#707 – The Expat Files: Life in Latin America, From Day of the Dead to Off-Grid Living

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 wander 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 Hey now here's something pretty disgusting Everybody knows that Latins are nuts about celebrating the day of the dead That's the time once a year when latin's go down to the cemetery. They call it the semi Ontario I always thought the word kind of funny because it's cement teddy cement teddy

[00:50] Which makes it a good memory aid anyway So as with any latin holiday, they celebrate it with a fury actually It's not a day and it's a week as I mentioned in past shows. Let's don't have any celebration days They always last a couple of days to a week Anyway, that's when they go down to the cement teddy and they paint up the graves put flowers everywhere spruce up the landscaping and such And that's really the only maintenance done at the public cemeteries I'd say about 95% of all latin's are buried in a public cheapo cemetery Because they can't afford to buy a plot in a nicely manicured private cemetery That by the way is how you tell the difference between a private and a public cemetery The private ones are all nice manicured gated guarded and all that with maintenance guys and gardeners on duty all the time

[01:40] Whereas those gigantic public cement adios. They are awfully disgusting What do I mean by that? Well, they always seem to be in pretty decrepit sections of town Which means you get bums and vagabonds wandering through peeing on the gravestones I'm not kidding stray dogs running around doing their things as dogs will do do they've got vendors They're selling junk kids running around bums crashing there at night litter everywhere Not that the dead would mine but not recommended for tourists and sightseers, you know And the reason why I'm mentioning this is because the other day I happened to walk past one of those cemeteries Where I noticed a beat-up and decrepit sign that said by law we fumigate three times a year And I thought what's that all about?

[02:26] So I asked the Latin person I was with and he looked at me and said well That's the law they fumigate cement adios a couple times a year to prevent disease sickness and plug us and I said what? Say that again Then he looked at me strange and said why you don't do that up in the States and I said why would we? Then he went on to explain that in earthquake country and in wet-hot tropical climates sometimes the tombs crack open and Oftentimes new graves cheaply done aren't sealed correctly So he said years and years ago Ordinances were put in place so that cement adios had to be fumigated a couple times a year or more Then I thought man, that's kind of disgusting now I've been to five or six funerals down here

[03:12] And I've been in maybe four five Cementarios and twice I was in one of those decrepit public cemeteries and looking back I realized my Latin buddy was right some of the older tombs the osser adios had big cracks in them Even some of the newer ones had hairline fissures, so I guess when all else fails Fumigate so then I said to the guy what about those much nicer more expensive private cement adios He said periodic fumigation is the law so they have to do it too But they most likely don't need to since they're private and well kept up certainly That's not a problem Anyway, just a little more of the bad and the ugly here in Latin America And why if you or any one of your loved ones kicks the bucket down here in Latin America? You'll probably want to

[03:58] Rearrange a spot in a private cemetery or skip all that crap and do the cremation thing Which in my mind is a much better alternative enough said about that, huh? Now a couple of shows ago I was talking about getting things shipped from Amazon eBay and all that up in the States to anywhere in Latin America I mentioned how since most of those sites are in English and not in Spanish people a little money down here We'll go to one of the many mail and freight forwarding and shipping offices sit down at one of their computers and with help from bilingual aid order stuff from Amazon Alibaba and eBay So at the very same place you pick up your orders You'll see Latinos who don't speak English Ordering stuff from Amazon and such when I mentioned sometimes you get free delivery if it's within the city limits

[04:45] And it can fit on one of their motorcycles Otherwise if you're located far away from their home office, which is almost always near the International Airport They might charge just a couple of bucks to bring it to you wherever you are within that Latin country such a deal, huh? It really is now. I mentioned Latin's with a little money who want to order from Amazon or eBay, whatever They're not too successful at doing that from home unless their English is really good And it's usually that which is why they go to the offices of those shipping and mail forwarding services Where they have a computer or two and someone who's bilingual to help with the ordering? Oh, and by the way, a lot of Latins or little dough don't have a credit card in US dollars You need that too, of course, if you don't order from one of those big outfits like eBay Amazon Alibaba, whatever

[05:30] That's another reason why Latins use those services because the freight forwarding company will pay in dollars and you just pay them back in The local funny money. However, gringos and expats living down here in Latin America almost never walk in and use that service Why would they when they can sit on their computer at home and order directly? Ah, but therein lies a small problem If you're ordering stuff from your computer and you're in a Latin country Since every time you get on a website to order a product they capture your IP address They know what country you're ordering from and many many times when you're right in the middle of the ordering process There'll be a pop-up window that'll flash and say something like this item does not ship to Honduras Salvador Nicaragua Peru, whatever that'll stop you dead in your tracks Well, not so fast. The point is you don't want your stuff shipped directly to Nicaragua Honduras

[06:19] Whatever from Alibaba or Amazon That's why you have to hook up with one of those many freight and mail forwarding services that has an office Somewhere in Florida generally, Miami and as mentioned before when you hook up with one of those services doesn't cost anything But when you send them an email, they'll send you a code So when you order from Amazon, whatever you put your name and that code in the shipping address So when it lands at their offices in Florida It'll automatically get sorted and directed by your name in that code to their office in your particular Latin country So forget about the pop-up window warnings in your case It doesn't mean a thing whatever company you're ordering from won't know your final destination They'll just think it's going to Florida and it is that clear enough So then why would you get that pop-up window for certain items?

[07:07] Well, for example, a friend of mine ordered a scope and a laser for his 22 rifle and the window popped up We don't ship outside the US same is true from what I understand if you're ordering a drone I know one expert who just went through that no big deal went to his freight forwarding service in Miami and he's got it Now so the freight forwarder doesn't really care if Amazon says they won't ship it. They'll ship just about anything almost Now on an unrelated subject here's something else. I thought should be interested in This is an article from Panama's biggest newspaper from last Sunday Entitled below toes the camions carosy buses prefiero no pagar multas Porque hey, yo saben. No, I systema central de archibos para connectar

[07:54] So what in the hell does that mean and hot doesn't apply to gringos and expats? Well loosely translated It says bus car and truck drivers prefer not to pay their parking tickets and moving violations Why because they know the systems are not connected to the government's essential database In other words, if they don't pay they still get away with it For example unlike up in the first world if you don't pay your tickets Eventually, it'll catch up to you either when you renew your driver's license Where's yet if you get pulled over they'll run your name and your license and they'll find out you've got outstanding Warrants, and they'll throw you in the clink now you see this is what I mean about Latin America And why it's so nice living down here their government bureaucracies are so corrupt inefficient and well Unconnected people look at tickets like a joke in most countries except the gringoized countries like Costa Rica where they come down

[08:45] Hired and heavy on tourists because they have the money But elsewhere off the gringo tourist trail locals are just annoyed by tickets and don't pay them some system, huh? In a way you got to love it We're talking about the year 2017 now and they haven't even got their parking and moving violation systems connected to a central database Again, what's not to like about governments that are so full of scattered brain morons? They can't get that straight and even if they could get it together Which they will eventually the largest bureaucrats and scumbag politicians would skim and miss allocate the funds anyway But the point is you just have to laugh because they're just now getting around to talking about all the dough that's fallen through the cracks Yep, they're thinking about all that money

[09:32] That's not coming in that they can't yet get their hands on to steal Same thing goes for paying your property taxes here in Latin America now admittedly They're extremely low compared to first-world property taxes Even so it's money in the crapper because you don't get any services for that Come to think of it You never get your money's worth when you pay your property taxes up in the states either though The big difference is if you have a house up in the states, that's worth let's say 250 grand You might be paying ten thousand a year for property tax Whereas that same house if it were here in Latin America, even in a very secure nice upscale gated guarded community It'll probably only cost you a couple hundred bucks a year and if you don't pay your property taxes on time They've got no law enforcement or agency that's gonna knock on your door. You can put it off for years sometimes decades

[10:23] The only time you'll have to ante up is if you sell the place The prospective buyer will check on that or his lawyer will and you'll have to pay up now Of course, if you delinquent on your parking tickets moving violations or your property taxes There'll be penalties and interest accumulating, but still people won't pay because it's so unenforceable So when municipalities run out of money and they're always short of dough what malignant government appendage isn't Anyway, generally once a year you'll see signs popping up along the highway and ads in newspapers Announcing if you pay your property taxes moving violations or parking tickets by the end of the month The interest in penalties will be exonerated. Yep. You can count on it. It's like that everywhere in Latin America What's not to love about that and now for some more good news

[11:11] From time to time I talk about the fact that you can really get off the grid here in Latin America I mean completely you've heard me say if you set yourself up with two 100 pound tanks of propane gas if you get a gas stove and a gas dryer That should last a family of four more than a year and the cost if you've got the two tanks and you're just getting them Charged up under a hundred bucks. Oh and a lot of people especially ones with maids and cleaning ladies Will have them hang the clothes out on a line So if you don't use the gas dryer your two 100 pound propane gas tanks to use just for cooking should last over two years By the way gas stove and a gas dryer costs around the same as an electric one So don't buy the electric ones that would be fuel ish you because you know these days

[11:59] Every country's electric grids at risk, of course yours up in the States much more So then the grids down here But still when that big reset button gets hit up by you who knows what's gonna happen to the rest of the nearby electric grids So if you're down here in Latin America Are you working on your plan B and you're looking to get off the grid to be as? Self-sufficient as you possibly can step one would be to use propane gas and step two by a solar hot water heater Remember down here. You don't have to worry about frost So there's no heat exchanger and the systems are of a much simpler and therefore less expensive design Therefore about a quarter even less of what you'd pay for one up in the States In fact, I'm gonna go friend of mine just bought an 80 gallon solar unit that would be big enough for a family of four but you still have to do a little planning depending on the days and

[12:48] The Sun and since there is no frost and snow those things last a lot longer down here, too So he should be able to get 20 to 30 years out of it That's 20 to 30 years of free hot water Now you've heard me mentioned many times that the rainy season here in Latin America is so well rainy Then if you build yourself a big cistern and collect your rainwater Oh, yeah, that's right. Yep down here. It's your rainwater. You can collect all you want Well, if you do it, right, you'll never be without in fact, you'll have way more than enough Plus, of course, if you're out in the boonies and homestead you'll have your own well If so, you'll need electricity to run the pump And note if you live in a gated garden community, which many gringos and expats do you'll have your own well, too

[13:37] It'll be a big old community. Well, but you won't be on municipal water But if you happen to live in the city, there is a pretty good chance. You'll be on municipal water though Some city buildings especially high rise residential towers have their own wells, too So if you're gonna go off the grid, it should be in your plan to divert that rainwater into a nice big cistern Now you also know that municipal water systems here are spotty. They're almost never putting out 24 seven In fact, almost all latin families middle class enough have a small plastic cistern up on the roof That does serve the family fine They're never without water because it fills up during the odd nighttime hours usually where the water pressure is very low And it's just dribbling but it does fill the cistern However, the average cistern here is way too small if there's an emergency or if you want to go off the grid

[14:26] Most people down here have a cistern That's 500 gallons or less and you really need to have a couple of thousand gallon cistern if you're going off the grid And something of that size is way too big to go on your roof You'll have to put that under your driveway or bury it in your backyard Now remember the big ones like that are not plastic or metal tanks like in a tanker truck They're made out of block rebar and concrete with the inside the part that holds the water painted with a kind of a swimming pool epoxy The fact is you could build a really nice big one. That'll hold let's say 2500 gallons for around 500 bucks And once filled that'll last a family of four at least a month maybe two if you skim But when it rains it really does pour so you can pretty much always keep that thing topped off

[15:17] So anyway If you're thinking about going off the grid and you should as much as you can no matter where you are in the world Just to review step one would be to go with propane gas for clothes drying and cooking step two get a solar hot water heater Step three a big time water cistern that'll last a family a month or two And step four solar electric now in the near future. I will do a programmer too Completely on setting up your own solar electric system here in latin america Now there's one very important thing to remember if you're gonna go Solar electric that is if you live in the alti plano There'll be no heating and air conditioning So you could size down your system to half or less than what you'd need in most places up in the states However, if you're living in latin american lower elevations like for example on or near a beach

[16:04] You will have air conditioning going 24 7 in at least one room That would be your bedroom and probably other rooms too. So you'll have to size your system for that However, since insulation is almost unheard of here in latin america You could be the first person in your neighborhood to have it now speaking of paying nothing or next to nothing regarding electric bills You know that if you have solar electric up in the states if you produce enough you can sell it back to the power company You also know that if you produce more than you use your electric meter will run backwards And if your solar electric system is big enough You'll put back more into the grid than you use and you'll actually get a credit or a check Of course, they don't buy it back from you at the rate. They sell it to you They'll buy it back at the wholesale price about half of what you have to buy it for

[16:51] But still what a feeling huh having an electric company give you dough for a change Now I do get emails from people asking me if they could do the same thing down here in latin america Well up until now the only latin country that allowed you to sell power back to the grid was costa rica But that plan is not working out. So well Turns out the gringos and expats. I know who are trying to do that there Never seem to get a check from the electric company, which is a monopoly mostly owned by the government figures, huh However, since the meter does run backwards at least you can drop your bill down to zero if you produce enough However, if you over produce and do a check and go to the government and try to get it We're talking about latin american bureaucracies here a bottomless pit of fat lazy lard ass morons though Generally sincerely nice morons as opposed to government bureaucrats up in the u.s

[17:40] Like expat eddie once said if you're up in the states and you think you've been wrong by the government Even if you're 100 right and you've got a terrific case forget about going after them It's like screwing a porcupine eddie says it's a thousand pricks against one Whereas here in latin america the low level bureaucrats you deal with are not pricks. They're just happy morons So up till now anyway, costa rica's been the only latin country that lets you dump energy into the grid and run your meter backwards However, no refunds even if the law says you've got one in common But that was then now miracle of miracles and there was a big time lag Other latin american countries are coming online and the latest one to offer the same as costa rica guadamala

[18:27] So for example, you set up your solar system Make sure it's set up so that it can tie back into the grid called the electric company They'll put in a meter that runs both forward and backward and you too could zero out your electric bill But again, no checks But who cares as long as you pay no bill, right? Always a great idea here in latin america and especially in the caribbean islands Where the electric kilowatt hour rates are some of the highest in the world So for example, if you're up in, Illinois and you do a solar installation on your home They might tell you your payback periods 10 or 12 years All based on kilowatt hour usage and the electric rates, right? Well down here in latin america No matter if you're in the alti plano where you have very minimal electric use or you're at sea level and you use a lot Of air conditioning it's easy to see you can have a payback period of four or five years

[19:15] More than twice as fast as a normal home installation up in the states Oh, and by the way since in most latin american countries The electric power companies are either privately owned or a joint government private corporation If for example You call the electric company in guadamal and say you need to have a new meter put in one that'll run forward and backward They'll probably be there within a couple days However in costa rica where they've still got a lot of government utility monopolies you're gonna add a couple months Unless you know somebody or greece some palms. I know to bernie sanders types This is heresy, but isn't it funny that when you privatize your utility all of a sudden your customer service and your customer satisfaction index increases dramatically Simply amazing you dial them up. No busy signal. No recording. Someone actually answers the phone

[20:03] So do you pay more for that usually unless there's lots of competition like many cell phone companies But there's no competition with the power companies They do gauger compared to first world power companies Which is all the more reason to go solar and get the hell off the grid or at least mostly off the grid Anyway, stay tuned for a show maybe two on exactly how to go off the grid here in latin america And you know as for me I kind of know what i'm talking about being an engineer and the fact that i'm doing a solar installation right now Yep, i'm on my way to going completely off the grid myself Even better yet. Well, i'll save that discussion for later though. I will say that people say johnny Why'd you wait so long solar's been available for a long long time now? Well, it all boils down to the batteries. I didn't want to use 100 year old ancient lead acid battery technology

[20:52] It's out there all right and it works But they're extremely heavy and highly inefficient and now that tesla lg and panasonic have pretty much perfected Lithium ion battery technology. That's exactly what i've been waiting for And the fact that solar panels are now so cheap. You can buy them for 50 cents or what? Say what? Yep, that's what I said Now that might not mean much to most of you but to engineering and technical types for years and years We've been saying the magic number to get everybody on board to do solar panels and solar energy Is to get the technology down to one dollar a watt So for example, if you needed 5 000 watts of solar panels to run your system And these days believe it or not you could do that with 15 panels or less

[21:38] That part of the setup would cost you five grand right buck a watt Uh-huh. Well, we reached that magic goal about one or two years ago. Now we're down to around 50 cents a watt So if you need 5 000 watts of solar panel for your system, which is a lot by the way down here You'd never need that much maybe half. Anyway at 5 000 watts That's 2 500 bucks for the solar panels and now, you know most decent panel manufacturers give a 20 to 30 year guarantee That means after 20 or 30 years, they'll still be putting out 90 percent of their rated power again I'll be doing a show or two on that So you'll be able to follow along with me as my step by step do it yourself project goes along by the way I've ordered all my stuff already just waiting on it. So stay tuned

[22:24] Now I know a lot of you get this program from prn That's gary null station the health fitness renaissance man out of new york And personally I listen to almost every gary null show that I can now the other day I was listening and he talked a bit about traveling to foreign countries And you know I always talk about how the best way to live in latin america with your own plan b Is off the gringo tourist trail or slightly away from the gringo tourist trail that way as i've heard some New green expats say they can pop in and out and get their gringo fix when they need it Fortunately, I got over that pace probably 20 or 25 years ago Anyway, some gringos especially fresh green gringos do need to get that fix especially if their spanish sucks Anyway, i'd like to paraphrase a bit on what gary null has to say he's a world class off the tourist trail traveler

[23:14] You know man does he hit it on the head? He says when we look at the tourist industry It's set up so you don't really learn a thing about the culture You only get to see and mingle with the locals. They allow into those big fancy resorts and well known tourist traps You'll see lots of uniformed guards in those resorts Some of them with guns and pretty much all the locals you see are there to act as your servants Meanwhile those locals see us partying in our luxury rooms and suites at the all inclusives Anyway, all the booze and food you can eat half of the food which we throw away Here we are in their country hanging out at their most beautiful beaches most of which they cannot go to themselves Again because many of the best beaches are part of a big exclusive luxury complex

[24:00] So you as a tourist are only enjoying one out of context part of a big complex fascinating culture But most tourists don't want to know about that then he says What if you choose not to go to a resort or a beach but you go inland and actually mingle with the real people? Nope for the average tourist. That's not usual at all What if you really did get into their communities see how they live work survive? What if you were to sit down and ask them? How they feel about all the foreigners coming into those multi-million dollar resorts where they themselves might work But could never possibly afford and with all the millions flowing into those resorts from first world tourists It seems as if not one penny ends up going into the local communities Even though those scruffy little towns adjacent to those big complexes are the source of all the workers

[24:52] They've got terrible infrastructures polluted water and bad or no sewage systems at all And the roads that take the workers from their little towns to the big resort are pathetic They're loaded with potholes and flood out when it rains Meanwhile, the roads right next door in the resort are perfect Then he warns against living on a caribbean island Saying that none of them have a sustainable future Boy, is he right about that. First of all, everything that's manufactured has to be imported Look at Puerto Rico. Look at Haiti But you know, you have to have an escape plan a plan B that's insurance I know I know a lot of people think they're going to toughen out up in the states You might be an optimist about your own skills when the reset button is pushed But you know the old saying you're an optimist until all the facts are in right?

[25:40] For my money the best place for your plan B is the alti plano in latin america There's 101 reasons for that and I talk about them all the time on the show However, you know hitting the beaches for a couple days a week or two Is always a fun and cool thing to do and if you choose your alti plano region correctly You can accomplish that beach vacation thing anytime you want by driving just an hour or two away Now I know most you listeners are way too smart to think that if you're a prepper in the states You're going to be able to live comfortably without dramatically lowering your standards Your lifestyle will suffer and you'll be looking over your shoulder all the time, too Which is why so many of you listeners have taken steps towards your own plan B here in latin america It's the one place you can maintain or actually have a higher standard of living

[26:25] On much less dough than you're spending right now Thus my expat insider seminar so you can get boots on the ground and see for yourself How do you think I got started doing seminars? Anyway, I got way too many emails from people saying johnny You have to show us this stuff That said there's still time to sign up for my january 2018 expat insider seminar Plus the early bird discounts are still in effect Just go to the new expat.com website and check it out Don't forget to add a few extra days to the front or back end of the trip to hang with the john gult crew You won't regret it However, if you just can't make it down and you're scratching your head deciding just how to get that plan B started You really need to take my nine hour expat essentials course Check out my free video that explains it all at expat plan B.com

[27:12] And while you're at it download my free plan B phone consultation form. It'll give you a lot of good ideas That's at the new expat.com website, too So what's it gonna be? You're gonna stock up on ammo tang and freeze dried food Or is the ultimate goal to watch the first world implode from a nice safe distance here in latin america? south of the border This is the expat files living in latin america If you want me to help you out with your own plan B Just schedule a one-on-one consult send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan B from right up there in the states Go to www.expatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos