================================================= Expat Worlds Monthly Digest ================================================= November, 2002 Vol. 4, Issue 7 .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== THE STORY =================== (Compliment from the Expat World Newsletter) -=Where Should A Perpetual Traveler (PT) Live ?=- ==== EW SPECIAL ================== -=US $2000 off our most popular program=- ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... == -=Trvia=- -=News Story=- -=Traveller's Tales=- -=Jokes=- ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============= -=Quicksilver=- ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD == -=Table of Content=- ==== THE STORY ================================== WHERE SHOULD A PERPETUAL TRAVELER (PT) LIVE ? THE VIEW OF THE WORLD'S NUMBER 1 SURVIVING PT Many of the publications like the excellent publication Expat World and another good publication International Living stress bargain paradises of the world to live; places with very low costs of living. Thus the above named publications have many nice things to say about Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, Bulgaria and such. They also cover Ireland, France, Italy and the more traveled roads. In my personal experience of living [not just Passing Through] in some 75 countries, I've found very few places in the world that are safe, no suicide bombers or typhoons, unpolluted -- I even left Paris because of the bad air, smog and dog shit all over the streets -- healthy -not overly corrupt like China, Lebanon, Cuba, Zimbabwe & Haiti where I was always getting set up for bribes -- beautiful, and also have good schools, supermarkets, restaurants, cosmopolitan entertainment, etc. Also, I prefer to live where they speak a major language (with Roman letters) that I can learn in a few months, understand and communicate in, with English as a common second language. Rural Thailand didn't make it for me (though I had a wonderful girlfriend to translate for me). Finally, I wouldn't want to live in any country where things that give me pleasure are punishable by stoning to death or similarly unpleasant penalties. For instance, just owning a deck of playing cards gets you in big trouble in Turkey! I won't even get into the complicated rules about sex that you find in various places. My above requirements eliminate (as my playground and place to actually live) most of those "fabulous" undiscovered bargain paradises, and 85% of the countries of the world! Now turning to one of the most expensive places in the world: Switzerland. When I got there (Zurich) and couldn't at first find a hotel room for under $200 or a meal for under $40, I was ready to move on. But then I discovered that there are always special deals, jobs & bargains for those who bother to look for them. Ultimately, I got a 10 year lease deal on a deluxe 3 bedroom apartment with 2 garage spaces and a sea view. Rent? $300 a month all costs included. The place would have been $2,000 on the market, but the owner used it only as a legal Swiss residence for tax purposes, and was happy to have someone in it as a more or less house-sitter for 11 months a year. He used it the other month. The point being that you can't just drop into a real estate broker one day and expect to find the right deal. Look at the ads and look on the internet, and if you talk to enough people, you will find or create deals to live comfortably even in expensive places like Monaco or Zurich. You could end up spending less on rent than for a beach front casita in Nicaragua (at regular tourist prices). I got turned on to this bargain hunting concept by the Bill Hill report on Monaco fifteen years ago... It is long out of print I think. His idea was that you can probably live in the most theoretically expensive town on earth for less money than the most out-of-the-way nowhere place. For instance, he said, " Skip the high priced luxury shops of Monaco. Go shopping one block up the hill in the Beausoleil Municipal Market . It is across the street from expensive Monaco ... the prices are "rural France" for similar groceries or clothes that may sell for 25 times as much as in the Metropole shopping mall next to the Monte Carlo Casino." The same is true of rents and property prices. As happened to me in Zurich, when I came to Monaco, I also EVENTUALLY found plenty of sub-let deals from owners of apartments who used those addresses for their tax haven resident status. They were pleased to make arrangements with a reliable person as their "guardian" especially when I agreed to forward mail and messages. One guy appreciate my offer to informally defray a few of their expenses like tips for the doorman. I offered to, without pay, water their plants and chlorinate their swimming pool. Hard stuff like that! The apartment owner even offered me a 50 meter motor yacht on the same basis,(use it and be the caretaker) but I turned it down only because it seemed like too much work (and expense) to keep a boat functioning. But a friend (with boat experience) and his wife took the same deal ... Captain Slim gets to live on one of the better yachts in Monaco Harbor 11 months a year. He also gets paid all expenses and $2000 a month besides. In August he acts as captain and with a temporary crew takes the "boss" & his girlfriend, who stays in ("my") apartment, on excursions. I have to take a trip in August & vacate the apartment (or else stay in the maid's room) which is OK with me! Now to tell the truth, I tried this technique to try and live a year or two in Bermuda, but I never did find a pleasant place there at a cheap price. It must be added that I only sniffed around for two weeks before I moved on to the Island of Mustique.... My guess is that with flexibility, posting notices at the supermarkets, and hunting diligently till I came up with something, it could have been done, even in Bermuda. But on a very small island, you have to get lucky to do things in a big hurry! Bottom line: Figure out where you'd like to be. Go there! You can probably make a deal to live there just as cheaply as in a bargain paradise. ==== EW SPECIAL ================================= US $2000 off our most popular program! If you're in need of a second nationality with the correct documentation (as we all should be) we can save you US $2000 off our most popular program -- a successful program that has been running for 3 years now with many happy customers. This is a limited time offer. So if you're serious drop us an email at office@expatworld.net with NATIONALITY in the subject heading. We will email you the info and application material, pronto. Contact EW today! ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... ================ TRIVIA In what year did the Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland? (Answer below) ----- NEWS STORY A German tourist who narrowly escaped the Bali bombings traveled onward to Australia only to be killed by a crocodile. Isabel von Jordan (27) and her sister Valerie (25) had left the Sari Club just an hour before the October 12 bombings that ripped through Bali’s nightlife area ----- TRAVELLER'S TALES SOUR SWEET: A birth-control advocate in Thailand has recommended that couples who can't get to the drugstore for contraceptives should take a slice of lemon to bed with them. Judicious insertion of the cocktail item kills sperm, Senator Mechai Viravaidya said. Not everyone approves, according to the Nation newspaper. Pakdi Posiri, director-general of the country's Health Department, said: "I would stick with our old buddy the condom." Pharmacists have warned that lemon can hurt the skin. But members of the public have another objection: Lemons are unsexy. Office worker Don told the newspaper: "I for one will be turned off if my partner stops mid-course and says, 'Hey, we forget the lemon.'" ----- Marry me and I'll never look at another horse! - Groucho Marx ----- Here's a little something for the ladies, from the ultimate ladies man! What do you call a man with half a brain? Gifted. What's the difference between government bonds and men? Bonds Mature. What did God say after creating man? I can do better. Husband: Want a quickie? Wife: As opposed to what? Why do men want to marry virgins? They can't stand criticism. What do you have when you have two little balls in your hand? A man's undivided attention. ----- TRIVIA ANSWER In 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland. ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============================ Quicksilver Do you have fears that partaking in newsgroup discussions could lead to your harrassment or stalking by some internet kook? Using QuickSilver you can post articles with absolutely no traces of their true origin. The resulting article appearing in the group cannot be traced to you. Your privacy is effectively bullet-proof. This is known as posting 'anonymously'. More details about Quicksilver and FREE download are found at: http://quicksilver.skuz.net ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD =============== EXPAT WORLD NEWSLETTER (VOL.14 ISSUE 8) Table of Content: - Where Should a Perpetual Traveler (PT) Live ? - Bits and Pieces - Impeccable Logic - IRS Agents Patrol The Friendly Skies - A Privacy Trick - Prostitution - How The US Educational System Works - An Anomaly - A Centenarian PT Tells it All from Campione to Sex at a 100 - Offshore With Expat World - Words from George Dubya Bush - Arabs and Jews - Get World Class "Learning" For Free - Man's Three Rules When Getting Old - War News From America - Cannon Fodder for the USA's War Mongering President - Around the World With Expat World - Beware Travelers Your Wallets are Being Picked - International Snips & Clips - Dis and Dat - Crapper Rapper YOU MISSING SO MUCH Each week the EXPAT WORLD DIGEST gives you just a smattering of what you can find in the EXPAT WORLD newsletter that we produce once a month. Why not get the whole story and subscribe now to our electronic version for just US $30 per year. Go to our website: www.expatworld.net to sign up. ********************************************************************* EXPAT WORLD - the newsletter of international living FREE Trial Subscription at http://www.expatworld.net/ URL - http://www.expatworld.net Email - office@expatworld.net ---------- End of Expat World Digest -------------------------------- To unsubscribe, write to unsubscribe-digest@expatworld.net