Happier Abroad Forum Community

Merry Christmas all.

Well I've quit my job, I've given my beloved tropical fish away and I'm in the process of selling/boxing up everything in my house.

I don't know about you guys but I really am going abroad in 2013!

I'm cutting it a bit fine with my visa application (mail from China is agonizingly slow) but I'll hopefully spend most of 2013 in Guangzhou, China. Or if they won't let me in then it'll be 'Nam, Thailand or the Philippines.

Oh well, if anyone wants to meet some Chinese ladies then I'm sure I'll be able to do some introductions once I get settled .

And I hope I can drag Winston's ass off that damn island!!!!!

Its not procrastination its been economics...

I had originally planned to go back in April of this year. Funny that girl just used me as a seat warmer. A nicca much closer to her had been in those drawers already, returned from the Great Sandbox to Germany, laid down the law and her last named changed about August of this year... You can draw your own conclusions but she was looking to get hitched, so I was on the right track.

Anyway, I decided to drop Gold's in a bid to save money. Well given how much I spent this Christmas it worked. It will have no economic impact however. My GA stopped for some strange reasons in Oct, so from the end of Oct till now I hadn't gotten that extra $133 I had figured into my plans.

I bricked my laptop trying to install a SSD, so after two weeks of trying to fix it, I decided to get a new one and also cover my need for a media workstation. Somewhere I will get a cheap Netbook for a backup machine. I think my HTPC will be the last desktop I own (recently updated).

Sure I could have ignored all this, saved the money but in relativity it has largely no impact, only pushes the trip back from March to maybe April 2013. That said, I can leave as early as the first week in March if needed. Price wise, fares are the lowest they will be going into 2013 as Dec/Jan at the deadest months for travel, especially overseas.

The first increases will come March 20th....

What really sucks is that I had planned on debuting the blog/podcast in early Jan, with much of the recording over the next few days. I won't make that production target but I will have a few shows ready in the next few weeks.

There plenty of options out there. You just need to make the choice of disconnecting yourself from the system that keeps you trapped.

Happy New Year and if you have any questions about my show(s) or about travel options let me know.

xiongmao wrote:Merry Christmas all.

Well I've quit my job, I've given my beloved tropical fish away and I'm in the process of selling/boxing up everything in my house.

I don't know about you guys but I really am going abroad in 2013!

I'm cutting it a bit fine with my visa application (mail from China is agonizingly slow) but I'll hopefully spend most of 2013 in Guangzhou, China. Or if they won't let me in then it'll be 'Nam, Thailand or the Philippines.

Oh well, if anyone wants to meet some Chinese ladies then I'm sure I'll be able to do some introductions once I get settled .

And I hope I can drag Winston's a** off that damn island!!!!!

Good Luck and keep it touch, I would like you to appear on the show (podcast). SEA/China is a real opportunity in all sorts of ways. As you said 'Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines are horribly cheap especially outside the main cities. China outside of HK is very affordable. But that said you can find affordable housing in HK or any of the large cities in China.

I am leaving in early 2013 as well. There isn't much to sell but I will be busy putting stuff on Ebay, CL and Amazon Marketplace, hope to raise $1,000.

lone_yakuza wrote:Screw christmas. Just another reminder of why I hate the USA and humanity.

Cut your hair!

sfexcellence wrote:Hi everyone,

Second time posting here, my intro is in the introduce yourself section. I will be in Switzerland for at least 1 month starting from July 2013 (my second visit there), then back in Vancouver Canada to pay off debts + further establish income streams and going back in 2014 for two months, then coming back to Vancouver then back to Europe for a month, then coming back for three months then back to Europe, my goal is for 5-6 months of the year I'll be in Europe. I'll be doing a combination of couchsurfing, staying in hostels, wwoofing and volunteering via workaway.info and helpx.net . This is a work in progress, I'm going through nomadic matt's blog @ nomadicmatt.com for more info and inspiration.

Other sites I've been going through:
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/cheap-travel/
http://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/

All the best, and get off your a** and be happier abroad, I was in Switzerland last year with no money and no shelter (I got the Canadian permanent mission in Geneve to fund my sight-seeing and shelter there and flights back to Vancouver, I'll be doing the same this year, I've found a way to pay it off in 4-5 months and have my passport back). I also have my network marketing business with a company called Talk Fusion, it's international and internet-based, so able to recruit people worldwide without having to have a work permit .

During my time in Geneve last year, I had very little money, all my belongings in my backpack and could never have been happier, I felt so at home there, such a sense of belonging + connection + recognition from others, that and good health + community and relationships are all that matter, live for the moment, be present and aware, live every moment like it's your last, get out there and live!

Good Luck, hey PM me.

Winston wrote:Do you guys feel lonely during Christmas if you don't have a significant other with you? If so, how do you deal with the loneliness? Do you go out and try to find some party to go to with airheads? That's what expats overseas do. They find some party with airheads to go to so they can drink and act fake around other people. lol

I don't feel alone at all, not because I have my sister and my parents here. There plenty of people to talk too about stuff, I have kept most of my friends, the majority I have known for over a decade or more.

Being married and having children won't really make Christmas any better or worst. However it will give a sense of completeness that I currently don't have. I have wanted my own family for awhile now, just don't want a normal existence so I have shied away from the white picket fence theme.

I could DJ or go out on New Years but I rather not. Nothing too come of it, even if I do find some drunk woman that wants bring in the new year with a orgasm...

***JP*** wrote:Merry Christmas from Lithuania

Do tell, do tell...