Where to next?
I've been back in the US for approximately 14 months.
It feels like 13 months too long.
It's no secret that I hate it here. The patriotic infantryman to jaded dissident pipeline is real. That's a topic deserving of its own post. Hell, maybe its own website, but I digress.
I'm here because I have to be. The people who pay me made it clear that this city was the only one in which I'd receive a paycheck. That's a convincing argument. But times, they are a-changin'. With some persistence and a little bit of luck, I might soon be able to shrug off the yolk of American capitalism and venture off to parts unknown.
Lately, the options for our new life have been a regular topic of conversation. I've spent many hours researching visa schemes, strength of the dollar / cost of living, watching expat experience videos, etc. What follows is kind of a brain dump, a way to organize all these scattered thoughts into something more or less coherent.
Region
Except for NAM, nowhere else on this pale, blue dot was off the table. I scoured the globe for the area that best fit our lifestyle, our beliefs, and our preferences.
LATAM and South America were early contenders. We could stay in the same time zone as family, Spanish is relatively easy to learn (we both grew up around it), and our money would go far. I considered Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. I imagined luxury housing, great food, and long excursions to Patagonia or the Pampas. FX instability, security concerns, and questionable infrastructure (both social and political) eventually got it crossed off the list.
Europe is an obvious choice. That is, until you look deeper. We were fortunate to spend many years wandering around the EU. It's in shambles. The Euro isn't doing me any favors either. Plus, it all starts to look the same pretty quickly. Great to visit, not to live.
The Near- and Middle-East are simply too unstable. My background also makes us potential targets for foreign intelligence and other assorted bad actors.
We ultimately decided on East Asia or SEA. I would love to settle in Japan. It checks all the boxes and it's my favorite place on earth, but they don't make it easy to move there. There simply isn't a visa that would work for us. Passive income is not something they take into consideration. I would have to find another job there, which kind of defeats the purpose of this whole endeavor. But that doesn't mean we can't spend a lot of time there. We just need a good home base in the region.
Narrowing it down
When it comes to lifestyle fit and cost of living, our shortlist (in no particular order) is:
- Taiwan
- Malaysia
- Thailand
- Vietnam
Of those, Taiwan offers the best visa with the Gold Card. Three years that includes residency, work permit (just in case), access to their excellent national health insurance, and a path to Permanent Residency. However, the language barrier becomes a real problem outside of Taipei, it's a higher CoL compared to the other options, and my wife was not impressed with the rental market when we looked. Personally, I think Taipei sounds like an incredible adventure. It would be a great hub for exploring the rest of the region. But happy wife, happy life. It's still a possibility though.
Malaysia, and KL specifically, looks awesome. English is spoken widely, it's a polished metropolis with a lot of great neighborhoods to choose from, and apparently it has a solid "worldschooling" hub that our son could utilize. We could live very well there with the exchange rate. Landed property under budget and eating out everyday. Unfortunately, their visa schemes keep shifting. The MM2H is no longer a real option. The S-MM2H is viable, but comes with its own complexities. Also, I don't vibe with the dominant religion. I don't know how that would play out in day to day life, but it's worth considering.
Thailand is similar to Malaysia in terms of geo-arbitrage advantages and lifestyle options. Bangkok and Chiang Mai are a bit wilder than KL, but that's part of the allure. I love the Thai people and, even though I practice a different vehicle, I can completely embrace the dominant belief system. The idea of browsing local markets, getting covered in Sak Yant tattoos, and immersing myself in the culture sounds like great ways to spend my time. I might have to get creative to get a DTV (Discover Thailand Visa), but it's possible.
And finally, Vietnam. Whether we choose the beaches of Da Nang or the streets of HCMC, it would be one hell of an adventure. I also love the Vietnamese people. The language is absolutely impenetrable for me, but I'd give it a solid try. However, I'm not sold on regular border runs, and they don't offer a visa that gives us any stability. It might be worth it though.
Tentative plan
As it stands today, we're entertaining four potential pathways when the time comes to pull the trigger and leave this place.
Gold Card in Taiwan. Get there, get settled a bit, and use it as a base to further explore the region. We'll have solid health insurance and a perfectly situated home base.
KL, Malaysia. Head out there on a tourist visa and see if it's a fit. If it is, go for the S-MM2H visa and take a couple of Sarawak vacations every year to meet the requirements.
Thailand or Vietnam. Deal with border runs or odd visa schemes. Have an adventure and see what happens.
Slow travel the whole region without worrying about a home base. We can do six months a year in Japan on a Digital Nomad visa and then wander the other countries until I'm eligible to reapply.
It's all still very open for discussion. Things still need to align here before we can up and leave. I'm hoping that will happen within the next year or so. I don't like being in one place for too long.