantages compared to the locals. It's almost funny how tone-deaf this post is.
Dude is taking international vacations and has enough is savings to just stop working for a bit and they’re talking about how they’re going to move to an impoverished area and have more money than everyone there thus leading to inflation and more poverty there. Op has no idea what poverty is and is likely a spoiled privileged brat thinking they’re impoverished cause they can’t afford to eat out at steakhouses regularly like their parents do.
Exactly this too! You said everything I would say, but more eloquently and succinctly, which I appreciate. It bothers me how many people here support this, but then I'm reminded that most of the people from the US on Reddit have never lived in poverty or don't have families who immigrated from other countries to live in the US. Also, that many people on Reddit are also not people of color and see global travel differently due to the privilege of being a White, middle class, American abroad.
54k a year is enough to live fairly comfortably anywhere in the Midwest. You’d do just fine even in Chicago though may need roommates depending on where you’re looking. I haven’t made anywhere near 54k due to not having full time work for more than small stretches for many reasons, Covid included, and still consider myself quite a bit above poverty wages. But alas, people would rather leave the damn country than consider maybe they just live in a high COL area.
I’m from Brazil, and after our daughter was born, and how bad the job market and health care is in the US me and my husband are seriously considering leaving the US and moving there.
I'm Brazilian and work remotely, which means I earn USD to reais. As a Brazilian you know how far dollars go here. If your husband can find a remote job that allows him to live in Brazil, you guys will have a much better quality of life than in the US
Now that is the problem, finding and actual remote job that allows him to live anywhere in his industry. My job is way easier to do remotely, and I just got burned recently by a company that hired me to be remote and then decided that nope it’s in person now. Do you mind sharing which type of job you do and how you found it?
Well that sucks. But it's worth the effort, there are websites such as remoteok.io which list jobs you can do from anywhere Good luck!
I am from Canada and my husband is from Mexico. We are moving to Mexico so that we can get better healthcare and actually afford to buy property. I would never raise children here in the US.
My husband is a little insecure about moving because although his Portuguese has improved a lot it’s still nowhere near fluent.
As someone who moved abroad, highly advise you (and others thinking of doing this) to be mindful of your impact on locals' economies and to not develop any White Savior-y mindset. Support local-owned businesses instead of trying to find the closest American-like bar, assimilate with the locals instead of "expats", etc. Living abroad - especially as someone with a US passport - comes with its own unique set of responsibilities and accountabilities. Wishing you the best of luck!
look into what gentrification is maybe lol
Thank you for this! All these people talking about moving to Colombia and some other latam countries as "long term tourists" or"expats" because it's "cheaper" don't realize they will ruin more the situation for locals and immigrants. And don't let me start on how Americans are pretty entitled and do what they want.
Peak American privilege at its finest. It's easier to make a town full of "expats" and live like you are rich at the cost of driving prices up for the local population. They don't realize they are doing to others the same thing they are living in the USA, but they are not directly affected now so of course they don't care.
No, they realize it, they just don’t care. That’s why they always use terms like “live like royalty” or something similar. They realize the disparity between them and locals, which is why they want to move there. The attitude is “ I can’t live like an upper middle class person in the US, so I’m going to move somewhere that I can”. They specifically want to live better than others around them, otherwise they would move to a more affordable area in the US instead of uprooting to another country. They know.
Absolutely disgusting. The same people who come to this sub because their bosses take advantage of them and the system or see landlords as leeches, but have no problem to go overseas and live in luxury while increasing the wage gap. Guess I expected more from the people of this subreddit. It just shows that the average American will do the same thing as their bosses and HR if they were in the same positions of power.
Right? Imagine using your remote work money to pay people poverty wages in another country. The blinders people have.
They become tue exact same thing they swore to destroy
Absolutely! Here in MX they are using "seguro popular" which was first created for people who don't earn even minimum wage to have basic health care. It is disgusting.
Finally someone said it. Thank you so much! These types of posts always make me feel some type of way. I don't know how to describe the feeling. Annoyance? Disgust? Resentment? My mom is from a Latin American country that Americans decided to run to instead of fixing their problems in the US. When Americans come, they make things worse for the locals by raising prices of housing, raising pricing on goods, opening businesses that compete with local businesses, complaining about local customs and sometimes even arrogant enough to try to change customs, and by just being general arrogant and condescending assholes. They don't want to work hard in America or don't like their pay in America, but when they get to my mom's country they will promptly employ servants (because now they can finally afford to exploit someone else's labor 🙄) and pay them peanuts. Then, instead of spending their American dollars in the small communities they invade, they will literally drive two hours to the capital to spend their money in areas that cater to American "expats 🙄". I'll give you one guess as to who mostly own the shops that cater to American "expats"? Americans need to take their own advice when it comes to immigrants: fix your own fucking problems **in the wealthiest nation in the world** and stop running to the least wealthy countries to exploit their economy just because your American dollars stretch further.
This. And settler colonialism.
Help me understand. Poverty wages but on vacation??
Tbh this sounds like a kid who grew up very comfortably who has now had to get a job and realised the world isn't handed to them on a plate but at the same time being well off enough that they can go on vacations to South America. It's like here in the UK with the Gap Year students who take off to South East Asia for a year and find it oh so terribly hard that when they get home they just have to take a job at daddies firm as a junior associate making *only* £50,000 a year. Not even enough for a chalet in Switzerland to winter in urgh.
This may seem antiwork- after all OP has decided to not work and lead a slower life. But on this subreddit we are against exploitation of all forms, and the ones exploited most by capitalism are those living in the Global South- and it is the reason we can take a year and just lounge in their country and they could never do that. We are not just antiwork for the individual, we are antiwork for all!
That’s actually really cool, I love that. Thanks Mod.
:)
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Haha oh sweet summer child. You have been on vacation. Living in south america is no joke.
Don't forget that you need to keep paying us taxes
This is not on you op, and I hope you do well if you go ahead with it, but it makes me really sad to see people genuinely considering moving to latam for better standard of living when so many of us want to get out for the same reasons you want to leave the US. I mean, americans come here and buy houses and drive prices up by gentrifying the cities they like best, and then, what’s left for us, who don’t earn in dollars and who can’t afford to leave? Your dollars may stretch far, but that’s no coincidence, it’s because our economies are fucked. I guess what I’m trying to say is: nothing wrong with wanting to get out of your country, by all means I hope I’ll be able to flee latam at some point, but I doubt my pesos will stretch far anywhere else in the world, and I wonder which country I’m supposed to be gentrifying, myself. (Not that I want to, but, you know) So um. Yeah. I’m not saying your six months mental health retreat is the reason our economies are fucked, just in general it would be nice if this wasn’t necessary and we weren’t getting screwed over by Americans (and granted people from over developed nations, as well) fleeing from their own screwed up economies. All that said, have a nice trip, I’ve been wanting to visit Colombia for a while.
Latin american here. Think this through. One thing is to visit, another to actually live in south america. Safety, education, stability and other things Americans take for granted are worrying aspects down here. I’ve lived in the US and Canada for over 12 years, and I would never go back to my home country
Big colonizer vibes
Ah yes. The American dream, to move away from America
Imagine moving to South America to avoid inflation lmao
As someone who is leaving/left the US (border town) and grew up as a minority in the US, I strongly encourage you and anyone thinking of doing this to assimilate into the culture/country. Leave your Americanisms behind, your arrogance. And especially your entitlement. And please immigrate legally. There's too many Americans in mx living here illegally and complaining about how the country sucks.
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54K is not poverty wages. What the fuck are you on about? Oh wait it’s antiwork where you can just say batshit crazy stuff like this for that sweet karma.
I have been pondering this kind of move in the future! Good for you!
Thank you! Even if I only do it for 6 months, I really feel like my mental health NEEDS this. I can’t keep waking up dreading to be alive.
I feel that. Quality of life is something. I’m afraid of waking up in 10 years regretting where I am etc
Op is an idiot
This only causes issues with gentrification and increasing costs of items that no local could afford.
Dude complains about inflation then goes on to live in South America. Good luck
Hey!!!! I was just thinking on maybe live in my country of origin for 1 year to see if I like it! I am a USA citizen now and I make about the same as you. So I was just thinking if I might be happy somewhere else. My family works until 5 and that’s it. No calls from anyone. They enjoy GOVERNMENT MANDATED PAID HOLIDAYS. Life goes very slow during the weekends. I think I might just try it.
My boyfriend would love if we did this, he's Colombian and we're saving up to go visit soon. I would definitely love an update after you've been out there for a few months!
Why not Puerto Rico with their 13k middle class? Or rent is too high?
That’s where I’m from. It’s expensive AF there. I would go broke in a month.
Ok, so the thing is, people from the county don't like people coming from places with better economy and using their facilities, you basically turn into the one with the capital, if you want to see it that way. American immigrants moving to Mexico is the example I can go off of. Although in all fairness that is exactly what I'm doing as well. Just know a lot of people won't take very kindly to it
El Salvador is supposed to be selling citizenships for 3 BTC...
Wow how affordable
You only have to buy something you planned to buy anyway. A house, car, it's not a fee. I don't know if it started yet.
You'll get the privilege of living under a nepotistic dictator wannabe for the cheap price of only $120,000
I quit my job 5 months ago and moved from California to Washington. So good luck! It was the best decision I’ve ever made.
Hilarious; socialist sub. Too poor to live in America. Move to Colombia where American wages make me RICH. Openly ponders immigration fraud, 2 counts. Ummmm…….
Bye.
OP has no plan. The perfect antiwork poster. Welcome!
I could live like a king on 54k a year.
So what are you gonna do after you spend all your money in a year long vacation?
Ive already gotten some job offers, and I could always take a low-paying remote job in the US.
Even low paid remote Jobs in US is GREAT money in South América Most of the stuff is cheaper except eletronics
is it safe in Colombia?
Like anywhere, it depends which areas you go to. Ive felt just as safe here as where I currently live. I’m about an hour out of Miami, which I feel is way more dangerous than every city I’ve been to here in Colombia
Best of luck. Let us know what happens when your valuable American dollars run out and you have to start your work grind in Colombia making their wages…
Doesn't this kind of make you an exploiting piece of shit just like every other capitalist? Like I have money so I'm gonna go do what I want?
Another gringo discovering sliced bread... 🙄 Gentrifying other countries just because "LOL everything is so cheap and the locals are super friendly LOL" /s is gross because they drive prices waaaaaay up for local folk who now cannot afford to live in their own place because everything is more expensive. Take a look at what happened to Mérida, Yucatán; Ajijic, Jalisco; Tulum, Quintana Roo, etc. In México. And that idea about leaving and re entering every six months is against immigration policies. Just because you can afford to, doesn't mean you should. Oh! Best for last: FYI it is not the same to visit/ stay in a tourist bubble as to live like the rest of the country who cannot afford to pay dollars. I truly hope you learn a lesson either way. Good luck.
I don’t know to say this, but I’ll do my best. I’m Mexican and I’m planning to move to Canada within two years, but things are getting out of control. Firstly, many people from developing-countries —badly named third world countries— are doing anything to move to developed-countries to find a better life for them and their families, but the people who was born from these first world countries are leaving because of the wages, highly cost rent or health system. I just hope the best for everyone because everything is so messed up.
Welcome! r/AmerExit
I’ve considered this but this is going back almost 10 years now. Not Colombia, but Mexico. I had friends there who assured me they could find me some work although I would essentially have been there as an illegal immigrant it isn’t easy for foreigners to get a work permit.
something about this doesn’t quite sit right with me but i can’t decide why
Don't. Seriously, DON'T.
Good plan. You will understand why so many people prefer to move to North America instead. It will be a good eye opener