Happier Abroad Forum Community

Howdy all. I know I have not been on here (mostly due to the silly positing and trying to get ahead in life). But I figured I would catch you up and proceed with my trip report:

Broke up with a Colombian before she could come here. She was rude when I when through some rough spots in life and seemed to focus on getting to the States. Bullets dogged and lesson learned

Working on Paraguay residency. Had some set backs but plan to do it this year.

Have a sugar baby in Colombia. Sweet and sexy, but I don't want to be a fool so treat it as it is. Still like Colombia, but with Petro, it is more of a get away and brainstorm spot and less of a let's go invest my life savings there

Have some property. Need to fix up because a tenant ruined one of them and I am living in the other. Part of my year long minimization strategy.

I am a little burnt out on Colombia but Bogota is still a good Americas based. Open to reconsidering though. Also really like Dallas and want to explore some other Latam countries.

At a middle class job but they cut OT and seem to pile on while not raising the wages. I planned on stacking more and more currency, but I am starting to wonder if Asia would be easier to do that in. After my trip, I am more motivated to do IM.

With DOGE seeming to fail and my mini trip to China opening my eyes, I am starting to wonder if Asia would be a better business flag and with all the jobs going to Asia if it might not be better to relocate anyhow

Finally, I am doing my Masters in Finance. I am going to do a last ditch to try and advance. I want to look at Dallas or Chicago, but if things don't turn around in a year, I am going with plan B. I also want to get my Masters in case I go in the Officer school in the military. I am just trying to see if I can save my career and try and save, but if not, at least my grades will wash over my bad Bachelor grades and I can pursue more abroad if I so choose. I will probably teach English in China before I decide on the military so I can get a few medical stuff fixed so I can join. I just want to max out my education to kind of prove myself and honestly a lot of stuff in American society bored me, so it is a sort of challenge.

So without further ado, my report:


I flew from LAX to Guangzhou. I will be honest that as soon as I landed I had issues paying for Didi and downloaded Western Union as a back up. I spent half the day trying to to pay the driver I did find, because Didi did not work. As I was trying to get physical bills, the ATM ate my card. Long story short we were able to transfer via Western Union to the guys bank. I also met a new taxi guy when I go to Guangzhou. Tap to pay did work through put my trip, so that is one blessing. After several hours of trying to pay my driver, we went for Chinese, but I was sick from my contacts and the pollution's and stress, so I saved that for later. I did go to the used electronics market but only did the upper part. The laptops were the most intriguing part. I paid $110 for an i5 Elitebook 820. If you ever go there talk to Peter. Very understanding guy and was able to pay via Western Union app. One final note before I headed back to the airport, I used T mobile and had no issues with data. I did try to set up Alipay and Wechat, but payments for that only worked once. So before I go back I want to figure that out. Also for most Western countries they have a 240 hour transit visa. Good to know so I can explore China now without fretting about visas. I do want to explore China for business and feel one day does not do it justice. I also want to visit Shenzen and other places to get a better idea of China.

The next leg of my trip was Bali. I really hate touristy spots, but I learned to vibe there. Got some Cuban cigars while I was there. I met up with an Asian chick I met online and was in the top three sexual experiences I ever had, despite her being a little older than me. The hotels were a good value (20-30 bucks for a damn good hotel with a good restaurant). I also met some native Balinese chicks that talked about wanting Mocha babies with me and asked if I beat my gfs (apparently their exes did). We met up before I left and went to the mall and grabbed some lunch before I left. Another one of their friends who was not able to make it was generous and bought me a few beers and cigarettes. She was a real sweetheart They said next time we should get a private place and all 3 of us have a fun time together and work on Mocha babies. I spent most my time with the chick I met online and we did go to some tourist spots on the island, but honestly I went out more than she did as we were quite busy. Overall Bali is both under and overrated. I feel like Bogota and Medellin were more developed than Bali, but Bali was probably on par with Mexico. In Bogota it seemed like there were pockets of poverty, whereas in Bali there were pockets of oppulance. The Hard Rock Cafe was a little lame, but drinks were ok. Me and the online lady also went to all you can eat meat place, which was good. Malls were pretty good and the Eastern side of the island seemed a bit more developed. There were some nice affordable restaurants that would probably set you back 10 bucks. Bintangs were good, especially the Raddlers.

After this I went to Davao and Manilla. I went to the market in Manila and may have found a some potential business ideas, but working on the logistics of it. I also went to Robinson's place and was really impressed. This whole trip convinced me to put more stock money into Asia. Davao was also quaint and one of the few places I would actually consider living there, but I need to research more and visit again. I did not like the domestic terminal in the Manila airport but the Davao airport was nice.


Overall a nice trip and nice value. I will try to post as I recall more details, but felt more like a relaxing vacation than a fact finding mission (outside China). I could see Bali being a recharge station and another place I would visit for up to a month. As I mentioned, I will probably go teach English in China if I can't find a better job within a year. Davao is nice and Manila might have some exportable stuff. Throw whatever you have at me

A great write up! Thanks for sharing!

Welcome back! As you can see from the active threads page, we are in desperate need of normal posts.

Thanks all. Sometimes I have gotten pulled away by work or relationships, so between life (and trolls on here), it is just frustrating. I plan to go back in the fall if anyone is up for meeting along my route, no worries though.

I will also admit covid also threw a monkey wrench in things. The commies sure came out of the woodwork. Western society has continued to decline past a point I did not even think was possible. The problem for me is the 30 pieces of silver is starting to not be enough to bide my time and the economy looks like it is going to implode. If I am going to watch the economy implode, I might as well bring having fun while I am doing it. I feel as I get older, I get less and less responsible (have the house and had a decent career presentation). Also there is less to distract me, and so there just is no point in trying to keep up pretenses that lie to my gut feelings.

On a side note, China also has some killer college courses for Financial Engineering and Operations Research that are taught in English.

I am going to give all this a year. I also plan to make some (honestly) absurd posts, but I need to flesh out some thoughts that have been coursing through me. Look forward to talking more.

I originally joined HA because I was going to meet a girl in Guangzhou back in 2010. We met, but didn't marry. We still keep in touch.

I fell in love more with Guangzhou because I quit my job, sold my worldly goods and went to live there in 2013. But the humidty and chaos drove me mad and I fled to Thailand. I planned on only staying there a couple of weeks but ended up being there for 6 months.

Oh the stories...

I had a great time with Rock, Falcon, Everdred and a few others (including a guy from RooshV's forum). I showed RooshV guy a beta guy's nite out and RooshV promptly banned him when he posted his trip report lol.

I returned to China in 2017 and had a good couple of years TEFL'ing at a uni near Shanghai. But the city was kind of dull and dating was a non starter. I moved to a worse job (but more prestigious institution) in Guangzhou. I was there for around 3 months then covid hit. I returned to the UK via Thailand. I scored a teaching job in Bangkok but couldn't start because of covid. I've been home ever since. The UK is pretty grim these days but at least I am stacking retirement coin. I do yearn for another teaching job in Asia but I have to be realistic... coin stacking is my priority now.

Guangzhou 2020 was pretty dull and corporatized compared to Guangzhou 2010-13. I did enjoy teaching though. I tried teaching in the UK but that was a disaster due to my co-workers. The kids thought I was a legend for playing Call of Duty.

@xiongmao it seems like many places lost their luster. Everyone learned about Colombia, and so now everyone and their brother is going there. It is still nice, but not good for business or dating. Good for retirement probably. For me it is hard to find another job after being at the same job 4 years, so teaching or the military seem like the least stupid routes. Honestly I still wish it was easier to plan contingencies, but after covid it is hard to make solid plan Bs after what most nations did. I know it was funny my first time around the forum I dipped my toes in after leaving my hometown and making a tad bit more money, but that version 1.0 was wiped out by covid, the idea of slowly buying a place and getting enough money and ducks in a row to fully move down there. Now the incentives are pointing towards just internationalizing, as my pay is not all that great all things considered. I think just jumping in makes more sense at this point.