Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the concept of the 'gringo tourist trail' in Latin America, highlighting how many expats and gringos end up in places like Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, and even in countries like Guatemala and El Salvador. He critiques the common complaints from those on the trail, such as locals becoming jaded, increased crime, and rising prices, and suggests that these issues are often a result of the gringos themselves. Johnny prefers to live off the gringo tourist trail, where he finds a more authentic and less commercialized experience. He gives examples of places like Antigua Guatemala and an ecological subdivision in Guatemala where he lives, emphasizing the lack of gringos and the presence of local communities.
Johnny also discusses the cultural and social dynamics in Latin America, particularly focusing on classism and racism. He highlights the stark contrast between the wealthy and indigenous populations, noting that indigenous people often live in precarious conditions, while the wealthy tend to maintain a racial hierarchy. He also touches on the water crisis in Latin America, explaining that the issue is more about water management and infrastructure than a lack of water, and that indigenous communities often lack access to clean water, leading to health issues.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the water issues in several Latin American cities, particularly focusing on Lima and Mexico City. He highlights the scarcity of water in Lima, noting that it only produces 2% of the water that the Nile does for Cairo, and the fact that it rarely rains there. He advises against living in Lima unless one is visiting to see Machu Picchu. In Mexico City, he points out the severe water shortages, the reliance on tanker trucks for water delivery, and the associated problems such as water truck hijackings and the sale of contaminated water. He also discusses the disparity in water access between the wealthy and poor neighborhoods, with the wealthy having access to clean water and the poor relying on polluted sources. Johnny mentions the high rates of waterborne diseases and the impact on children, as well as the need for water filters for expats. He also touches on food contamination, advising expats to be cautious about eating out and to use their own techniques when cooking at home.
Johnny Mueller discusses the FDA's regulations regarding insect contamination in food, including specific numbers for various food items like frozen broccoli, pasta, and fish. He humorously questions the logic behind these numbers, such as the cutoff at 59 aphid heads. He then shifts to a listener's email from Keith, a Canadian expat planning to move to Ecuador, who seeks advice on a portable solar system for his off-grid lifestyle. Johnny responds by recommending a portable solar unit and emphasizes the importance of water purification for those living in rural or homesteading settings.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller provides advice on how to acquire and transport solar panels for individuals moving to Latin America, particularly Ecuador. He recommends purchasing the panels upon arrival at the destination through local marketplaces like OLX or local Craigslist, as they are often available for under $300. He also discusses the logistics of shipping solar generator units, which include lithium batteries, and suggests ordering them directly from China to save costs. Johnny highlights the importance of understanding airline regulations regarding lithium batteries and offers tips on reducing import taxes. Additionally, he promotes his upcoming January 2020 Expat Insider seminar, emphasizing the benefits of attending as a single attendee to save on costs and the availability of pre and post-seminar trips organized by his logistics partner, Rita.
Johnny Mueller promotes his upcoming expat insider seminar in Central America, emphasizing the benefits of attending, such as gaining a two to five year head start on plan B. He invites listeners to join the waiting list by emailing him.
Topics
Gringo tourist trail, Expats in Latin America, Living off the tourist trail, Criticisms of the expat community, Classism in Latin America, Racism and indigenous people, Water crisis and infrastructure, Health issues from contaminated water, Water scarcity in Lima, Water delivery and contamination in Mexico City, Water inequality and health impacts, Water filters for expats
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:55 The Gringo Tourist Trail and Its Impact 00:02:46 The Gringo Attitude and Its Consequences 00:03:35 Living Off the Gringo Tourist Trail 00:05:47 Distance to the Mall 00:05:48 Gringos in the Mall 00:05:54 Expat Insider Seminars 00:05:58 Stop at the Place 00:05:59 Looking at the Place 00:06:03 Availability of Goods 00:06:08 Learning Something Else 00:06:11 Most Gringos in Mall History 00:11:17 Water Scarcity in Lima and the Advice to Avoid It 00:11:39 Avoiding Mexico City Due to Water Issues 00:13:47 Water Inequality and Health Impacts in Mexico City 00:15:11 Contaminated Food and Expat Safety 00:16:56 The FDA's Insect Contamination Limits and the Question of Counting 00:19:18 Keith's Plan B: Moving to Ecuador and Seeking Solar System Advice 00:22:16 Recommendations for Portable Solar Units and Water Purification 00:22:38 Recommendation for Solar Panel Delivery to Latin America 00:23:17 Consideration of Shipping Solar Panels Separately 00:24:01 Advice on Purchasing All-in-One Solar Generator Units 00:27:43 Introduction to the Seminar Opportunity 00:27:48 Benefits of Attending the Seminar 00:27:52 How to Join the Waiting List
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 out to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you expat 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 You hear me say all the time It's very nice to live off the gringo tourist trail or live close enough to the gringo tourist trail that you can Pop in once in a while when you need the gringo fix which I really don't need I haven't needed that for years and years But some people do it especially if you just got down or your Spanish really sucks or you've got no Spanish at all
[00:50] But you know as it turns out the vast majority of gringos and expats who come down here to live temporarily or permanently Or part-time. Where do you think they end up on the tourist trail? Of course, I'd say 98% of them do at least at first Costa Rica Panama Belize so much of Mexico and you know, there is some confusion Even in Latin countries considered way off the gringo tourist trail like El Salvador Guatemala Bolivia Paraguay There are certain towns and cities considered to be on the tourist trail Because relatively speaking even in a country way off the gringo tourist trail There's gonna be some town or city or maybe a couple of towns and cities that have more gringos and others So suppose you're in Guatemala and someone says where do the gringos hang? That'd be the little town of Antigua. That means in Guatemala
[01:38] Anyway, if you're looking for a gringo fix you go to Antigua Although thankfully it's not on the heavily trodden extremely distorted and picked over tourist trail like in Costa Rica or Panama Still as you're walking the streets of Antigua Guatemala You're gonna run into gringos here and there most always of the ecological backpack and tree hugger type Nothing wrong with that. At least there's very few snot-nosed whiny American kids glued to their iPhones And you know, it's a funny thing If you're on the gringo tourist trail sitting with a bunch of gringos who are living or staying there long term You'll hear complaints lots of complaints Of course you will because gringos are picky and when you're on the trail You're stuck with them all around you and the main complaints. You'll hear them all the time in no particular order
[02:24] The locals are becoming more and more jaded Governments are changing the residency rules all the time more and more petty criminals are turning up targeting foreigners More and more businesses are out to rip off gringos and gringo prices are getting worse and worse So those are the universal complaints from people living on the gringo tourist trail the usual suspects though They almost never stop to reflect and realize that they're the ones that have caused all that You got the gringos flooding in changing everything because they want to have an impact everywhere. They go. It's the same They are so special. Of course, they've got all the answers and the town needs so many things to bring it up the snuff You know, yep, that's the gringo attitude, which is why I so much prefer to live way off the gringo tourist trail
[03:09] By the way, did you ever hear the word? iatrogenic iatrogenic it's an unintended mistake made by a doctor like for example He removes a bad lung and it turns out to be the wrong lung Or he cuts out a tumor and you end up with a huge infection and almost die. They call it iatrogenic medicine Doctor induced trauma pain infection or even death. Well in a different kind of way That's pretty much what happens when gringo is in Vayden area That's why personally after a couple of years I decided to hang in places where there were very few gringos because you see When there are practically no gringos, the locals don't get jaded criminals don't target foreigners because There's few of us around for them to work out a plan and as for gringo prices going up Well, what there's no gringos. How can you have gringo prices now?
[03:57] Certainly, I don't mean that living off the gringo tourist trail There'll be absolutely no gringos for example in the ecological subdivision where I've got a place There's something like 200 lots and most of them aren't built up yet And there's only one other gringo in the whole subdivision an English teacher Then if you drive out of the subdivision about I'd say a mile you'll see little farmhouses Tiendas and some subdivisions and in one of those subdivisions and each of those has probably a hundred houses and condos Maybe more I believe there's exactly one more gringo living permanently there. That would be Oscar minor. You might recall him He's a crypto guy that came down to one of my earlier seminars and ended up living in Guatemala permanently So it's no random event that he's one of two of my nearest gringo neighbors all the rest all the hundreds of people
[04:48] Living within a mile or two. They're all Latinos Latinas or indigenous people now when you're on that road heading out You go past various little tiendas and I've been in all of them Dozens and dozens of times and I've asked the guys running the place if there are other gringos around and we say nope Just you and that hippie looking teacher and the bald guy Now if you keep driving down that road past Oscar minors subdivision on to the pan-american highway Which is about five miles up the road now before you get to the big highway You'll pass countless very nice little subdivisions middle and upper middle class by American standards Well, if you keep your eyes open, you'll see there are surely a couple of thousand people living in the area You'll see a half a dozen nice strip malls gas stations hardware stores
[05:35] I gotta tell you I've been spending part of the year there for some time now and I've never run into any other gringos and Then as I hit the pan-american highway, and let's say I want to go to the biggest mall and all of Latin America That's about 15 minutes away Fact is I could take a walk through that mall for hours and hours and never see a single other gringo In fact once in a while at my expat insider seminars if we have time We'll stop in the place So I can give everyone a good look at the place and they can see for themselves that Everything they can get up in Joy Z and Cleveland is available down here, too And when we visit that place to learn something else, too It's pretty much a guarantee when we all get off the bus and do a walk-through That's the moment that mall has seen the most gringos in its entire history you get the picture Though that's not to say when you're walking through an upper middle class or high-end mall
[06:24] You won't see people that look like gringos Because it's a fact Latinos aspire to be like gringos so they dress like them too and It's a fact that the wealthier Latinos like to keep their race pure and white they aspire to the gringo and European look So they're always on the hunt to marry and have kids with whiter and taller looking people all the time that not just a trend That's a tradition So it's the fact here in Latin America that the higher class and more exclusive type of mall you walk into the whiter and taller The people you'll see oh, but they'll be short dark black-haired people, too But they'll be mostly the workers and people manning the stores and tienes Yep, Latin America is very classist and most of it very racist, too But it's not a black-white racism like we talked about up in the states
[07:12] it's a Latino or Latino type of racism against indigenous people and You'll see it for yourself in a second if you're in a middle class upper middle class or high-end subdivision you'll see Latino house and property owners Latino kids and indigenous people who just happen to be the maids and gardeners the fact is in middle upper middle class and wealthy subdivisions You'll almost never see an indigenous property owner They have their own little subdivision if you want to call them that Mostly little cement and laminate structures with tin roofs more or less what we'd call checks by the way when there's any kind of natural Disaster hurricane earthquake, whatever those are the subdivisions You see on the six o'clock news up in the states Reporting missing people and a death toll
[07:57] You just don't see that happening at all in the middle and upper middle class subdivision The fact is the indigenous people in Central and South America live pretty precarious lives and the middle class and upper middle class Latinos and Latinos Well, they got problems, but so do we right? They're not worried about the basic stuff like clean water for example now You've heard me say over and over again that most all the water sources in Latin America are polluted Which means you have to personally filter your drinking water or buy bottled water now as for me I have no faith in bottled water no matter where it comes from even up in the states I've read enough reports to see that a lot of it's just a scam But as it turns out here in Latin America most indigenous people don't even have the dough to buy the locally produced bottled water So they'll take municipal tap water, which is polluted and they'll boil it or drink it straight
[08:44] In fact, you drive by any construction site You'll see the day workers drinking water right out of the tap In fact on my own construction sites, I think I've built like 13 homes and offices now here in Latin America The workers are always drinking right from the tap. By the way, doctors here in Latin America say that's the number one cause for kids missing school Intestinal problems from drinking impure water Now you hear things all the time and you read it in the paper too There's a water crisis in Latin America, but you know when you analyze it They really don't what they have is a water management and maintenance crisis because let me tell you during the rainy season If you cut just the water off your roof and you could somehow store it in a big cistern You wouldn't have to take a drop of municipal water or even well water ever again And it always seems kind of weird to me every single year you scan the headlines and they say there is a shortage of water
[09:35] Here a drought there and people are packing their bags and moving to the states because of climate change and all that Meanwhile when the rainy season comes and it's a half year down here unless you live in a desert area There's so much water. You don't know what to do with it Oh and speaking of all the rivers and lakes in Latin America being contaminated Well, why do you think that is it's because less than 40% of all the wastewater in Latin America is treated and even the stuff That's treated. Well, you know, this is Latin America I mean look if you toss a couple of drops of chlorine in a 55 gallon drum of poop You could say it's treated right you get a point that said here's some Latin American water facts for you According to the Nature Conservancy, that's a US outfit 16 of Latin America's 20 largest cities are facing a severe water crisis
[10:23] Meanwhile in the small towns and villages and the places out in the boonies They've got almost no water problems at all except the people hooked up to municipal water supplies You know government owned and operated you heard me explain why that is on a previous show the fact that 50% of municipal water is lost cracks and leaks in the pipes and poor maintenance which brings me to Latin American cities I'd never want to live in for lots of reasons. Let's start with permanent water problems How about Lima Peru to me is an ugly city that has almost no greenery and it's considered a desert city It's nothing but sand and it almost never rains and it's got over 10 million people. Not good. Here's something you didn't know
[11:08] Cairo Egypt is number one, but they've got the Nile which is huge Whereas Lima gets its water from three little rivers, which are very seasonal in their flow They only produce 2% of the water that the Nile does for Cairo So just for that reason and the fact that almost never rains in Lima I'd advise everyone to stay away from the place unless you want to fly in and check out Machu Picchu to do that You have to fly into Lima, but for actually living working playing and or doing business in Lima I'd say unless uncle Julio died left you his finca. Forget about it. Another city I'd never want to live in for a variety of reasons Mexico City Otherwise known to the locals as districto federal the federal district besides all the other things I hate about Mexico City people and neighborhoods are so short of water Water delivery by tanker truck is one of the number one legal growth industries in Mexico City
[11:58] Meanwhile as you may have figured the pandias the narcoes, etc I've gotten into the act and water trucks are now flanked by armed guards because there are multiple Truck hijackings every single day and they're not stealing trucks They're just stealing the water from one truck and selling it in another neighborhood Another big problem they're talking about is that people illegally tap wells outside of polluted rivers They fill the tankers with tainted water. Of course, they don't tell their customers It's tainted but people assume that water in a truck has been filtered and it's pure The problem is even if you run it through a halfway decent filter before you drink it It's still often contaminated with toxic waste residue because you see most filters will get out the bacteria and the cysts But to get out dissolved organic chemicals takes a pretty complex filter way too expensive now
[12:47] You know Mexico City has 20 million people They've got tons of little subdivisions that are very very poor. For example one called eat stop Palapa Get this a neighborhood with 1.9 million residents their residents are saying they even had a drop of municipal water from the pipes going to the house for two months and thus Daily the neighborhood is just filled with water trucks Most of them pulling water from polluted rivers on the outskirts of the city Clandestinely meanwhile the rich and wealthy neighborhoods of Mexico City have paid extra to install gigantic cisterns And they buy the good water from established water truck companies and pay extra of course So they have continuous water 24-7 and according to the World Health Organization wealthy people in Mexico from the wealthy neighborhoods consume about
[13:36] 250 gallons of water per person a day as Opposed to the people in the hundreds of poor neighborhoods in Mexico City who use on average only five gallons of water per person a day That means wealthy Mexicans use 50 times as much water per person as poor Mexicans Of course the wealthy folks pay extra for that, but there's something very wrong with that picture Oh, and here's another sad fact in Mexico the World Health Organization says Contaminated water is the number one killer of children between the ages of one and five on top of that It's disgusting to note that the Mexican Medical Association Claims that practically every single lower middle class and poor Mexican that be over 70 million people are plagued with worms and intestinal parasites
[14:24] Whose origin came from contaminated food or water by the way those are the people sneaking into the US to you know So does that mean you should be thinking about getting a water filter hell Yes, even if you've got your own well why not it's cheap insurance and again if you want to know exactly what I use send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and I'll send you the plans and the parts list for my portable and my under the counter water Purification system to with all the parts for the under the counter setup available at a local pool supply house or get it On Amazon to and my portable traveling setup available on Amazon for less than 50 bucks And the great thing about it if should last you forever that is if you treat it nicely maintain it You're not a knucklehead. Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com
[15:11] Speaking of contaminated water. What about contaminated food? Well, you know one way to ease your mind completely is to shop at one of those gigantic food markets Bring the stuff home wash it real good and do your cooking yourself now as for restaurants You're kind of always taking your chances even in restaurants up in the States Which is why I have a couple of rules for eating out myself And I haven't been sick or had Montezuma's revenge in over 10 years first. I almost always drink out of a bottle I never use ice because I know the ice machines often are filtered But you know the maintenance problem here in Latin America how often they change the filters if at all in fact I've read many articles coming out of the US that have said ice machines up where you live are contaminated, too So for me no ice number three when I'm at a restaurant, I don't ever eat the salad however when you're at home
[16:00] It's a lot different. You can use your own sanitary techniques No problem, but you know what about other kinds of food contamination when you buy packaged stuff like cereals grains flour oats or Rice or even dried ready to cook pasta. Well, you know what? I rarely eat that stuff But it probably doesn't matter because in actuality all packaged food is somewhat Contaminated with quite horrible things to for example the FDA an organization, which I pretty much hate immensely They have their own list of contamination guidelines You can go online and check it out yourself For example says right here and I'm reading it off their website if you buy a package of paprika You know what that is, right? It says you're allowed no more than 11 rodent hairs per 25 grams and 25 grams That's small about a half a dixie cup and then it says for every 25 grams of paprika
[16:49] You can have no more than 75 insect fragments like maggot hauls and aphid heads Isn't that nice? Yep. No more than 75 maggot hauls or aphid heads, but who's counting and that is a good question Who counts these things? How'd you like to be standing in front of a class of kindergarten kids at parent day explaining to them what you do for a living? Yes kids, I count maggot hauls and aphid heads for the FDA, but I digress. Where were we? Oh, yeah Oh, and here's one for every hundred grams of frozen broccoli The FDA allows no more than 59 aphid heads thrips and or mites Which begs the question the hell's a trip which begs the following question? How do they come up with the number 59 as the cutoff? I don't get it
[17:34] If you got one package with 59 aphid heads and one with 60 You can go ahead and cook up the first batch because the FDA says it's okay in a second batch. Well, let's see Here Fido, who's a good boy? Then we have pasta products. It says no more than 225 insect fragments like maggot hauls and aphid heads per 225 grams That means you can have one spider leg fly wing aphid head or maggot haul per gram So next time you're at Tony Roma's think about that when you're eating your pasta fazure and for you beer lovers out there the FDA allows no more than 2500 aphid heads for 10 grams and the winner of the most disgusting FDA contamination requirement of all Let's talk fish a 10 gram sample of whole or fillet fish can contain no more than five copepods
[18:25] Those are very small swimming parasites where the female enters the tissues of host fish and form pus pockets Which brings us full circle back to the initial question. What about contaminated food in Latin America? Well, I'd say you better put some thought into your own Contaminated food up in the states before you ask that question down here Wow all that we haven't even got to the FDA's limits for mouse poop Hmm and that reminds me what my old dear grandma used to say if you sleep with your mouth open You'll eat 10 spiders a year and here I thought she was BS in me now I wanted to tell a really great boots on the ground story But I'll have to wait till next time because it's too long, but I'm not done yet for today I want to get this email in you know, I have lots of Canadian listeners
[19:13] Turns out in a lot of ways things are more up in Canada than they are in big brother land as you and I know it Canada has its own kind of big brother a which brings us to this email from Keith He says greetings Johnny Keith here from Salt Spring Island, Canada I'm a bull fiddle player Filmmaker slash barber who along with my genius wife Haley have been working on our plan B since 2011 We are 334 days away from a one-way ticket to our jungle property near Astasa province of Ecuador I know they're in a problematic time and state right now and that's hitting the fan But we're not investing any more than we'd be happy to walk away from and still feel it's a fun starting point I've done the pioneer thing for 10 years of my life when I was young
[20:01] I built a sawmill and a house with the lumber buildings off the grid blah blah blah Though things have really changed for the worst up here since 1996 You Johnny you have your finger on the pulse of things so many things by the by he says your show Johnny is my favorite part Of Fridays and Sundays. I actually walked 16 kilometers round trip to the barbershop three days a week And your show is my great companion But let me get back on track to the reason for this little note when we leave to start our plan B in 334 days we're not bringing much down with us just good tools We'd have to spend big money replacing and a bit of linen We have a very super five acres on the Rio Pietro in Ecuador However, it's under attack presently by greedy maggots and suits
[20:49] My plan is that I'm gonna build simple living and eating cabanas much like those in the indigenous village nearby Even though I can build by hand I'm not 21 anymore, and I'm bringing a 20-volt skill saw and a drill and here's my big question Johnny What portable solar system would you recommend I bring down to change my batteries out and make a bit of light happen? We're going to eventually use as much propane as we can and have pretty much zero interest in accumulating a lot of electronic stuff We already have a fairly rural lifestyle and have lived much that way and are used to it So on that account we understand what we were in for then he says whoa Johnny Sorry for the long note here, but thanks so much for being you brother
[21:35] Regards from Canada Keith. All right Keith Thanks for being you too. You know one of the reasons I'm reading this is because you sound like the kind of guy a jack-of-all-trades You just don't see around these days anymore Of course, I include myself and a lot of my buddies in that category But it really does look like we're a dying breed doesn't it and like you said in your email You don't want to depend too much on electronics But unfortunately you have to be modern to a point and keep in touch with what's happened in the world, right? That said here's some general advice I hope you will seriously consider that is if you plan on coming down to do some of what you're doing Homesteading or you plan on living out in the boonies or in a rural area You should start with two main things right off the bat a nice water purifier
[22:20] Which you can piece together yourself no matter where you are in Latin America Or you can order it right out for Amazon even when you're in Ecuador. You can get stuff from Amazon You've heard me beat that topic to death in previous shows Alright, then secondly what I really recommend as far as getting a portable solar unit is to order the one I recommend and have it delivered to you up in Canada and For those of you living the states coming down if you're gonna do the rural homesteading thing order it and have it delivered to your Miami Forwarding service and pay the three bucks a pound or whatever for shipping then in a week or so It'll end up at your Latin American destination Now Keith didn't tell us if he's bringing his tools and stuff down with him as luggage on the plane Or if he's having that stuff shipped separately Because if he's having it shipped separately then he should order the portable solar panel
[23:08] Suitcase units to and ship them with the rest of the stuff But if he's taking his stuff with him on the plane It'll be way too much hassle to bring the solar panels that way So my recommendation Keith once you're down in Ecuador or for anyone else who's in another Latin country Don't buy the panels till you arrive at your destination then get on olx.com or the local Craigslist They're selling solar panels all the time. You should be able to pick up two 240 or 260 waters really cheap probably for under 300 bucks and though they might not be that portable when you buy them that way You can rig them up pretty easily to move with you Whereas if you buy the actual suitcase solar panels, they'll fold in half They'll have little carrying cases with handles on them and you'll be able to stick them in the backseat of your car Your trunk and take them with you anywhere
[23:54] But you see you won't be able to hand walk those things if you're flying with them on a plane You'll have to ship them separately, which is a big hassle So my advice by the all-in-one solar generator units got the lithium batteries and the converter and charger built right into it And it's got a little handle on it to have that thing shipped down through your Miami box Or you can actually bring it as a piece of luggage because it only weighs around 30 pounds And it's really no bigger than a very small piece of luggage In fact if it was a piece of luggage you could stow it in the overhead luggage compartment in the plane with ease But they won't let you do that because it's got lithium batteries in it That's the hang-up what you'll have to do is go to the airline ahead of time explain what it is And they'll tell you how to pack it as a regular piece of stowed luggage Remember stowed luggage has a maximum of something like 55 pounds and the little solar generator unit weighs about 30
[24:42] Now I'm talking about the 1200 watt unit that I recommend and I actually use by itself. I'm looking at it right now It's about five feet away from me. It's a fantastic little unit, but it ain't cheap if you order it on Amazon It's gonna cost you 1,500 bucks, and that's without the panels you buy those separately However, if you order direct from the factory in China You can get it for half that round 650 and shipping charges around 200 bucks But the unit itself rock-solid and a real workhorse and if you got four or five hundred watts of panel It'll charge up in three or four hours, and you can use the unit while it's charging in other words Pull power from the panels while they're still charging the unit so for all you guys out there who want to know exactly what I'm using Right now for my portable setup send me an email to expat files at gmail.com And I'll ship you out the info by the way
[25:28] I ordered my unit directly from China where them the money took about a month to get to Latin America But came UPS and of course since the invoice said 650 bucks on it I had to pay taxes around 200, but I know some cool ways around that which I'm not gonna mention on the air However, if you want to do a little phone or Skype consult with me You'll get the dope on how to drastically cut down on your import taxes You'll also hear all about that if you're coming down to my January seminar Speaking of the seminar my January 2020 Exped Insider seminar is ready to roll You can check out the itinerary agenda and all the sign-up info by going to the expat files Dot-com and clicking on the seminar link or going to the expat files that comm Seminar and if you plan on coming down as a single and want to save 750 bucks by hooking up with another person double occupancy
[26:18] Let me know and we can work that out to our already hooked up pair But I've got a third person waiting on a roommate, too So if you're a single looking to save 750 bucks You know what to do and finally if you've gone to the expat files calm webpage and looked at all the seminar details and info You'll see I don't have the John Galt trips there anymore. Instead. We've gone one better in fact four better My amazing bilingual logistics lady Rita who also owns and operates a Guatemalan travel agency has put together four different boots on the ground pre and post seminar trips because you know Most people don't just come down for the seminar week They stay a little before or after just to get a little more experience meet new people and have a look around and of course the people Coming down to the seminar who are also applying for Guatemalan residency
[27:04] They will be staying on an extra week So they have to have something to do and Rita my logistics lady will be in charge of that So as for the John Galt tour I used to talk about that's been superseded by four different boots on the ground excursions now as far as Jen bird The lady formerly in charge of the John Galt trips note. I no longer recommend her or her services Let me repeat that I no longer recommend her or her services 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
[27:52] Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com. No spamos