I’m going to explain a concept of which you are completely unaware unless you have extensive experience not only traveling internationally but traveling to countries outside of the first world. This is a very confusing concept to those who haven’t traveled very much and have lived their entire lives within the bubble of a high tech yet unfree first world country like the USA, Canada, the UK, and so on.
There is a massive amount of false Societal Programming that says the USA is the freest country in the world. People living in similar first world nations like Canada believe that their country is also quite free as compared to most other nations on Earth.
I have already talked extensively at this blog regarding the fact that the USA is, in fact, not a free country at all and doesn’t even rank in the top ten countries in the world whenever it’s placed against these countries in various freedom indexes. As a matter of fact, it’s barely even in the top 20, and rapidly declining as the USA becomes more left-wing and bloated and as other, smaller nations embrace more freedom and capitalism.
Again, other USA-like nations such as Canada, Australia, the UK, and so forth also operate under the delusion that they are somehow freer than the rest of the world, when, in fact, they are not.
People in the first world tend to think that things like high technology, cleanliness, and the size of a typical house equate to personal freedom. Decades ago, when the Western world was on the rise, this was true. Today it’s not. Today, if you live in a “nice” first world country, you are subject to so many fucking laws that your day-to-day personal freedom is actually less than it is if you live in a less free country. This is doubly true if you are a Western Alpha Male 2.0 expat living in that country.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re an Alpha Male 2.0 American living in the USA with all the usual location-independent income inherent to the Alpha 2.0 lifestyle. Let’s say you pack your stuff and move to Argentina. Or Vietnam. Or Bangladesh. It doesn’t really matter. The point is you move to a country that is lower on the economic scale and considered “shitty” or “third world” or “authoritarian” by your fellow brainwashed Americans.
As an example, let’s say that country is Vietnam, but it really could be any number of 50 different countries like this. You move to Vietnam as an Alpha Male 2.0 with your location–independent income. You either get residency in Vietnam or bump back and forth using visitor’s visas. Following Five Flags model, you’re careful to never become an actual citizen of Vietnam; you just live there most of the time.
In your day-to-day life in America, you are subject to thousands upon thousands of bureaucratic bullshit laws that you’ve just become accustomed to following. Like a fish in the ocean who can’t see the water around him because there’s so much of it, there are so many rules and laws that you don’t see them… from how you get paid, how you bank, how you drive, where you’re allowed to park, the color you’re allowed to paint your house, the size of your toilet, all of these things and thousands of others are tightly controlled by the US government, the largest government ever to exist in the history of mankind.
But now you live in Vietnam. Suddenly, you’re allowed to do all kinds of things you weren’t before. You can actually live the life you want, even though Vietnam ranks at number 128 in terms of freedom instead of being in the top 20 like the USA. Unfortunately, you might still have to pay a little tax to the USA even though you don’t live there, but that’s about it. And if you’re from Canada or Australia or some other Western nation, you don’t pay any taxes to your country of origin. (As I’ve discussed, even many openly socialist countries today are freer than the Collapsing USA.)
It’s true that you don’t have quite the level of freedom of speech that you had in the USA, but you don’t care. Sure, if you live in China, Dubai, or Singapore and you say bad things about those governments while you live in these countries you might have a problem. But you’re not a citizen of those countries; you just live there (or spend a lot of time there every year). You’re not a politician or political activist, you’re just an individual American living abroad conducting your Alpha 2.0 business. As an Alpha Male 2.0, you don’t give a shit about any of that local political stuff. You’re just thankful for living a freer life. So, while you’re not allowed to say these things, you wouldn’t bother saying them in the first place since you don’t care.
Years ago, when I was briefly considering moving to China, people were horrified and confused. “Why would you live in such an authoritarian country when you love freedom and you’re a libertarian, Caleb???” Because China’s authoritarianism isn’t an issue for me as a white, Western, individual, American Alpha Male 2.0 living abroad who isn’t involved in politics. It’s an issue for Chinese citizens, Hong Kong citizens, Tibetan political dissidents, giant corporations, massive political movements, and newspapers. It has little to no effect on me, a lone Western citizen using VPNs spending time in China (or any other country) who doesn’t care about any politics, local to that nation or otherwise, especially if I followed Five Flags (which I would) and had no assets in China even if I spent most of my year there.
I know Western expats who live in places like Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, Serbia, Azerbaijan, and various other “authoritarian shitholes” with much less “freedom” than most Western nations and these men experience far more freedom in terms of their individual, day-to-day lives and personal finances than the typical Westerner living in the USA, Western Europe, or whatever.
I’m not saying you should go move to some small, low-freedom nation. If you enjoy living in your slowly collapsing Western nation, feel free to stay (provided you’re self-employed and your income is location-independent!). I’m just saying that when you see men move away from these nations to other countries you feel are yucky or less free, realize that these men are probably going to end up being more personally and economically free on an individual level than you are.
Certainly, that’s true if these men are also Alpha Male 2.0s who have maximized their personal level of freedom.
Which is the entire point here.
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So true! AS LONG as you have cash, you can live like a king in the 3rd world countries and enjoy the freedom. Otherwise you’re f***ked
Being rich in the Western world feels like the opposite where the governments are trying to tax you to death and people don’t respect you for your acquired wealth (assuming it was legally acquired). Only worth to live here if you want to have a high salary and get capital.
Mh… even if you’ve become a financially independent man able to move and live (permanently or not) where you want, the country where you happen to be right now matters a lot.
It’s true that western/1st world countries are becoming less and less free but freedom (and freedom of speech) is only one side of the coin. The other side is legal certainty. The USA, Europe and similar places still have and/or respect basic human rights, still have fair trials, you’re more or less “the same” under the law, etc.
I’m not saying you can’t live in places like Vietnam, Thailand, etc. but even if you “don’t care”, there’s still a higher risk of running into problems if you’ve any trouble with somebody or the state itself. Remember in these countries there’s much, much more organized crime even if we don’t see it as tourists and you’ll always be a 2nd class citizen by default. It’s never the same to visit a country than to actually live there, even if you are as separated as possible from its state/taxes, etc.
You are still in their territory and subjected to their laws.
You are absolutely spot on with this article.
Greetings from Saigon, Vietnam.
For maximum long-term happiness you need a decent income regardless of where you live, 3rd world or 1st world or whatever. Thus the Alpha Male 2.0 minimum income of USD $75,000 per year.
Solution: Five Flags. Don’t own any assets in the country where you live. Problem solved.
You personally becoming personally affected by organized crime in a foreign land falls within the 2% Rule.
Correct. Yet another Alpha Male 2.0 baseline I talk about in The Unchained Man: Always follow the law of where you are even if you completely disagree with it. Don’t drink booze on the street while in Dubai. Don’t publicly badmouth the government when in Singapore. Etc.
Also, don’t do stupid shit. Don’t flash your expensive new iPhone in the touristy areas of Colombia. Don’t yell at a police officer while his hand is on his pistol in the USA. Don’t attend a political protest in China. Etc.
The Alpha Male 2.0 using basic common sense and a little foreknowledge aren’t going to encounter any of the problems you’ve outlined in your comment (barring the statistical exception, but there’s that 2% Rule again).
Sorry but I don’t see how “don’t own any assets” is going to magically solve things like basic human rights, dubious justice, being a 2nd class citizen, medium to high risk of being caught in the middle of a sudden overthrow or war, etc. Obviously you always need to be careful but even if you do it all perfectly there’s still a higher risk than living in 1st world countries. Maybe it’s below the 2% rule, but bear in mind that for some things, a 2% risk is insane. If you had just a 0.2% chance of dying just by getting out of home to take a walk you’d never do it.
I’m not saying it can’t or shouldn’t be done, I’m saying that “you can be freer in a less free country” is still not true even if you are 100% financially independent, don’t own any assets, don’t live there permanently, perfectly executed 5 flags, etc. etc. etc. It can be fun, it can be the right thing to do, it can be better for you personally, but freedom? During the, say, 6 months that you stay in a 2nd/3rd world country, you’ll be, overall, less free.
I know the west is collapsing but people still want to come here for a reason.
Would you move to a country that had horrible human rights for Western non-citizens minding their own business? Are you seriously going to move to a place like North Korea?
Would you move to a country that often imprisons Western non-citizens minding their own business and not doing anything stupid?
Irrelevant to the location-independent Alpha Male 2.0 whose income is derived from outside of that country. And if it was very relevant to you, would you move to a country where you would be considered a 2nd class citizen?
I already addressed that in item #2 here.
Precisely. If you want to spend your life worrying about >2% catastrophes, feel free to do that, but it’s not the path to long-term happiness.
Why exactly is it not true? You have not demonstrated why you can’t have more personal freedom by living in a less-free country. All you’ve done is present some random 2% Rule stuff easily avoided by choosing your country correctly and not doing anything stupid while you’re there. I’m still waiting for your specific explanation why GordanDan above (and many other men) is less free on a day-to-day basis living in Vietnam than living in the West.
Yes, the reason those people come here is (for the most part) because they live in shitholes where it’s hard to make a good income. I’ve clearly said many times that the West is less bad than living in a shithole where you make $3 a day, but my articles are not directed at these people. They’re directed at people like you; men already living in the West, already making decent money, who have the wherewithal to possibly move somewhere else and make even more money (and/or pay less taxes) and experience more freedom by doing so.
And again I will repeat that you don’t need to move out of the West. If you follow Alpha Male 2.0 business and financial structures you don’t have to. I’m just saying that if you want to move somewhere else as a second phase to that, you can experience more freedom (unless you stupidly move to somewhere horrible, or you behave stupidly while you live abroad, which are the assumptions you keep making).
Hmmm….
Mostly state gov’t
Local gov’t, which I gather from your other writings that you’re ok with
Maybe local gov’t, but more likely your homeowners association if you (freely) chose to buy a house that has one of those
Dying to know how you did *that* calculation
Drive recklessly? Park in the middle of the street? Buy an oversized toilet? Hell yeah! Can’t wait!
That counts as government.
Not if it’s oppressive. You’re trying to make this discussion political when it isn’t.
A homeowner’s association is okay from my political standpoint; my point is that in a country like Vietnam you’re less likely to have an uppity homeowner’s association freak the fuck out if you park your boat in front of your house for a few days (as just one of many examples I could give).
Largest in history in terms of spending. The government in the USA spends around $8 trillion per year if you add up state, local, and federal government spending (source). Show me another government at any time in human history spending more money than that per year (even if adjusting for inflation) and I’ll be happy to revise that statement.
Yes, much better to have bureaucrats in big government dictate things to you like how big your toilet should be (as just one of hundreds of examples; if you don’t like that particular example then that’s fine; the point stands).
Great article.
If I am understanding correctly you are also being paid in US dollars (or perhaps pound sterling) along with that location independence (LI).
My location independent career is writing both fiction and non-fiction as well as some teaching, tutoring, translation and coaching. And it’s expanding as now it’s only equivalent to a part time gig. But I love it and I’m good at it and I’ve traveled to some beautiful countries and dated some beautiful women. In the last three years I’ve spent about six months in the US and I have to say I agree with that loss of freedom and collapse.
I am curious as to what types of LI work other alpha 2s are doing well with. As I sometimes feel uninformed and behind the curve when it comes to the rapid changes in tech and culture. Well, its rapid for me anyway. And most of it I tend to tune out.
Every day my girlfriend in Hong Kong sends me the death count in China. I am in SE Asia The masks are creepy. But I dont say much. I dont feel it’s my place. And I find most of the other countries I’ve been to to be mu h more live and let live than the US.
Things can sum easily when you boil eveything down to personal experience of travelling and living abroad. Also experience talking to people who stayed back, and noticing similarities in their thought patterns.
Most westerners HAVE NO personal experience about the world, and they have no idea what they talk about, they just parrot media brainwashing and societal programming of respective societies. Fear is one of the most common trait what I can see exclusively in anglo westerners who never travelled.
Old Carter’s classification of the world is absolutely inaccurate, misleading and very old fashioned, as it originates from Cold war era (1st, 2nd, 3rd world) – actually such classification is banned from bussines courses lectured by people who work on field, as it can be very limiting.
I am person who holds 2 passports – Australian and Croatian. and who choses to live in Vietnam for now, so I will write few most important points about this topic I know pretty well.
In Australia, Melbourne, most of income goes to maintaining the car and to cover basic life expenses, while housing is turbo overpriced. Vast suburbs are not covered properly by any efficient public transport, so car is a must, while speed limits went so low as 30 km/h, as Vicroads collect big money on fines they easily collect. If you dare to drink on the street, another heavy fines and possible prison, are imposed. Despites big previous immigration who brought different genetics, women are mostly stand offish and, in most cases money obsessed (fear again), obese, uncultured, rude and lonely, with restrictive laws in their minds (divorce rip offs, and neofeminist ideas). That created big middle aged men suicide wave, avoidance of marriage. and general lonelines amongst the people. Gambling industry fluorishes on their lonelines, as Australia is country with the most slot machines in the world, per capita. So, regular life for regular person is work/money based, mostly with the mentality “I have to pay my bills”, shitscared from the government, while at the same time addicted to it – Stockholm syndrome. Sometimes, just sometimes, people go out, to pay some overpriced dinner, and to meet friends and “try their luck” with women – that is why they put so many selfies in such occasion, as it is rare, and it somehow makes them feel they “live” during the breaks from everyday miserable lifestyle. While all forms of Murdoch owned media parrot how Australia is lucky because they have a job and there is no war like “everywhere in the world”.
Also, in 2000, I worked in North Carolina and travelled whole USA, honestly, not as much restrictive and cold like in Australia, but low quality of women, lack of culture, insane rules and loneliness were visible everywhere, so I guess now it is more restrictive nowadays, judging by posts I read.
On the contrary, in Asia, no matter where, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thai, Cambodia – free movement is really free, people are friendly and decent, women are fashionable, good looking, friendly and charming. People are not scared from the government neither are imposed on or obsessed by inhumane rules – they are minding their small bussineses, relationships and friendships – something west dont value at all.
Similar thing goes for the East Europe, which is, unfortunately, going down, stupidly following the Western Europe (hope it will change soon, but knowing slavic mentality – it won’t). CUte and friendly girls and life oriented people life life to the fullest, despites basically closed and controlled EU economy. There have no insane rules and control of personal life and relationships from the govts (despites their weak attpempts to copy western govts, seems like humane side of their rulers is not exctinted yet).
And Russia – great cities -full of life, 24/7, gorgeous women – in St Peterburg Prospect, main street of the city, there are bookstores opened until morning hours, friday night, and you can find most beautiful girls sitting there, reading and smiling, while street is full of music and various bars, fashionable dressed people and no one yells nor pukes, as I saw in Melbourne millions of times.
In conclusion – west is living in constant fear and quiet suffering, imposed by own elites, while there are lot of doors still opened, but most of people are afraid to walk through them.
In last few years I paid no taxes in Australia, where I still keep my residence, I make money in Vietnam, same as numerous other foreigners, having dinners outside almost daily and dating really gorgeous women. Also I know numerous australians living in this part of the world, also in east europe – and they are really happy and fulfilled, with no intention ever to move back. Personal experience, not media parroting.
It depends on the specific scenario, but it’s not technically required.
The ones you’re doing, as well as Amazon FBA, high-margin niched product sales, etc.
I have found the same.
Very accurate and well stated. The crazy things I’ve heard non-traveled Westerners say about other countries is both hilarious and sad at the same time.
Yup. Great comment overall.
I wonder how would you schedule your free time if you had to work regular 40h per week job plus 20-30h part time work for A2.0?
I fail to create good schedule that will be long term sustainable.
I tried Monday – Friday regular 40 plus 20 (5*4h) extra. That leaves 10 more (2x5h) for Saturday and Sunday. Didn’t go well.
Now I’m thinking about doing extra 20 from Monday – Thursday and taking Friday afternoon free. Then hit 10h (2*5h) more on Saturday and Sunday takimg afternoon’s also free.
Hiw do you guys cope? If anyone have some advice or schedule feel free to contribute. Hard working days are not problem. But there must be some reset time to hit it strong again over and over. Thanks!
Five extra hours of work in the evenings 4-5 days a week on weekdays is too much (unless you’re Superman.)
That’s better. An even better system would be 3-5 hours Monday and Tuesday nights, rest Wednesday night, 3-5 hours Thursday and Friday nights, then a full 8 hours on Saturday. Then, if needed, little hour or two on Sunday.
Well, most of the money that changed hands in former USSR was government spending as there was no other kind of spending at large scales.
Good article bro. I’d say unless someone wants to have that old fashioned freedom of assembly community involvement, which few do anymore, then hell yeah an American in the non western world is as free as a king. Adapt or die. It’s still sad watching the US commit suicide though.
There is still hope for Eastern Europe. Look at Hungary. Probably Bulgaria is also on the same path.
No. Eastern Europe will collapse when Western Europe does.
I agree the collapse will be much less bad there though, and a location-independent Alpha 2.0 could be able to do just fine in Eastern Europe as long as he was very flexible and had all of his logistics in place.
I am thinking of moving to Southeast Asia at some point in the next 20 years once it enters is Pax Asianica phase (which I predict will happen around then, based on how USA entered Pax Americana in the 1950s and how ). Right now it seems like China is going through a Great Depression-World War II-esque phase like the USA did in the 1930s-1940s. But I imagine that China will slowly let go of the current authoritarian regime in the next 20 years as people grow sick of authoritarianism. The only thing really keeping me in the USA is hot white women and the still relatively decent standard of living. I’m looking at other countries with lots of hot white women and decent living standards that won’t economically collapse in my lifetime but can’t find any aside from maybe Australia. Also Caleb the UK successfully got Brexit passed and withdrew from the EU. Do you still think they’ll still economically collapse along with the EU? The UK as an empire already collapsed back in the 1940s and have been under the EU’s oppressive rule for a while.
I generally agree. I also agree with what you said about China eventually letting go of authoritarianism, mainly because that’s what eventually happens with most authoritarian countries; they eventually, slowly become more free (or break apart, but that’s more of Western concept than an Eastern one).
Yeah, I understand. That’s one of the reasons I’m not actually basing my primary residence in China as much as I’d like to; I’m just not attracted to Chinese women.
However, places like Hong Kong and Singapore have TONS of hot white women (and women who are “close” to white) and a sky-high standard of living. The problem is that the cost of living is going to be much higher than in SE Asia, so you get what you pay for.
Yep. The UK isn’t as suicidal as Europe (which isn’t saying much), but it’s just as insane as the USA, which is also collapsing. (“The welfare state will save us!” “Just vote for this guy! He’ll fix it all!” And so on.) The UK’s economy is also tied to Europe’s just as much as most other Western European nations (though not nearly as much as countries like Germany).
Correct. The British Empire collapse a long time ago. The nation of the UK hasn’t collapsed yet.
But it will with the rest of the West. Just give it a little time.
Just remember, not all third world countries are equal. Often foreigners living there get little to no legal protection, so they may be scapegoated for the nefarious operations of drug cartels, corrupt govt officials, and police. Just check how many Australians get executed in Southeast Asia for drug trafficking, many of them were convicted under suspicious circumstances. Do take note that things like due process, judicial impartiality, and freedom of speech we took for granted in the West are often lacking in other countries, and THEY can interfere with personal and individual lives. Of course, the 2 % rule applies, but in some countries it may be more likely. Research is mandatory.
Regarding Australians – remember, lot of them are very low on social strata, they can’t understand ANY culture, and they are full of addictions, worst of it is – addiction to the government, kinda Stockholm syndrome, they actually do illegal things. Some companies even in Australia avoid to employ locals for the same reasons, and company I work in Vietnam refuse to employ americans, next to aussies. Irresponsible, addicted to alcohol and drugs, rude, uncultured, and socially inept – so here you go.
Keep that in mind.
Not sure what Melbourne women you’re talking about, but my experience in regards to ‘obsessed with money’ is completely different. As a fairly broke singer/Performer women I meet and date don’t seem to give a shit about my lack of money. In my experience they seem to care much more about looks than money.. In places like Europe, and to a lesser extent the US, I’d often see really attractive women with ugly rich dudes, but you hardly ever see that in Melbourne. It seems to me you’re either describing Sydney women or Melbourne women over 30(3). That does not describe Melbourne women under 30.
Australians rude? In my experience as an Australian who’s traveled to Europe and Asia, its in those continents where most people who live there don’t understand the concepts of politeness, tact or courtesy. Whenever I went to crowded places like bars, I could always tell who was either Australian or American because most people would just shove past and bump through each other while walking around, but the Aussies and Americans would always be saying sorry when they had to cut through crowds or accidentally bumped into people. Seems we have very different definitions of rude.
Rob
Golden rule for understanding if country is good for life, is – if you see average guys dating ugly and/or obese women – country is bad, if average guys date beautiful girls – country is good for living. USA, Ca and Australia/NZ are famous for former situation. Even if you see some beauty on the streets, usually she has bitch shield, as they are rare overthere while average wage losers with no basic social skills are numerous.
Regarding the courtesy, yes, aussies and seppos will greet or say “sorry” but after that basically nothing else to say, as they massively have no sense of understanding any culture, neither sufficient emotional intelligence to maintain sensible conversation, apart of automatic responses, as you nicely stated in your text (“its in those continents where most people who live there don’t understand the concepts of politeness, tact or courtesy”).
Exceptions are the older generations, who were not brainwashed by political correctness, insane laws, rules and regulations and lack of social cohesion. And they notice exactly what I describeed here – plus – they have no problem with understandind thousands years old cultures, nations and regional customs and differences.
Look, I get what you’re saying, and to an extent I agree with some things you’ve said even if they’re a little bit over generalised but it all depends on what you want. For an average looking guy with money, of course it’s better to live in the places you’ve stated, but as a good looking guy with not much money, I don’t get goven the time of day in countries like those in Eastern Europe. I’m Croatian blood, and I’ve been there multiple times, the best looking girls there were all with rich old fat dudes. Not only are do girls here value looks, but because there are so many feminized guys who are afraid to even talk to a girl it makes the competition even weaker, because even other good looking guys that girls might be attracted to at first glance end up being pussies. Not to mention the opportunities for me to get paid as a singer are much higher in western places like Melbourne, Sydney (I hate Sydney though, all the things you’ve said is what I feel about Sydney) and the US.
I don’t know man, I’m always surprised by how unbrainwashed, normal and intelligent most girls I actually meet and date in real life are.. Its a stark contrast from what I would expect based on social media and the Internet. One of the things I do like about Melbourne is how diverse the people are. I mean diverse in the real sense including interests and diversity of thought, not the PC crap skin color diversity. There’s so many different types of people, there’s plenty like the people you described but it seems like maybe you were hanging out in limited circles and therefore only meeting a certain type.
I just don’t have great experiences talking to women and people in the countries you like, I found a lot of the women to be really blunt and socially awkward, with no ability to banter, strange senses of humour that didn’t mesh well with mine.
I have a feeling you and I have VERY different personalities and would find very different traits attractive, you seem to have a preference for people who are “cultured” and I would guess you find traits like maturity (not physical) and intelligence attractive, whereas for me, sense of humour, playfulness, adventurousness, affectionate, those are the things I’m most interested in and I find many girls here to have those in spades. I don’t like a complete lack of intelligence, but I’ll take someone with average intelligence and a great sense of humour over someone highly intelligent and boring any day.
You say you understand and value regional cultures and customs, but you don’t seem to understand that the Aussie youth culture IS about having a laugh and not taking shit too seriously. It’s not a lack of culture, its just not a culture you like, and that’s fine. But I only care about what’s gonna maximise my happiness, and living in Eastern Europe is not it.
The one thing I’ll absolutely agree with is that women here on average need to lose some weight. 100%. If they did, there would be so many hotties here, it’s so disappointing. I think this whole ‘fat acceptance’ culture will fizzle out soon though.
Rob
Well, mate, you confirmed exactly what I wrote. 😉
ahhh yes so true! I made my first trip to my fathers homeland Lebanon (Beirut) 3 years ago. Boy was it an eye opening experience in so many ways. For example, they had no President at the time for 2 or 3 years due to in-fighting within the Government etc. Had nobody told me this, I would have never known! Life still went on as normal. Also, I was told their tax collecting was behind like 30 years lol. So, sometimes a “great government” like in the USA that is collecting taxes on time is not always a great thing. Especially if you tend to be more on the Rebel or Anarchy side like myself.
Additionally, the WOMEN! OMG. At the time, Beirut was the # 1 capital for Plastic surgery in the WORLD! Who would have guessed this? I stayed on the east part of town on a Strip that had like 20 clubs and they were open all night, EVERY NIGHT (I’m not really a club person but it was still kinda cool). Met some amazing women and friends that I still talk to today (stayed at a airbnb so I could meet locals). It was kinda funny because I am a big guy (6′ 2″, 240 lbs.) and shaved head so I really don’t look 1/2 Lebanese when I shave. But this allowed me some built in marketing to attract the ladies somewhat.
Their culture is also war torn so it seems like the women live more for today compared to the USA, which was really nice as you can imagine! =)
The downside – I have been trying for 3 years to get a 2nd citizenship but the paperwork gets lost and I am sure it would move faster if I was in Beirut holding a wad of cash if you know what I mean.
Traffic was horrible but if you have a bike or walk to most places it doesn’t matter as much.
And I think this is KEY! Kinda like in the Netflix series Flaked. Chip lives in a small beach town called Venice, California. He has no car, no cell phone and rents (or lives with friends). Point being, if you plan the 5 Flags out so that the area you stay or live part of the year requires very little use of Vehicles or transportation, it makes some of this lifestyle very nice and much easier to navigate.
Once you experience the food, women, culture and lifestyle of some of these other 3rd world countries then you come back to USA and see how your IRS taxes are taking 40% of your income, it really makes one think!
On top of that, just after I returned from Beirut, I was told by my HOA here in USA that I can no longer rent out MY HOME on Airbnb as a vacation rental. I could only rent it out semi-annually or annually. I since sold the home and will never buy another home in a HOA again. Will probably never buy another home in the USA period due to all the laws, taxes and restrictions like Caleb mentioned. It’s outta control. So between the high taxes on $100K income, rules, laws etc I am losing tons of freedom AND money and its killing me. Looking forward to planting my 1st flag in Lebanon in next few years and can’t wait! Might be a # 2 in Dubai not sure yet….