#744 – The Expat Files: Living Off-Grid in Latin America

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 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 So I get emails Yeah I get emails and as I mentioned in previous shows Subjects on the top of the list are mating dating and kind of hooking up in Latin America Then there's tons of questions about the cost of living here, but always on the top of the list is safety and security

[00:47] I mean people want to know the safest and most secure places to live work and or play as well as places that are a Must to avoid now, there's a wide variety of people that listen to this show who want to do the homesteading thing It seems like everyone wants to get off the grid now. I know up in the states. It's not easy. In fact It's probably pretty much impossible for the average guy or family However, if you have that in mind man Latin America is the place to be I mean look it doesn't matter if you live at Sea level where it's terrific Lee hot or in the Alti Plano where it's beautiful spring like weather all year round That means plants of all kinds grow all year round, too So like a lot of you guys and girls up there who are thinking about getting off the grid or kind of off the grid Which is a good option meaning if necessary under duress You could completely disconnect from the grid and not suffer at all or at least not much

[01:36] So the idea is to live fairly close to a medium or large sized city within an hour's drive Anyway, and you still pop into the big city once in a while every week or so to pick up stuff at Ace Hardware Walmart Costco or the big box stores, even though like me you're probably adverse to doing that and giving places like that any of your business Yep, it's true. We talk the talk, but sometimes we don't walk the walk So for now anyway Why suffer and do without when you'll have plenty of time to do that when the big reset button is pressed up north Hey, you might have your butt placed at a nice safe distance from the epicenter of the first world collapse whenever that comes And it could be tomorrow in 10 years. Who knows though. I kind of think closer to tomorrow Still if you're nicely set up a few thousand miles from ground zero watching it all go down from here

[02:25] Just remember even though they've got the ace high wares of Costco's the Walmart's office depots, etc. Etc down here, too Do you think since they get all their stock from China? There'll be any products left to stock to shelves So as many expats and gringos tell me they take advantage of that stuff while it's here But be prepared and get ready for when they're not I think with the next big calamity hits up in the States the first world franchise is down here will shutter their doors now You've heard me say I don't recommend living in a medium or large sized Latin City I think it's nuts to live in a medium or large sized first world city, too Any big city is ground zero forecast when the poop pits the ventilator Whenever that is and I don't want to be there when it happens and I'd say based on the emails I'm getting from you guys Most of you feel the same way, too

[03:11] Now you longtime listeners know my idea of living large is being off the gringle tourist trail about an hour or so from the city In other words a couple of chicken bus transfers away. For example where I'm doing this show right now I'm in a real nice house in the middle of coffee fields. In fact all this week. They've been harvesting That's one of the crops. They can't automate It's all hand-picked and I see three or four of them out there right now with white gunny sacks cowboy hats That's the outfit machetes even women and kids with machetes helping out and a couple of mongrel family dogs And you know as hard as that work is and it's back-breaking work because they fill those sacks up They got to be 50 to 100 pounds and they're hauling them on their backs. Even the women They're always laughing and having a good time In fact, I have to tell you that some of the happiest working-class Latin people I've ever seen are get this garbage, man

[04:01] Seen it for myself. I've been on the road behind many a garbage truck three or four guys in there Just yacking away smiling telling jokes having a good old time. You gotta admire them They make a game out of it always horsing around throwing disgusting stuff at each other. Hey, it's handy, right? Down here it seems there's no shame in having a job like that because you know what it is a job and it's steady a Growth industry even the world's never gonna run out of garbage and unfortunately, it's on the increase How do we get on that subject? Anyway, I'm with you That is with most of you guys and gals who send me emails saying I want to live off the gringo tourist trail Kind of homestead have a nice piece of land nothing gigantic, but enough to be kind of self-sufficient All right Great, especially if you're in the altiplano then you've got no heating or air conditioning bells either

[04:50] So you can have a tiny little solar apparatus Maybe five grand into it at the most and never have to buy electricity Then because it never freezes you can buy one of those ultra cheap But very effective solar hot water setups at the most you'll dish out a grand or twelve hundred bucks for that But part of that equation is growing your own food at least some of your own food Because you know every nearby little pueblo and if you're out in the boonies there will be nearby pueblos here and there They'll always have a daily more than abundant supply of very fresh fruits and vegetable at a quarter or less of what you pay Up in the states for the same stuff. Actually, it won't be the same stuff It'll be much fresher and doused with significantly less preservatives additives and herbicides Not to mention when you're out in the boonies You'll be on the egg man or the egg lady route by the way seems to be three kinds of eggs down here driveway chicken eggs

[05:40] They're the best, you know chickens running around eating bugs and stuff Like they have done for millions of years and those eggs almost always from untainted uninjected unadulted chickens So those are always really the best kind of eggs But they're small compared to the eggs the egg man's hauling around with them now that guy makes deliveries to local tienes, too So when you walk into any tienes you'll see bunch of egg flats Stacked in a corner on the floor with the eggs a lot bigger than driveway chicken eggs So why is that? Well, they're coming from small local egg farmers with hens specifically bred to lay big eggs So they're hanging around their little nests in the hen house and don't get out much at all That means for sure not nearly as happy or as free-spirited as those driveway chickens who are dodging traffic all day long

[06:28] But still those eggs are a much better choice and buying them from walmart or costco Or any of the big chain latin supermarkets whose eggs are coming from big disgusting factory farms Just like up in the states. So how can you tell well usually by the slick packaging, you know The more rustic and individual looking the eggs the less processed and injected the hens will be So by all means don't be afraid to buy a carton of eggs That's got a few feathers on it or even some remnants of poop A sure sign that chickens they came from are much more normal and less manipulated than those industrial egg farm chickens By the way, did you know that up in the states supermarket eggs are washed and sprayed with a couple of chemicals? Oh and vets will warn you that if you give your dog an egg once in a while, which I do You should never let them eat the shell and of course they always do

[07:17] So if you're up in cleveland or kukamonga take note and for you listeners who don't eat eggs. Well scratch that All right So my idea of living large in latin america is being close enough to a medium or large size latin city that you can pop In when necessary that way all the modern first world conveniences like hospitals doctors lawyers clinics International airports shopping centers nice restaurants culture etc are easy to get to in a hurry My second living large prerequisite is living in your main residence Anyway in the altiplano that'd be anywhere from three thousand to maybe nine thousand feet above sea level with five to six Thousand feet being ideal. Why because man when you get to living seven thousand feet or more above sea level

[08:03] It's awful cold at night days are fine but man It seems like everyone who lives higher than seven thousand feet has a fireplace in the living room at the house And of course gringos and expats living up higher than six thousand feet usually are looking for space heaters I mentioned that in a past show not so long ago now for me because i'm picky and i've been living down here a long Long time and have been practically everywhere. I'm a hundred percent sold on five to six thousand feet above sea level That to me is the absolute weather and temperature sweet spot Oh another thing if you're at seven thousand feet or above you'll find the air Starting to get pretty thin up there and some people have a problem with that Especially if you're overweight you're a smoker or have any kind of respiratory problems at all However after a month or so you do get used to it

[08:49] But there is a point of no return when you hit around nine or ten thousand feet above sea level some gringos and expats Never get used to it By the way, lots of populated spots like that in south america like peru ecuador and bolivia In fact keto ecuador the capital's way up there over 9000 feet So it is damn cold at night even bogota columbia. It's a little over 8 000 feet A lot of gringos and expats huffing and puffing in the first couple weeks they get down there By the way, almost all those towns in the very high altiplano are in south america Oh and for me anyway, there's one more negative thing about the high altiplano They do get a little bit of snow and ice I'm from chicago and i've seen enough snow and ice to last me six lifetimes So that's definitely not a draw for me

[09:35] By the way quenca ecuador, you know international livings great pick for the best expat retirement destination That's a little over 8 000 feet too. So a little hard breathing and cold at night Excellent weather during the daytime though. That's why even the poorest of people have fireplaces in now So at least they're burning wood in the kitchen. Talk about respiratory problems Anyway, like I said the altitude sweet spot for perfect weather is around five to six thousand feet You'll find there's a lot of places like that in central america and quite a few in columbia and venezuela too However, as you know, venezuela is the pits of hell right now So hey unless you've got a daredevil slash death wish gene and you don't even think about it On the bright side. They've found the cure for obesity

[10:21] Maybe they'll put that on the tourist pamphlets. I heard in 2017. They actually had eight tourists A japanese family who took a wrong turn on the way to columbia So again, my idea of living large in latin america That is having the perfect plan b is to have your main residence in the altiplano Yet be no more than one tour even three hours from the nearest beach could be a big lake or My preference the coast one of the oceans preferably the atlantic ocean That's not to say there aren't some decent pacific beaches too There are a few some in mexico some in south america as for central america. Yep They've got a lot of pacific beaches though They're sort of dark and ugly because of all the millions of years of nearby volcanic activity And the pacific beach waters are never clear and smooth like glass

[11:08] As are the waters on the caribbean side still those pacific beaches are a hundred times better Than the beaches where I come from in chicago on lake michigan Seems the only thing great lakes beaches have going for them is they've got nice white or nearly white sand big deal, huh? So to me living large in latin america is to be in the altiplano And now we're so from a medium or large sized latin city So you've got access to everything no more than a couple hours drive from a nice beach And wherever you live you need your own well or Private water supply. I know you've heard me say this before if at all possible You don't want to be on municipal water unless of course, you've got a nice big plot of land Let's say a half acre or so Then you could do what a lot of smart expats do install a super sized cistern That'll hold maybe 10 cubic yards of water or so now a cubic yard will hold around 200 gallons of water

[11:59] That means 10 cubic yards 2000 gallons of water now the average latin person uses about 20 gallons of water a day about a fifth What a gringo does proving we waste just a hell of a lot of water So in bad times if things got really rough and we scaled our water usage down to that of the average latin person Then a 2000 gallon cistern would last a single gringo expat about 200 days two people 100 days for gringos and expats about 25 days Now remember if you have municipal water here in latin america It'll flow at least six or ten hours a day So absolute worst case would be if municipal water was non-existent for an entire month highly unlikely But who knows even if there's a power outage or the pumps break down it won't last a month Maybe a couple days, but if you have your own well, which is always recommended

[12:47] Whether you're homesteading out in the boonies or out in the suburbs in a gated guarded community You really need a private well, by the way There are plenty of gated guarded communities outside the big and medium cities that are set up just like garden parks And if you buy a lot there, there's so much greenery hills valleys trees, etc That no matter where you're standing on your lot or from your house You won't see any of your neighbors at all You feel like you're out in the boonies all by yourself, but you're really in a gated guarded community Now that's living large now. Remember all decent gated guarded communities have their own private wells But still I always recommend you have a nice big cistern and not one of those cheap plastic ones people have on top of their roofs Not only are they eyesores most of them are only made out of plastic and reinforced fiberglass and will only hold

[13:36] 250 to 500 gallons what you want is a nice concrete cistern in your backyard or ideally Under your garage slab again. You should shoot for one. That's around 10 cubic yards All right Then you're probably thinking why do you need such a big one? If your gated guarded community has its own well Or if you have your own well on your own private lot out in the boonies In the case of your subdivision having its own private well Every couple months you'll get a notice saying they're going to shut the well down for a day Maybe more they'll need to do that to clean the pump and their own big cistern So can you handle a day or two without water? Well, you won't if you have a cistern then there'll be those days when you're running your water at the sink And it just stops that's when you know, there's a leak or a break in the pipes somewhere in your subdivision And the fontanero the guy in charge of the well in the pump, etc has turned off the water to fix the leak

[14:26] So on short notice or no notice at all you might be without water for a couple hours But not if you have a cistern because it'll automatically switch in when the water pressure is down in your subdivision Because you see along with your cistern you'll have a little Auxiliary pump that senses the water pressure in your house And if it drops below a certain level usually 15 pounds per square inch of water pressure It'll kick in and start drawing water from your cistern In fact, sometimes it's so instantaneous. You don't even know that the pump is kicked in So a good question to ask is how many times let's say a month? Is there a leak or a broken pipe or some other problem that causes the fontanero to turn off the water supply in your subdivision? Well, i'd say in my experience and i've lived in quite a few of these gated guarded subdivisions

[15:13] That happens once or twice a month for two or three hours at a time But again, you won't notice it if you've got your own cistern and auxiliary pump Another good question is what does a big cistern like that cost? Let's say probably around 500 bucks to install complete and the cost of the auxiliary pump and the sensors and valves and stuff Another maybe two or three hundred bucks So for less than a thousand bucks one time cost you got yourself a failsafe water system Do you have a failsafe water system up in the states? I kind of doubt it. Oh and don't forget here in latin america You can take the water you get off your roof or any place in your property And use it any way you want so as in my case I just have to open a valve and the rainwater goes right into that cistern And I pre-filter it in a cheap and dirty way using a woman's nylon sock

[16:02] Over the tube coming off the roof into the cistern and that'll trap most of the big stuff the leaves twigs spiders debris Whatever that the rainwater picks up as it's running off the roof Though down by that little auxiliary pump. I also have a sediment filter. So it gets filtered once again Whenever the pump kicks in and sends that water through the house now as far as wastewater You heard me mention in past shows almost everyone down here At least everyone with a half a brain who actually treats their wastewater has a septic tank or a fosa septica system It's what they call in spanish fosa septica Which is a big underground concrete box looking thing with little perforated pc pipe tentacles called feeders Going deep into your yard. It's an age old system ecologically sound and it works

[16:47] Though be sure to place it down slope and as far away from your house as you can So in theory down here in latin america each single family house has one of those in theory But the fact is and I just checked this statistic recently Two-thirds of graywater and human waste are not treated at all. They just go directly into some body of water unfortunately though all houses and gated guided communities and people living out in the boonies like yourself if you Want to be off the grid and homestead will have your own septic system And a cost while you're probably talking about adding another 300 to 500 dollars to your project But you absolutely must install one funny though how all latin american bureaucrats and politicians All of them septic breadth dunderheads themselves They rightfully insist all new construction must have a septic system

[17:35] And they force high rise developments and malls and such to have modern waste treatment systems, too You have to do nothing to force the other two-thirds of the latin population to get their solid weights and gray waste under control Which reminds me the other day I was riding around with two very cool expat gringos and one of them said hey Look at that. There are around 10 guys with identical Municipality shirts and shovels and brooms sweeping the gutters and removing debris from a busy road And the other guy said they might not have the money for street sweeper trucks down here But at least they got the guys out there working and cleaning up the roads I said yeah, it looks good. All right, but have you checked out the condition of the road we're on the one they're cleaning I said look there's at least five man-sized potholes every hundred feet

[18:22] Meanwhile, the municipality's got 10 guys with shovels and brooms sweep in the side of the road. It just defies logic Hey, that's why they call it the third world, right? However, if you live in a private gated garden community where the buyers of the lots houses and condos own the roads and the common spaces and landscaping and such it's a completely different story Fact is all over latin america. There are some really beautiful subdivisions and fantastically manicured private lots The thing is they're private You know because it really is a fact everything the government touches whether it's up in the first world or down here Turned to poop, but you knew that already, right? All right Suppose you're well into your plan b and you've got a nice piece of land out in the boonies

[19:08] Plenty of room for fruit trees avocados anything you want to grow you're in the alti plan You've got your own Well, you plan on going solar and getting off the grid or almost off the grid by the way You'll want a gas stove for your kitchen That way you can just buy a hundred pound tank of propane gas And that will last two gringos about a year unless you have a gas dryer Then it might just last a half a year But who needs a dryer when you've got a maid or cleaning lady that can hang your stuff out on the line Hey, why waste the energy if you don't have to and who knows once in a while you might even hang some clothes on the line yourself Though I have a gas dryer. So i'm guilty and I use it all the time, especially in the rainy season Yeah, you know, it's touch and go for drying your clothes on the line when it could rain at any time But the other half of the year no problem. All right, so you're living large out in the boonies

[19:56] You've got a couple avocado trees lemon trees mangoes papayas banana anything you want and i'm telling you even if you've only got a third Or a half an acre there'll be times when you have so many fruits and vegetables In fact, you'll have been falling off the trees. You'll have to give them away by the bushel full I know sounds unbelievable, but i'm giving away stuff to my gardener and cleaning lady all the time Now just one thing about avocados my favorite fruit or is it a vegetable? Anyway, now i've got three hos avocado trees. They're new and they're small and they're hybridized The bottom half of the tree is a certain kind of avocado that has tremendous root structure The top half a grafted hybrid hos of the highest quality from mexico Now my gardener says after two years each one of them will be producing 300 avocados a year, you know what that means don't you i'll be giving away bushel upon bushel of that stuff

[20:48] Or i'll be poop and greener perhaps both now. What do you pay for a hos avocado up in the states? I hear it's two three even four bucks apiece. Well in about two years. I'll have 900 of them falling from the sky Oh, and what did I pay for each one of those hybridized bushes? Try 15 bucks apiece and when he brought them over each one was about waist high were already flowering with tiny little avocados on them Now wouldn't you like to get in on some of that action? Oh, and I almost forgot my little announcement here You know my next expat insider seminar will be held in central america right smack dab in the alti plano starting Saturday july 7th through thursday july 12th So if you want to get in on the early bird discounts and they're substantial Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and put seminar in the subject box

[21:37] You want to get on the fast track to your plan b? You want to see how gringos and expats do the living large thing here in latin america? Well, there's no better way to find out and get the highest quality boots on the ground experience You possibly can then to sign up for my july 2018 expat insider seminar So again, shoot me an email the expat files at gmail.com and put seminar in the subject box All right Now some more tips when setting up your own expat plan b self-sufficient or nearly self-sufficient homestead out in the boonies Well, once you've got the water system electric propane gas and septic tank solar and personal gardening thing underway Let's not forget about security and safety Well for one thing you're going to want to fence in your property A lot of people put up a cyclone fence others will put up a nice solid cinder block wall depends on your budget and what you want

[22:28] But these days I see a lot of gringos and expats are putting up a cheap cyclone fence And then they plant a bargain via bush at each fence post and when those things start growing They have beautiful flowers, of course coming in three or four colors And soon enough the new branches are growing and interweaving with the spaces in the cyclone fence and within six months to a year You've got a fantastic continuous beautiful bush with a million gigantic thorns A tremendous deterrent for both man and beast look anywhere you live in the world You have to take precautions if you're not going to be home for days at a time People will sooner or later figure it out. Now if you're in a gated guided community, you don't have to worry much at all However, if you're homesteading way out in the boonies if there's no sign of life at all

[23:14] Eventually, someone's gonna try to break in and see what you've got That happens quite frequently with people who own beach houses who only come out on weekends And i'll tell you just like the security experts will tell you you have to make the house look like it's lived in So then what do you do if you're leaving a couple days a week or even a month? The easiest solution to that is to have a live-in cleaning lady or gardener But suppose you only need a gardener a couple days a week or a cleaning lady once or twice a week Well do remember every middle class upper middle class and wealthy household has what they call a quarto de servicio A maid's room usually with an outside entrance Actually, the translation for that in english is pretty degrading. It's servants quarters. Yeah, right Anyway, here's how I and many expat gringos handle it

[23:59] I have a full-time gardener and a part-time cleaning lady But I prefer it when i'm gone for extended periods of time to have my gardener stay over 24 7 so you make arrangements with him you tell him ahead of time you're going to be gone for two weeks a month Whatever and generally they jump at the chance to make the extra bucks In fact when i'm gone for days at a time, I pay my gardener 15 bucks a day That's his usual salary and an extra five to stay the night So I pay him 20 bucks a day and I buy him his food and he's got cable tv a refrigerator a little stove And he stays in the maid's spare room and it's got a sink toilet and a shower So for example, if i'm gone 10 days the guy makes 200 bucks a good deal for both of us Though it could have been the cleaning lady too because someone's got to be there to feed the dogs

[24:46] Oh, yeah, let's talk about dogs when you live out in the boonies home setting. I suggest you have at least one big dog Rottweiler doberman I mentioned those two because latinos are very afraid of those particular breeds The fact is dobermans are rare here in latin america But latinos have seen movies on tv showing dobermans attacking people So as soon as they see the pointed ears that fear is deep in their mindset and rottweilers, man Everybody's afraid of rottweilers. Oh, they're really nice dogs unless you treat them mean The thing is if a rottweiler gets in a fight with another dog He'll tear it to pieces and latinos know that so anyway I have a couple dobermans and a young rottweiler about seven months old and like any puppy likes to get into mischief He'll bring things into the laundry room. That's where he lives. He steals things from the yard all the time

[25:36] He's eating the cleaning lady's sandals and the gardener's shoes more than once Digs up flower beds chews up sprinkler nozzles Does all the things normal dogs do when they're young except he's a big one and very strong 80 pounds seven months old So yes, he can do some damage. Anyway, the other day I saw him out on the patio playing with something He's usually tossing a rock around having a good old time And then I noticed it wasn't a rock or a stick he'd cornered a snake I had a closer look and turns out he was playing with one of the most deadly snakes in all latin america a coral snake I instantly yelled to my maintenance guy get your fat Machete over here and with a wacky lopped his head off These guys with machetes by the way are used to seeing snakes and killing just the poisonous ones No big deal to him. Let's face it

[26:22] They're always in the bush and where do snakes hang in the bush? Anyway, that was the first time in 28 years I'd ever seen a coral snake. I'd heard about him over the years I've seen a few snakes and they weren't venomous though I know there's a few poisonous ones around but the coral snake they say if it bites you and you don't get treatment You're dead in two hours. Now. I don't want to scare you especially the ladies out there But if you're out in the boonies homesteading and you don't keep your yard trimmed down There will be critters by the way My gardener said that one surely came out of the brush because he chopped the brush in the lot next door Down to the nub. So basically this guy was looking for another place to live taking a shortcut through my yard So as far as my big little rottweiler was his lucky day Oh, and here's the stats here in latin america only about one out of 50 snake bites are from a coral snake

[27:10] They're pretty non-confrontational unless you actually step on one or corner one like my little radi did by the way practically all hospitals And clinics in latin america have anti-venom on hand So if you ever do get nailed by a snake, and I don't know personally anyone who ever has You just head to the nearest hospital or clinic By the way, you're much more likely to die falling out of your own bed than being bit by a snake You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b you can schedule a one-on-one phone call with me But first download my free plan b questionnaire at www.thenewexpat.com Better yet if you want to get your plan b going from right up there in the states Just sign up for my nine hour expat essentials course get the perfect plan b blueprint by going to the expat files.com

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