Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller discusses a letter from Felix, a Hispanic man from Colombia who moved to the United States as a child. Felix shares his observations on the differences in cultural acceptance between the U.S. and Latin America. He notes that in the U.S., wearing shirts with messages like 'White Pride' can lead to negative reactions, while in Latin America, people are more accepting of diverse symbols, including those with controversial or offensive content. Felix also comments on the cultural norms around gender roles in dance, where the man leads and the woman follows, and criticizes a recent article that suggests changing these norms. Johnny agrees with Felix's perspective, highlighting the contrast between the U.S. and Latin America in terms of cultural tolerance and the acceptance of English-language clothing items over Spanish ones. The episode ends with Johnny encouraging listeners to consider having a 'plan B' for living abroad.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the challenges of foreigners buying rental property in Latin America, particularly for expats who plan to live there. He highlights the difficulties of dealing with local renters, including issues with payment, legal enforcement, and cultural attitudes toward renting. Johnny also addresses the practicalities of using Airbnb for short-term rentals, noting the wear and tear and the potential for damage. He suggests alternative solutions, such as owning a duplex or similar property, to avoid these issues while still generating income.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the challenges of being a landlord in Latin America, particularly in the context of economic instability and real estate market issues. He warns that the current economic climate, marked by inflation, layoffs, and a lack of confidence, makes it a poor time to invest in real estate. He also highlights the difficulties expats face in obtaining bank loans and the tendency for real estate deals to be problematic, often resulting in financial losses. Johnny shares his personal experience with real estate projects, noting that while some were profitable, many were not, and he ultimately advises against treating real estate as a business. Instead, he suggests that people should consider real estate as a lifestyle choice rather than a financial investment.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses his experiences with Latin American landlords, emphasizing that many have become strict due to past issues with irresponsible renters. He highlights the importance of having a friendly Latin American lawyer to review rental contracts, which often include unenforceable clauses. Johnny also addresses Ben's questions about expat volunteering, expressing skepticism about large-scale volunteer projects that give away free items, as they often lead to unsustainable outcomes. Instead, he advocates for one-on-one help with local families, such as supporting their children's education or providing useful items. He also touches on the issue of underage cleaning workers and the potential for expats to help by sending their children to private schools, which can significantly improve their lives.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses his country recommendations for expats, addressing a question from Ben about his recent list of countries he doesn't recommend. He explains that his recommendations are based on personal preferences and priorities, such as cost of living, weather, and lifestyle. He also touches on the impact of socialist governments in Latin America and how they affect economic stability and investment. Johnny highlights the Dominican Republic as a favorable option due to its relatively low cost of living, good weather, and minimal hurricane risk, while also noting the challenges of countries like Uruguay due to high taxes and a slow pace of life.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses his preference for living in regions with more consistent weather, such as the altiplano in Central America, over places like Uruguay, which he finds too cold and dry for most of the year. He also mentions his limited interest in beach life, except for a few weeks of vacation, and prefers the beach lifestyle in places like Roatan or the Dominican Republic over a 'permanently boring' life in Uruguay. The segment ends with a call to action for listeners interested in expat consulting or attending an upcoming seminar.
Episode Notes
In this episode, Johnny Mueller dives into the cultural acceptance differences between the U.S. and Latin America, discusses the challenges of being a landlord in Latin America, and shares his country recommendations for expats. He also touches on rental experiences, legal considerations, and the impact of socialist governments on economic stability.
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Topics
Cultural acceptance in the U.S. vs. Latin America, Diversity and tolerance in Latin America, Cultural norms and gender roles in dance, Language and clothing preferences in Latin America, Social issues and priorities in the U.S. vs. Latin America, Expats and property ownership in Latin America, Challenges of being a landlord in Latin America, Airbnb and short-term rentals for expats, Alternatives to Airbnb for expats, Economic instability in Latin America, Challenges for expats in real estate, Real estate market trends
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:32 Felix's Email and Cultural Observations 00:01:25 Tolerance of Controversial Symbols in Latin America 00:02:34 Cultural Norms and Gender Roles in Dance 00:04:55 Language and Clothing Preferences in Latin America 00:05:56 Encouragement to Have a Plan B 00:06:07 Big Dreams and Plan B 00:06:09 Plan B and Country Preferences 00:06:11 Country Preferences for Expats 00:06:16 Tolerance vs. Admiration in Host Countries 00:06:22 Email from Ben Down Under 00:06:25 Ben's Response to Johnny's Question 00:06:29 Ben's Comments on Repeating Information 00:06:34 Ben's Comments on the Bounce 00:11:26 Living with Renters and Monitoring Payments 00:11:42 Doubtful Future for Landlords Amid Economic Crisis 00:13:14 Current Market Conditions and Real Estate Crash 00:14:55 Johnny's Personal Real Estate Experience 00:16:28 Challenges of Being a Landlord in Latin America 00:17:31 Volunteering and Its Impact on Local Communities 00:21:54 Ben's Question About Country Recommendations 00:22:27 Johnny's List of Countries He Doesn't Recommend 00:23:39 Recommendations for Beach Lovers 00:24:56 Hurricane Risk in the Dominican Republic 00:27:03 Johnny's Criticism of Uruguay 00:27:16 Preference for Consistent Weather in Central America 00:27:26 Preference for Beach Life Over a Boring Life in Uruguay
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Let's start out today with this really interesting and imminently cancellable email This comes from Felix He says Johnny as a Hispanic man born in Columbia who came to Los Angeles
[00:46] USA at nine years old and a guy who travels back and forth to my hometown in Columbia at least once a year I Have to say I do feel bad for white people. I've never been mistaken for a white guy I'm a tan guy myself but for whatever reason I can walk down the street in the US wearing a shirt that says Brown pride and Blacks can have BLM hats and t-shirts and no one will make a negative comment. You'll even get a thumbs up or a high-five But if you guys you white guys wear a shirt that said white pride People would spit at you and call you racist Trumpers or clan members. I don't get it Then he says funny though in Latin America You can wear anything you want a confederate flag a Trump or Castro hat a Pablo Escobar narco t-shirt
[01:32] Even one littered with swastikas. In fact, I see there's lots of fake Harleys in Columbia. It seems like there's all kinds of imports coming from China and India that copy Harleys pretty good copies Do and half the cost from a distance you can't tell them apart but close up you sure can When I'm in Columbia, it seems every week There is some kind of motorcycle run where you see lots of these fake Harleys And there's always a few riders wearing German World War two helmets even swastika patches and people think they're cool You can buy them all over the place in trinket shops in Latin America Columbia specifically, which I know so well The only people that'll call you out for that kind of stuff are American white people tourists Sensitive American woke people it's hard to admit coming from me a guy who
[02:18] Migrated to the United States from bad things in my country only to realize as an adult that in my adopted country Things have gone very wrong Good thing though, and it's very fortunate that those backward steps do not translate. Well to Latin America Then Felix says by the way, Johnny, I saw a recent Latin X article in the Los Angeles Times It was the story about how a lesbian Latina woman or whatever. She calls herself on the spectrum from Columbia Was transplanted to Los Angeles as a child just like I was and she's complaining now in the Latin X news about Latino cultural sexism She or whatever her pronoun is pointed out that with salsa rumba tango and Latino dancing in general
[03:05] It's a firm rule that the man always leads and the woman follows She he seems to think we much change all that because it puts women in an inferior unequal position to men He says I couldn't believe they would print something like that. She was making a big stink about nothing Aren't there more pressing problems in the world to devote your time to war poverty pollution? malnutrition human trafficking fake vaxes What's happened to logic and priorities? I'm with you Johnny. The USA is turning into a big cesspool of stupidity Only in America not Latin America Could people get away with complaining about things like that if in Columbia or anywhere else in Latin America You were to bring that up in a club or disco or on a dance floor they don't think you made a bad joke and escort you out of the building and
[03:55] My American friends in Los Angeles wonder why I'm spending more and more time in Columbia signed Felix PS Johnny I'm in the clothing business I saw a really great t-shirt in the free zone and cologne in Panama I could wear it in Latin America all day long, but I could never wear it up in the States Or I'd be lynched even as a brown guy. I'd be lynched So what's the t-shirt say it says in big letters black lives matter dot dot dot, but only after they're born In smaller print it says black women have 38 percent of abortions, but make up only 14 percent of women of childbearing age All right, thanks for that Felix. Yeah, you're right. You'd be nuts to wear that shirt in the US You'd get lynched by the way Felix. I don't know how long you've been listening to this show, but a couple years back
[04:44] I was talking about how Latin Americans in general Vastly prefer any kind of t-shirt sweatshirt jacket sweater hoodie Whatever as long as it's got English sayings or letters printed on it Just come on down take a look around and you'll see for yourself that out of every let's say 100 t-shirts or sweatshirts just see people wearing on the street or even when you walk into a clothing store Just one or two of those clothing items out of a hundred will be in Spanish or have Spanish lettering on them And all the rest will say something in English People down here don't want Spanish sayings on t-shirts. They want English sayings whether they understand a meaning or not Come on. Suppose you had a t-shirt with French sayings on it I don't think an American would wear it in public unless they knew the English translation
[05:30] Could be embarrassing if you didn't and since down here in Latin America, maybe only one out of 50 people I'm talking when you're off the tourist trail that is Speaks good enough English to understand what it says on their t-shirt That speaks volumes for the gringo wannabe nature of the society itself. It definitely reaffirms your gringo advantage I know I know there's nothing fair about it, but what's fair in this world, you know But let's face it if you're gonna have a plan B and y'all should have a plan B I know only maybe two percent of you will ever go through with the whole thing But that's beside the point you still keep listening, right? Nothing wrong with having big dreams Anyway, if you're gonna have a plan B Wouldn't you much rather have it in a country where they like and admire gringos and expats or would you rather have your plan?
[06:16] Be in a country where the people just tolerate us because of the money and tourism we bring in All right. Let's take another email this time from our man down under Ben He says g'day johnny mate in answer to your question a little while back Yes, you do repeat yourself a little but only where necessary not to a point where i'm yelling at the radio Shut up johnny. We've heard all this before the bounce is still pretty good in my opinion. He says Then he says here's a few topics i'd like to hear you bang on about if you haven't already number one Obviously, some of us are slower to get our plan B into action than others But that doesn't mean we're not keen to get the ball rolling What are your thoughts about foreigners buying rental property in latin america with the idea to live in it eventually? Clearly he says you'd want to be 100 sure that's the place you'd want to end up living in
[07:05] That way though gives the buyer the opportunity to lock in a property at today's prices Having said that what do you see the property market doing over there going forward? All right, ben. Let's dive into that one before we get on to your other questions First off ben after knowing lots of gringos and expats who decide to become landlords in latin america I'd have to say for most of them it turned into nothing but a headache But then again, most all of them never ended up living in that place They just did it as an investment to make some dough. They became landlords to have a steady income. That's the point, right? You know, there's always headaches involved with being a landlord It's even worse in latin america unless your clients happen to be first world expats and gringos That way if you were a landlord up in the states, you know what you're dealing with Not that all gringos and expats are sterling renters. They're not there's always a certain percentage of bad payers and deadbeats
[07:58] The thing is here in latin america. There is an extra layer of problems in dealing with latino renters Remember down here rules are very flexible law enforcement is weak and we're on manana time As classist even racist as this sounds latinos compared to americans as a rule are not ideal renters They're a lot more likely to be deadbeats and slow payers Even if you own a place in a high rent area and you're renting to upper class even rich or wealthy latinos They are slow rent payers and often deadbeats too So don't be fooled by their late model cars Their real bling and even their bodyguards or the helicopter schools they send their kids to they're often months or even years behind On paying that tuition. I know a couple of bankers here in latin america and they tell me that upscale latinos
[08:46] Even the wealthy ones are maxed out on their credit cards right now in that situation Generally, the last guy to get paid every month is the landlord Do you want to be that guy? In fact, I can't tell you how many deadbeat renters stories i've heard from gringo and expat landlords Many if not most of them regret ever getting into it They all thought being a landlord was a sure thing because property is so much cheaper down here, etc, etc But problem number one is it's very difficult to kick out a deadbeat renter Sure, you'll get two months deposit up front But it's not uncommon to take six months or more to get out of deadbeat renter So again, if it's your intention to be a landlord and rent to locals even upscale upper middle class and wealthy latinos Well, I can put you in touch with some gringos and expat landlords who will dissuade you of that notion
[09:32] Then again, if your intention is to only rent to gringos and expats, that's another thing But then you're probably going to be on or very near the gringo tourist trail, which has its other problems By the way ben if you plan on buying a place to live in yourself and decide to rent it out for a while Till you get down. I bet you're thinking about doing the airbnb thing, right? Well that can work for a while But if you're not going to be there you're going to have to hire a management company because people are going to come in And out for a week or two at a time and it'll have to be cleaned up the keys transferred Instructions given to the new tenants utilities paid, etc, etc. Then of course, there'll be repairs I don't know if you realize this but airbnb's get a hell of a lot of wear and tear much more than a Long-term renter, you know how people take care of things that they don't own themselves. How well did you take care of your last rent a car?
[10:19] I rest my case Then again, the positive thing about buying a place and renting it out as an airbnb Is that you can make as much money in one week renting as an airbnb Then you can make in a month with a long-term renter But believe me if you're any kind of detailed person at all, you're not going to want to live part of the time in your own airbnb Considering the wear and tear and how other people trash it when you've got it rented out who wants to come back to that? I've seen it all permanently stained sofas and pillows skid marks on carpets and rugs Moldy disgusting sinks and shower stalls. I've seen it all personally I'd never want to rent out the main place I live in as an airbnb Even if i'm not going to be there for a half year or more doesn't matter i'd rather leave it empty I don't want to come face to face on the sofa or in the bathroom with somebody else's grunge
[11:07] Of course, there are ways to make owning a property pay and live there too without facing those kinds of issues You could own a duplex or something similar a place that's got a small apartment attached to it Therefore you live in the big house and you rent out the smaller one in the back or over the garage I've seen that work quite well for gringles and expats That is you're living there all the time and the renters right next door or in the back That way you can monitor things closely and be right there in his face when rent is due Now, of course, you have to look at the future with this economic disaster looming and I mean disaster. It's not isolated It's worldwide I'd say that any plans you have right now for having a success as a future landlord here are dubious Nothing certain anyway, but the future is even more cloudy Though you can be sure there'll be more inflation less tourists more layoffs and more deadbeat renters
[11:57] That means it'll be getting harder not easier to be a landlord No matter where you are in the first world or third world Now as far as the property market here in land america in almost all the gringo tourist areas It's been propped up and overbought to the max Though at the same time if you look at land american internet real estate sites You'll see tons of properties that have been on the market for over a year Remember down here in latin america, you have to have money down usually 10 or 20 percent And that's for locals who can get a bank loan gringos and expats have a very difficult time getting bank loans Though most think they can why not they got good credit up in the states But when they go to a bank in latin america, they don't it's all different down here Your credit score up in the states doesn't count for dick down here As a result when he gringos and expats buy land and property. It's almost always for cash
[12:43] Although there are many gated guarded development projects that look like they're just getting started or maybe not even half full That will self finance eliminating the bank projects like that are a great way to launder narco money, you know So even gringos and expats who put five percent down can get financing through certain property developers The problem is with high inflation and the economic chaos and uncertainty looming right now Real estate projects in latin america are grinding to a halt as they are up in the states now, too But that's why i'd say right now is not the time to buy It's a renter's market as the domino effect brings down the financial and banking systems There's a big looming real estate crash in the works There are of course desperate sellers out there, but it's going to get worse much worse
[13:29] Personally if I was in the market to buy it wait a year to see how it flushes out Certainly the prices are not going to get any higher. They got nowhere to go but down Funny thing too remember just a couple of months ago the real estate market in the us and canada was so crazy There were thousands of cases where people bid over the asking price Well, I can tell you these days except under very exceptional circumstances We won't be seeing that kind of action again for a long long time By the way that kind of craziness never happened in the real estate market here in latin america in all my years down here I never saw a real estate deal where the market was so hot people Lined up like it was an auction and bid more than the asking price Anyway, it's true construction here in latin america is grinding to a halt There are lots of half done mega projects that will never get finished
[14:15] That's why I say don't jump into anything right now rent for a long while before you buy The fact is I can't tell you how many green gringos have been sucked into real estate deals They thought were the deal of a lifetime somehow those real estate deals of a lifetime never seem to turn out that way Even a guy like me who's got lots of construction experience and has had 13 or so houses or building projects under my belt Well, I did some cipher in and put the numbers together a couple of weeks ago and it turns out I wasn't very good at it They were all pretty much losing propositions except for the fact that I got to live in them So it was rent free in that respect But as far as building real estate projects and buying and selling real estate I made money on two projects lost money on two projects and broke even on eight other ones So all in all building buying and selling real estate for me
[15:04] Was basically a wash financially and though I ended up with free rent all those hours of physical labor and stress You can never get that back So when people ask me if I'd do it all over again I would tell them I would not build or buy a place strictly to make money to make a business out of it I'd only build or buy a place to live in myself My objective would never to be a landlord either though Maybe I'd have an apartment out back or a guest cottage to rent That would be an afterthought if I needed a small steady flow of income not my main objective After all isn't part of the reason of having a plan b moving down to latin america Isn't it supposed to be about lowering your stress not increasing it? Of course, it all might work out differently for you And as you get older you're supposed to get wiser
[15:49] You'll find out that's not always true As for me I still had a lot of fun and learned a lot of things building those places And I certainly accumulated a huge catalog of stories to tell and man, do I have a gigantic tool room? It's a good feeling for me Anyway to never have to borrow a tool from anyone But if I had to do it over i'd build or buy the house I wanted to live in forever and even if things changed I only ended up living there a couple of years At least I'd get exactly what I wanted and i'd be happier at least content while I was there Oh, and one last thing about being a landlord in latin america, you know, i've met lots of latin american landlords When you're off the gringle tourist trail latin american landlords are the only ones you're going to run into Well, guess what? Every last one of those latin american landlords i've run into has been a jerk or an asshole Not that they didn't start out as nice reasonable people. They all started out with good intentions
[16:37] It's just that every last one of those guys has been dicked around by deadbeat renters They've had their places trashed by kids pets excessive garbage kookarotches That's why understandably many landlords who've been around the block have three and four page contracts You have to sign not that any of it's binding or enforceable, but they do ask for references banks and co-signers That is unless you show them a big wad of cash and pay six months ahead Anyway in most contracts they'll throw in the kitchen sink even if it's unenforceable That's why if you're going to rent a place you'll need to have a friendly latin lawyer Look over your contract and have him be your reference slash cosigner known as a fiador Then ben has question number two. He says johnny. How do other expats tend to fill their days?
[17:24] I'd like to hear about what kind of local volunteering opportunities exist over there and do many expats get involved Well ben, that's a touchy subject. I don't agree at all with expats getting involved in local volunteering projects The idea seems good at first and it always leaves the kids and the families with smiles on their faces But it almost always involves giving away free stuff and that never works out well in the long run Getting involved in those organizations that give away clothes toys food It certainly makes the expat gringle giver feel good But the results almost never last now that isn't to say all local volunteer projects are crap or useless But over the years I can only think of a very few projects that worked Like for example a beach or a land cleanup project where you take a bunch of kids out on a weekend
[18:10] Buying breakfast give them a free t-shirt and take them out cleaning up garbage on the highways around the beach That kind of thing actually does something good and it teaches the kids to have some respect for the environment In other words, they get taught not to shit in their own sandbox something latino parents Even latino teachers don't seem to stress emphasize or even care about Anyway at the risk of repeating myself a thousand times If you really want to help the locals do it on a one-to-one basis with some of the poor kids and families You know that live right in your neighborhood starting with your maintenance guys gardeners and cleaning ladies And it's not about giving them money either It's about giving them good examples and values and really useful items For example quite a few gringo expats I know helped their cleaning ladies and their families out now The fact is almost all cleaning ladies have kids unless you've got a cleaning lady or a girl
[18:59] That's 14 or 16 years old and still she might have a kid By the way, I know some gringos and expats and lots of latinos who have cleaning ladies who are underage 13 14 15 16 years old and that seems to be a okay here in latin america as long as they have written Signed permission to work from their parents Of course the cleaning lady or girl has to be up for it too and they are because they need the money Now i'd never recommend a gringo or expat have a cleaning lady that's under 18 years old That just doesn't seem right for a lot of reasons But a lot of times things like that just end up happening For example, you might have a 30 something cleaning lady who brings her 10 year old daughter to work quite a bit She'll come along with her mom work a little bit hang out in the kitchen watch tv And that could go on for years and when she finally hits let's say 14 or 15
[19:46] She and her mother has sort of become members of your family. Now. That's where you can really help out I know plenty of cases where gringos will take that young daughter 12 13 14 Whatever put her in a private school and that'll change your life The fact is any private school in latin america, even one that's 50 or 100 bucks a month is a huge cut above any of the despicable medieval public schools that poor and lower class kids are forced to go to So sending your cleaning lady's kid or kids off to a private school is a huge leg up for the family And it might only cost you 50 to 100 bucks a month per kid That's one of the best gifts you could ever give infinitely better than buying them a bike giving them clothes or a smartphone Though most gringos will do that too Another fantastic way to help the locals is to give a poor young kid your phone laptop or ipad
[20:34] When you're trading on up the fact is practically none of the lower middle class and poor latin american kids have a laptop at home And since wi-fi is everywhere throughout latin america, too Most people don't even need to have an internet plan You just sit down in a corner tienda a coffee shop a government building or a public space and you've got free wi-fi Now for all you listeners who are disagreeing with me about joining a local volunteer group Well, let me tell you you can find a hundred of those groups on fakebook And every last one of them thinks they're doing their part to save the world The thing is though those gringo organizers and members are mostly short timers in latin america They do good until it feels good buy the t-shirt head back home and bask in their do good or glow for a while Like I said, they all think they're doing their part to save the world
[21:19] But they haven't been down in latin america 30 years to see the minimal sometimes negative results of their efforts And though their hearts are in the right place except of course for those organizers those administrators Who are on an expense account and taking a salary? They're the real scumbags So anyway bottom line beware of do gooder groups with matching t-shirts because generally they're enablers who do more harm than good Where's yet most all of them preach the gospel of wokism, which makes me want to vomit on their shoes Not mine that brings us to ben's third and final question, which is a good one He says johnny you've recently mentioned. You don't recommend columbia, porta rico panama, mexico, ecuador, and nicaragua So i'm wondering what's on the country recommendation list these days since you started talking about it
[22:05] I've done quite a bit of research on the dr and I will continue to do so It will probably be my next trip. He asks How did the dr fare with the recent big storms that devastated porta rico in haiti? Then he signs off by saying take care old mate ben Thanks for that. Good question ben. Funny thing, you know about 12 years ago when I first started up this show Out of the 20 latin american countries There were only four or five countries that I said i'd never recommend moving to namely venezuela costa rica and belize And then little by little I added to that list columbia porta rico panama mexico, ecuador, and nicaragua Brazil's not for the faint of heart either So then what do we have left? Well, you know, it all depends how much money you've got because if you got lots of dough you can live like a king practically anywhere
[22:51] Even in cuba or venezuela the problem is you see since i've started this show latin american governments have been Voting in presidents who are died in the wool socialists great example columbia's new president And now after just a few months in office the country's really feeling it There's a great flight of capital and money out of the country. The rich people are going to guess where places like bite jammy I bet they'll soon regret that now, of course, it's a very individualistic thing the countries I do and don't recommend no one size fits all it's more about your wish list than the money That's why when I do one-on-one phone consultations, I send a nice big multiple page questionnaire It's the best way to home in on a good choice of plan b destinations for you For example, if your priorities living on the beach and you really like sun and fun and beautiful beaches
[23:39] I'd say dominican republic all day long or roatan honduras Though both of them being islands they're going to be about maybe 10 to 20 more expensive than living on the mainland However in the dominican republic, for example, the cost of renting or buying a place is so much less expensive than roatan honduras That's a definite consideration, too So although the cost of living in the dr is a little bit higher than living on a mainland the real estate prices whether you're renting Or buying are in many cases amazingly inexpensive. That's what I mean when I say you have to consider your own wish list Now if you like low cost of living in perfect weather earlier around the guadamal and altiplano is for you And if you live near guadamala city or antigua guadamala, you'll practically never get bored. There's so much to do However, the beaches in guadamala are absolute crap
[24:25] They're a two or three on a one to ten whereas in roatan honduras and the dominican republic They're eights nines and tens They even beat out the beaches in mexico by a good margin You have to see it to believe it by the way ben you talk about natural disasters and hurricanes You know that big one that came through fiona it hit the dominican republic But for some reason in the last 40 or 50 years big hurricanes never hit dominican republic with great force Meanwhile, they've nailed nearby cuba porta rico and haiti a number of times doing great damage Somehow the dr. Just never gets hit full force. Some say it's because it's got a mountain range around it Which sort of changes the air currents in any event fiona the big one that just came through and wiped out porta rico All it did was knock down dozens of highway signs in the dr
[25:12] And knock out power in a couple of sectors for about 12 hours Meanwhile porta rico, which is only about a hundred miles away suffered billions in damages Now I also like el solvador as a plan b destination, of course on the western pacific coast on the bitcoin beach area But it's pretty hot there too. There is no alti plano in that area However, there is an area in el solvador that borders guadamala called the ruta de flores english translation The flower route. It's the coffee and flower growing region of el solvador a great place to live If you like calm rustic life, you can homestead there and have your own little flower or coffee plantation And it's only about an hour away from the bitcoin beach areas Meanwhile peru chile columbia and bolivia have elected socialist presidents who promise to tax and punish the rich
[25:59] Though there are nice places to visit. I wouldn't want to live own or invest there So then what about urugway? Well, I just got an email from jeffrey. He says what's your take on your great johnny? Besides being more expensive than central america and doug casey's new location. Do you have an opinion about it? Well jeffrey. Yes, I do and you know why it's much more expensive to live in urugway than the rest of central america Because unbelievably about 40 percent of the people work for government or have contracts with the government So the place doesn't make much they have to import practically everything except cement and plastic plumbing tubes You see to pay those people who work for government and those service providers paper shuffling parasites that produce nothing They tax the hell out of imports But the thing I really don't like about urugway is after about two weeks being in the place
[26:47] It becomes the most boring country in the world It runs at such a slow speed There's so much manana time that it seems to me It could be a great place for retired old farts who want to write the great un-american novel But there's just nothing to do there. The streets roll up at nine o'clock at night It's like the latin american version of mayberry some people are into that I guess but i'm just not that guy Besides that it's far enough south. So it's got the seasons So half the year it's dry dusty and cold I much prefer the altiplano in central america where there's spring like weather all year round I'm not much of a beach person myself except for a couple of weeks a year on vacation Still i'd rather live the beach life in roatan or the dr then have a permanently boring plan b in urugway
[27:34] You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com No spamos