visas & vagabonding

[lazygood4nothinbum]

andyr. that pic with those elephants is just too cool. i also found a place-- online at least (which i've previously posted here)--near chiang mai where you pay to volunteer to help care for elephants. i would just love that.

your stories really makes me wish the real estate market would come back at least strong enough so i could sell these houses and really start enjoying my early retirement.

as to reading body language, i'm single and gay and have spent plenty of time in one of the few truly safe places we have to meet each other: the gaybar. so i've become adept at picking up (& ignoring) subtleties. geez, without body language, no one would be talking.

 

[Billy]

LG4N

hiya akaisha. thanx so much for your input. the hassle of travel might actually be good for me, border runs and all, as i find myself in retirement losing some coping skills which i am slowly learning to replace with patience so that it doesn't bother me when the cashier can't figure out my change.
i'm "only 50" (bet i won't be saying that a lot) so too early for the worry-free housing of adult communities, but i am considering relatively less worrisome housing than i currently have.
interesting aspect of foreign travel and thanx for mentioning liability aspects of automobiles overseas. definitely changes my way of thinking about this.

You're welcome, LG4N. RE: the 'worry-free' housing option, I have found that if you are 'too' young to age qualify, the ones in charge seem to be much more open to the idea of you coming on board if you offer them some kind of skill that you can do -- teaching a class for when the snow birds come down, taking care of the gardening or starting a garden club, teaching computer skills, etc. They tend to look the other way, if they consider you 'valuable'. Or trade your time in the office, or in the maintenance yard for 'free' rent or a discount. You would only have to do that for a couple of seasons, and when the office knows you are 'workable' they become so also. Just an idea.

i also found a place-- online at least (which i've previously posted here)--near chiang mai where you pay to volunteer to help care for elephants. i would just love that.

Was it this link? www.elephantnaturepark.org We are planning to go up there ourselves sometime soon and hope to get some good photos!

Be well,

Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

akaisha, you are proposing that i put myself at the mercy of a condo board? and here i held you in such high regard. well, i suppose it would be good to have that option. only now that i've been out of my parents' house for at least a few years, i'm rather enjoying not having to do all my chores.

and ya, that's the park. i read also that the owner is an excellent vegetarian cook. i think helping to wash elephants down by the river would be pretty amazing. or feeding a baby elephant out of a bottle, wow. now there's a chore i wouldn't mind at all.

 

[Andy R]

The elephant experience for me was interesting but we took a ride in the rain forest and I would encourage people not to do the same. The uneducated trainers of the elephants were cruel and it just did not seem humane. I really enjoyed Chiang Mai though.

 

[Billy]

lg4n

akaisha, you are proposing that i put myself at the mercy of a condo board? and here i held you in such high regard.

You have left me speechless, LG4N...

and ya, that's the park. i read also that the owner is an excellent vegetarian cook. i think helping to wash elephants down by the river would be pretty amazing. or feeding a baby elephant out of a bottle, wow. now there's a chore i wouldn't mind at all.

We hope to get out there and do a photo shoot. Lek, the owner/manager/head animal activist person has dedicated her life to saving these animals and putting them back into a natural surrounding... although I don't know how 'natural' it is for us to be bathing them or giving them a bottle... am I confused here?

AndyR

The uneducated trainers of the elephants were cruel and it just did not seem humane. I really enjoyed Chiang Mai though.

That was Lek's main point - at least how it was presented to me when we met her at her new office's opening party. The Mahouts are often cruel to these beasts and elephants can be killed in the line of duty (begging for food so the Mahouts get the $$ you pay for it) by either the cruelty of the Mahout, the Mahout not giving the elephant the medical care it needs or by getting run over by cars on the road (!!)

At Lek's place there is no elephant riding, only elephant serving.

Amazing. Will keep you posted!

Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

 

[Rob]

Try Malaysia

I'd recommend Singapore as a place to stay, but as much as I like it here, most travelers prefers countries near Singapore. When you are traveling overseas, particularly in SE Asia, it is nice not to make these border runs if you can avoid them, but I also understand that when you are retired, that becomes your new headache. You learn to cope, and it can even be fun.

Check out the "Malaysia, My Second Home Website"- :: MM2H :: Malaysia My Second Home
You can either make a direct bank deposit or show evidence of a retirement income. I have several friends (and their families) living in Malaysia and they love it. Buying a car is quite inexpensive and the highways are excellent.
My 2 cents worth.

Rob

 

[ForeignExchange]

For those 50 and older and wish to make Thailand their home base.

Application requirements from The Royal Thai Consulate in Los Angeles.