Hobofinance

Living abroad can be the experience of a lifetime; it can also make great financial sense. For the last 5 years, when I tell people about my lifestyle and travels, they usually respond “I wish I could do that,” or “it must be nice”. To which I usually respond, “You can,” and “it is”. I discovered the financial advantages of living abroad in 2003 when I moved to a kung fu academy in Northern China. I quickly learned that the $5K I allotted for a year of kung fu practice at this particular school, including full time instruction, room and board, could easily last me two years elsewhere in China at a higher standard of living. When I became disillusioned with the country I’d always hoped to find my mystic sage in…and SARS broke out, I returned home with $3.5K and an understanding of just how far money can go in other parts of the world.

Readjustment to life back home didn’t go so well and so I decided to put my knowledge to the test. I traveled back to Asia and spent the following 6 months in Thailand, traveling to several islands, practicing martial arts in the Koh Panghan jungle, and blowing the rest of my cash in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city. The travel itself ate into my budget more than anything, but when I was stationary and found a bit of a routine, I was living on less than $300 a month ($10 a day, including apartment). This experience and the experiences of countless other travelers I’ve met along the way encouraged me to abandon the prominent view of financial independence, that of work, save, and then play.

Money can go a long way with the combination of a low cost of living and the absence of expenses such as car insurance, gas, vehicle repairs, etc. When one can live like a king for $5-$10,000 or less a year and also experience a different part of the world, a foreign culture, and language, all the while having your time to yourself, it doesn’t make financial or moral sense not to (assuming you like freedom and travel). The lifestyle itself is one advantage, but the time you can buy for yourself with that low cost exotic lifestyle can pave the way for your financial education. If you travel with financial literature and have access to the internet, you have all the tools necessary to find a self-replenishing income stream to sustain your new found freedom.

Some of the countries one can travel to for $20-$40 dollars a day (budget to mid-range) include:
• Peru
• Argentina
• Hungary
• Morocco
• Thailand
• Laos
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Honduras
This list is not comprehensive. It embodies the variety of locales and cultures available to adventure-hungry hoboes. Living in one place for a while is always cheaper than traveling, often by 25 to 50%. Routine lowers costs. This is one of the reasons I recommend living abroad, rather than ‘travel abroad’. I’ve backpacked and I’ve lived, and the experience of a place is fuller when really lived, and not merely passed over in a few days. Furthermore, routine is important, at least in the beginning, to develop an investment strategy and a knowledge base of an asset class. But it needn’t be a grind. Travel, socialize, read and research, and enquire. If you keep your eyes open, the odds are your investment opportunities will be directly related to your experiences and interests.