When people are looking for a place to live, there are usually a few criteria that get thrown into the mix above and beyond whether or not the location of the home/neighborhood is perfect. Value is a concern for most people, and this term has come to mean many different things over the years depending on the person. Is the home close to schools for families who have kids, is it close to downtown for those who enjoy the hustle and bustle of old-town sections of major cities, is it close to the metro or train for those who need regular transportation options, is it in a quiet area of the city, does it come with furniture, is the price within the budget, does it have access to modern services and amenities and so on and so forth.
The same can be said for individuals who choose to live remotely as location independent digital nomads, with the cities and places of the world as their neighborhoods. People need to know the city and country they are choosing is not only safe, but will provide them with all the basic amenities and services they require, ranging from access to schools if you are traveling with your kids to quality medical care if you happen to have a medical condition. Above and beyond that, price is still a major determining factor in almost every person’s decision, as is location and neighborhood.
There are quite a few things you will want to look at when researching a country. I’ve compiled a list of the most important, as nearly everything else is secondary once you get these out of the way.
Cost of Living
Much like the Five Reasons to Live Abroad post, one of the primary concerns for people looking to move into a new home, apartment, area or otherwise is the cost of living. Is it within their budget? Does it have everything they need included in the price? What is the cost of public transportation, of groceries, of gas should you be one of those who needs a vehicle, the cost of school if you have children, so on and so forth. There are a number of ways to research this, but what you will find via Google on the Travel Wiki and Lonely Planet forums is only a fraction of what you can find if you are talking with local experts. What you will find on the Internet is only generalized information, written by weekend warriors and vacationers. True information from the ground is only achieved through contact with the experts who know everything there is to know about a destination…beyond what Western tourists have written about on the Internet.
One of the reasons I chose Cancun, Mexico as my primary base of operations while exploring South America, for example, was because I knew I could find fully furnished apartments here for 300-400 USD a month with all utilities included (not to mention Internet, which is a must for my job) and I knew I could eat/live like a king on $10 a day. So 300-400 a month for rent, 300 a month for food, and whatever I spend on entertainment. Normally I cap out around 800 dollars a month, although I’ve had a few months here and there where I hit $1,000 a month in total expenses, but usually only if I’m doing a lot of extracurricular activities, like renting a boat for a day or taking a girl out to a nice restaurant or going dancing or something similar. I’m more of a down-to-earth kind of guy, so most of my non-work time is spent enjoying nature, such as on the beach, hiking the mountains and jungle, or just walking the city and hanging out with my local friends exploring new cultural adventures, eating good food, drinking good wine and just indulging in life.
If I want to go pure minimalistic, I can actually get down to around 500-600 a month in total expenses, which is great for some people who are looking to save a lot of money, such as with pensioners who are only getting 800 a month or so in retirement money. When you can keep your necessities down to around 500-600 a month, you can still have extra to spend on a monthly basis.
Entry/Exit Regulations
Visa fees are usually fairly minimal, but it’s the time and hassle that generally deters me from dealing with them. One of the first things I educate people on here at the website and through the various products I sell is the fact that there are literally dozens of countries out there which allow you to stay for up to 6 months at a time without the need for a visa. That means you can come in on your passport alone, without any paperwork, and stay. For example, Mexico allows you to stay for up to 6 months at a time, as do most of the Latin American countries. Some of them have an initial 90 day period that you are given at the border when you arrive, which you can then extend once you are in the country itself.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t go to countries where you need a visa to travel. But personally I counsel people to stick to countries where it’s not a requirement, simply because it cuts down on the hassle of paperwork. However, if there is a destination that you find which appeals to you on every level and you think it’s worth it to spend a few weeks and a few hundred dollars going through the hoops to get one, go for it. I’ve done it in the past (with Bulgaria, for example, as well as Mexico) for benefits such as access to the universal healthcare systems and bank accounts, but it all depends on the individual.
Something else I recommend for people is to choose countries where the entry/exit requirements are lax. Some Eastern European countries, as well as Latin American countries, have fairly laid-back policies regarding entering and leaving the country, which means you can stay for six months (or however long the country in question allows) on your passport, leave the day your time is up, stay in a bordering country for a few days (4 days to a week), then come back and customs will give you another six month stay (or equivalent) in the country, without any paperwork or need for long-term residency visas. This is a more advanced approach, however, and is not something I recommend just anyone doing unless they feel like spending more than 6 months in a destination. And there are also the benefits of establishing residency to consider as a counter argument, which is a topic for another section.
Cost of Healthcare
This is a huge bonus for many people in the 21st century. The rising cost of healthcare in the United States (and similar countries) has made even the simplest of procedures cost a fortune, enough so that many people are living their lives as indentured servants just because they need a few teeth taken care of or they want to get eye surgery or have access to regular diabetes medication.
There was a well-documented case in Europe a few years back of a woman who needed some implants done on her teeth. She was from the United Kingdom and her dentist told her the bill was going to be around 36,000 pounds. She flew to Sofia, Bulgaria, had the exact same procedure done by a dentist who went to the exact same school as her local dentist and had access to the same equipment and supplies, and her total bill, including the cost of her plane ticket and hotel rental for a week while she underwent the surgeries, was around 6,000 pounds. That’s right…a difference of 30,000 pounds!
I have a friend here in Mexico who had porcelain caps done in San Diego before he moved down here in 2003. His bill was $40,000 for the procedure. It was only after moving here that he discovered a qualified dentist doing the exact same procedure in one of the major cities for around $10,000.
These are just a couple of brief examples, and there’s a lot more to it than simply jumping at the first opportunity you see just because the price is right. Certifications are absolutely important, especially when it comes to invasive procedures, but the beauty of modern medicine is that doctors in the major cities of the world study at the exact same schools and have the exact same standards of excellence and equipment that you are used to from your local physicians. And unless you are out in the middle of the bush, jungle or mountains, the chances of you dealing with third world medicine are pretty much nil.
Safety
One of the major reasons most people never leave their home country is because they are terrified that the world outside of their quiet little suburbia is a terrorist-ridden minefield of countries where every citizen of said country is waiting to rob you, kidnap you, ransom you or for some reason kill you for being an American/British citizen.
This is propaganda, people. While there are in fact dangerous cities and even dangerous countries, the vast majority of information you see on the news is nothing more than misinformation, specifically targeted at your fears and doubts to keep you safe within the borders of your country. And by safe I mean happily working away at the sweatshop, spending your hard-earned dollars on over-priced commodities and taxes and fueling the great machine of the West.
Governments don’t want you to leave. When you choose to spend your money in other countries, it doesn’t benefit them, it benefits the other guys, and every government out there doesn’t trust the other guys.
But let’s get a little perspective on this. Yes, going to Iran as an American citizen is foolhardy, at least in today’s political climate when the two countries have so much animosity towards each other. But the stories of you being kidnapped if you go to Columbia for a six month stay are nothing more than myths, built upon a handful of incidents that are blown way beyond proportion to keep you scared and spending your money at home, instead of in Columbia (or any other country).
Here’s the thing: yes, it is true that certain cities are dangerous. As of 2011 you probably wouldn’t want to go to Caracas, Venezuela considering the city has one of the highest murder rates in the world, but just because the capital is so dangerous does not meant the rest of the country is, and when you look at places like Isla Margarita you find tropical havens where the people are educated, friendly and operate just like any other tourist destination in the world. But the fact is that New York City has its sections where you just don’t go during certain hours of the day/night, as does any major city in the world. Every country has its sour apples, and the key is knowing how to avoid the sour ones so you can enjoy the perfect ones.
I have spent over 12 years traveling as of this writing. I have never been pick-pocketed. I have never been kidnapped. I’ve never been mugged. I’ve never been robbed, held for ransom or been in any type of danger whatsoever, and I’ve been in dozens of countries that most Americans consider “dangerous”, ranging from Turkey to Serbia to Mexico and Bulgaria, which is one of the largest remaining Mafia-type countries in the world. The chances of you actually having issues with safety is about the same as you getting struck by lightning. That being said, there are still cities in countries that you will want to avoid, and it’s worth looking into…as long as you use a set of wide-angled lenses and ignore the propaganda.
In Closing
There are dozens more things you need to look at when researching other countries and cities, but these are just a few of the most important things to consider. Some other things to look at are the education systems if you happen to be moving with children, the public transportation systems of a city, the rail routes for a country if you plan on doing a lot of exploring, and its proximity to other countries you want to visit. For example, if you wanted to explore South America it is far more productive to move from city to city in countries that border one another to save on transportation costs, so even though you might want to see something in Argentina but you also want to see things in Ecuador, Chile and Peru, you would want to choose your cities in a natural path of progression that keeps your traveling expenses to a minimum. So even though your preference might be Argentina, you might have found a super cheap deal on an apartment in Ecuador that you can’t pass up, so you start there instead, following a natural line of progression rather than bouncing around spending a fortune on plane tickets.
At the end of the day where you choose to go is up to you, but there are a lot of things you can look at when deciding which country is best for you. Countries that speak to the heart are important, but so are the actual realities of living on the ground as a local, not just another tourist.
Also, feel free to browse around the site, as there are numerous other informative posts that will help educate on you exactly what it means to be a digital nomad, as well as the how and why you should consider becoming location independent and living like a local in various countries around the world. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for more concentrated travel advise on how to live like a local in foreign destinations. In addition, signing up gives you access to discounts and special promotions on the various products sold through our store. Leave a comment and stay in touch with us via our blog, as well as join in on the conversations over at Facebook and Twitter. And if you ever have any questions, feel free to drop me a line at twanderson@marginalboundaries.com. I read every comment and every email sent to me, so don’t be shy!
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