Exploring musical diversity as an expat

While traveling and exploring other cultures is generally one of the primary reasons people choose to live abroad on a permanent basis, there is also another reason people choose to travel abroad and experience other cultures, and that is exploring musical diversity as an expat. Because you have the flexibility to travel where you want, when you want, you can go to where the music is and explore musical diversity at its very roots. Rather than be relegated to only hearing music on the radio or your favorite music channels on television, you can travel around the world and seek out inspirational song and dance at their very sources.

For example, take a look at the mariachi music of Mexico, which has many similarities with the chalga of Bulgaria in the sense that it relies upon accordions and horns along with guitars and drums, but unless you are one of the many expats choosing to travel the world and explore musical diversity, you would never know the similarities between these two very different cultures. Separated as they are by thousands of miles and completely different continents, it would seem an absolute impossibility that their musical styles are similar, but as you travel the world you will find that many different cultures share the same musical roots.

Part of the joy of traveling abroad as an expat is the simple fact that you can immerse yourself in environments that other people would never think of, and because you can experience these cultures first-hand with your feet in the sand and your hands in the mud, you will experience a richness of life that no one can take away from you. Your ability to appreciate and understand cultures on a multinational level will only be expanded as you include musical diversity to your list of cultural aspects that you have managed to tuck away in the recesses of your mind.

For more information on what it means to live around the world in various destinations, such as being an expat in Sofia, Bulgaria, you can check out the Marginal Boundaries blog and series of products related to the nomad existence.

Can you be domestic as a digital nomad?

Every year more and more digital nomads are choosing to live abroad rather than stay behind in the home country, and every year more and more regular people are trying to determine why exactly this is happening. After all, the traditional way of thinking is that your home country is just that: a home. And for traditionalists it is this concept of home that keeps them tied down to a singular location for the duration of their life, trading a lifestyle of continual adventure and exploration for one of domestic bliss. But for many expats the domestic lifestyle is not their ideal way of living, as they would rather enjoy a life of continual exploration on the road where the horizon is always pulling them to the next adventure.

Living as a full-time nomad does not mean trading in a life of domestic stability in exchange for a life of continuous travel. However, it doesn't mean that a domestic existence is completely off the table, because you can choose to have a flexible type of nomadic existence where you utilize several different countries as bases of operations, for example, simply changing every few months so that you never grow tired of a single place, and instead can benefit from the best aspects of each destination depending on what time of the year it is.

For example, a full-time expat might choose to have a winter home in Cancun so that they can spend December through March on the beach, and then have another home in the countryside of Italy for the spring and early summer months, and then another house in the mountains of Colombia for the late summer months when it is exceptionally hot, thereby allowing you to keep yourself in a continual state of perpetually perfect weather because you are simply changing locations before it gets too hot or too cold. This is the flexibility that the nomadic existence provides.

For more information on what it means to live the life of a digital nomad, you can either read the blog at Marginal Boundaries by clicking on the link in the upper right, or you can read The Expat Guidebook (http://www.theexpatguidebook.com) for anything and everything related to the expat lifestyle.

Dealing with police as an expat in Mexico

One thing most tourists don't realize about coming to Mexico is that as a general rule the police will never stop you unless you are in the middle of some sort of a grevious offense, such as murdering someone. And something else that most people aren't aware of when they are just traveling to Mexico is the simple fact that the police cannot arrest you or give you a ticket unless they actually catch you in the middle of doing something illegal. This is something that expats in Mexico can use to their advantage, because there are a lot of things that the tourist police will try to get American tourists to pay for which are completely unregulated and laughable in terms of all-out scams.

The perfect example of this is the speed trap. These are set up in various sections of the city, and the way they work is that the police will randomly pull cars over and tell the drivers that they broke some sort of rule and are therefore being pulled over. However, instead of writing you a ticket what they will do is tell you that they want to hold on to your license until you go to the court, pay a fine and then come back to them with the receipt. What they are betting on is that you don't want to deal with the hassle of going through all of that while you are on vacation, so rather than deal with the ticket you will simply pay them a small bribe in the form of $10 or so to let you off the hook.

But what anyone living in Mexico will tell you is that this is completely illegal for the police to do. What they are doing is capitalizing on the fact that they know most Americans are terrified of the police in their home country and will do anything that a law official tells them to do. All they are really looking for is a quick bribe and you can be on your way without any hassles.

For more information on living in Mexico and other countries as a digital nomad, you can visit http://www.theexpatguidebook.com/, where T.W. Anderson and others talk about the realities of living as an expat day in and day out. You can also click on the link in the upper sidebar. 

Food costs in Cancun

The other day I was doing some grocery shopping here where I am based out of Cancun, and I wanted to share with you guys the video footage I recorded after I got home. I'm a stickler for saving money where I can, and the following footage documents the incredible savings you can generate simply by living like a local in countries around the world. These are my costs here in Mexico, but I also had similar in Bulgaria as well as Colombia. Enjoy!

Making International Investments as an Expat

Traveling around the world and looking for international investments is just one small aspect of living the expat lifestyle. When you can pick and choose your destination based upon market values on a global basis, you can control your income to a greater degree in comparison to your home country where if you were to invest like one of the generic mass public who leave their money in the banks and trust in a broken system that robs them blind you would end up broke in a few short months. Anyone who has been following the news in recent years has seen scandals such as the Bank of America issue where the government actually had to station local police outside of the banks after the bank tried to charge people to access their own money, leading to riots in the streets. By moving your money offshore and investing in commodities and real estate in other countries, you not only diversify your portfolio, but you also get your money out of the broken banking systems.

There's more to international investments than just going to another country and investing alongside other entrepreneurial expats. You have to know currency exchange rates as well as international regulations regarding investments in your chosen the host country. Some countries have restrictions on how much money you are allowed to invest, and not all of them have favorable tax returns, so it's up to you to do your due diligence and find out what countries have the best options for your particular type of investment. While real estate might be a hot item in the current market in a country like Brazil or Chile, you might be better off investing in agriculture or land in a place like Australia or Peru. The point is, there are literally thousands of opportunities waiting for you to take advantage of , but the vast majority of them are not back in the United States or the United Kingdom. Instead, most of the current hot items on the investment table for expats are in other countries, especially South America and Asia.

Basis of the Expat Lifestyle

An early retirement is only one of the many aspects of international living that makes the expat lifestyle so lucrative to so many people. However, the primary reason that millions of Americans every year are choosing to leave the home country behind for a brighter future in other countries is the simple fact that the cost of living is so much cheaper in places like Chile, Bulgaria or Mexico that the comparison is obvious enough even a child can see the benefits.

For example, consider the fact that Mexico City and New York City are equal in every way. They have the same violent crime rates, they have the same number of residents, they have the same ranking on an international level in terms of global commerce, and they are both considered alpha cities. Yet while the cost of living for bottom of the barrel existence in New York City is around $50,000 a year, you could have an upper middle-class existence in Mexico City for a mere $10,000 a year. That's a $40,000 a year price difference.

When you put the numbers in place, you can quickly see why so many expats are moving abroad with their Western jobs and their Western salaries, because while it might cost a fortune to live in the United States you can go to another country that has similar amenities and creature comforts along with first-class medical care, but a fraction of the cost of living. All you need is the ability to receive your salary in a digital format, either through electronic bank transfers or through PayPal or a merchant account. Once that is set in place, all you have to do is apply for a renter's visa from your preferred host country and you can get right to living the expat lifestyle with little more than your laptop and the clothes on your back.

Global Internet and the expat

One of the reasons so many people are able to enjoy the expat lifestyle in the 21st century is because of the advent of global Internet. Pensioners and digital nomads alike are able to pick up their bags and go to another country where they can enjoy all the same amenities and creature comforts they had back in their home country...but at a fraction of the cost.

You can travel to any major city in the world these days and come across expats from other countries, all of them there because of one of two reasons: a lowered cost of living or a passion for exploring alternative countries and cultures. While the second is something that is usually more common among backpackers and minimalists, working professionals as well as pensioners can enjoy the first.

For example, if a pensioner is only receiving $1,000 a month in the U.S. but the average cost of living is $25,000 a year (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), they cannot even pay their basic bills. But if they go to a country like Mexico where they have a cost of living that is only around $600 to $800 per month, including access to universal healthcare for a mere $250 a year so they can have unlimited free medicine, they can live like kings. And for the digital nomads of the world the ability to reduce your cost of living so low means an early retirement after saving for just a few short years while working abroad.