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I didn't so much decide as one day discover I had become one.

The English bank I worked in was turning into a shop and seeing nothing else that appealed in the UK and not wanting to just go travelling I ended up on a project teaching English to children in rural Paraguay. The full story is on my blog ***

There is no reason Simon's blog should be blocked.

Visit simonsparaguay dot com

There is no reason Simon's blog should be blocked.

Visit simonsparaguay dot com

I didn't so much decide as one day discover I had become one.

Me too, Simon. I was in Canada on my way home - back to Australia after a couple of years away, in my early 20s - when I took a detour to Bahamas. Three years of tax-free wages there for self and new wife, and I/we wondered whether we really had to go home! So we took a few more detours and finally pulled up on a Caribbean island, where we saw no reason to move again.

Our son followed the path, in a sense. This was his home, and he went hippy-ing in Latin America (not including Paraguay though) where he got a Norwegian girl pregnant and went with her back to Norway. He's still there - most of the time anyway - with two almost-grown-up children. More an immigrant than an expat - so far, anyway.

when Turkey started to go downhill politically and economically. sadly. i would be happy living in my country with my people forever, i absolutely love the food and the culture. it is a part of me. but now every passing day it seems more like hell. it is not going to get any better for a long time. 

when Turkey started to go downhill politically and economically. sadly. i would be happy living in my country with my people forever, i absolutely love the food and the culture. it is a part of me. but now every passing day it seems more like ... - @broccolipiee

I'm sorry to hear that, broccoli. I have very warm memories of Turkey from the time my wife and I drove and backpacked there nearly sixty years ago. Sixty years is a long time, but when you read this old blog-post of mine you will understand the warmth.

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@guest22   Sorry blog link not working

@MarcellaMendez Sadly looking at the CV19 regulations for Kenya entry to your beautiful country is not possible. I'm one of those naughty persons who lives dangerously and is not vaxxed.

@MarcellaMendez Sadly looking at the CV19 regulations for Kenya entry to your beautiful country is not possible. I'm one of those naughty persons who lives dangerously and is not vaxxed.

- @El_Jost

You don't need to be vaccinated to enter Vietnam.

- @OceanBeach92107

@procella I knew there had to be something different than what I was living. Something better. I left everything. Stuff. Family. everything. And it was the best decision I ever made. The only person I am responsible for is me. No stress. No begging relatives. No drama just for the sake of drama.

Errol

@MarcellaMendez Sadly looking at the CV19 regulations for Kenya entry to your beautiful country is not possible. I'm one of those naughty persons who lives dangerously and is not vaxxed.

-@El_Jost

Good for you, Jost! I held out for a year or so, but when my son and one of his daughters wanted to come and stay for a while, I gambled with my life and submitted to the jabs. I'm still alive (as you see...), and haven't ever caught the Covid, unlike my many friends who caught it after being jabbed. Maybe as an old man (83), I have enough natural immunity. Who knows? I'm on the side of everyone who resisted the vaccine, including my other granddaughter - and you!

@MarcellaMendez Sadly looking at the CV19 regulations for Kenya entry to your beautiful country is not possible. I'm one of those naughty persons who lives dangerously and is not vaxxed.

-@El_Jost
Good for you, Jost! I held out for a year or so, but when my son and one of his daughters wanted to come and stay for a while, I gambled with my life and submitted to the jabs. I'm still alive (as you see...), and haven't ever caught the Covid, unlike my many friends who caught it after being jabbed. Maybe as an old man (83), I have enough natural immunity. Who knows? I'm on the side of everyone who resisted the fake vaccine, including my other granddaughter - and you!
-@Gordon Barlow

Reasons for becoming an Expat:

I am enlightened there is so much babble about COVID 19. It seems the center of life for this conversation. However, the much deeper reasons are left out. For us it was simply the ability to do so. The lack of an anchor to stay. The country of my wife's birth. Her family. A way of life.

MAc

Well, Mac, varying from the script is pretty common on international forums!

To your reasons, I would add "a sense of adventure". I left Australia at age 23, to see the world. That was in 1963. And I never went back except to visit. My wife and I experienced expat life in Canada, Bahamas, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), England - and Cayman in the Caribbean in 1978. A few years after that, we decided to stay here, which made us immigrants rather than expats, although all immigrants here are always called "expats" regardless of their status.

Now our only child is an immigrant in Norway, with three Norwegian children of his own. Who knows where those children will end up. It's a very hospitable world!

You don't need to be vaccinated to enter Vietnam. - @OceanBeach92107

Yes, I see Vietnam is open to all. Good to see it.
-@El_Jost

Technically, no.

Citizens of 80 nations are eligible for the eVisas tourist visa in Vietnam.

has to continue waiting to enter the country, unless they have an employment visa, family visa exemption certificate or investor visa.

Well, Mac, varying from the script is pretty common on international forums!
To your reasons, I would add "a sense of adventure". I left Australia at age 23, to see the world. That was in 1963. And I never went back except to visit. My wife and I experienced expat life in Canada, Bahamas, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), England - and Cayman in the Caribbean in 1978. A few years after that, we decided to stay here, which made us immigrants rather than expats, although all immigrants here are always called "expats" regardless of their status.

Now our only child is an immigrant in Norway, with three Norwegian children of his own. Who knows where those children will end up. It's a very hospitable world!
-@Gordon Barlow

Gordon,

I must say, of course you are correct about the sense of adventure. I traveled to many parts of the world as a function of my employment. However, Viet Nam is pretty animate about it's restrictions. So, I guess we always remain expats in Vietnam. The manner in which the West delt Viet Nam in the past has left its mark. Viet Nam for Vietnamese, all others are Expats here always in some way or another.

MAc

@procella

I couldn't  stand myself  so I keep running  from country to country... but everywhere I go.... there I am. Oh , god.

I want to talk with people who have lived in Fiji

@CamHenneman Then it makes sense to post on the Fiji forum, not here!

@CamHenneman

/forum/viewforum.php?id=490

My wife and I were profoundly offended by Bush the Lesser's, Cheney the Elder's and Ronald Dumbsfeld's pursuit of not one unjustified war but two in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and beyond. For years, I've told people "I'm from Toronto, eh?". To this day, I don't know whether to be ashamed or embarrassed by the performance of the country I love.

In 2005, we pulled up stakes and emigrated to Costa Rica which is the only stable democracy south of Canada. It couldn't have been a better choice. We still pay U.S. federal income tax, but otherwise we've pretty much severed our connections with the empire that Donald Trump is making progressively more evil.

Just so's you remember, on September 11, 2001, agents of Osama bin Ladin killed over 3,000  Americans. No question, it was a heinous deed unleashed on a bunch of innocent people. In return, we got some 4,000 Americans in Afghanistan and another 4,000 or so in Iran. So sacrificing 8,000 more Americans made some folks happy while accomplishing nothing. And that death toll did not include some 60,000 to 100,00 Iraqis and who know how many Afghans. And there never were any weapons of mass destruction.

Am I proud? Nope.