04/2011 - Ex Pats That Fall

[Apos]

An excellent idea! (but where's the "fun" in that? It seems it's much more enjoyable to rip people apart than prop them up or give credit where due)

Hey, instead of just discussing ex-pats who fall how about some props for those who succeed. Success defined by living well and happy be it with a business or not. Quickly people like BBrocs and Blue Devil come to mind.

[Westy]

The guys who are too afraid to do it. Or have failed to plan for the future, and can't afford it, do not want to admit it. They only want to talk about failures. And why it's a bad idea. Live in paradise. Hell no! Tu ta loca. I might get sun burn. That could lead to skin cancer. You know the doctors suck there.

Staying here and working 40 hours a week is a much better plan. Bc I love what I do. But I run away from here Everytime I can afford. Something doesn't add up to me. But I've never been good a math. So what do I know.

You've heard the old saw, "no news is good news"? It actually works better, standing on its head: "Good news is no news." It's the converse of "if it bleeds, it leads." Good news isn't seen as newsworthy; it doesn't inspire the masses to tune in and follow the story, and buy the products being touted between the bleedin' lead-in, the scandals, the disasters, and the dirty laundry. If "good news" gets prominent billing, it's probably advertising.

The same is true in a smaller sense, of gossip. Generally, our attention isn't caught so much by success as it is by troubles, conflict, drama ... and there are those among us who find more pleasure at viewing someone's failure than at someone's success. Sick, I know, but it's so. And, of course, there's a strong tendency among us toward Monday-morning quarterbacking, bloviating about "I would have done it different...."

There's nothing to excite us, in the story of a drama-free, well-lived life. Even though I would regard such a life as a success.

[yayow]

The guys who are too afraid to do it. Or have failed to plan for the future, and can't afford it, do not want to admit it. They only want to talk about failures. And why it's a bad idea. Live in paradise. Hell no! Tu ta loca. I might get sun burn. That could lead to skin cancer. You know the doctors suck there.

Staying here and working 40 hours a week is a much better plan. Bc I love what I do. But I run away from here Everytime I can afford. Something doesn't add up to me. But I've never been good a math. So what do I know.

You know for me the bottom line is that I am extremely happy, without doubt there are some things I could have done better, but there always is. But for where I am right now in my life, this works very well. What was discussed earlier in this thread by me, having the bar, that was good, had fun doing it; but at some point, realized I wasn't enjoying life as much, because after all it was work, and I had an obligation to do it. Didn't really need the extra money, although extra money is good, but what good is extra money, if you can't enjoy it. So what was the point?

There will always be haters, but what the fuck, let them hate.

[tgunz]

You know for me the bottom line is that I am extremely happy, without doubt there are some things I could have done better, but there always is. But for where I am right now in my life, this works very well. What was discussed earlier in this thread by me, having the bar, that was good, had fun doing it; but at some point, realized I wasn't enjoying life as much, because after all it was work, and I had an obligation to do it. Didn't really need the extra money, although extra money is good, but what good is extra money, if you can't enjoy it. So what was the point?

There will always be haters, but what the fuck, let them hate.

3 Very smart little young bitches said. Playas, they gonna play. And haters, they gonna hate. They were wise beyond their easy.

I just don't like when someone pisses on my leg and tries telling me it's raining.

[tgunz]

Whynotme being the exception to the rule. I'f he ever needed an apprentice. I'd sign up in a heartbeat and work till I dropped.

[Jimmydr]

3 Very smart little young bitches said. Playas, they gonna play. And haters, they gonna hate. They were wise beyond their easy.

I just don't like when someone pisses on my leg and tries telling me it's raining.

Its rain

[Jimmydr]

The guys who are too afraid to do it. Or have failed to plan for the future, and can't afford it, do not want to admit it. They only want to talk about failures. And why it's a bad idea. Live in paradise. Hell no! Tu ta loca. I might get sun burn. That could lead to skin cancer. You know the doctors suck there.

Staying here and working 40 hours a week is a much better plan. Bc I love what I do. But I run away from here Everytime I can afford. Something doesn't add up to me. But I've never been good a math. So what do I know.

Being a broke gringo in DR is not a great life.

[greydread]

You've heard the old saw, "no news is good news"? It actually works better, standing on its head: "Good news is no news." It's the converse of "if it bleeds, it leads." Good news isn't seen as newsworthy; it doesn't inspire the masses to tune in and follow the story, and buy the products being touted between the bleedin' lead-in, the scandals, the disasters, and the dirty laundry. If "good news" gets prominent billing, it's probably advertising.

The same is true in a smaller sense, of gossip. Generally, our attention isn't caught so much by success as it is by troubles, conflict, drama ... and there are those among us who find more pleasure at viewing someone's failure than at someone's success. Sick, I know, but it's so. And, of course, there's a strong tendency among us toward Monday-morning quarterbacking, bloviating about "I would have done it different...."

There's nothing to excite us, in the story of a drama-free, well-lived life. Even though I would regard such a life as a success.

We all know at least a handful of guys who took to ex-pat life like they were born to live it. I celebrate those guys successes and I try to recognize and make note of the elements of that success. There just seems to be so much more to learn from the mistakes of those who tried and failed for whatever reason. Those who succeeded actually make it look much easier than it is.

You guys know who you are. Keep on doing the daam thing.

[Jimmydr]

We all know at least a handful of guys who took to ex-pat life like they were born to live it. I celebrate those guys successes and I try to recognize and make note of the elements of that success. There just seems to be so much more to learn from the mistakes of those who tried and failed for whatever reason. Those who succeeded actually make it look much easier than it is.

You guys know who you are. Keep on doing the daam thing.

The ones I know, have pensions.

[Jimmydr]

The guys who are too afraid to do it. Or have failed to plan for the future, and can't afford it, do not want to admit it. They only want to talk about failures. And why it's a bad idea. Live in paradise. Hell no! Tu ta loca. I might get sun burn. That could lead to skin cancer. You know the doctors suck there.

Staying here and working 40 hours a week is a much better plan. Bc I love what I do. But I run away from here Everytime I can afford. Something doesn't add up to me. But I've never been good a math. So what do I know.

You had a bar in America and you know about business. Makes no sense to buy a $10,000 bar in DR, work 70 hours a week for 10 years and sell it for $10,000. Then what?

[greydread]

The ones I know, have pensions.

Some have pretty good day jobs. Pensions are nice but satisfying work with pensions is better.

[Jimmydr]

Some have pretty good day jobs. Pensions are nice but satisfying work with pensions is better.

You need the job first to get the pension

[greydread]

You need the job first to get the pension

There are plenty of jobs to go 'round. People just have to move to where the jobs are. I did.

[yayow]

Some have pretty good day jobs. Pensions are nice but satisfying work with pensions is better.

that is good no doubt, I had a very good day job for a long time, but when things got a little twisted, I was glad I could say hasta luego, now pay me for the rest of my life. I was 47 when I retired, and the life I have been able to live since that day, has made every day I worked worth it.

My perspective has been colored by watching my mother, my hero. She worked her whole life, was a registered nurse and worked in emergency rooms, by all accounts one of the best cool under pressure. Then became a visiting nurse, going into some of the roughest neighborhoods in New York. Then she became an administrator and opened up a residential living facility for older people in Rockville Centre, that still stands to this day. When that became successful she decided to give back and went with a friend that started a nursing school in Hempstead, Long Island and taught nursing to young men and women that wanted to go into that field. She retired when she turned 65 with that year's graduation class, and planned on living the rest of her life, travelling around the world, and she deserved that. But within 5 months she died, never got to enjoy her golden years. Broke my heart because she worked her whole life to get to that point and never got to realize her retirement dream.

So for me it was a no brainer, when I had a chance to escape from the rat race, at a relatively young age just 47, I didn't hesitate. The life I have led since that day, puts a smile on my face each and everyday. Wouldn't trade a day since now I know, what it is about. Didn't imagine it being this good.

[yayow]

There are plenty of jobs to go 'round. People just have to move to where the jobs are. I did.

Grey doesn't fit into this category, because he is enjoying his life travelling, fucking young women, etc., as he continues his journey, he doesn't let his job stop his enjoyment and that is a good thing. But I have known so many that have worked their whole life to get to a point, where they can fully enjoy the fruits of their labor, but never make it. I could have worked another 10 years or so, my pension would have been larger, but that would have been 10 more years off my life, and the things I have done I never could have relived again. Plus no guarantee what kind of condition I would have been in with those 10 more years. So I would have had more money, but possibly with less ability to enjoy it. I thought about it, I weighed my options, and decided it would be better to enjoy and live it to the fullest, because I have observed the other possibility.

[greydread]

that is good no doubt, I had a very good day job for a long time, but when things got a little twisted, I was glad I could say hasta luego, now pay me for the rest of my life. I was 47 when I retired, and the life I have been able to live since that day, has made every day I worked worth it.

My perspective has been colored by watching my mother, my hero. She worked her whole life, was a registered nurse and worked in emergency rooms, by all accounts one of the best cool under pressure. Then became a visiting nurse, going into some of the roughest neighborhoods in New York. Then she became an administrator and opened up a residential living facility for older people in Rockville Centre, that still stands to this day. When that became successful she decided to give back and went with a friend that started a nursing school in Hempstead, Long Island and taught nursing to young men and women that wanted to go into that field. She retired when she turned 65 with that year's graduation class, and planned on living the rest of her life, travelling around the world, and she deserved that. But within 5 months she died, never got to enjoy her golden years. Broke my heart because she worked her whole life to get to that point and never got to realize her retirement dream.

So for me it was a no brainer, when I had a chance to escape from the rat race, at a relatively young age just 47, I didn't hesitate. The life I have led since that day, puts a smile on my face each and everyday. Wouldn't trade a day since now I know, what it is about. Didn't imagine it being this good.

That is a gut wrenching story. We want to see the ones we love, those who sacrificed so much for us enjoy the fullness of their golen years. I'm sorry she didn't get to enjoy her reward for long.

My story is the opposite. Both parents took early retirement at 62. With SS and pension benefits from the state and FDNY. I watched as the next 20 years saw inflation erode their spending power. At the end they barely left the house and that was tough to witness.

All we can do is take the lessons and try to apply them to our own lives. It's our time and we each get to do this thing in the way which best suits us. Spectators be damned.

[Jimmydr]

Grey doesn't fit into this category, because he is enjoying his life travelling, fucking young women, etc., as he continues his journey, he doesn't let his job stop his enjoyment and that is a good thing. But I have known so many that have worked there whole life to get to a point, where they can fully enjoy the fruits of their labor, but never make it. I could have worked another 10 years or so, my pension would have been larger, but that would have been 10 more years off my life, and the things I have done I never could have relived again. Plus no guarantee what kind of condition I would have been in with those 10 more years. So I would have had more money, but possibly with less ability to enjoy it. I thought about it, I weighed my options, and decided it would be better to enjoy and live it to the fullest, because I have observed the other possibility.

You took the best road.

[Westy]

The only "right" choice for your future is what's right for you.

My decisions, through my life, were based largely on security. I'd grown up with the insecurity of watching my Mom go from job, to job, to job ... she worked as a private nurse, or maybe more of a "nurse-companion," until she retired in her mid-sixties (by which time I was well into my career as a cartographer at what was then Defense Mapping Agency, and had taken over paying the rent in our apartment.) I stayed in that post for 25 years, when I was offered an instructor's position at Defense Mapping School -- a lateral move; and I taught there, teaching what they needed, from cartography to photo-interpretation to imagery analysis. I retired in January 2009, two weeks after my 55th birthday, with 36 years of Federal service.

(Mom lived with me until she died, at age 86, in 2002. We had a good life together, even if I did miss out on "marriage and children." I feel that I did right by her, even if I WAS her "retirement system." And if I don't have kids, well, that's the breaks.)

Am I living as a lotus-eater? Perhaps, by some standards. But it's my life, and I live it by my standards.

Yayow retired eight years younger than I did, but he worked in a career that permitted him to retire at 47 ... Greydread's still working, at an age eight years after my retirement age ... but the three of us all have our own reasons for making our decisions, and each decision, each life-style, is right for the guy who's living it.

As for my own situation, I have failed to become an expat. Maybe I'll correct that, later. Or maybe not ...

[ROVER]

The guys who are too afraid to do it. Or have failed to plan for the future, and can't afford it, do not want to admit it. They only want to talk about failures. And why it's a bad idea. Live in paradise. Hell no! Tu ta loca. I might get sun burn. That could lead to skin cancer. You know the doctors suck there.

Staying here and working 40 hours a week is a much better plan. Bc I love what I do. But I run away from here Everytime I can afford. Something doesn't add up to me. But I've never been good a math. So what do I know.

Hmm... I know somebody like that .. .. I hear him trying to sell that story so often I think he must be trying to convince himself of it because I can't see anybody else is buying it ..

[The Sage]

For the DR expats. How much a month is the sweet spot if you're renting? I've pegged $4,000 for the north coast.