|
|
02-23-2016, 09:23 AM
|
#61
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by HadEnuff
Thailand sounds intriguing. Never been anywhere close. could you recommend a source of information? I would especially like to read about folks' experiences traveling there.
|
We spent a winter in South East Asia and probably about a month traveling around Thailand. I think you'll have to go and experience it for yourself to make any kind of decision as to whether it's a place you want to winter. One thing we discovered in our travels is that most travel writers / bloggers totally oversell places and very rarely discuss any drawbacks whatsoever.
We went to Thailand with high expectations and it certainly was a great place to tour. I'm not completely sold on it as a place I want to spend months at a time, though. I know some people just love, love, LOVE!!! it. We certainly liked it, but there's a bunch of stuff you'd have to get used to if you were to settle there for an extended period.
Here's some pros & cons about Thailand off the top of my head
Pros:
Inexpensive
The weather is "nice" (see cons)
The beaches are pretty
The food is great
Cons
It can be terribly hot
It's very far to travel
Air pollution can be awful
The food ain't always so great in the places where the beaches are nice
Things don't always work like you think they should
I wrote a somewhat tongue & cheek article about living outside the U.S. for a year titled Things I Miss About the U.S. Not all of that applies to Thailand, but that guy at the pool is totally Koh Samui.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
02-23-2016, 09:37 AM
|
#62
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Nashville
Posts: 2,506
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gone4Good
...
I wrote a somewhat tongue & cheek article about living outside the U.S. for a year titled Things I Miss About the U.S. Not all of that applies to Thailand, but that guy at the pool is totally Koh Samui.
|
Thanks for the smiles at that link.
Related: middle son's S.O., who did not grow up in US, spent summer working at the Hague. Upon return to flyover country for school, she realized just how much she missed our grocery stores.
__________________
OMY * 3 2ish Done 7.28.17
|
|
|
02-23-2016, 09:43 AM
|
#63
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2017ish
Thanks for the smiles at that link.
Related: middle son's S.O., who did not grow up in US, spent summer working at the Hague. Upon return to flyover country for school, she realized just how much she missed our grocery stores.
|
+1 on the grocery stores. We're having similar issues in Mexico.
Shopping at three different local markets for dinner ingredients and finding that the things that were available yesterday are not available today is "charming" and "exotic" when you're doing it as a tourist. Living that way can get a little tedious, though.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
|
|
|
02-23-2016, 09:55 AM
|
#64
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 230
|
Nobody has mentioned Europe yet. Spain, Portugal, and Italy have nice climates and are nice places to visit. It won't be swim-in-the-ocean type weather probably, but it will be much warmer than home.
|
|
|
02-23-2016, 11:43 AM
|
#65
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Beaverton
Posts: 1,382
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bir48die
I vacation both in both Mexico and the Caribbean. I can be in Cabo in four hours and PV in six. I have to do red eye's and travel for 12-18 hours to go to the Caribbean. You however being in NY can get quick and less expensive flights to the Bahamas, West Indies, PR and Dom Republic. Also to the Belize and Cancun area. Both have their advantages. East is water much prettier than almost all of Mexico. If you go to Mexico your grocery bill will be much less. All comes down to personal preference.
|
I just got back from St Maarten and Anguilla. I swear 85% of the visitors were either Mass residents or NY/NJ. They all go down each year and stay the winters. Was like old home week. I highly recommend that area. Have been to Grand Cayman and the Bahamas numerous times. For where you're located I think the Caribbean is a fantastic place to visit.
On the other hand Playa Del Carmen or Tulum in Mexico or Belize are excellent choices.
|
|
|
02-23-2016, 09:05 PM
|
#66
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gone4Good
+1 on the grocery stores. We're having similar issues in Mexico.
Shopping at three different local markets for dinner ingredients and finding that the things that were available yesterday are not available today is "charming" and "exotic" when you're doing it as a tourist. Living that way can get a little tedious, though.
|
Ha ha, I can totally relate. After a week of buying the most awesome, perfectly ripe, dirt cheap mangoes in San Miguel de Allende, I showed up to get a dozen or so mangoes for dessert that night and breakfast the next day. The handful of vendors in our cozy market 2 blocks from our little villa had almost doubled the price of mangoes and they were all nearly rotten with black spots all over and a few days past the peak of ripeness. Something about the truck from Mexico City never showed up so nobody's got any mangoes. No hay, senor. No hay. Manana.
And running from the market (to get mangoes and rice) to the chicken restaurant (which also randomly ran out of chickens at 4 pm - how can you do that when you only sell roasted chickens?!) to the tamale restaurant to the guy selling pastries and rolls out of his trunk to the tortilleria just to pick up dinner and breakfast sounds really awesome until it starts pouring rain at the third stop on your whirlwind shopping trip and you still have 2 more stops on foot and then have to walk back home. On rain-slicked cobblestone streets with the random mound of dog excrement. I'm not exactly complaining but I definitely appreciate super walmart (where I can get all that stuff except the tamales).
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
|
|
|
02-24-2016, 05:37 AM
|
#67
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,232
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bir48die
I just got back from St Maarten and Anguilla. I swear 85% of the visitors were either Mass residents or NY/NJ. They all go down each year and stay the winters. Was like old home week. I highly recommend that area. Have been to Grand Cayman and the Bahamas numerous times. For where you're located I think the Caribbean is a fantastic place to visit.
On the other hand Playa Del Carmen or Tulum in Mexico or Belize are excellent choices.
|
If I were to take the bride to St. Maarten to check it out, where would you recommend I stay, say for a week or two? Is it a safe place for tourists to move around?
|
|
|
02-24-2016, 06:56 AM
|
#68
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
Ha ha, I can totally relate. After a week of buying the most awesome, perfectly ripe, dirt cheap mangoes in San Miguel de Allende . . .
|
Totally agree. But you do highlight one bright spot. For some reason fruits and vegetables taste so much better elsewhere in the world.
I've read that U.S. agriculture emphasizes crop yields over fruit flavor. It definitely seems that way. As just one example, a simple Greek salad consisting of nothing more than cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, red onions, some cheese, and olive oil is off the charts delicious in Greece (especially if you get one with capers from Santorini). We pretty much lived on them for the month we were there and we missed them terribly after we left.
In the U.S. people will drench those same ingredients in a heavy dressing just so they can choke them down. It's almost like a completely different food.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
|
|
|
02-24-2016, 07:04 AM
|
#69
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Nashville
Posts: 2,506
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gone4Good
Can totally relate. But you do highlight one bright spot. For some reason fruits and vegetables taste so much better elsewhere in the world.
I've read that U.S. agriculture emphasizes crop yields over fruit flavor. It definitely seems that way. As just one example, a simple Greek salad consisting of nothing more than cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, red onions, some cheese, and olive oil is off the charts delicious in Greece. We pretty much lived on them for the month we were there and we missed them terribly after we left.
....
|
Shipping capability may play an even bigger role, as yield can be more easily overcome with premium pricing. My own example: We eat caprese salad as our main course 3-4 days a week in local growing season (and as a side on the other 3-4 days). But, Cherokee Purple tomatoes are a requirement for us to do that--and they do not tolerate shipping (Nor is their yield high, so +1 for each of us!).
__________________
OMY * 3 2ish Done 7.28.17
|
|
|
02-25-2016, 04:52 AM
|
#70
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,911
|
We are in Thaland now-on Koh Lanta. This is out third year in Thailand and SE Asia. Last year we went south this year we will make our way to Vietnam via Cambodia.
We love Thailand-the people, the food, the ocean. We do not spend time in Bangkok..we just head south to the islands. It is a long trip but we feel it is worth it since we stay for 8-12 weeks. After being in Thailand for three winters Florida, hawaii, Ca, etc hold zero appeal to us. Plus our shrinking Canadian dollar goes do much further here. Next winter will be Sourh America.
|
|
|
02-25-2016, 09:40 AM
|
#71
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
|
We love the chaos when we get to Mexico each year. Then we appreciate the order when we get home. And all fruits and vegetables are local too (except WA apples).
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
|
|
|
02-25-2016, 04:05 PM
|
#72
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,911
|
Since retiring and traveling to places like Thailand and Cista Rica our diet has changed sustantially-even when we return home. Lots of fruit, salad, fresh veg, much less red meat, breads, fried food, and almost zero processed food or fast food. We feel so much better for it and we have both lost weight down to our recommended weights.
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|