Latin America Welcomes Gringos with a Red Carpet to Success

It was Monday afternoon in Los Angeles.

Waking up, I find myself feeling physically sick with my hands shaking.

A sip from the bottle before I look at myself in the mirror.

My face still noticeably disturbed from all the crying last night over finding out that my wife cheated on me with her boss.

And the clock at 6:55 AM.

Got to get in the shower.

Head to work.

Over an hour commute to a soul sucking job where that asshole Tim has probably told all my colleagues about how my wife likes anal.

Something I didn’t know until last night.

But I’m not going to do that.

I’m not putting on the tie.

The car is not getting turned on.

And this facial hair isn’t getting shaved.

But the phone is getting picked up.

A call later.

Now I’m unemployed.

With just 5,000 dollars in my bank account.

Now 4,300.

My plane to Colombia will be waiting for me in some odd hours.

Today, I chose freedom.

Many hours later, I found myself confused and tired exiting a foreign airport.

Scared.

But a thrill that I haven’t felt since my former affair with my wife’s sister before we got married.

And here I was in a city called Medellin outside the airport.

A red carpet in front of me.

Welcomed with champagne bottles.

Taxi drivers offering me a free ride to wherever I want!

Pretty ladies with smiles calling me “papi” on both sides.

Rich local elites inviting me to their house parties at the abandoned mansions of Pablo Escobar.

Complete with the strongest cocaine and “paisas” to satisfy you all night long.

All with a million-dollar job offer by Ecopetrol to complete my long-term relocation to Colombia.

A country where, as a white foreigner, I feel elevated to the highest social class.

Hot women want to fuck me all day.

The exchange rate with my income makes living here so easy.

And everyone wants to be my friend!

Back home, some would say I was a loser.

Well, Tim would.

But here, I’m somebody.

Welcome to Latin America, gringo.

Fact or Fiction?

Well, there’s some truth here to be sure.

There are guys who genuinely leave their country for Latin America because of reasons related to dissatisfaction with their job or dating life.

But it is exaggerated for effect obviously, isn’t it?

Still, it’s also all part of a common narrative that some folks have promoted over the years.

A narrative that comes with different names.

“The Four Hour Work Week” in reference for how little we have to work while living abroad.

“The White God Factor” in reference to how having white skin can provide you with hot women to fuck you so easily.

“The Red Carpet Treatment” in which society at large just welcomes you so greatly in various ways for being the foreigner to their country.

Still, in order to discuss this, I figured there are various elements to discuss as to how true the “red carpet treatment” really is.

It’s a topic that I have touched piece by piece before in other articles where, at times, I might discuss the exchange rate benefit in one article to dating prospects in others.

Here, I’ll just summarize all my thoughts together when it comes to the whole package that some might think are included in the “red carpet package” that some might hope for before showing up down here.

Along with factors to consider that might affect how true this “treatment” really is.

So let’s break down all my thoughts that come to mind when it comes to this.

Where in Latin America?

First, before we go into the individual factors of this “red carpet treatment,” let’s bring up one important point to keep in mind throughout this article.

That is how your reception to Latin America does vary by where you go to specifically.

In short, richer and more developed areas or places with more foreigners visiting tend to be spots where you being a foreigner isn’t as much of a novelty for obvious reasons.

Maybe your white skin isn’t as unique to the local gringo hunters when enough foreigners are already stopping by that look just like you.

Or better.

In areas with increased foreigner presence, like Medellin, there also might be a negative stereotype that is more heavily well-known among the locals.

That stereotype being that foreign men visiting are just sex tourists.

Or that they are not as wealthy as some would think otherwise given the sight of the poor backpackers with few pennies to their name.

Equally so, the lack of novelty in being a foreigner also means less locals will give a shit if you are a foreigner.

We’ll get into that in a bit.

Finally, if you don’t actually have a very nice paying job and make just a 1,000 bucks a month or some pitiful sum….

Well, then your annual income is only 12,000 USD and that obviously limits the extent to which you can truly enjoy life down here and, more importantly, the specific areas down here where you could live a decent life.

That budget would be harder to pull off in Rio de Janiero or Panama City.

And, just to emphasize in contrast to the fictional story above, you probably are not getting that million dollar job offer just for showing up.

Regardless of where you show up.

Realism

Finally, always keep in mind that plenty of people bullshit others online about their life.

They even bullshit each other in real life to their faces!

So, as I wrote here, sometimes men lie about the “hot” women pick up naturally.

Be it in Latin America or anywhere else in the world.

They might be getting laid but the women might be prostitutes or not as hot as they led you to believe.

Same thing with finances.

I’ll be the first to tell you that you can live in Mexico City on 500 bucks a month.

I’ve done it!

And I was fine doing it.

But while that sum of money will get you more down here than in a comparable city in the US like NYC….

Just be realistic as to what it’ll get you.

A lot of men make it seem like you can “live like a king on 1,000 a month” down here!

When, in reality, they aren’t living like kings.

Especially if their income is only 995 bucks a month.

But they might still be comfortable to be fair.

Something I wrote more about here.

Anyhow, just keep that in mind when people discuss the “red carpet treatment” some argue that you can get.

Anyhow, let’s break it down now by different factors that come with the “red carpet treatment” that you might hear other foreigners talk about.

Booze & the Concha

Doesn’t every man want booze and the concha?

Tony from Scarface mentioned how Frank likes it a lo here!

Every man does!

Hot women.

Partying all the time.

I’ve done my fair share of partying and hooking up down here!

Still, there does need to be some realism

First, as I said, some men do bullshit others about their dating success.

I do believe them that they get laid down here.

I think most guys on the planet can get laid frequently enough anywhere in the world assuming they live in a big enough city especially.

Still, as I said here, some guys lie about how hot their chicks are or they are prostitutes.

And if they are prostitutes, I ain’t judging to be fair.

Or if they are ugly either!

Ain’t my life so I don’t give a fuck who you fuck to be honest.

I just don’t.

But we should be honest here about what skills were involved to get the women and how good looking they were really.

Second, as I said before, it obviously depend son geography.

Now my opinion is this…

Cities like Mexico City or Santo Domingo are arguably good examples of the type of city you could do relatively well with women.

Mostly because they are capital cities and you simply have more women to work with.

And, while you do have more foreign guys in those cities and you aren’t anywhere near as exotic as you might be in some small city in Paraguay…

You do have, in my opinion, more gringo hunters to work with in the larger cities simply because of the numbers involved.

Granted, that’s not about quality, is it?

Third, some might say that women in less touristy areas are less slutty or more faithful and have nicer personalities?

Honestly, I’m not too sure about that.

On one hand, I’ve met plenty of women from less touristy areas that were always a bit on the sluttier side.

So, when talking about fidelity, I don’t see them as necessarily being any more trustworthy.

Nicer personalities in general though?

Yeah, I’d go with that though.

Reminds me of the US.

Women from Iowa or Ohio always seemed nicer than chicks I met from places like LA or NYC.

Still, when it comes to causal fun, I’d still prefer a place like NYC over small town Iowa any day because of factors like more women to deal with.

Regardless, let’s wrap this one up on the topic of “white god factor.”

There’s an article written here about it from a website called My Latin Life that you can check out.

In which the opinion in that piece is the “white god factor” where being white will get you extra pussy is relatively dead in Latin America compared to how it supposedly was in the past. 

But it depends on where you are exactly as your novelty will vary by region.

I’d mostly agree with that but with some things I'd add from my own perspective. 

Living in Mexico City, even to this day, it hasn’t been difficult to find chicks who dig you for your skin color and novelty.

Again – the gringo hunters.

In fact, I met one not too long ago named Jovi who has been fun to hookup with frequently over the last month.

Someone you can read about here.

The sex with her has been some of the best I’ve had in a while among the different chicks I’ve met over the last year.

And, to be fair, when people talk about the “white god factor,” they often reference the years prior to when I was traveling to Latin America.

So I don’t have that reference in terms of how relatively more well received white guys and foreign men in general were in Latin America back then.

I can only say that, while I do believe that obviously the increase of white men traveling down here has killed a large bit of our novelty in various parts of Latin America…

You still have the benefit that most men down here are not white and that you still have a fair number of gringo hunters running around when it comes to women who receive you better for your novelty.

That’s just my opinion anyhow.

In short, I don’t believe that, in most of Latin America, you’ll get a literal “red carpet treatment” effect with the women simply for being a white foreigner but I do believe, in general, it does benefit you to a degree depending on where you are specifically down south of the border.

A Financial Rock Star

One of the better articles I wrote on this subject is this one here.

Among others!

But the basics of what I think when it comes to this are the following…

First, you do have a cheaper cost of living here generally.

Second, you do have the beneficial exchange rate.

Third, your lifestyle is not as impressive if your living costs are only 500 bucks a month but you only make 495 bucks a month freelancing online.

That can work in your 20s and you can have a awesome fucking time exploring the world doing that assuming you aren’t pulling 10 hour days desperately trying to make money…

But think in the long term.

How will this work when you are 40 with no savings and a pitiful income that resembles something like those numbers above?

Just be realistic with yourself.

That isn’t to say you can’t make good money online…

In fact, if you do, then that’s fucking great!

If you make 3,000 a month and your living costs are a 1,000, then you actually are doing pretty well.

Granted, in all likelihood, you’d probably be making more money back home in the US or wherever if you put in the work.

But, as some point out rightfully so, that sacrifice in income might be worth it if you are enjoying life all around much more down here than up there.

Still, if that is the case, then I just repeat how you shouldn’t be satisfied on working one week a month for a very pitiful amount of money.

You are 23? That’s OK for now.

But think long term as I said.

And, assuming you know what you are doing when it comes to income, then, as I said, you can have a fucking blast living down here!

Your mileage does go much farther down here in terms of how well you can stretch the dollar.

This is one part of the “red carpet treatment” that I kinda do agree with.

I push back against it a little bit because of how lazy some people get and also because of how misleading others are…

Similar to the quality of women men claim to get, others, as I said, claim to be “living like kings.”

When their income doesn’t even equal greater to the IRS standard tax deduction and the “apartment” they live in is a one small ass room with cockroaches, mold on the door, a hot plate for a kitchen and other deficiencies.

But, like I said, some men do fucking kill it down here because they got something that makes it work financially and they can fuse that with the financial benefits of living abroad as I stated before.

One of them, which I didn’t mention, also includes tax benefits of not having to pay taxes if you set your tax situation up right.

So, while I push back against this narrative a little bit due to how it sometimes plays out in reality for some men, I do agree with the broader point that there’s a huge benefit to be had with this aspect to life in Latin America if done right.

Everyone Wants to Be Your Friend!

Next, we have the warm reception that locals are supposed to be giving you upon your arrival.

“ARE YOU AN AMERICAN?!!? CAN I TAKE YOUR PICTURE?!?!”

Now, as I said before, it again depends on geography to a degree.

As I wrote here, I’ve had people literally come up to me and ask “where are you from?”

For example, when I was in Guatemala City many years ago, some old woman sat up from her table where she had her grandkids to ask me where I was from!

Similarly, a Colombian guy named Andres got up from his table to ask me where I’m from in the city of Barranquilla after hearing my accent when ordering food.

Ultimately, we became friends and hung over for beer at midnight quite often as you can read here.

In other cases, as I wrote here, I’ve had people in Mexico City (on a few very rare occasions) literally invite me over to their birthday parties even though I literally did not fucking know who they were.

And then I became their “token gringo friend” that they autistically paraded around going “HERE’S MATTHEW! HE’S FROM AMERICA! HE SPEAKS ENGLISH!!!”

Still, there’s a few things to say when it comes to all of this….

First, similar to the “white god factor,” one might argue that the decreasing novelty of the gringo is decreasing the genuine friendliness of the locals when they encounter a foreigner.

In which a reader named Colin posted this comment on this article here that shed some light on this (he’s been in Latin America a bit longer than me so he has some context for this):

“A taxi driver in Lima once told me that it used to be an extremely rare event to meet a non-Hispanic foreigner, something that happened once or twice a year if lucky. Nowadays, he sees one every day. It’s normal.”

Now, to be fair, this occurred in Lima.

I’m pretty confident that this same effect happens in vast parts of Latin America where tourists don’t go.

Parts that can often be quite safe but in which you just don’t see that many foreigners.

For example, when I lived in a Mexican city called Pachuca, I only saw other foreigners once in my year living there.

And Pachuca is a perfectly safe (but very boring) city to live in!

Just never saw that many foreigners ever and I lived in the center of the city.

Plus, that was Mexico, a country that receives plenty of foreigners relative to other Latin countries.

I imagine the taxi drivers of the Paraguayan city of Ita have even less experience meeting foreigners.

Well, that’s just a guess – never been there.

But you get the idea?

A place, like many others, that simply doesn’t have that strong of tourism attraction or even acknowledgement on the internet by foreigners to draw in too many visitors relatively speaking.

Therefore, as I keep saying, geography matters.

And this part of the “red carpet treatment” in which the local is very curious about you in a positive way is going to be generally more commonly seen in non-touristy areas.

Hell, even in large cities like Mexico City, there are neighborhoods where you just don’t see that many foreigners.

In which you get a smaller taste of that curiosity.

For example, when I lived in a non-touristy area of CDMX, I visited a barber spot.

The old lady was very curious about me and why I lived in her neighborhood.

Very nice and very curious.

A neighborhood you can read more about here.

But moving on….

Second, you also have, as it should be said, “fake friendliness” in which the local might seem interested in you but only to his benefit.

Primarily it being the gringo hunter who wants sex, the person wanting to sell you something, someone wanting to practice English with you or someone using you as a token gringo friend.

The guy who invited me to his party as mentioned above? I was very clearly his token gringo friend.

The Mexican gal named Jovi from above? Just a white dick to her.

Or the guy who approaches you in El Centro of Mexico City going “FRIEND!! FRIEND!! HOW ARE YOUUUUU!!!!” while trying to sell you something.

Just an ATM machine to him.

You can read more on this topic here in which I go into how, at times, it can seem so fake the friendliness that the locals offer to you.

On top of all of that, in some cities like Mexico City, you’ll find relatively more pretentiousness among some of the locals compared to locals in a place like Nicaragua or Bolivia.

So, while some do say that the locals might welcome you warmly, I push back against that a little bit because the fakeness of it all isn’t very nice after you’ve been here long enough.

And after, at times, you might even feel lonely even if you have some real friends down here.

Third, you obviously don’t have everyone being nice to you.

Without it needing to be said, you got some xenophobic assholes also like anywhere else in the world.

Fourth, on the topic of friends, remember that any gringo friends you make are likely to move away over time as most don’t stay down here long term.

Fifth, you do have some cultural differences with making friends down here that can complicate things.

Though I don’t find the cultural differences to be that huge personally and, if you speak Spanish well enough, it should be fine.

Still, what is the final verdict on all of this about friends?

Despite the negatives I see with it all, I think you can generally make friends abroad easier than back home.

But, at times, you might have to learn to not be too disappointed when you find some are a bit fake with it.

Despite that negative though, because of the relative novelty you carry (in whatever part of Latin America you are in), I do believe you can more easily connect with people.

After all, it’s not perfect in the US either, is it?

Something that I might be detached from to a degree given I haven’t lived in the US for some odd years now.

Here’s a good video on the difficulty of making friends in the US that I found recently.

So nothing is perfect!

The only situation in which I find that making friends in the US might be easier is if you are one of those “digital nomad” types who moves constantly from one country to the next.

That would obviously make it difficult to make any long term friends that last forever.

Though, as I implied, many Americans in the US don’t even have that and they stay in their community for decades!

So because of the extent to which the novelty factor can benefit you while living down in Latin America in a specific city for an extended period of time….

And also, if you happen to have more free time from not having to work too much given the financial benefits mentioned above…

I can see how making friends down here is easier than doing so back home for most folks if they do it right.

Still, having said all of that, let’s bring up any example that comes to mind.

The Gringos on the Red Carpet

Well, they’re not always on a red carpet, are they?

Maybe a nicely tilled floor!

Still, who comes to mind?

First, you have Jeffrey.

A man I wrote about here who was an American living in Guatemala.

From the basics of what I knew about him, he was a dentist in Wisconsin before getting divorce raped.

Then moved to Guatemala to become a sex tourist and has lived there since on his social security income.

Red carpet for him?

Well, he probably gets better pussy down there than his 60 year old ass could afford in the US.

Given the lower social security income, I can only imagine that he can afford sugar babies in Guatemala better than in the US.

And on social security…

Well, given that it is a fixed income for him in a currency (USD) that crushes the Guatemalan currency of the Quetzal…

I imagine his finances are better down here than up there.

Does he have friends?

I have no idea but I imagine he does get some curiosity in a city like Xela.

Maybe.

Second, as I wrote here, there was some foreign dude I met in Bolivia who basically seemed like a drug addict.

Didn’t seem like he had any money.

Reminds me of this homeless dude you can see in Mexico City here that has made some notoriety among some expats here.

Is either person “killing it” in Latin America?

Be it Bolivia or Mexico?

Not really.

Granted, that’s their life choices that led them down that specific rabbit hole.

However they ended up in that position anyhow.

But it’s to show how not every expat is “killing it” when it comes to women and finances.

There’s a truth in that Latin America does draw in folks with bad habits or, at the very least, they grow them over time while living down here.

Consequently, they aren’t really “killing it” on the red carpet.

And I imagine not too many of the locals are looking at them with the opinion of being solid characters.

Who knows though – if the gringo is clever enough, he could fool plenty into thinking so perhaps if he is at least presentable.

Especially given the stereotypes that some locals have about us having relatively more money and all that jazz.

Anyhow, it goes to show as an example that, just because you live here, doesn’t mean you’ll be on the red carpet living the high life.

Plenty of gringos don’t!

Third, you have Florida Man Alex!

A guy I wrote about here.

He was a young man from Florida who was about my age and just showed up to Mexico City.

Spent time in Puerto Rico.

And he seems to be doing well!

He’s not really the “ladies man” to be fair.

Haven’t heard the sound of countless women yelling out in sheer amazement at the destruction of their pussies blasting from his room when we lived in Roma Norte.

But he had some dates from what I remember!

One gal who turned him off because, after a date, she asked to be his girlfriend.

After just one date!

Impressive.

He declined though and spent an hour with me and a French girl combing over how to politely turn her down by text.

So, I guess in a way, he’s not the type to naturally break hearts.

But he did seem to have some nice dating success when I lived in Roma Norte!

That was just one example.

Financially?

Yeah, the dude seemed very financially comfortable also.

He did crypto trading that improved his savings and was waiting for the US government to call him in for his next role working for the Department of Transportation apparently.

But, with the income he had, he was doing very well relative to how he’d be in the US.

His crypto trading alone could’ve kept him here long term without a need to work again supposedly from what he told me.

And, in the house we lived in, he seemed well liked enough among some of the local Mexicans living there.

Granted, a few of them seemed like they were just using him to practice English.

But it seemed like he was adjusting well socially at any rate!

Fourth, you have a friend of mine in Mexico City who is a web cam model.

As you can read about here.

The dude makes decent money from what he does apparently.

After all, he just moved into a nice ass apartment in Condesa with 2 bedrooms all to himself.

Always looks like he has money to spend.

Which might imply that maybe he likes to spend a bit of it but he definitely seems like he makes it at least!

Socially? The dude gets invited to parties.

He does have plenty of friends.

Women? He’s done well with women!

Has a girlfriend now after falling in love and thinking more seriously of settling down now that he reaches 30 soon.

Fifth, you have me!

Am I on the red carpet?

No.

Right now, I’m sitting back in my chair with my feet kicked up….

And the chair I am sitting on happens to be on a tiled floor.

No red carpet over here unfortunately.

Still, in all seriousness, I’m doing fine.

Nothing is perfect though.

Long time readers know I’ve been working on cutting down my drinking.

Today is the third day of cutting drinking down again for another month long break.

Though, by the end of this month, I plan on doing things differently where I won’t need to take another break and can not have it return as an issue.

Especially as this will be my third month in which I give up drinking this year.

It’s been a back and forth thing.

Give up for a month – and I always keep to it!

Then back to drinking after the month is over.

This time, I’m aiming for something more stable long term.

But, similar to the second example brought up, that’s all a side issue.

As that implies, we carry our baggage with us when we move down here.

So don’t think that, by that lesson, you’ll be living the greatest life imaginable and can escape all your problems by simply moving down here.

Still, that’s one part of the equation.

Socially? Doing good. I got plenty of friends I hang with and that’s that.

Dating wise? Doing great actually!

As I said, this chick named Jovi has really been making my head explode once a week for a while now…

Which head?

And there’s been various other gals I’ve been with since but really Jovi has been the one I liked the most.

I got two new ones that are down to fuck but haven’t made the time for them yet.

So, dating wise, it’s all good.

Financially? Well, I’m no millionaire.

But I’m feeling fine financially.

Not a millionaire though – unable to afford a purchase of a nice property in Polanco just yet….

Regardless, it’s going fine there also!

The main issue for me, over the last year, has really been the drinking anyhow and, not to get too personal, the days where my thinking goes dark.

Sometimes it happens.

Still, movies like this one here cheers me up anyhow.

And time talking with friends or family over the phone does also.

Plus, an occasional night of Jovi showing up in a mini falda con panties blancos doesn’t hurt either….

I like to be called papi!

It does make me feel better.

Regardless, that’s a side point.

Let’s wrap this up anyhow.

Final Verdict

So is there a red carpet for us gringos in Latin America?

I strongly hesitate to say yes.

Because, though it may sound arrogant of me, I have a suspicion some naïve kid is going to read this and think “OH WOW! A RED CARPET JUST FOR ME!?! I MUST LIVE IN COLOMBIA NOW!!”

It’s not that simple or easy.

If you show up with absolutely no skills to make money or no retirement income…

You’re going to get fucked.

As I wrote here, I had a great fucking time in my first year in Mexico but had a difficult time financially the year afterwards.

In large part because I didn’t take finances seriously.

But was that first year on the red carpet?

Maybe.

In a way.

I did have a good time!

And, as of right now, I’m having a good time also!

Still, I just want to emphasize that the finances need to be in order.

On top of that, you aren’t going to escape your problems.

Latin America isn’t going to throw at you a million dollar job.

Latin America isn’t going to throw at you a 100 super models to satisfy your every sexual desire (unless maybe you pay for it).

Latin America isn’t going to make you socially popular with the whole village.

Latin America isn’t going to cure any depression or major life issues that you carry with you.

Among so many other things that Latin America isn’t going to fix for you….

Want to enjoy the financial benefits?

You do need to have some discipline and not be such a lazy ass that you aren’t working much while living down here…

Ideally with something that actually generates income (and, as I said, think long term for when you are in your 40s and not 23 anymore).

Want a nice gal like Jovi to moan “oh papi, quiero tus hijos blancos!!!” while you are about to nut inside her?

Well, first off, you need money for the child support if you truly give her what she wants…

But, furthermore, it would also help to learn Spanish…

And not be a complete loser – if you were a complete loser back home with women, that’s not going to translate perfectly into being Mr. Chad Thundercock down here.

Want to have a social life and plenty of friends?

You still have to not be a social retard.

Want to address your deeper issues like depression, alcoholism, smoking addiction, drug addiction, etc?

Well, you have to do whatever the fuck works to address that.

I’m working on it myself to be honest!

Still, above all, while Latin America can and will likely provide you with many benefits to living down here…

Benefits that I wrote here….

You still need to be realistic and not naïve as to how it’ll actually play out.

But, in my opinion, there probably will be many noticeable benefits that are nice as fuck.

A Red Carpet Treatment?

Well, it’s like when people say that they can “live like a king for a 1,000” down here.

Call it what you like.

If you do feel like a king on that income or that your experience has been a “red carpet treatment,” then so be it!

I do lean towards the side of “that’s a little bit exaggerated” but I will agree that there are many very noticeable benefits to living down here.

Benefits that help motivate me to stay down here long term!

So it is what it is.

And, as a last point, don’t forget that there are negatives that come with living down here also…

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows but I discuss those negatives in plenty of articles on my blog.

It won’t take much research to find one in less than 5 seconds.

Despite those negatives though, I do find that the great positives to living down here mixed with simply getting accustomed to life and the friends I have outweighs those negatives.

Anyhow, that’s all I got to say.

If you have any other factors that you think of that are related to the "red carpet treatment" that were not included in this article, then drop them....

In your comments below in the comment section.

Follow my Twitter here.

Enjoy this music also that I have been listening to as I wrote this.

Seems just like the right type of music to listen to as I enjoy a nice caipirinha on a balcony in Rio with a cute Brazilian gal.

And thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Matt