Should You Live in Latin America?

A short time ago, I wrote an article on points to consider before moving to Latin America.

Initially, I was going to combine this article with the other one but I figured I might as well not have another 5,000 word article and just split the topic into two pieces.

So, in this case, we will be going through some of the typical points that gringos consider for moving abroad that I can think of on top of my head.

If you would like to read the first article beforehand, then just check it out here.

Also, if you want a much larger article of over 20,000 words that goes into brief detail numerous factors to consider for moving abroad, then check that out here.

Now, having said that, let’s break down the different reasons for why gringos often consider for moving to Latin America with my thoughts on each one.

Reason 1: Low Cost of Living

In the last article, I already touched this topic briefly so let me summarize my thoughts here so we can move on.

On one hand – yes, the cost of living is considerably cheaper down here.

Without question.

Though it does depend on which part of Latin America you are in as some places – like Rio de Janeiro in Brazil or Santiago, Chile – are considerably more expensive than spots like San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico and Masaya, Nicaragua.

Having said that…

Even if you are living in the cheapest way possible in San Cris, Mexico…

If you don’t have any marketable skill or online business going well for you down here…

Or retirement income…

Or something that pays the bills relatively well in USD…

Then a cost of living of only 300 to 500 a month is shit when that is all you are making to begin with.

Paycheck to paycheck stays the issue for you but now you are doing that in a country that is, by most standards, not as nice as the US.

But can offer you that higher quality of living if you were able to earn income a bit nicer than just 500 bucks a month.

So don’t be fooled by the “low cost of living claim” as it doesn’t necessarily mean that your quality of life will be better.

Just depends on if you can actually earn a relatively decent income.

Reason 2: The Pussy

Another reason for why men move or live abroad is because of…..

Wait for it…..

THE PUSSY!!!!!!!!!11!1!!1!!!!1!1!11!!!

Be it they are perpetual sex tourists or perhaps they are looking for love!

Or maybe they didn’t come down here for pussy but accidently came across a chick they fell in love with.

I already covered this topic in greater detail here in this article.

But to summarize…

If you are coming here to marry some random chick you don’t know, then you are an idiot.

Women here are not that much different but do have some cultural differences.

You’re still an idiot though.

If you come here for the pussy – just hooking up or getting prepagos or whatever…

Then that is fine as long as you keep in mind the bigger picture.

Like a guy I mentioned in the previous article named Bryan.

Young American guy.

Came here for sex and travel for a few years. Did what he wanted. Will be leaving soon.

Unless you are some character who only needs pussy and liquor to be happy in life…

Which isn’t most men I think in long run…

Then you will eventually want to go back home if that is the only thing keeping you here…

Though, as I said, some men do find enough satisfaction in just those two things and that’s cool.

Many don’t as it gets old after some odd years.

Either way, if you just want to be here for hooking up or whatever for a few years or however long and then head back home when you are done…

Cool.

If you want to live here doing that, just have an open mind that  you might want to come back home after it gets old and the negatives of living here outweigh any extra fun in the future.

If it doesn’t and you want to stay forever, also cool.

And if you happened to not have came here for the pussy but managed to find a chick you want to marry and have a family with down here…

I’d just caution you to think about how to make it work long term – such as where to raise kids, buy a house, etc.

And best of luck.

So, in short, is THE PUSSY, a good reason to live down here long term?

To summarize….

For those wife hunting, they seem to often want to go back home with the new wife but I think it’s stupid for reasons outlined here.

For the crowd looking to hookup or for prostitutes, I think it’s cool as long as you are realistic about it all as I said (though I believe it won’t work out long term for most, but if it does for you, cool).

And for the dudes who found love down here by accident – just be conscious of how to make it work long term and best of luck.

And with the last crowd – I can understand a bit more as to why you’d stay down here long term for that. There are obviously a lot more commitments involved with having a family and all.

Reason 3: Work Circumstances

Sometimes there is the occasional gringo who lives down here due to work circumstances.

Maybe he works for an embassy or some big international corporation.

I have never met one of these types ever but my parents used to encourage me to pursue the route years ago.

I’ve thought about it but I’m pretty happy with what I am doing now.

Either way, I don’t have much to say outside of if it works for your career then great!

More power to you.

Reason 4: Social Work Passion

Funny enough, in my first trip ever to Latin America as you can read about here…

I met an older gentleman named Peter who worked hard to support indigenous communities in Chiapas.

Who would spend a significant time down here over the years and also in the US.

After that, I went to Guatemala where I met a Dutch chick helping run an NGO to serve a poorer neighborhood in a city called Xela.

And she basically lives in Guatemala with a local husband and her job at this NGO.

I feel if you have that greater purpose – some big project, NGO or mission to do something big down here – that it will help you stay down here long term obviously.

If you have that, cool.

Seems like a decent reason to live down here long term for sure.

Reason 5: General Burning Passion

Outside of that social work passion….

There is the occasional gringo who simply has a fascination with the specific culture and history of whatever part of Latin America they end up in.

I feel this does help a lot of folks stay down here long term.

And even if you didn’t have the passion initially…

I feel it is natural for many to develop it when you live in a specific community long enough and want to learn more about it since you have a decent amount of time there.

All around, despite if you had it initially or not…

I didn’t.

It can definitely be an OK reason to help you continue along living down here.

Reason 6: Connect with Latin Roots?

This probably doesn’t apply to most folks reading this but there are some Latinos who were born and raised in countries like the US…

Who simply want to go to Latin America….

To some specific country or city to reconnect with their heritage and all.

It’s not something I can relate to since I am not Latino but it makes sense.

And there are some like that.

Again, not a reason I can disagree with and it makes sense.

Reason 7: Travel the World

Then you have gringos who just want to travel the world.

Maybe they are young without any responsibilities…

Or perhaps they are older and in retirement…

Either way, they want to enjoy what the world has to offer.

Though I am not overly familiar with the “digital nomad” group…

I always felt most of these folks either end up eventually settling down in some area of the world or they go back home.

In the long run, I imagine it would get tiring constantly moving from one place to the next.

And so, if you want to do this in the short term, I can see it working.

But in the long run, I would have doubts if you kept traveling forever and never settled down anywhere.

But if you can pull it off, then cool.

Reason 8: Being Anonymous

This is something that some expats are concerned about.

And I get it – I like to be anonymous overall also (despite using my first real name on this website lol).

And, to be fair, I’m not up to date on all the latest ways to protect my privacy online.

But I would agree that it can be a lot easier to protect your privacy down here than up in the US.

I’m not sure I’d move to another country though just because of this reason but I can definitely see it as a cherry on top for why someone would move down here.

Reason 9: Healthcare

To be honest, when I first started traveling around Latin America, I didn’t really give a fuck about healthcare.

I was also a bit younger and still on a healthcare plan by my parents at the time.

Now I am not on a healthcare plan anymore by my parents….

And, suffice to say, I care a little bit more now about healthcare and the cost of it funny enough.

It was never a reason for why I moved or started traveling down here since I didn’t care about it at the time.

But, as the years go by, I care little by little more about it and having affordable healthcare.

And I get more and more why people would travel and/or move down here for healthcare reasons.

It makes a lot more sense and the quality of healthcare is good too in many places.

Though if the cost of healthcare in the US wasn’t so insane, I’m not sure I’d understand why people would move down here for that reason alone.

But it makes more sense to me given that high cost and as I get older.

Reason 10: Political Reasons

While most of the reasons here I am not overly skeptical of…

I am a little more skeptical of this crowd – the types to move abroad because of political refugees.

At times, they might call themselves “political refugees.”

Basically, the political party they oppose won the presidency or the office for prime minister in some random country….

And now they claim that their country is no longer safe and they must abandon it quickly!

Talk about autism!

Anyway, while there are political developments in countries like the US that are not very positive to say the least….

I find it a bit stupid to move abroad because of it.

First of all, none of you are real political refugees – get yourselves, you dumb cunts.

Second, I find the response to be a bit pathetic.

We don’t even have a dictatorship in our country but yet you are going to leave when the opposing party wins an election?

When the history of our country and any country really is full of people who fought for what they believed in.

And you telling me you can’t fight – at least politically – to change policies in your country on a local level at least just because an opposing political party won office?

You all a bunch of cucks to be honest.

Overdramatic cucks who want to pretend to be real political refugees when you ain’t shit.

And haven’t seen shit outside of maybe, at worst, some neighborhood kid hitting your mailbox with a bat.

Anyway, if you have genuine reason to believe that your country is going to hell for political reasons and it is being run by a dictatorship, let’s say…

I can see why you would move then….

But, like I said, most folks saying this are full of shit.

Anyway, those are 10 typical reasons for why I see some gringos deciding to move down here.

Now let me throw in some extra words of caution and then and then wrap it all up with my overall thoughts.

Word of Caution 1: Corruption

Many of these “words of cautions” are going to be pretty obvious shit for anyone who has lived down here.

But if you do want to live in LATAM, then know that corruption can be an issue for your quality of life down here.

One of the most obvious examples is when some police officer wants to rob you of money.

Like in this case here when some police officer robbed me of money in Mexico…

To someone else getting robbed by the police in Mexico that you can read here.

Just know it can be an issue and the issue varies in severity by country with some countries, like Uruguay, not being as bad as places like Colombia.

Word of Caution 2: Crime

Yes, crime is an issue obviously!

Though I have never been shot up by the cartels thankfully…

I have had folks try to fuck with me.

Though rarely.

Recently, as you can read here, some dude in Mexico tried mugging me with a knife.

We fought it over and that was it.

Also, as you can read here, some random homeless dude years ago tried fucking with me.

Anyway, just an obvious word of caution for those thinking of living down here.

Word of Caution 3: Inefficiency

I wrote an entire article on this subject about inefficiency in Latin America that you can read here.

But basically, you will find that lots of aspects regarding life down here that be pretty inefficient.

With workers not showing up on time to whatever business…

To shit just not working right in general – whatever service or product you bought that just isn’t working.

And not having a proper way to reliably resolve the issue most of the time.

Anyway, if you want more thoughts on the subject in greater detail, check out this article here that I wrote.

Word of Caution 4: Going Full Negative 24/7

As I wrote here in this article…

Some gringos will have their “gringo honeymoon phase” when it comes to living down here…

And either they leave the phase and become overly negative on life down here 24/7….

Or they were always like that.

Either way, you have gringos who never stop bitching about life down here.

Even though there is plenty to criticize – these are the types that literally never have a nice thing to say about the country they are in.

If you are in that crowd, I’d just ask you to reconsider obviously your choice to live down here and ask if you would be happier living elsewhere.

And as I said in other articles – there is a difference between venting and just complaining 24/7.

And, if you fall in the latter, then you might want to reconsider things.

Word of Caution 5: Missing Family & Friends

Obviously, if you live down here, you will be away from family and friends in the US.

Granted, you will make new friends down here but that won’t replace family obviously.

I have met chicks down here who would never move to the US with me because they wouldn’t handle living too far away from family.

If you feel the same, then reconsider any move down here.

Word of Caution 6: Being the Outsider

Being the outsider has its negatives and positives...

I find it positive in many ways and don’t mind being a foreigner obviously.

But just know that you will never be accepted as one of the locals.

Or most likely anyway – maybe if you carry 80 years living down here as an expat, then maybe…

But otherwise, just know you will never likely fit in among the locals.

And while that does carry some frustrations with life down here…

Including loneliness at times…

I find it alright overall.

I’m proud of where I came from and don’t strive to be Mexican for example or Bolivia, Nicaraguan, Cuban, etc…

But I can understand why and how it can affect people negatively in their mind and also cause loneliness.

So just keep it in mind.

The Verdict

Hopefully the words of caution helped some think it through as to relocating south of the border to Latin America.

If you feel you can handle the issues above, then cool.

And if you have a genuine reason to move down here that you feel that you can only achieve by living down here…

Then also great!

But like I said in the previous article here…

Make sure to investigate if you can achieve whatever you want to achieve in Latin America at home instead…

And, if you do need to move down here, then make sure to look into how much time you need to achieve that goal and if you really need to live down here long term.

Because, honestly, most gringos don’t last down here forever – most do move back home when they get tired of life here and did whatever they wanted.

Though, to be fair, many do live here until death!

So it’s entirely possible and it’s cool if you do last that long.

Just be realistic as to what you want to achieve and in regards if you would be truly happy down here despite some of the obvious negatives.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter for now.

Got any questions or comments yourself?

Drop them below.

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Thanks.

Best regards,

Matt