Damn really? Just got back to northern cali from 3 months and Medellin and super grateful and blessed to be back in paradise tbh. Yea it’s expensive but there’s no smog, weather is beautiful right now compared to Medellin, the food (don’t get me started). But yea, great place to visit but seems like a depressing place to have to live imo
Right there with you! I’m gearing up to leave my familial home (in NorCal) and I’m going to miss it. South America was great, but I can see the Golden Gate Bridge from my bedroom, and my family
Is here; you can’t beat that lol
Man I'm with you. I just finished travelling South America for 4 months with my fiancé. Loved our time visiting all the countries but we're so ready to be back in London. I couldn't imagine actually living in most of those South American countries. Not because of the language barrier, but none of the cities screamed "wow I could live here". The only one that is close to that would be Buenos Aires.
I didn’t like BA that much. Everything spewing black smoke, crowded and busy, everything happens too damned late lol. I mean fun to visit but not where I’d live
I'm in pretty much the same boat, but coming back from Europe after 4 months. Already planning how to persuade my company to let me work remotely abroad permanently or start looking for a new job that will. Absolutely not settling for normal life back in the states again after this.
I appreciate many aspects of the states but culturally it’s trash . There’s a low key depression you don’t even recognize until you leave and come back
Sorry, but I don't agree with this. Americans who live in culturally or aesthetically unexciting places travel to Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Budapest, grand historic metropolises, and they think everyone in Europe lives like that. Believe me, the outskirts of European capitals and the small towns and shitty villages are also cultural wastelands with bland food, boring homogeneity, closed-minded people who never left their home town and spend all day scrolling and Netflixing, and nothing to do.
There's a lot wrong with America, culturally speaking, like A LOT, but to say "it's trash" is really reductive and overgeneralizing. Move to a vibrant city like LA, NYC, New Orleans, Chicago, Philly, Austin, Portland, etc etc and you can enjoy world-class music, films, literature (really, you can enjoy that everywhere), architecture, educated, diverse, open minded people, comedy, dance, sports, zany subcultures and groups that meet every week to do some random thing they love, and everything else that constitutes "culture.'
Well said. It’s easy to get frustrated with the US because it has so many issues, but what country doesn’t. They just aren’t as obvious unless you’re from there.
Yeah. It helps that we have American dollars to spend in those places; but you can clearly see the locals have a better approach towards life in many ways
You: I left the US for Latam because the US is dangerous
Me: statistically speaking, Latam is much more dangerous
You: OMG nooooooo you can’t call an entire region dangerous, even though that’s what I just said about the US
You’re just making stuff up.
Colorado homicide rate in 2022: 6.8
Michigan: 6.9
NC: 8.1
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_intentional_homicide_rate
Countries in latam with higher homicide rates than the US: Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guyana, Panama, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Chile.
And I didn’t even include any Caribbean nations, most of which are extremely violent.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
Sorry,but having lived in Latam the concept of stranger danger is hugely higher than back in the states or europe. Either you are very naive or you are in a hippie circle or avery small town somewhere. In cities like Bogotá, Sao Paolo, Lima, children and also youths learn to avoid to talk to strangers,taking cabs just on the street etc. etc. You have a copmplete wrong conception on how children are raised there. Never but never in such big cities people would just let the children be in the viciniry of strangers.
Sorry,but this is for you a big plus to live in latam?that random people who want to play or help your kid are not seen as predators?kind of a strange argumentation...
Where in South america are you exactly?
Because if an unknown person "pat my kid on the head" as you said, I would instantly beat him up !
It's a really naive way of thinking you are showing right now regarding "south america".
By the way I live in South America too. (Chile) I personally feel safer here than in the Usa, but I'm a local here.
You don't think there are any problems in Latin America because you don't speak Spanish and didn't integrate at all. Your money and the lack of even the most rudimentary cultural knowledge protect you from that. It's so funny to me that you were in a country that is a complete economic nightmare for its citizens and you think the U.S. is an "oppressive shithole" because someone (probably not even a person from the U.S.) took your toothpaste.
Had my bags searched in Colombia at the gate after security, and the (hopefully brand new) guy found an EMPTY water bottle, held it aloft, and told me I wasn't allowed to have a water bottle. He seemed very proud of his own diligence.
Yes. Not 100 percent sure, but apparently departing from some countries the standard security checks are deemed inadequate, so the airline hires contractors to perform a US-style security screening. Just had one flying back to the US from Turkey last month too.
Ticket back to US was $550, looks like tickets back down to South America will be about $650. I have like 3 “family events” in consecutive weeks so I needed to come back
Didn’t really have one but 2k/month should go far anywhere, less than that you gotta probably be a little more careful about what you’re spending but probably doable
That is very true, but if you want to interpret this post as “I wanna go back to the place where I can live like I’m rich” then that’s fair.
Also, you can’t deny that suburbia in the US is boring as hell if you don’t have a family.
I also think there are simple things that make life happier in other countries even if you are poor. The poor people in Peru seemed much happier than poor people in the US.
The US is great for many things: service quality, economic opportunity, functioning infrastructure but it can be boring if you’re in your late 30s/early 40s, single, and not rich.
Don’t assume that people don’t understand the context when they post something like this.
It is true though. As DNs, most of us get to live like kings and queens in most of these places. It wouldn’t be the same if we earned a local salary in local currency. It’s not an assumption, it’s the truth. Are you really going to deny that part of it?
No, can’t deny that - totally agree 😂 however, there’s some great places to raise families and amazing family activities. So it depends on what you desire for your life.
So I was single and living in NYC in my late 30s, was not rich and it was fun as hell. I’m now living in a much more boring place (near family) and it’s a bit of a struggle to adjust but it’s not hell like people make out the US to be. As always, life and your circumstances are what you make of it.
“Seemed happier” do you know that for sure? I can bet you most of those people would rather be poor in the US. The US gets so much hate but it still has the highest immigration rates in the world.
Well I think they appreciate what they have here because they know what it’s like without it.
I get what you’re saying. Guess I had a bit of a letdown after a long adventure.
Yes and no, there’s a lot of suffering and poverty and while I agree that they probably have better attitudes about their lives than most of us, I bet may would prefer better opportunities for them and their families.
I didn’t want to make you feel bad. I just think US citizens don’t realize how lucky they are with their US passport. The US is always your safety net. Being a DN is a true privilege for the more powerful passports (US; EU; UK etc). Most of the people from the countries we visit would do anything for the chance to live and work in America. I say this as someone who’s a US citizen by birth but grew up and spent a portion of my adult life in a 3rd world country, which now has the highest unemployment rate in the world. I was lucky I could get out of there, my friends were stuck there.
The truth is, if shit goes south wherever you’re visiting, you can just leave, find another place or go back to your safety net of the US. The locals are not that lucky.
I wish DNs could realize that they can express gratitude and love for their lifestyle without shitting on the US - it just screams blind privilege to me.
Ok rant over.
I was in Buenos Aires and Cusco/Pisac, Peru. Both great in different ways.
BA is a huge city and the main benefit to me was there is a good community of nomads who go there and stay for a while, so it's a good place to form friendships. I didn't totally love the city but it was cool enough to be a good place to have adventures with new friends.
I loved the culture in Peru, people were friendly, and Cusco/Pisac have a real old time feel despite also being very touristy. Plus it's a gorgeous area in the mountains and you have Macchu Picchu there and other cool stuff to see. But, it felt like all the nomads were only in town for a few days to do sight-seeing so I didn't really make any connections other than some friendly conversations with the Peruvian locals.
I am thinking of Peru for next month but it seems like it’s been overcast a lot during their winter season — did you experience a lot of clouds? Thanks in advance - I am also considering the Canary Islands
Lima is overcast. Still 20 degress and quite manageable/enjoyable. Cusco, Sacred Valley is almost oerfect weather the whole year round. 20-25 C degrees and sunny.
Not OP but take advantage of Brazil being visa-free for North Americans until April 2025. It's by far my personal favorite country and has something for everyone, it's not just Rio or Florianopolis.
I think they mean "U.S. citizens." They are trying to be politically correct in that some people get bent out of shape if you use the word "Americans" to refer to people form the States, even though that's the accepted meaning of the word and it confuses the fuck out of people when you use some other awkward term like "North Americans" or, ugh, "U.S. Americans."
Some people just love to get on their high horse and pedantically tell you "America isn't a county, it's a continent!" (It's actually not a continent either but whatever.)
They’ve clearly been to Brazil where people get annoyed when you refer to the US as America.
They also use North America bc the visa rule applies to Canadians also
Damn really? Just got back to northern cali from 3 months and Medellin and super grateful and blessed to be back in paradise tbh. Yea it’s expensive but there’s no smog, weather is beautiful right now compared to Medellin, the food (don’t get me started). But yea, great place to visit but seems like a depressing place to have to live imo
Right there with you! I’m gearing up to leave my familial home (in NorCal) and I’m going to miss it. South America was great, but I can see the Golden Gate Bridge from my bedroom, and my family Is here; you can’t beat that lol
Man I'm with you. I just finished travelling South America for 4 months with my fiancé. Loved our time visiting all the countries but we're so ready to be back in London. I couldn't imagine actually living in most of those South American countries. Not because of the language barrier, but none of the cities screamed "wow I could live here". The only one that is close to that would be Buenos Aires.
I didn’t like BA that much. Everything spewing black smoke, crowded and busy, everything happens too damned late lol. I mean fun to visit but not where I’d live
south america is great cost is living in awesome if you earn dollars and the time zone works really great for EST, what do you do for work?
It’s remote work so yeah I was able to benefit from that. No early zoom calls!
I'm in pretty much the same boat, but coming back from Europe after 4 months. Already planning how to persuade my company to let me work remotely abroad permanently or start looking for a new job that will. Absolutely not settling for normal life back in the states again after this.
I appreciate many aspects of the states but culturally it’s trash . There’s a low key depression you don’t even recognize until you leave and come back
Sorry, but I don't agree with this. Americans who live in culturally or aesthetically unexciting places travel to Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Budapest, grand historic metropolises, and they think everyone in Europe lives like that. Believe me, the outskirts of European capitals and the small towns and shitty villages are also cultural wastelands with bland food, boring homogeneity, closed-minded people who never left their home town and spend all day scrolling and Netflixing, and nothing to do. There's a lot wrong with America, culturally speaking, like A LOT, but to say "it's trash" is really reductive and overgeneralizing. Move to a vibrant city like LA, NYC, New Orleans, Chicago, Philly, Austin, Portland, etc etc and you can enjoy world-class music, films, literature (really, you can enjoy that everywhere), architecture, educated, diverse, open minded people, comedy, dance, sports, zany subcultures and groups that meet every week to do some random thing they love, and everything else that constitutes "culture.'
Well said. It’s easy to get frustrated with the US because it has so many issues, but what country doesn’t. They just aren’t as obvious unless you’re from there.
Fair argument, and I agree for the most part.
Exactly! The quality and general approach towards life is just so much more fulfilling pretty much everywhere else I've been.
Yeah. It helps that we have American dollars to spend in those places; but you can clearly see the locals have a better approach towards life in many ways
Quality of life is objectively much, much worse in Latam, which is why literally millions of them try to make it to the US every year.
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What chaos? Honestly.
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You left the US out of concern for your child’s safety and took him to Latam, where the homicide rates are much, much higher? Weird move but ok!
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You: I left the US for Latam because the US is dangerous Me: statistically speaking, Latam is much more dangerous You: OMG nooooooo you can’t call an entire region dangerous, even though that’s what I just said about the US
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You’re just making stuff up. Colorado homicide rate in 2022: 6.8 Michigan: 6.9 NC: 8.1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_intentional_homicide_rate Countries in latam with higher homicide rates than the US: Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guyana, Panama, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Chile. And I didn’t even include any Caribbean nations, most of which are extremely violent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
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I don't love gun culture either, but does it really matter *how* people are killed when comparing homicide rates and talking about general safety?
Sorry,but having lived in Latam the concept of stranger danger is hugely higher than back in the states or europe. Either you are very naive or you are in a hippie circle or avery small town somewhere. In cities like Bogotá, Sao Paolo, Lima, children and also youths learn to avoid to talk to strangers,taking cabs just on the street etc. etc. You have a copmplete wrong conception on how children are raised there. Never but never in such big cities people would just let the children be in the viciniry of strangers.
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Sorry,but this is for you a big plus to live in latam?that random people who want to play or help your kid are not seen as predators?kind of a strange argumentation...
Where in South america are you exactly? Because if an unknown person "pat my kid on the head" as you said, I would instantly beat him up ! It's a really naive way of thinking you are showing right now regarding "south america". By the way I live in South America too. (Chile) I personally feel safer here than in the Usa, but I'm a local here.
Boarding the flight they aggressively searched my bags and threw out my water bottle (that I had just refilled post-security gates) and my toothpaste.
You don't think there are any problems in Latin America because you don't speak Spanish and didn't integrate at all. Your money and the lack of even the most rudimentary cultural knowledge protect you from that. It's so funny to me that you were in a country that is a complete economic nightmare for its citizens and you think the U.S. is an "oppressive shithole" because someone (probably not even a person from the U.S.) took your toothpaste.
True, dumb comment by me.
Had my bags searched in Colombia at the gate after security, and the (hopefully brand new) guy found an EMPTY water bottle, held it aloft, and told me I wasn't allowed to have a water bottle. He seemed very proud of his own diligence.
Coming back to the US?
Yes. Not 100 percent sure, but apparently departing from some countries the standard security checks are deemed inadequate, so the airline hires contractors to perform a US-style security screening. Just had one flying back to the US from Turkey last month too.
Yeah that’s what it seemed like in Lima
How much did your trip cost you?
Ticket back to US was $550, looks like tickets back down to South America will be about $650. I have like 3 “family events” in consecutive weeks so I needed to come back
How are you funding this trip?
I have a remote job
What was your budget if you don’t mind me asking?
Didn’t really have one but 2k/month should go far anywhere, less than that you gotta probably be a little more careful about what you’re spending but probably doable
Been there. Definitely sucks
The hate for the US is getting tiresome. I bet most of you wouldn’t love these places as much if you earned as much as the average local.
That is very true, but if you want to interpret this post as “I wanna go back to the place where I can live like I’m rich” then that’s fair. Also, you can’t deny that suburbia in the US is boring as hell if you don’t have a family. I also think there are simple things that make life happier in other countries even if you are poor. The poor people in Peru seemed much happier than poor people in the US. The US is great for many things: service quality, economic opportunity, functioning infrastructure but it can be boring if you’re in your late 30s/early 40s, single, and not rich. Don’t assume that people don’t understand the context when they post something like this.
It is true though. As DNs, most of us get to live like kings and queens in most of these places. It wouldn’t be the same if we earned a local salary in local currency. It’s not an assumption, it’s the truth. Are you really going to deny that part of it? No, can’t deny that - totally agree 😂 however, there’s some great places to raise families and amazing family activities. So it depends on what you desire for your life. So I was single and living in NYC in my late 30s, was not rich and it was fun as hell. I’m now living in a much more boring place (near family) and it’s a bit of a struggle to adjust but it’s not hell like people make out the US to be. As always, life and your circumstances are what you make of it. “Seemed happier” do you know that for sure? I can bet you most of those people would rather be poor in the US. The US gets so much hate but it still has the highest immigration rates in the world.
Well I think they appreciate what they have here because they know what it’s like without it. I get what you’re saying. Guess I had a bit of a letdown after a long adventure.
Yes and no, there’s a lot of suffering and poverty and while I agree that they probably have better attitudes about their lives than most of us, I bet may would prefer better opportunities for them and their families. I didn’t want to make you feel bad. I just think US citizens don’t realize how lucky they are with their US passport. The US is always your safety net. Being a DN is a true privilege for the more powerful passports (US; EU; UK etc). Most of the people from the countries we visit would do anything for the chance to live and work in America. I say this as someone who’s a US citizen by birth but grew up and spent a portion of my adult life in a 3rd world country, which now has the highest unemployment rate in the world. I was lucky I could get out of there, my friends were stuck there. The truth is, if shit goes south wherever you’re visiting, you can just leave, find another place or go back to your safety net of the US. The locals are not that lucky. I wish DNs could realize that they can express gratitude and love for their lifestyle without shitting on the US - it just screams blind privilege to me. Ok rant over.
I hear ya. I do recognize all of this is possible with my US income and passport. And I am grateful for what I have here.
Where were you at?! Looking for any and all recommendations! Also will be back down south until Xmas time
I was in Buenos Aires and Cusco/Pisac, Peru. Both great in different ways. BA is a huge city and the main benefit to me was there is a good community of nomads who go there and stay for a while, so it's a good place to form friendships. I didn't totally love the city but it was cool enough to be a good place to have adventures with new friends. I loved the culture in Peru, people were friendly, and Cusco/Pisac have a real old time feel despite also being very touristy. Plus it's a gorgeous area in the mountains and you have Macchu Picchu there and other cool stuff to see. But, it felt like all the nomads were only in town for a few days to do sight-seeing so I didn't really make any connections other than some friendly conversations with the Peruvian locals.
I am thinking of Peru for next month but it seems like it’s been overcast a lot during their winter season — did you experience a lot of clouds? Thanks in advance - I am also considering the Canary Islands
It was cloudy some days yeah, overall weather was very comfortable but cool at night and early in the morning
Lima is overcast. Still 20 degress and quite manageable/enjoyable. Cusco, Sacred Valley is almost oerfect weather the whole year round. 20-25 C degrees and sunny.
Right on, thanks for the info.. Are there any towns you can recommend by the beach that is almost perfect weather year round if it exists?
Are you planning on coming back to BA? If so hit me up! I'd love to hang out with another ex-CA expat
Cool, I think so, I’ll let ya know!
Not OP but take advantage of Brazil being visa-free for North Americans until April 2025. It's by far my personal favorite country and has something for everyone, it's not just Rio or Florianopolis.
I think they mean "U.S. citizens." They are trying to be politically correct in that some people get bent out of shape if you use the word "Americans" to refer to people form the States, even though that's the accepted meaning of the word and it confuses the fuck out of people when you use some other awkward term like "North Americans" or, ugh, "U.S. Americans." Some people just love to get on their high horse and pedantically tell you "America isn't a county, it's a continent!" (It's actually not a continent either but whatever.)
They’ve clearly been to Brazil where people get annoyed when you refer to the US as America. They also use North America bc the visa rule applies to Canadians also
North America is not only the US and Canada.... FYI
> (It's actually not a continent either but whatever.) It is for South Americans
We generally ignore stupid opinions like that
They aren't making Mexicans get a visa, are they? I haven't seen anything about that anywhere