Howdy,

One of the MANY things I have to figure out for my hopeful future move towards living my life as a long term traveler is where to start.

There are several great, inexpensive places for a novice, location independent, nomad to live so narrowing it down is an ordeal in and of itself.

I figure that starting this life, going somewhere that I have already experienced would be a bonus. The List of places I have been to this point (for more than a day) are as follows:

Dubai: Awesome place but not terribly cheap. My little brother Darwin lives there so at least I would know someone but just starting to earn money online I think I would have to wait far longer to start this life if I decided to move to Dubai. I do miss my favorite Chinese Restaurant though.

Iraq: A little too War-Zoney for me to try to start out. I miss Iraq every single day but I would like to make a bit more money if I am going to get shot at… and I doubt the internet is up to par for making much money online.

Russia: St. Petersburg would almost be my ideal place to be and I hope to be able to afford being there one day but like Dubai, Russia is not exactly cheap which is something I am needing unless I can find a job that can be done by someone with a lack of marketable skills.

Thailand: Probably the world headquarters for location independent minded individuals. Cheap. One of the places it would probably be less of a burden to start this life. I have some friends here.

The Philippines: Outside of being the world headquarters, see Thailand.

Canada: A decent place to visit but expensive… the tax rates are asinine… 15% sales tax on top of every other thing they can tax you for. Would love to visit again but wouldn’t see me living in Canada for quite a long time.

Based on the places I have been, Thailand and The Philippines look like they would be the best places to start out so, primarily, they are the main places I have been looking.

They are not the only places I look, there are some places almost as cheap and cheaper still, such as Nepal.

Nepal averages about $400 a month to live but everything along the lines of technology are spotty, so working online would be quite an ordeal just starting out. If at some point I get to the level of automation in earning money, Nepal would be awesome.

Another reason I would LOVE to go to Nepal would be to try to find a friend of mine from Mosul, Iraq, Ghanshyam Gyawali. We called him Sambob. I believe he is from Kathmandu, which is the largest city in Nepal so I am sure he will be easy to find.

I SLACKED OFF FROM THIS POST AND FOUND SAMBOB! on Facebook. Apparently, it will be easier than I thought originally.

 

I am going to try to come up with some pros and cons for my move for each place and try to not go off on a tangent of one form or another… my work is going to certainly be cut out for me.

Thailand:

PROS:

1. Good Internet
2. Good Infrastructure
3. Reasonably Priced Love is easy to find
4. Cheap
5. Loads of other people doing the same thing so help could be easy to find.
6. Healthy diet if eating like a local
7. Street food is amazing
8. Thailand that it is a very international place. It is easy to feel at home there, it is
   exotic but at the same time you have many familar things. – h/t Shelbyville @ SMPForum
9. Sight Seeing/Culture  – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum
10. Feels safer than PH  – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum
11. Medical Facilities and treatment – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum
12. Soapy Massages
13. Warm enough to dive without a wetsuit
14. Sharkey Scuba

CONS:

1. Loads of dishes with peanuts
2. a lot of coconut based dishes
3. Actual Girlfriends seem to be hard to find based on Asiandating.com replies
4. English isn’t something taught in school so language can be a hindrance.
5. Visa Runs every three months, unless teach English or Learn Thai.
6. Sometimes the cops are shady – h/t brockstar @ SMPForum
7. Thailand is just too hot except for Jan/Feb – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum
8. One of the cheapest places to stay that I know of, Chiang Mai, is not near the water

Philippines:

PROS:

1. Flavor Palette, from what I know, is more agreeable
2. Reasonably Priced Love is easy to find
3. Actual Girlfriend is easy to find.
4. English is taught in school and most everyone can have a conversation with you.
5. Filipina’s go the extra mile for please their partner sexually – h/t brockstar @ SMPForum
6. You can feel like a bit of a rockstar being a white guy in the Philippines, When I was there hanging out with my little brother, Darwin, I had people stop  get pictures taken with me.
7. PH is hot during April-June, but for the rest of the year at least the evenings are often nice and cool, just perfect with a t- shirt (for me both are hot all the time but I always run hot – Chop) – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum
8. Friendliness of people  – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum
9. Still feels safe  – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum
10. 7,107 Islands to explore
11. Warm enough to dive without a wetsuit

CONS

1. Still Cheap but seems more expensive than Thailand
2. OK/Spotty Internet
3. Less Infrastructure
4. Horrible Diet
5. The Philippines is more for the adventurous or
   advanced traveler. In most parts of the Philippines there are way less foreign tourists and expats compared to Thailand, so you have to interact more with the local people, which isn’t for everyone.  – h/t Shelbyville @ SMPForum
6. A lot more poverty  – h/t southernallstars @SMPForum

I will update this list as new PROs and CONs present themselves to me.

I am still unsure as to where I want to end up hanging my hat first as both of them will eventually be places I live for a while.

I lean a little towards Thailand simply because my plan is to make money online and by all accounts, Thailand’s net speed and continuous service sounds like they are running light-speed compared to The Philippines on the whole. Outside of the internet though, for me, it is a toss-up.
I would love to hear about the places you would want to move if you wanted to live cheaply and why you choose those locations.

Let me know, below.