The Makings of an Expat - Hard Road Edition

in #travel8 years ago (edited)

It is hard to believe that I left my life behind in the USA over five years ago. I have never regretted the decision to expatriate. If you are thinking about expatriating I hope this article helps you on your journey.

My Family Background and Patriotism.

First a little back story about my family. We are a family of what most would consider middle class America. My family is a mixed bag of Western and Eastern European blood. I have heard stories of why my ancestors came to America. The common theme was freedom to make a life for themselves. To live the American dream!

Then WW2 happened and my family jumped into action as Patriotic Americans do. They survived, returned home worked their jobs and started businesses. My Grandfather on my Moms side served in the US Marines here in Panama around the time of the Korean war.

My Grandfather was quite a character and really enjoyed his time in Panama. He is still alive and likes to comment to me, "You better make sure any women you mess with in Panama are not related to you". My Grandmother died last year and she would literally bury him with her stare anytime he mentioned it.

The Hilarski and Milliman families luckily missed out on the Viet Nam war. My father was selected for the draft but the war ended before the government could send him off to his death or insanity. I imagine my upbringing would have been much different if my Father had to go through that.

Then came time for my generation to make a decision to serve our masters or to go to college. All four of the Hilarski kids signed up. My cousin Jeff and his Sister Amy joined the Army National Guard and Jeff went on to join the US Navy later. My Brother and I both joined the US Navy. That is me on the left the day my Brother graduated from bootcamp.

What Went Wrong?

Ever since I was a boy I questioned everything. Conformity was never something I aimed for. I did well in school because I was competitive and wanted to beat my classmates not because I enjoyed it. The only classes I truly enjoyed were history, economics and science.

I have to say that the military is no place for people who are free thinkers. I don't think I need to explain why. So I was always being reprimanded for something my first few years. I even had to go to XOI (Executive Officers Mast) for getting out of line. The XO asked me, "are you sorry for what you said"? I said, "No sir, and I take responsibility for what I said".

During that time I realized that the US Navy was no place for me. It took me a few more years to escape but at least my last few years were spent in beautiful Sicily and a few months in Panama! I spent a ton of time taking in the cultures and realized there is much more to the world than what we are taught.

The Dark Years

When I left the US Navy my Father offered my Great Grandmothers house to me. It was a beautiful duplex built in 1860 right on the Erie Canal in Pittsford, NY. A Doctor lived in one side and I would live in the other half. The deal was that I would have to go to RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology where my Step Mom worked) or another school of my choosing. My Father would also hold the mortgage, which would be covered nicely by the tenant.

I chose to move to Columbus Ohio instead. Sure staying in Rochester was the safe choice but I wanted to spread my wings. I ended up delivering pizzas for two years, working for Sprint PCS, Safelite Autoglass and a few other jobs. I actually made good money but still always found a way to piss it all away.

There was so much instability that I don't even want to get into it. I tried college, hated it and returned to work. Then in order to escape my horrible existence I decided moving to Tampa, Florida with my brother who was still serving in the US Navy at Macdill AFB.

Tampa was where my entrepreneurial skills began to take shape. I was selling cars at a VW and Honda dealer. While the guys were hustling on the floor waiting for sales to come through the door I was using Craigslist to find customers. My Brother and I were working on a side business and my online skills were working for that as well.

Then my Brother went off to Iraq. Everything changed, life was flipped turned upside down. My drive tanked and I decided to go back to my roots as a nurse and worked as a mental health counselor. Life literally was horrible. Then almost a year later my Brother returned and it was not the same between us. The war left scars on his soul and unforgiveness in my heart.

The Final Straw

I moved back to my hometown of Rochester, NY and figured I would submit to societies expected life cycle. I took a job once again at a car dealership and bought a foreclosed home that my family and I rehabbed.

I joined the ranks of the rat race. Made very few friends and had very little money. New York was sucking the life out of me. Every chance I got I would take trips to Ethiopia where someone I cared for lived. I knew that life could be better. Then I ended the long distance relationship and had to find a way out of America.

Panama Revisited

In 1997 the US Navy sent me to Panama for just under 4 months. I worked on Howard Air Force base and lived on Rodman Naval Station. It was literally a little slice of paradise and that memory never left my mind. Thoughts of the jungle and ocean would repeatedly pop up in my mind.

So with $5,000 in my pocket and a dream I moved to Panama. I found a sales position before I even left the USA so I was confident about my ability to survive. I met a teacher before leaving and I helped her open a daycare about 30 minutes outside the city. This provided all the income needed to live in Panama.

The sales position quickly turned into a partnership because the owners recognized my skills online. I was literally closing deals without talking to customers on the phone. Facebook and email were my tools of choice. I quickly built an amazing lifestyle in Panama.

Then I met my wife Anabell and we went independent. Now five years after moving to Panama we have a thriving online marketing business. We work with some of the coolest people in the world and have amazing friends. The decision to leave America was the best decision I ever made!


The Cocoli Locks of the New Expanded Panama Canal with My Wife Anabell

Benefits of Expatriation

  1. Freedom to live your life on your own terms.
  2. The Expat community is a friendly bunch.
  3. Opportunities are all around.
  4. Perfect for Digital Nomads.
  5. You might learn something new.
  6. Travel changes you.
  7. You meet amazing people!
  8. Chances to make a positive impact in your adopted community.
  9. You can do it without having a fat wallet.
  10. You Might meet the love of your life and build and empire.

If You want to read my reasons why I left, more in depth, here is my article that went viral and made Google news.
5 Reasons it Made Sense to Leave America

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Hey Randy,
Looks like you and I moved to Panama right around the same time. Where are you at in country? Panama?
We're about to move to the Ciudad del Saber to try to avoid some of the chaos and tranque. Anyway, I have been wondering how many other Steemit users there are from Panama. Now I know it is at least 2.
Thanks for sharing.

Hey Brian, there are a few of us.
Rich
Glen

We love Ciudad del Saber, but we will be staying out here in Panama Oeste. Our money goes a long way on this side of the bridge. We will making tons of content and if you are in to Crypto we are super connected. Have an amazing day and thanks for connecting.

Great! I'll be sure to check your feed for new content.

Crypto is something I have been very interested in over the past couple of years, but it is a love hate relationship (i.e. I had some funds on BFX).

Have a good night.

My buddy lost $50k worth of BTC. He is quite pissed but remember a centralized platform has nothing to do with BTC.

Dang! Sorry for your buddy.

It's amazing how many people tell similiar stories and find themselves throughout Central and South America, happier than they ever were in their home countries. Someday, I'm sure I'll be joining people like you. I might end up in Costa Rica though, since that's where my friends and business associates (mostly farmers) live. But I've heard that Panama is great, too, so maybe I'll get a place on the border!

It's always good to hear success stories about ex-pats. I often hear about retirees, but not too many about the younger generation. I think that trend is now changing, finally.

I wish continued success to you. Thanks for sharing!

I have friends up and down the Americas. We have a bunch in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. The opportunities to live the life you want are everywhere. I always recommend you test the waters first by visiting for an extended period.

Some folks don't like the chaos of Panama. I have learned to adapt to it. Believe me it is difficult sometimes! It helps making friends in the local community. I always laugh when folks complain but they stay on their overpriced expat compounds.

Costa Rica is definitely more of a rural lifestyle. I have friends that love it but my wife who is Tico by blood prefers the cosmopolitan Panama lifestyle.

Thank you for stopping by!!

See, I'm the opposite of your wife. I'd rather have a house overlooking the mountains and valleys and coffee farms. Those rural towns are a lot more peaceful for me, but I'd also be ok with perhaps splitting my time between a loft in the city or a beach house. The best part is having those options without needing to be a millionaire.

I've already been working on some plans with my friend and partner in the mountain towns of Costa Rica for a retreat house or farm tours, so I'll at least have a place to go anytime I feel like getting away. It's a start.

I'm with you, though access to a metropolitan area is pretty important when you expat. I was told repeatedly that I should live in Santiago when in Chile, at least for the first two years. I like the city, as far as cities go, but I really didn't want to live there. Instead, I found a nice farming town that's small enough but large enough, and an easy commute to a city with everything we could need. Other factors got in the way of that attempt, but I'm still working on it.
Yeah, give me a rural community anyday.

The particular area where my partner lives has a population around 30,000 - so it's not too small. The surrounding towns are a lot smaller, but the distance between them is short, so there's probably close to 60,000 people across a span of maybe five to six miles along the route and some of its branches.

I would be close enough to these towns and with my friend and his family, and they do get American visitors fairly frequently who do business with some of the coffee farmers and cooperatives.

I appreciate your insight, though. You can never have too much information and guidance when it comes to making plans about moves like this.

Within an hours drive is vital if you are looking to do business and go through immigration steps like I have. Yesterday was a perfect example, I had to go to immigration to take my next step in permanent residency and they said, "sorry your papers are not complete yet". I was pissed but what can I do? Try again next week is the only option.

Not all of Panama is chaotic. Boquete and Coronado are very quiet, but awesome! Great post!

Great story, Randy
I am contemplating making a change, as I definitely need one. Need to escape this crumbling empire of chaos. My child has no future here and I fear for his future.

Sounds like a good time to bug out! I know it will be worthwhile but it will also be a little more difficult with a child. Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico are all good options.

I've been looking into panama or costa rica myself. Anywhere but here in the death star

The "Death Star" Bwahahaha

Thanks for sharing, Randy. Good stuff. You might enjoy this article that was posted here not too long ago.
https://steemit.com/liberty/@escapeamericanow/those-who-can-cannot-and-will-not-leave-the-us-or-europe
I'm sure you see this too. And the reactions of friends and family can be mixed. Some resent that you'd leave a sinking ship, even while being jealous. Others are happy for you. Still, others can't understand.
Good for you for making the leap. My situation is so similar and so different at the same time that it's really tough for me to escape. Still working on it though, with Chile in my sites.

Great piece, I have met so many of the different types you mention. I get many folks messaging me saying they also want to expatriate but the truth is 99% never follow through with it.

Then you have the ones who come down and just can't hack it. Believe me culture shock is a real thing. I bet if I went to Chile I would struggle for a while once I took off the rose colored glasses. This is exactly why I recommend people visit and spend a decent amount of time somewhere before making the move.

Recently the hot place has been Colombia. The cost of living is currently very cheap if you have a USD based income. I heard Chile is more expensive like you mentioned in your piece.

Connect the dots and get out of dodge ASAP.

Yeah, I think Colombia would be my first choice, today, because of opportunity. It's probably where Chile was about 15 years ago. It won't work because of my wife's health though. You cannot escape humidity in Colombia. :)
That's where my challenge lies. Wifey is not healthy. I have to make sure I have the means to do so, wherever we go. And it can't be too hot or too humid. So I work at it and try to find a way to make it happen so we can get out of here. She's not as motivated either, because this is her comfort zone. So I'm working on smoothing the path.
A couple years ago I owned the Chile portal of EscapeArtist. But debt shenanigans made them go through a change and the new owners wouldn't honor my contracts. Otherwise, we'd already be permanent residents.
If it was just me, I'd have been gone years ago. But it's not, so I need to take care of a whole lot of other details. I'm kinda in the third category in that article, but pushing to make it happen anyway.

Oh hell EscapeArtist is one of my nightmares as well. That was our last step with my former partners. We had Panama.escapeartist.com $70K lesson learned. We had that page rocking with content but zero support from them.

It looks like you best option is finding a way to earn online. Set up Paypal business before you head out and learn how to use Bitcoin.

I was banking nicely with BTC a couple years ago through LBC. But competition and the drop in price kinda put some hurt on the market. I still make a little, but not enough.
You worked with Debbie? I still keep in touch with her. We considered doing a new site, but she went on her own. I was the GE of EFAM for all of about a month too, before tshtf. The Chile portal was getting some really good traction too, and I was just starting to get the ambassadors working more cohesively, in spite of poor support.
I tried to build a replacement, but my tech skills aren't good enough to keep up. It's there and has potential, but I never found the right developer to work with. You can check it out at http://expatembassy.com/. I had it looking a little nicer, but a young guy wanted to help. I figured, no harm. So it sits waiting to actually do something. :)

Nah, Debbie was the poor soul who they swindled into buying it after we left. Building and maintaining websites is a difficult task. I do my own now but really dislike building for others because people really do not know what they want.

We literally built our business on Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter. The websites were not built until about two years in. Steemit and other blogging platforms can really change the game!

Nice story @hilarski. 6 years ago i come to Thailand for holiday and i found my happiness here. Now i live in Thailand.

Freaking awesome, I have met so many that have chosen Thailand as well. We hope to come visit. Our life will probably stay based in Central America but being a digital nomad means we can operate from anywhere.

You get my upvote and follow. My husband and I considered Panama before we became expats, and we may still make it there, since we've already lived in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Guatemala, where we are now. I look forward to learning more about Panama. We left the U.S. about a year before you did. Here's my introduction: https://steemit.com/introduce-yourself/@steemerpat/living-the-expat-dream-on-a-chicken-bus-with-a-duck

Upvoted for you. I am learning so much from your posts here and on FascistBook. TY again for the friendship. Very good stuff for people to glean info from.

FascistBook has one purpose, to spread the word of freedom. ; )

Boom! - Congratulations :)
Amazing Post - Amazing Story - Amazing Person!

I moved, together with my whole family, to Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi, the Golden City.

To me, the move was pretty much the greatest experience in my young life.

I´m just 18, so I have my whole life ahead of me but I already know that I´ll probably won´t settle till I'm old and rusty.
The value of emigration is just too addicting.

... I know self-promotion in dirty, but I actually wrote about my emigration to Abu Dhabi, in my #introduceyourself .
Why writing it down again, if it already exists

https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@chris.roy/english-lift-the-german-community-to-the-next-level-hello-i-m-chris

Hilarski,
thank you for the​ amazing Post!
I hope you will never stop loving life,
chris.roy

Wow, 18?! I barely knew who I was at that age. Good for you, get out and explore the world. See things that your friends can only see on Instagram.

"see things that your friends can only see on Instagram"
-hilarski, 14.08.2016

That´s motivation right there :)!
Thank you for the great answer.
I wish you the best of success,
Chris

Being an expat changes your life in a big way. Some people thrive, others limp back home hating the experience. But I think everyone is better for at least trying it. And until you do, you have no right calling "your country" the best country in the world.

Thanks for the post!

Getting out and exploring the world is the best thing I ever did for myself. There is very little fear when I travel now. The first time I went to Italy in 93 I have to admit I was pretty scared to leave base. The base was my comfort zone. Once I did it the first time I was spending all of my money taking trips all over the country.

Seeing people come and go is part of the expat game.

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