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Moving to an island...maybe...please help

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Overrated, Apr 6, 2008.

  1. I thought a lot about just moving down to the Keys when I was in my 20s. I didn't need much to survive then, just enough for rent and beer.

    Now that I'm married with kid(s) it's not a possibility.
     
  2. Overrated

    Overrated Guest

    Oh, I plan on dying well before I move back. So, no worries there. Plus, I'm having a hard time making a living now...at least when I get old, I won't be trying to impress chicks. I'll be at that point where I just don't give a shit.

    EDIT: I should clarify. I do well enough to support myself and not starve. I can go out once in a while, so I actually have it better than many, which is why I wanted to make it clear earlier that I wasn't looking for sympathy.
     
  3. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I actually looked into doing something similar (ultimately decided not to because selling all my stuff wouldn't cover my student loans and CC debt) and ran across a plethora of work abroad programs on the internet. I didn't get far enough along to find out which ones were reputable, but I imagine that some basic research would get the trick done.

    What I mostly saw (particularly with companies involved with teaching English) were programs that would place you in an employed position and set you up with housing. You won't make much money, but it appeared most places offered a wage or stipend that would cover living costs and allow you to do some traveling.

    Taking another approach, when I was in Thailand, I met a Brit who had visited for six weeks, and wound up finding a tiki bar that was up for lease. He wound up leasing it for 2 years and the bar itself had living quarters. I later looked up online for opportunities such as the one he found and found plenty of them. I think I did a real estate search or something to that effect.

    A place like Thailand is great if you have a little coin saved up because it will take you far until you find a job. The beaches are fantastic, most people speak English and there's enough tourism that I'd bet you could find work in any number tourism-related jobs. I met an aussie there who found a place he liked and just stayed. He basically just befriended people and worked as a tour guide. He was one of several people like that. Of course, you'd need to get to know your area.

    I hope you're able to do this. I've wanted to do something similar for a long time, but unless I want to go on the lam, it's not going to happen for awhile.
     
  4. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    It's not terrifying, at all. DG21 provides the maintenance and facilities support for the island. Get a one-year job with them, save a lot of bank and come back to the U.S.
     
  5. Overrated

    Overrated Guest

    It just sounded really weird...the part about how nobody there has any spouses and such.
     
  6. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    I can see it now: Into The Wild 2: Perennially Lazy :D :D :D
     
  7. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    I think it has to do with the size of the island, more than anything else.
     
  8. Overrated

    Overrated Guest

    I mean, I don't plan on actually "working"...just snorkeling and robbing tourists on occasion.
     
  9. Jones

    Jones Active Member

    PO, I've given some thought to your very question. When I was younger, this is what I was going to do. I got my divemaster certification and also took some bartending courses so that I'd have two skills that traveled; I quit school and worked in a dive shop in Australia to build up my experience; I scouted out a bunch of potential hideouts -- the plan being, for me, to jump from joint to joint, dive, pocket a little cash, smoke, swim, get brown, and leave to start it all over again. Then somehow I got a job and married and had two kids. I'm still not sure what happened.

    ANYWAY, here are my personal faves:

    Rarotonga: The main island in the Cook Islands chain, in the south Pacific. A protectorate of New Zealand. Very chill lifestyle. Beautiful water. Good standard of living, but reasonable. I met a guy who had arrived on a sailboat fifty years ago and never left. No one cared that he was there. That place was so casual, I asked to meet the Prime Minister and got a sitdown with him. I loved it there. Only drawback: Expensive flight. You're four hours from civilization, which is Auckland. A lot of locals went there at least once a year to shake island fever -- but when NZ is your metropolis, you're at the end of the world.

    Belize: Closer to home. English speaking. Nice island chain -- Caye Caulker is my favorite. Ambergris is the more popular one. More expensive than other Central American countries like Guatamala, but still cheap. Warm, beautiful, good food, lots of hippie dropout types, good to hang out with. Tons of dive boats heading out to the reef to work on. Really sweet spot.

    And if you really want to disappear -- like, puff of smoke style: Juarez, Mexico. Liquidate your assets into cash. Pay cash for a bus ticket to El Paso. Walk over the bridge, where Mexican customs does not exist and no one will check your passport. Just like that, you're gone. You want to become a ghost, go to El Paso.

    It's scary how much thought I've given this over my lifetime.

    If you go, good luck. Tell me what my life unlived feels like.
     
  10. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    no. i'm saying make sure someone will be interested in your services when/if you decide to come back.
     
  11. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    The ironic thing is by moving to a foreign country, you'll be a bigger blip on Big Brother's radar screen. Ex-pats always are.
     
  12. Overrated

    Overrated Guest

    So should I or shouldn't I declare my Soviet-issued RPGs when I move?

    p.s. I'm not really sure what an RPG is, but it sounded military. And dangerous.
     
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