Page 1 of 1

Your Own Heaven On Earth

Posted: October 9th, 2012, 5:23 am
by The_Adventurer
I haven't posted on here, or even visited here for that matter, in a long time, largely because of the nature of the discussions here and the general attitude of many of the new posters. Those who are really gonna do it, are gonna do it. The rest will sit and complain until the west collapses on itself and they find there is no way out. So what am I doing?

* I live in a small town, that is one step from being in the country, it has clean air, fresh water, and plenty of fresh, natural, locally grown food. Still, it is less than an hour drive from the big city and about 2 hours from a huge city.

* I live in an apartment that costs $110 USD per month (at the current rapidly dropping dollar exchange rate). It is a 3 bedroom, fully furnished, 5 star quality place targeted to a foreigner. People say I pay too much.

* My wife cooks (better than any restaurant) , cleans and does laundry. If we are feeling lazy, we pay one of her friends, a high school kid, about $8 to do it.

* I don't work. I have complete freedom and control over my schedule. I make money online doing what I love. I stay up late, wake up near noon. One day I wanted to go to the big city and buy a tablet computer, and I just did it. No need to ask a boss for time off, or make plans.

* My wife's family doesn't need anything from me. In fact, we go to her parents house and eat free quite often. Her mother is constantly bringing us food. Others are constantly bringing us expensive wine, tea and other gifts.

* Travel locally is too cheap. For $10 I can quickly be in the most beautiful mountains, ancient villages, temples and other fantasy like locations. If I want to hang out there, hotels are $10 - $30 and of great quality. For $300 I can be an many other destinations around Asia, like Thailand, Malaysia, SIngapore etc.

* I have inherited a huge circle of friends and family and never lack for the company of good, simple, down to earth people.

* We just came back from the market. We spent about $75. We stocked our 2 meter, 2 door fridge with fruits, vegetables and meat. We also bought noodles, sauces, 2 bottles of red wine and lots of snacks.

* I have high speed internet for $15 a month (paid a year in advance) and with my tablet, I freely video chat with friends and family back home like we are in the same room. I can even show them around my place.

* Everyday I experience more and more of real life and it pains me to talk to people or read stories of those stuck in a miserable situation, rat race or western country with no idea that things can be different.

SO HOW DID I GET HERE?

Well, I am not going to sugar coat it and make it sound easy. This is what I mean when I say those who want to do it, are gonna do it. Right as the economic crash was coming, I sold everything I had and after buying a plane ticket and a laptop, I had about $1500 in my pocket, and I hit the road to the Philippines. I checked into a cheap room and started learning how to make money online, writing articles, freelancing, internet marketing, and doing anything that worked. I have since lived in Korea, a different part of Philippines, spent time in Japan and now China. I had many ups and downs, scary moments and moments of pure joy, brushes with going broke and risked ending up out in the street, but I am still here. Everything worked out. It has always been an adventure.

There is no such thing as safe! You think your job is safe? You think your bank is safe? Your city? Huge companies are closing their doors all around you. Banks are stealing people's money. Cities that experienced no real crime are suddenly experiencing rapes and murders. You might be just as safe taking what money you have and just going for it as you are sitting in front of your screen right now.

I understand that not everyone is an adventurer. Some people want assurance. I am not going to change anyone. I am just telling you what I did and what worked for me. In the end, those who are really gonna do it, are gonna do it. The rest will be sitting where they are until things collapse.

Posted: October 9th, 2012, 6:02 am
by noog
Good post. Going overseas, for love or to stay, take a combination of faith and fearlessness. When you buy that plane ticket, you must believe that the ends justifies the means and things can be better for your life. Hope will be a powerful thing once you start limiting your negative emotions, particularly fear.

Posted: October 9th, 2012, 10:01 am
by zboy1
The thing is...it takes time for people to prepare for life overseas. Take for example, myself: I've been getting my shit ready like getting a college degree, getting a new passport, building up some money in my bank account, etc. Adventurer, you and some other posters act like it's so easy to live overseas at the drop of a hat! That is the wrong approach to take in my opinion. It's kind of condescending towards the rest of the people on HA, that have not yet taken the journey overseas. Most of us are preparing for the eventual move outside of the country..

Posted: October 9th, 2012, 12:14 pm
by Jackal
zboy1 wrote:The thing is...it takes time for people to prepare for life overseas. Take for example, myself: I've been getting my shit ready like getting a college degree, getting a new passport, building up some money in my bank account, etc. Adventurer, you and some other posters act like it's so easy to live overseas at the drop of a hat! That is the wrong approach to take in my opinion. It's kind of condescending towards the rest of the people on HA, that have not yet taken the journey overseas. Most of us are preparing for the eventual move outside of the country..
I agree that it's often not easy. Without a college degree, I would never have gotten the jobs I have gotten. Adventurer didn't mention his education at all. I have a BA and a TEFL certificate.

Posted: October 9th, 2012, 2:20 pm
by djfourmoney
zboy1 wrote:The thing is...it takes time for people to prepare for life overseas. Take for example, myself: I've been getting my shit ready like getting a college degree, getting a new passport, building up some money in my bank account, etc. Adventurer, you and some other posters act like it's so easy to live overseas at the drop of a hat! That is the wrong approach to take in my opinion. It's kind of condescending towards the rest of the people on HA, that have not yet taken the journey overseas. Most of us are preparing for the eventual move outside of the country..
Define takes time? Sounds like more excuses to me. You either want to make a clean break or you don't.

Why do you need a college degree? Didn't Adventurer just say he earns money online? Now that said, if you listen to this podcast - http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/part-time-blogging/ I hope whatever you're getting a degree in is employable rather than just shuffling paper.

Building up money in your back account? I am doing that, without a job. Its a challenge but I will get it done. I made an investment in silver and will continue to do so as many things are pointing to the price shooting up to $50 an oz pretty soon. 100% profit will happen at $60 an oz.

It is easy... I have $400+ in cash and about $230 out currently that I will get back at some point. I earn over $300 a month from Plasma and $130 from General Assistance and $200 in Food Assistance. I have other income streams that will come online in 2013.

I just posted a link about a sale on flights to Istanbul, Turkey. A flight to anywhere in the FSU is an affordable hop-skip and a jump from there. Also many FSU women vacation in Turkey. Turkish women are attractive and sexy. ($789 from LAX)

I will have enough money for my plane ticket(s) by the end of Nov, it would have been sooner but that's life. You try and control it as best as you can. My pulse was too high likely because my back sort of went out on Friday and I couldn't donate I didn't earn $45. So that means I will only earn $310 this month with no further problems. I missed a date for GA and I will not get a payment this month. So that's $175 I'm out of right there.

I don't take Adventurers post as condescending at all, I have to buckle down and try harder.

My max projection based on my income streams is $3700 by the end of March 2013. However airline ticket prices increase March 12th so I may have less. I haven't adjusted my target yet, but I will try and have no less than $3,000. The less money I have the more work will have to be done myself. I just need the money to get on the plane and be able to live for at least a month for $500 or less.

I had another project that I might shelve until later in 2013. I may take that money and put it into my other online project. We'll see.

I don't make excuses, I am trying to earn money, I spend the majority of time at home. I may put an ad out to fix computers soon for another stream, I sort of don't wanna be bothered.

I upgraded my network, rebuild my HTPC, bought a new TV, built a server all unemployed. That proved to me that I can get this done without the traditional income streams.

Posted: October 10th, 2012, 11:46 am
by xiongmao
Lol. What use is a college degree? I got a PhD, but it's not in IT. I'm completely self taught in this stuff.

My online income crashed in the Google update, but you know what? I'm gonna buy that single ticket to China. February 2013 I'm getting on that plane and just doing this!

There are zillions of ways of making money in other countries, and if you don't have cash then just shack up with rich alpha females who can't find a man in their own country. If you don't buy iCrap then you don't really need to spend much anyway.

Posted: October 10th, 2012, 12:31 pm
by djfourmoney
xiongmao wrote:Lol. What use is a college degree? I got a PhD, but it's not in IT. I'm completely self taught in this stuff.

My online income crashed in the Google update, but you know what? I'm gonna buy that single ticket to China. February 2013 I'm getting on that plane and just doing this!

There are zillions of ways of making money in other countries, and if you don't have cash then just shack up with rich alpha females who can't find a man in their own country. If you don't buy iCrap then you don't really need to spend much anyway.
There has been much talk about Google's recent update, your sites revenue shouldn't have crashed if you stayed on top of it. Pat has covered that in his blog and so has Leslie.

You would have to shack up with somebody 30something for sure, it won't be anybody in their 20's and likely somebody in their 40's (Cougar/Cub).

The truth is, I have post more than enough links to cheap places to live, cheaper than much of the US. If people buckled down and saved by removing most cost from their lives that would have the budget. As I have mentioned before, there was a guy if I could find his blog again I would give the URL, but he worked for UPS had all the usual trappings of a high paid gig, wasn't happy. Wanted to travel, sold everything, moved out of his upper east side apartment in NYC, rented a room from a family for a year and left America with $30,000 and hasn't been back. He's somewhere in SEA and has a girlfriend.

The problem is, savings rates in America is zero or near zero. Combined with a consumption culture, means its near impossible to save without counting every penny.

Try www.mint.com they have both IPhone and Andrioid apps. This helps you keep track of your spending. Download a mileage app as well, keep track of how much you spend on fuel. Use public transportation when possible.

I use public transportation, its painful, I am a complete car nut, racing fan and interested in most things automotive. I am fine with it because after I complete this project and series of goal, we'll need a car anyway Ill make up for lost time then.

The fact is, if you are working you are getting more money than me yet I am able to save my entire GA up to this point. Minus some things that had to be solved on the front end, so I don't experience them on the back end, had to be done.

Investing in some technology will allow me to do several things related to my online presence and give me some options for on the road.

Most people are reluctant to move out of the box they are in, fear of the unknown. In this job market is especially concerning I get it, but as I said if you want things in your life they will not always come easily and some risk will need to be taken.