GL in Panama, follow your dream imo! :)

gl sean keep me posted

 

Originally Posted by Dan

You should check out our Poker Refugees service. Panama is actually one of the featured countries that we have:

http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-refugees/

Feel free to bombard them with all of the questions you have, btw. The Refugees folks are quite knowledgeable.

Sounds like these guys can really help you out. I am soon to be 25 and do not have nearly the freedom you do or I would be right there with you! GL out there.

Leaving the US was one of the best decisions I ever made. Now I have a job I love, a wife, and a life out here. Getting abroad is truly one of the best things you can, and ever will do. Good choice, man!!!

That embarrassed by the Memphis football team huh?.....

In all seriuosness tho....some people don't know what they have until its gone.

Don't be so brash about this. Just because you have a bad taste in your mouth now about our great country does not mean you will as you grow older.

I think it would be great to travel and play poker with no strings attached. But, realize this..if you give up your citizenship you will never get it back. Our country has many faults...but...you know what?.....every country does.

I'm weirdly surprised at all the positive go-aheads that this thread got. And the odd thing is, every friend and person I respect that I came to about this idea has been FULLY supportive. To those that think I may regret leaving and miss what I have, I would say that I'm lucky to have lived with certain financial perks and freedoms through poker etc that allowed me to live wide open for the last couple years. My schedule was much better than any 9-5er and I made more money (had money in the bank) than just about anyone I knew personally. That said, I still wasn't entirely happy and always wanted more.

This is where my new ideology comes into play. I didn't choose to be born in America and, for whatever reason, I have an insane amt of drive to be successful in a system that I know won't bring me total happiness. I have no contact with parents, no girlfriend, and no unreal "close" friends. I.e. if I vanish tomorrow it wont impact many lives. This may sound sad to some but it's always been my desire...to not rely on others and be fiercely independent. By moving to a new country with a different culture and and the desire to achieve a different more laid back mindset, I feel I could have a better chance at achieving some sort of happiness.

I may not make a lot of money, but maybe I will appreciate the time away from materialism and also find a chance to rely on others and create REAL relationships. I have some foreign buddies and the way they act with each other astounds me...no groups of American friends do I know that show that kind of affection and support. It's not our way.

To the guy that mentioned Belize, sounds really cool and it seems it might actually be one of the easiest countries that I've researched thus far to attain permanent residency. Something I will look into. I have until late October where I will take a Bud Light Cruise with a friend (we won at a club...I'm a promoter etc. here) upon which after I will fly to some country South of here. Any additional input is unreal appreciated and I've always thought that for, a poker forum, there are some of the most intelligent/logical minded people giving advice on here.

sorry to be so long winded.

You only get one life, dont let other people live it for you. Do what makes you happiest. And if in 6 months you decide you arent any happier, try something else new.

The odds are you will think differently when you're 35 and not 25.

Keep your options open and citizenship available.

What if u meet the girl of your dreams at age 30 in some 2nd world country who has dreamed of living in america her whole life?

Be pretty sad to tell her you gave up you're citizenship a few years back.

Good luck

I don't think he was talking about giving up his US citizenship. I have lived outside of the US for about 6 years now, and don't plan on giving up mine.

Prob bankroll dependant that sounds awesome.. gl

Belize is also English speaking which is a definite plus for relocation(Used to be British Honduras)

I would like to offer a different POV from the perspective of someone who has spent a considerable amount of time living outside of the US.

A good chunk of my time overseas was in SEA but the same would apply to places in Central and South America based on the feedback I've gotten from people who live in those places.

You talked about having no friends, no family, no connections. That's great on some levels but getting by in a foreign country often involves making connections. The more foreign the culture, the language, etc the more you'll rely on friends to help look out for each other, share important news/info (visa regulation changes, etc). Hermits don't do well as expats :-)

Most of the people you meet will be living on the edge. The farther you get from the mainstream the more likely you'll run into people who don't fit into the mainstream. Australia might be fine but in Costa Rica or Panama expect to meet a lot of people who have vague backgrounds, questionable sources of income, and even more questionable morals. Alcoholism and drug use is rampant in the expat community.

A lot of people get sucked into the expat lifestyle and find it hard to ever go back. That may not sound bad but I have/had a British friend who had been living overseas for about 20 years. He started a business and it wasn't doing very well. All of us who consider him a friend knew his business wasn't great but his lifestyle never slowed down. The first sign of trouble was when his customers started complaining in the expat community that they had paid for services that he never performed. Then his place of residence and phone number seemed to change weekly as he tried to stay a step ahead of dissatisfied customers and other people he owed money to.

The thing that ended up cutting him off even from his friends was when he ripped off a local girl for about $2000. This gal makes about $350 a month so this was a significant amount of savings for her. He became persona non grata in the expat community after that.

A few months later we heard he had been arrested on an immigration violation (he had used his passport as a security deposit on an apartment and skipped out on the rent and was unable to renew his visa). He was eventually deported and sent back to the UK and nobody has heard from him since.

Now, I want to stress that this guy was a good friend. I would have trusted him with my PIN number. Everybody loved him and that was how he was able to rip off people for so long. People kept lending him money even when they knew he was in so deep that he wasn't likely to ever get out from under his financial problems. He had spent 18 years building up a stable of friends and good will which he destroyed over 24 months because he simply refused to get on that jet and go back home until he had enough money to come back.

But he couldn't go back home. The thought of returning to the UK was so unacceptable to him that he turned into a common con-artist, thief, and scammer. That wasn't the guy I knew a few years ago. He had transformed into a person I didn't even recognize.

And he's not the only one I've met over the years. There's nothing sadder than walking down the street in a third-world country and seeing a fellow American or European eating out of trash cans or begging for spare change.

Lastly, consider the long-term impact of your move. This might be a great decision today but what about 10 years from now? What happens when there's a coup in your new home country and you need to get the hell out? What happens when you meet that girl of your dreams and you're thinking about marriage, kids, and the future and realize that you would never bring up a child in a country with such a horrible educational system?

Just think of what the world looked like 40 years ago and imagine the world changing just as rapidly over the next 40 years. Coups happen. Cold wars start and end. Sept 11 happens. Wars happen. Poverty happens. Cost of living rises. Immigration laws change.

How do you come home with no work experience? Do you have enough sacked away to spend the thousands that it will cost to set yourself up back in the US (first, last, and security deposit, car, furniture, appliances, etc)?

Don't think I'm attempting to discourage you. In fact, I highly recommend living overseas. Just be aware. Don't be that 50 year old dude who hits the bars at 10am every morning sitting in the corner complaining about life. Unable to go home because they aren't qualified to get a job paying anything more than minimum wage. Bitter at their dilemma and taking it out on the locals. That's probably not the life you want and I'm sure it's not the life that those bitter expats wanted either. It just happened. It happened because they never stepped back and looked at the big picture.

Plan well and live well.

All good input. I should say that I am the furthest thing from a hermit and the one true thing I have going for me is my people skills and ability to talk my way out of a paper bag. My lack of "true" friendship with people is my fault for never needing others to rely on at times, which I think is important to create long lasting relationships. I'm as social as it gets...I currently own and operate a nightlife/nightclub photography website that I created myself a couple months ago, and it's small skills like these that could make me an asset wherever I go I feel.

Bank roll dependent? I should definitely be okay with a few grand and enough necessities to last me until I find a situation that provides somewhat permanent shelter, food, and a small amt of income. Again, I operate on the notion of relying on my skills with people and any education/experience I've had up until this point.

My favorite advice so far was, "If you decide you arent any happier, try something else new." This is my philosophy right now when embarking on this journey. Break away from what I consider the norm and find happiness through other ways of life. It's obviously going t

Not sure why people started talking about citizenship, I don't think OP mentioned giving up his US citizenship? Besides, that is a process that takes many years in almost all cases. It's not like you can just decide one day you're going to be a citizen of some random other country and then just go there and be a citizen. And you have to be a citizen of somewhere, you can't just go renounce your US citizenship and be done with it. By the time you'd get to that point in almost all cases (if you even get to that point at all), you'd have a large number of years under your belt somewhere and should have a much better idea of what you want long term. Anyway, I don't think this is really what the thread is about.

Panama's a cool spot, I've been down there and really enjoyed it. I've heard generally good reviews from Americans who have gone to live there. It doesn't really have the cult status that Costa Rica has, and I know most of the country outside the main metropolitan area is extremely poor. If you're living out in the boonies, make sure you've taken some serious time to research what you're getting into from a security perspective. That goes for any 3rd world country, really.

I tend to agree with those saying that you don't need to make any permanent proclamations about what you're doing. Obviously the door will be open for you to come back from the states regardless of whether or not you've proclaimed you won't come back... But it's good to have perspective on what you're doing. When you get out of the US, you'll probably find there are quite a lot of things you miss that you didn't realize you'd miss. Might be nice to start with a goal of living out of the country for 2 or 3 years, and then work from there based on your experience.

Best of luck, no matter what way you choose

i've also been considering a move to either panama, argentina, mexico or costa rica

mind if i ask for a ballpark of your bankroll/liferoll?