Costs of a Perpetual Traveller Lifestyle?

[lazygood4nothinbum]

thanx petey. i realize different budgets would tender different answers. i was hoping to get some specifics just the same. will check out the thaivisa site you mentioned. as to my needs, they are very simple. extra space & stuff for me is just more crap to clean.

i do like the idea of saving money as that comes pretty natural to me but especially i like the idea of making my life interesting. what i got here just aint doin it no more. i've never done this kind of travel but i've dreamed about it. national geographic and the travel channel only get ya so far. just happens that life put me in a situation whereby time & place & circumstance & opportunity just seems to point to a pt life. and, well, i simply can't think of anything else i'd rather be doing or anything else i'd rather be reminiscing about when i might be too old for it.

 

[peteyperson]

Hey lazy

I agree about National Geographic. That's just a nicely written article and some pretty pictures. This isn't even 1% of what you experience when you're on the ground.

I talked to people for a couple of years, and then decided to go out to Thailand to see for myself. I had a great time. It's not paradise. It's a different place, with different culture, food, climate and people. It's exasperating, bewildering and exciting and fun. But like most places, it gets more fun when you find your feet. I met several posters when I was out there and there were all terrific people. This added to my experience. I went for two weeks; I'm planning to return for four weeks so I see more the 2nd time around.

Moving anywhere abroad is a huge leap of faith. Whatever you can do to learn the ropes ahead of time, get a reality check on-the-ground, and run your numbers after, is very helpful. PM me if you wanna chat privately.

Petey

thanx petey. i realize different budgets would tender different answers. i was hoping to get some specifics just the same. will check out the thaivisa site you mentioned. as to my needs, they are very simple. extra space & stuff for me is just more crap to clean.

i do like the idea of saving money as that comes pretty natural to me but especially i like the idea of making my life interesting. what i got here just aint doin it no more. i've never done this kind of travel but i've dreamed about it. national geographic and the travel channel only get ya so far. just happens that life put me in a situation whereby time & place & circumstance & opportunity just seems to point to a pt life. and, well, i simply can't think of anything else i'd rather be doing or anything else i'd rather be reminiscing about when i might be too old for it.

 

[Alan]

We plan on living several months a year in other countries. We have the first 3 years planned, starting 2010. It has been a dream of ours for several years.

 

[haha]

or should i just be shopping for a shack in tennessee?

Probably this would not be your happiest outcome.

Ha

 

[figner]

i was sort of hoping to decrease my expenses and grow the nestegg over the next few years to get back some of my bubble losses. how well would a single guy pting on, say, $36k/year fare? could i reduce even further and still live fairly well? or should i just be shopping for a shack in tennessee?

I'm not a perpetual traveller, but would think if you intended to stay put somewhere for a while it could be done for around $36K or less. I live in one of the most expensive areas of the US and that's about how much I spend annually (for a single person renting). If I were willing to forgo some expensive hobbies and vacation, it could easily be $30K. If I were willing to cut back to "very frugal" on most things, it could probably be $25K.

Taxes not included in the amounts above, and I do have employer-subsidized health insurance.

Looking forward to hearing of your travel adventures once you're on the road.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

based upon petey's suggestion, i found the following recent Cost Of Living - Thailand Forum post by screennamed person "drdave". here he offers a minimal budget for living in one of the more "expensive" areas of thailand. when i added up his numbers in us$s, i don't think i got up to $1,000/month (and i added more for extra beer). wow. it's hard for me to wrap my brain around that. i think i'm gonna like this a lot. (hope it is ok that i am quoting him in full below because i think he did such a good job of it.)

Here are some actual numbers to consider when drawing up a budget. The following would be for a bare-bones lifestyle in Patong, but it should give you an idea of what you can expect to spend at a minimum. As Woohoo says, the more disposable income you have, the more fun you'll have - but here's a starting point.

Accommodation - on a long term rental basis, you should be able to rent a nice, western-style 1 bedroom or studio apartment for about 15,000 baht/month. This would generally include cable TV, aircon and cooking facilities, and possibly internet access, but most likely no pool. A little less for fewer amenities. You can go lower if your budget is stretched, but this is a good entry level. If your apartment doesn't have laundry facilities, there are a few low-priced laundries where you might spend maybe 300 baht/month. When renting an apartment long-term, you'll also have to pay for water and electricity. Figure on about 1,500 baht/month assuming you don't run the a/c full-on.

Transportation - you'll most likely have an apartment on a hillside, which means that walking everywhere may not be an option. You should be able to rent a decent motorbike for about 3,000 baht/month. Add a few hundred baht/month for gas. If you need to make periodic visa runs, the cost will be start around 1,500 baht for a one-day package.

Food - If you really like Thai food, and don't need to eat western-style food on a regular basis, then you're in luck. A good Thai meal can be had in the small Thai restaurants and food stalls, just outside the main tourist areas for between 30 and 40 baht. It can actually be cheaper to eat at these places compared to buying food and cooking at home. Drinking water for home is only 10 baht for a 5 gallon jug. Assuming 3 Thai meals/day - that's about 1,000 baht/month. If you prefer to eat western food, you're looking at about 3-4 times that amount, at a minimum. A good lunch of Thai food at the beach will be about 80 baht +/-.

Entertainment - this is obviously discretionary. A beer in a bar costs between 40 and 120 baht, depending upon the venue and location. A small bottle of beer is 25-45 baht at the supermarket or 7-11. Movies at a theatre are about 150 baht, while bootleg DVDs are about 60 baht. A chair at the beach is 80 baht/day in low season (although its perfectly ok to bring a towel and sit on the sand). Riding around the island to see the sights on your your rented motorbike is virtually free, while eating in the large tourist restaurants and going to the tourist-oriented shows is expensive. You have a lot of options here.

So - using the above as a baseline for basic necessities, you can live on about 16,500 for good accommodation, 3,000 for food, about 3,500 for transportation for a total of about 23,000 baht/month. This is bare-bones, no-frills, and probably not an attractive level of lifestyle to most. Add to this whatever you think you'd spend to maintain the sort of lifestyle you'd like to have (entertainment, variety of food, socializing, etc).

I live in one of the most expensive areas of the US and that's about how much I spend annually (for a single person renting). If I were willing to forgo some expensive hobbies and vacation, it could easily be $30K. If I were willing to cut back to "very frugal" on most things, it could probably be $25K....Looking forward to hearing of your travel adventures once you're on the road.

you know i can be so stupid sometimes. because actually my budget won't be changing all that much, only instead of owning a house, that money will be invested and i'll be renting. so i guess if i can afford fort lauderdale i can probably afford, well, most any place but new york or san francisco. this foreign travel is just so, well, foreign to me.

would love to be able to write about my adventures. when do you suppose the housing market might start moving again so that i will have that opportunity? (rhetorical question, duh!)

 

[SecondCor521]

I too am very interested in the PT lifestyle after my kids are grown and gone.

Three things hold me back:

1. My grandfather's desk, which was given to my father which was given to me. Everything else I own is just stuff and I would and could gladly sell it all and the house that it's stored in.

2. Being an introvert. It seems like the successful PT's are all extroverts.

3. Exiting the lifestyle. In my case I wonder if I would get priced out of the market if I sold my house, PT'ed for say 10 years, then wanted to return to a house in the US.

Comments?

2Cor521

 

[simple girl]

When we were in Phuket in 2002, I got a 1 hour thai massage on the beach for $7.50, and that included tip!!

I could see us doing long-term travel to Thailand when we retire, but I'm not so sure about completely settling down there. I like how the Kaderli's do it - 6 to 9 months traveling but having a home base to come back to.

I have a friend who is Thai who lives here now with her American husband. She grew up in the country of Thailand and tells me really interesting stories. She talks about how they ate fish alot since they could fish and then keep them alive for a while in buckets outside the house. Hungry? Go grab a fish! She also told me about how they would make their own charcoal, this long, complicated process. She also talks about how when her father got sick they traveled a long distance and took him to a thai hospital. Supposedly there are a certain number of hospitals that are funded by the King for the people of Thailand. Care is free, I think, or at least very low cost. I don't know much more than that, but I thought it was very interesting.

She sends money home to her family regularly.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

I too am very interested in the PT lifestyle after my kids are grown and gone.

Three things hold me back:

1. My grandfather's desk, which was given to my father which was given to me. Everything else I own is just stuff and I would and could gladly sell it all and the house that it's stored in.

2. Being an introvert. It seems like the successful PT's are all extroverts.

3. Exiting the lifestyle. In my case I wonder if I would get priced out of the market if I sold my house, PT'ed for say 10 years, then wanted to return to a house in the US.

Comments?

2Cor521

i've thought about the same things. trying to simplify life and cover all the bases makes it all very complicated.

1) storage or family or friend. small storage is pretty cheap. i could even get a space big enough to store a car and some furniture for just $100/month, maybe not in my area of south florida but in less expensive locations. i bet you can find desk storage for $50/month if you did not want to impose on anyone. for me i only have a few things from mom, some were grandma's. i'm digitizing my paperwork, photographs and videos so will have all that with me plus duplicate discs in storage. i'll miss my plants but i can always plant another garden.

2) few people know i'm an introvert because i'm so loud and obnoxious. i'm really shy and, um, retiring but i also have a bit of thrill seeker in me. i love going for reaction, especially to get someone to smile, to laugh, to tilt them off their kilter a bit. but it is easy for me to just close up and never even leave the house. i might get like that for periods of a time but then i force myself to go out and have a good time. and i almost always do.

you should try it for a few months first at least before deciding as i plan to do. i wouldn't be surprised if you don't find yourself socializing more than you do normally. it is easy to withdraw when you are surrounded by the security of your familiar area. getting out just might draw you out.

3) market timing. i'm taking this to the nth degree. though almost everything--with the exception of honobob (wink)--that i've read on this forum tells me that i'd do even better in "the market" than in real estate (so then how could i possibly ever get "priced out" besides another bubble?), i'm in a unique position to maintain a very low cost of living into the future by way of florida's "save our home" homesteaded value which i can keep by purchasing a new home every other two years. actually i think i just have to hold it long enough to declare homestead and then sell again--so long as i purchase within 2 years of the last sale.

so if i happen to be in time with up markets on those years, it could benefit me to buy back into florida real estate on occasion, continue traveling, say a half year at a time while i hold onto the property or just rent out a room to cover costs or something to that affect. it is all a little crazy but it could mean that when i'm 66 and a half i'd be collecting social security, benefiting from medicare (assuming those insitutitions remain solvent) plus i'd only be paying about $1k/year in property taxes if that much.

my version of having my condo and eating thai tofu too.

 

[teejayevans]

Probably the most popular version of a PT is a sailor, once you bought
the boat, the expenses are relatively small (just food, boat insurance,
boat maintenance costs). But living on a boat is not for everybody.
TJ

 

[megacorp-firee]

I too am very interested in the PT lifestyle after my kids are grown and gone.

Three things hold me back:

1. My grandfather's desk, which was given to my father which was given to me. Everything else I own is just stuff and I would and could gladly sell it all and the house that it's stored in.

2. Being an introvert. It seems like the successful PT's are all extroverts.

3. Exiting the lifestyle. In my case I wonder if I would get priced out of the market if I sold my house, PT'ed for say 10 years, then wanted to return to a house in the US.

Comments?

2Cor521

respectfully ... B.S.
1) family or friend can take your GF desk in OR store it if it really means that much to you
... how big can it be?
2) we are 'private' people, DW is introvert, I can be called an extrovert, but we really stay to ourselves if given the choice
3) rent your place, or sell your place and put it into a property related investment if you are really afraid of missing out on all the gains that we have seen in the past few years (HUGE TONGUE IN CHEEK).

It seems you are looking for excuses because dumping ones existing life and traveling around to the 'unknown' is ... well unknown and scary,

It's not for everyone ... but it is a blast if you are into it.

 

[SecondCor521]

@LG4NB,

Yeah, I thought about storage for the desk...around here that would run me maybe $20-$40 per month, or I could just put it in a friend's garage for maybe $10 a month. That would work.

There may be a few other items that I just couldn't bear to part with, but it wouldn't be that much. After my divorce I became very light on possessions -- On January 15, 2006 I was literally living in a hotel with the clothes on my back plus a duffel bag of clothes. I've moved up from that point to a bed, a TV, and a couch, plus the usual house accoutrements like a lawmower and kitchen utensils, but I'm pretty spartan already. I think there is a certain appeal to me in the PT lifestyle of how "lightly" one can go. I've been fascinated to read stories about "100 things" and getting one's possessions down that far. I don't know if I'll do that but quite frankly stuff just wears me down for the most part.

I think your point about getting out drawing me out is true. In retrospect I am much more extroverted when I travel.

As far as houses go, I'm on my fourth one and have made money on each one. I think my perspective is skewed by house #3, which we bought about 5 years ago and sold in the divorce process. The price on that house went up by about 40%, and since we went in with only 10% down, I now find myself being in the situation of not being able to afford to buy that house again. Of course, there are many unique factors that apply -- the divorce, the timing of the house appreciation, the particular buyers that we sold to, etc. The other three houses have done well, perhaps slightly ahead of inflation. I guess I would just need to figure out the economics of that.

Oh, and you are right, I'd just stick the net house proceeds in the stash if I were to actually do this. So if the market did better I'd be ahead (without accounting for the leverage from a mortgage).

2Cor521

 

[SecondCor521]

respectfully ... B.S.
1) family or friend can take your GF desk in OR store it if it really means that much to you
... how big can it be?
2) we are 'private' people, DW is introvert, I can be called an extrovert, but we really stay to ourselves if given the choice
3) rent your place, or sell your place and put it into a property related investment if you are really afraid of missing out on all the gains that we have seen in the past few years (HUGE TONGUE IN CHEEK).

It seems you are looking for excuses because dumping ones existing life and traveling around to the 'unknown' is ... well unknown and scary,

It's not for everyone ... but it is a blast if you are into it.

Respectfully: you either misinterpeted what I wrote, I didn't write it clearly (probably true), or you're projecting, or something else.

I probably should have said that those three items were things I'd have to figure out solutions to before I did the PT thing. My bad.

As to (1), yes it has enough sentimental value to me to hold on to and store. It's the only tangible item of significance that I will have handed down to me from my father.

As to (3), I have made a profit on the first three houses I bought, and the fourth house in which I currently live was appraised in early February for more than what I paid for it in December 06. But I do get your point.

I'm neither afraid of nor do I lack knowledge of the world. I've traveled to about 15 different countries and about 35 different states and am quite comfortable and interested in traveling, otherwise I wouldn't have posted in this thread at all.

2Cor521
grouchy

 

[megacorp-firee]

Respectfully: you either misinterpeted what I wrote, I didn't write it clearly (probably true), or you're projecting, or something else.

I probably should have said that those three items were things I'd have to figure out solutions to before I did the PT thing. My bad.

As to (1), yes it has enough sentimental value to me to hold on to and store. It's the only tangible item of significance that I will have handed down to me from my father.

As to (3), I have made a profit on the first three houses I bought, and the fourth house in which I currently live was appraised in early February for more than what I paid for it in December 06. But I do get your point.

I'm neither afraid of nor do I lack knowledge of the world. I've traveled to about 15 different countries and about 35 different states and am quite comfortable and interested in traveling, otherwise I wouldn't have posted in this thread at all.

2Cor521
grouchy

My bad ... your '... Three things hold me back ...' quote made me think that you are not considering it. Misinterpretation.
store the desk, put on a smile and sell the house ... see you in some airport with a funny name ...

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

2ndcor,

In re: #3, you could sell the house and put the proceeds into an REIT fund if you just wanted to stay even with US real estate (don't spend the dividends, though).

I have read other people experiencing being priced out of their home country market upon repatriating. As I recall, an Englander on LonelyPlanet Thorn Tree started a thread on the subject.

A serious concern, not often discussed here.

 

[NotSoonEnough]

As to (3), I have made a profit on the first three houses I bought, and the fourth house in which I currently live was appraised in early February for more than what I paid for it in December 06. But I do get your point.

If you sell a place in the North End and while you're gone MU shuts down their facilities, you just may be able to get back in cheaper than you started... On the other hand, not likely, and most NE properties will retain their value regardless.

It is all a dice roll/coin toss... If you want to PT then you need to make risk your friend.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

@LG4NB,

Yeah, I thought about storage for the desk...around here that would run me maybe $20-$40 per month, or I could just put it in a friend's garage for maybe $10 a month. That would work.

There may be a few other items that I just couldn't bear to part with, but it wouldn't be that much. After my divorce I became very light on possessions -- On January 15, 2006 I was literally living in a hotel with the clothes on my back plus a duffel bag of clothes. I've moved up from that point to a bed, a TV, and a couch, plus the usual house accoutrements like a lawmower and kitchen utensils, but I'm pretty spartan already. I think there is a certain appeal to me in the PT lifestyle of how "lightly" one can go. I've been fascinated to read stories about "100 things" and getting one's possessions down that far. I don't know if I'll do that but quite frankly stuff just wears me down for the most part.

I think your point about getting out drawing me out is true. In retrospect I am much more extroverted when I travel.

As far as houses go, I'm on my fourth one and have made money on each one. I think my perspective is skewed by house #3, which we bought about 5 years ago and sold in the divorce process. The price on that house went up by about 40%, and since we went in with only 10% down, I now find myself being in the situation of not being able to afford to buy that house again. Of course, there are many unique factors that apply -- the divorce, the timing of the house appreciation, the particular buyers that we sold to, etc. The other three houses have done well, perhaps slightly ahead of inflation. I guess I would just need to figure out the economics of that.

Oh, and you are right, I'd just stick the net house proceeds in the stash if I were to actually do this. So if the market did better I'd be ahead (without accounting for the leverage from a mortgage).

2Cor521

2Cor, I feel for ya, but getting rid of stuff can be quite a liberating experience. I thought I was a light shopper until I moved out of my townhouse to go to school. I got rid of the sofa, entertainment system, bedroom set, kitchen chairs, punching bag, 1 car, and I still ended up with a 17' Uhual full to the gills. After I got to my school apartment, I proceeded to dump all of my old electrical engineering books plus other assorted junk. On my move out of the apartment, I dumped the dining room table, the heavy drapes, the old coffee table, and a non-functional lamp, and I gave away a bookcase. Three purges, and now I still have a small apartment and a storage closet. I think I'll go for inflatable furniture from now on.

 

[Alan]

2ndcor,

In re: #3, you could sell the house and put the proceeds into an REIT fund if you just wanted to stay even with US real estate (don't spend the dividends, though).

I have read other people experiencing being priced out of their home country market upon repatriating. As I recall, an Englander on LonelyPlanet Thorn Tree started a thread on the subject.

A serious concern, not often discussed here.

When we moved to the US in '87 this was a concern to us so we rented out our house. In '92 when we decided to make the US our permanent home we sold the house in England and bought here.

 

[SecondCor521]

My bad ... your '... Three things hold me back ...' quote made me think that you are not considering it. Misinterpretation.
store the desk, put on a smile and sell the house ... see you in some airport with a funny name ...

Sorry, I was having a bad day. I had reread what I wrote and it wasn't clear.

I'm here until the kids get bigger, so it'll be a few years still...

2Cor521

 

[SecondCor521]

If you sell a place in the North End and while you're gone MU shuts down their facilities, you just may be able to get back in cheaper than you started... On the other hand, not likely, and most NE properties will retain their value regardless.

It is all a dice roll/coin toss... If you want to PT then you need to make risk your friend.

I don't think MU is going to be building on to their facilities here.

House #1 was in the North End. I've always lived more on the HP side of the ville.

2Cor521

 

[Rob]

Health Insurance and other thoughts

I've been overseas since 1970 and loved it all, but my insurance was always paid for by the international school that I worked at. The insurance I now have is International Health Insurance (IHI). I like it because on my trips to the States, I'm covered. All the rest of the insurance policies do not have that. I have a US $1,600 deductible and it costs $3,000/year. It's pretty costly, but it covers me no matter where I am, including the states.

Now is maybe the time of my life where I am at a critical crossroad. I'M RETIRING!!! I never really considered myself the traditional worker since my teaching has been in some pretty exotic countries (Liberia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Korea, Singapore, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and currently Jordan). I'm sort of not telling people that I'm retiring, but instead saying "I'm taking some time off". However, in my heart, I'm actually going to do it, or at least semi-retire.

Over Spring Break I took almost all my belongings to Montreal. I have a couple of Chinese friends (brother and sister) that are the closest thing to a family I have. We have a home outside Montreal. I'm American, so of course I will not spend all of my time there. This is where I am struggling. I know Akaisha and Billy have a good arrangement in Arizona, where they can travel to and live for part of the year. I need to find a place for where I will be when I'm not shivering in those cold Canadian winters.

I was thinking of San Antonio, but as I go on-line and look at places like Costa Rica and the relatively easy retirement visas they offer, I can see myself traveling there later this year (when the Cold Canadian winter begins) and maybe working on a retirement visa and looking at properties. Condo prices have risen a lot in Costa Rica, but there are still lots of listings for under $130,000 with financing. The propery taxes are no more than $150/year in many of the condos. That certainly beats San Antonio where the property taxes are often more than $400/month for condos.

I still have Singapore as a possibilty. After living there for almost 20 years, I am a Permanent Resident (green card holder), and I could always live there for part of the year.

Great that a lot of you are considering the "perpetual traveling lifestyle", but having a home base is certainly important when you do this, and that is what I will be working on.

Regards,
Rob

 

[tomintucson]

This is a really interesting thread, I'm so glad it was resurrected.

I retired in March, 2007. I'm 49, never married, no kids, and have a bit of an adventurous streak. My favorite travel destinations thus far would have to be Cuba and pretty much anywhere in Southeast Asia. I usually travel alone.

While I am single, I nevertheless have some strong roots here in Tucson. I'm very close with my mom. She's 77, and has been undergoing chemotherapy for three years for her stage 4 cancer. She loves to travel, and now can do it only through my eyes. I call her frequently from hotel rooms when overseas. It's quite simple and relatively cheap using AT&T phone cards and the in-country access codes. I'm sure there are even cheaper ways, but I can certainly afford the modest cost of $5.00 chats with Mom, and it's really nice to call from the comfort and quiet of my room.

I digress...In light of my mom's health, I'm committed to remaining in Tucson during her lifetime, and I now limit my overseas trips to a maximum length of about 3 weeks. That will change after her death. Then I will probably move towards open-ended travel, maybe starting with 2 or 3 months overseas, and seeing how that feels. One issue that occasionally comes up for me when overseas is social isolation, leading to a sense of alienation. I'm a very social person. I find it easy to get along with almost all people. And I am typically very comfortable when surrounded by people who don't speak my language. For example, yesterday, here in Tucson, I spent about 6 hours with refugees with whom I volunteer, who speak little or no English. A motley bunch, including Karen tribal people from Burma, Chinese, Somalis, Sudanese, and Iranians. But traveling in the type of places I like to go to (Pakistan may be next on my agenda) is a different animal. It's not reasonable to expect myself to become conversationally capable in Pushtun before visiting. If that was the requirement, I'd never go anywhere. In sum, the issue of language barriers is, for me, a cost of perpetual or frequent overseas travel, especially since my preference is always to hang out with the locals, and keeping contact with other westerners to a minimum.

Back to the focus of this thread, I usually find myself living like a king, at pauper's prices, in the kind of places I prefer to go. I seem to be drawn to destinations as different as possible from my life in America. I'm especially keen on Communist nations, sort of a political endangered species. North Korea, anyone? They sure know how to put on a show...

My thanks to MJ, Lance, Billy and Akaisha, Rob, lazygood4nothin and many others for their thoughtful, interesting and informative posts regarding overseas perspectives and experiences.

Tom

 

[Alan]

But traveling in the type of places I like to go to (Pakistan may be next on my agenda) is a different animal. It's not reasonable to expect myself to become conversationally capable in Pushtun before visiting. If that was the requirement, I'd never go anywhere.

I don't know about Pakistan but expect it is very similar to India where English is almost universally spoken. In India the children learn English at a very young age in school. I went to Mumbai (Bombay) in India last year for a couple of weeks and found the people extremely welcoming, and english was universally spoken. As you point out, the prices are incredibly cheap compared to here. I know quite a few folks who have had wonderful vacations in various places in India.

 

[megacorp-firee]

I still have Singapore as a possibilty. After living there for almost 20 years, I am a Permanent Resident (green card holder), and I could always live there for part of the year.

? Rob, I thought that cost of living in Singapore was relatively high. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of finding a 'cheap' home base?

 

[Rob]

Cost of living in Singapore

The cost of living in Singapore is deceptive. About the only thing that will affect your budget is the housing. However, there are apartments, one or 2 bedroom not to difficult to find, that will run you about US$1,000 to US$1500 in public housing, but it's very safe. In Singapore, where you save is their mass transit that is second to none and goes to all parts of Singapore. You just don't need a car. Also, the food in "hawker centers" is so good and yet so inexpensive (a healthy serving of chicken rice for about US$2. Finally the medical care is superb. In my 20 years there, if I had a case of the flu, I could visit one of the many clinics all over the island, get consultation, antibiotics, and a brief check-up all for under US$20. Not bad.

The people in Singapore complain a lot about the high stress of life, as we do in all countries. There is no welfare system except the fact that extended families really do look out for the welfare of family members.

If you have never lived in Singapore, it's frankly the last place you should ever consider retiring, since they don't offer a retirement visa. However, I have a long history in Singapore, am a "green card" holder (Permanent Resident), and so I can live there when I want. I'm also familiar with their housing market, and can find something reasonable. I really plan on visiting a lot, and maybe even staying there some more. However, now I like the idea of being with close Chinese friends in Montreal after I retire from teaching in 6 weeks at 61. So happy!

One additional comment- if I ever were to retire to Singapore, the options to keep myself busy range from swimming, to yoga, to Tai Chi, to teaching ESL for maybe an hour or 2 a day (to pay the rent). Also, you know- I love living in a foreign culture, but I hate traveling to get there. When I say Singapore would be my homebase, I'd probably just not leave it too much except to travel up to Malaysia or a few of the Indonesian islands just off the coast of Singapore.

Regards,
Rob