What is missing from Vietnam (and all of Southeast Asia)?
Vietnam is one of our favorite places in the world. We miss Vietnam whenever we are gone. And don’t worry, I will not be talking trash about Vietnam in this video. But there are some things missing here that you need to be aware of before making a final decision about where to retire overseas.
We just got back to Vietnam after spending 6 months touring around Latin America. And we found some serious benefits in Latin America that are not available in Vietnam. In fact, they are not available anywhere in SE Asia.
Not in Vietnam, not in Thailand, not in Malaysia, not in Cambodia, and not in the Philippines.
But the truth is, I would pick many parts of SE Asia over Latin America, even though six things are missing.
How important are these 6 things to you? Let me give an example. Your 23-year-old daughter brings home her new 30-year-old boyfriend, who wants to marry her. She met him 2 months ago.
They ride up onto your front lawn on his Harley Davidson chopper. He has a beautiful, expensive motorcycle, lots of muscles, and some great hair. As a parent, you probably start thinking, I hope he has a car so my daughter isn’t killed or crippled on the back of that motorcycle.
Next, you think, okay, my daughter makes good money in her job, but will she be carrying the whole financial load for her family? Does this guy have a job? Maybe he is a bad boy, but does he also own a successful business or have a great job?
Your daughter has never fallen in love with anyone so fast before. Is this guy just great in bed or something? You start to worry, is my daughter thinking enough about her long-term future? Is love at first sight going to ruin your daughter’s life? So you start asking questions.
So I have a question for you. Is retiring in paradise overseas at all like love at first sight?
Will your dream last after the honeymoon is over? When you arrive in paradise, the white-sand beaches, turquoise waters, and palm trees gently swaying in the breeze will be your downfall.
So make sure to think long-term for yourself, as you would for your daughter. Is anything missing from paradise? What is missing from paradise for me may not be the same as what is missing for you. This is an individual question. But here is what I noticed.
After I discuss 6 things missing in SE Asia, I will discuss 8 things missing in Latin America. Then I will explain why I would still pick SE Asia, but Latin America could be right for you.
Six Things Missing in SE Asia (and Vietnam)
Permanent Residency: SE Asia doesn’t offer permanent residency. You have to re-qualify for a visa periodically, every year or every few years. As soon as you can no longer re-qualify for your visa extension, you have to leave. There is nothing permanent about residency in SE Asia. In some countries in Southeast Asia, like Vietnam, you have to extend or requalify for your visa every 3 months.
Most countries in Latin America offer permanent residency that does not end every year or every few years. It is permanent. Many start with a temporary residency, but once you get a permanent visa, it stays permanent unless you commit a serious crime.
Citizenship: SE Asia almost never offers foreigners citizenship. There are a few exceptions, but it is so rare that I am not going to spend time discussing them right now. But you can become a naturalized citizen in most of the Americas. Once you are a naturalized citizen of a country, you have 99% of the rights of a person born in that country.
Passport: Very few foreigners have ever been given citizenship or a passport in SE Asia. Someone will mention a handful of people who have been given citizenship or a passport in SE Asia, but it is practically impossible.
Most countries in Latin America have a path to citizenship that includes a passport. It can take anywhere from a year to 8 years to obtain citizenship and a passport in Latin America, but many people get theirs every year.
Renunciation: Since you can not get citizenship or a passport in Southeast Asia, you can not practically renounce your citizenship in your home country. People who want to renounce (give up) their citizenship in their home country to avoid paying taxes, must obtain citizenship and a passport in a country outside SE Asia before they can renounce.
If you renounce your home country passport before having a second passport, you will be a stateless person, without a country, which you should never do.
Land Ownership: In general, with very few exceptions, you cannot own land in your own name in SE Asia. In several Southeast Asian countries, you can own condos in your own name and up to 30-year land leases in other countries, but you generally can not own a house and the land under it in SE Asia.
Malaysia is one exception. A foreigner in Malaysia can purchase a single daily home on land provided they comply with specific state regulations, minimum price thresholds (around $250k USD), and obtain written consent from the proper state authority in advance. Cambodia has some exceptions that sound too risky to me, so I will stay away from that topic.
Cool Highlands: With very few exceptions, SE Asa has very few choices for people who prefer cooler weather or less humidity. There are a few beautiful exceptions in SE Asia, such as Baguio in the Philippines, Da Lat in Vietnam, and the Cameroon Highlands in SE Asia.
But unless you live within a few hours of these three places, you are ging to be stuck in the heat and humidity for 6 months of the year while living in SE Asia.
But Latin America has hundreds of the most interesting cities in the world located at high elevations, where the average temperatures year-round stay in the mid 70s F (21-24C). Latin America has high mountain ranges running from Mexico down through Central America all the way down to Chile and Argentina in South America.
These beautiful mountain cities were developed during the colonial-era period before air conditioning was invented so they are some of the most beautiful and historical cities in Latin America and have some of the best hospitals, restaurants, infrastructure, and reasonable costs of living.
Eight Things Missing From Latin America
Cheap Food: We didn’t see the $1 to $3 USD local meals in Latin America that we see in the local family-owned restaurants in Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. The cheapest food we found anywhere in South America was in Brazil, where we saw lunch buffets for as little as $4 USD, and in Bolivia, where we saw $3 USD meals in family owned-local resturants.
Low Cost of Living: We didn’t see many places in Latin America where a strict-budget couple, living more like locals in smaller towns, can live on less than $ 1,200 USD per month. In most of the places we saw in Latin America, middle-range expats would need $ 1,500 to $ 3,000 per month.
The only low-cost living we have sceen over the last year in Latin America seemed limited to Paraguay, Bolivia, and Colombia, where a few tight-budget expats I interviewed shared living costs in small towns from $500 to $1000 per month. But in those cases, they had paid cash for their homes on land so they had no rent to pay.
Whereas in Se Asia, we have interviewed several expats that share living costs of around $1000 to $1200 USD per month which includes paying some rent. So, the lowest cost of living numbers seem to be missing from Latin America when compared to Se Asia.
Cheap-Easy Slow Travel: Cheap-easy slow travel between countries seems to be missing from Latin America. Latin America covers such a large area that airfares between countries can be extremely expensive. In Latin America, we often ended up paying $300 to $500 per person for one-way flights when we moved from one country to the next in Latin America.
We didn’t see the $75-$150 USD one-way flights per person in Latin America, like we do when slow-traveling SE Asia.
But bus transportation in Latin America was cheaper. When traveling from one city to the next within a single country in Latin America, we often found reasonable bus transfers.
But when you fly from country to country in Latin America, you will pay through the nose. And the problem is that the land masses are so large, that the buses between countries can take 24 hours, so you will be tempted to fly to avoid the long bus rides.
Economic Stability: Economic stability is missing from Lati America. Over the last 50 years, Southeast Asian countries have been significantly more economically stable and more consistent in their growth than South American countries.
Both regions have faced challenges, but Southeast Asia has experienced more robust and consistent growth and has experienced less inflation. Multiple countries in South America have experienced decades of trouble, including hyperinflation and extreme currency devaluation.
English Speaking: Other than the famous tourist sites, English speakers seem to be less prevalent in Latin America than in Southeast Asia. Because the languages are different in each SE Asian country, they often teach English as a common language in school. So you will hear more English in SE Asia.
Expat Acceptance: In general, Western tourists living in Latin America seem to experience less immediate acceptance by locals than in SE Asia. In SE Asia, as a physically obvious western man, I feel like the locals treat me better in SE Asia than they treat each other.
I call this reverse prejudice. Where a minority (me) feels like I am being treated better in a country than the citizens of that country seem to treat each other. There are many exception to this observations, but overall, it seems real to me in SE Asia
Age Difference Relationships: There are exceptions, but in general, Latin America does not seem as accepting of age-difference relationships as I see in SE Asia. You see them here and there in Latin America, but not as much as you see in SE Asia.
There are some exceptions. You don’t see many age difference relationships in Malaysia. Also, I have been told they happen in Vietnam, but not as much out in the open. Some Vietnamese woman keep their age-difference relationships secret to avoid public criticism.
But you will see them most often in Thailand and the Philippines.
Karma: There is not much Karma belief in Latin America. Latin America believes more in asking your spiritual elders for forgiveness when you harm another or commit a crime. Saying prayers and repenting on Sunday absolves your soul of wrongdoing done that week.
In much of Southeast Asia, they believe you cannot simply ask for forgiveness to erase bad Karma. Karma is a strict cause-and-effect principle, in which harmful actions are balanced out by intentional, positive actions over time.
So people in SE Asia seem to believe that how they treat others really matters. So treating others poorly in SE Asia is believed to stay inside you like a negative spiritual balance. So people here believe that how you treat others really matters, and it seems to be reflected in how they live their daily lives.
Before I explain why I would still pick SE Asia, I want to share something important with you.
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Okay, Why Would I Prefer Southeast Asia?
I am 65 years old, and I love slow traveling around the world. I have been living outside the USA for 19 years, and I have been slow traveling for the last 16 years.
Slow travel means I spend anywhere from about 1 month to 5 months in each country. While in each country, I typically explore 3 to 4 cities. Then I move on to explore the next adjacent country.
SE Asia is my favorite place to slow travel because several of my favorite countries are all near each other, so I don’t have to take a bunch of expensive long-range international flights. Plus, we like to spend a few weeks each year with Qiang’s family in Malaysia.
By staying in each country for a limited time each year, I am less likely to be asked to pay income tax in any other country.
Since leaving the USA, I continue to file my US taxes every year. But I love to travel and see new places, and by not establishing residency anywhere, and never staying long enough to be deemed a tax resident in any second country, I only file and pay in the US.
If I were ever to settle down and quit slow traveling, I would also pick Southeast Asia. I have no desire to establish a second citizenship or second passport, so the benefit in Latin America is not a motivation for me.
Qiang and I prefer the feeling of living in SE Asia, and we love the food, so this is where we are happy. But we still like to visit Latin America or Eastern Europe every few years. The world is an amazing place.
But if you prefer Latin American food, lifestyle, and weather, and would prefer to settle down and buy a house on land and obtain a second citizenship, Latin America would be a better choice for you. Eastern Europe is also a great choice. We have reports on hundreds of cities in 36 countries.
If you’re curious which are our favorite cities in South America, Eastern Europe, or SE Asia, subscribe. We will be reporting on all of that soon.
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