hi, I’ve been living abroad for years and no small draw of this life is the extremely low cost of living for a better quality of life.

Fly to a low cost of living country and your expenses can plummet by 90% from one day to the next.

I’m happy to go into detail or answer any questions, or check out the travel community sidebar for some frequently asked questions.

haha, congratulations. is it hot there now? its just starting to warm up in japan, but I’m heading to busan next week.

Ha, it’s an interesting language, and the Duolingo course is actually pretty good, although I’m more interested in the writing system myself.

I lived in China for years and I’m gonna go visit some friends in a couple weeks.

If you’re willing to teach English, living in China is a great way to save money very quickly while enjoying the affordability and convenience mentioned above.

The value of Chinese yuan is directly dictated by the Chinese government, in contrast to the other currencies you mentioned.

A stated raise in value would erode their national manufacturing competitiveness, which is a large percent of Chinese GDP, and hit most people in the country hard, instantly erasing a proportional amount of their savings value, which would threaten Chinese political stability.

1 usd to 6 yuan from 1 usd to 7 yuan means tge 1.5 billion chinese people holding rmb lose almost 10 percent of their purchasing power instantly and directly because of government action.

one of the upsides for the Chinese government is that Chinese people are very dependent on living in China, lending political stability and citizen retention.

This encouraged dependency is effective because it really is incredibly cheap aid convenient to live in china. USD equivalent of $1 meals, $100/month apartments, new 2026 EVs with the highest safety ratings in the world for only $8000, everything delivered to your door the same or the next day for free or nominal shipping costs, cashless society, national affordable healthcare, and many more.

Any declared raise in value of the yuan destabilizes the entire system and citizen dependency that the centralized government appears to be working very hard to establish and maintain.

Many people turn back to crime because they still don’t feel like they have a choice.

Countries with lower recidivism focus on providing the social support people often need to rejoin and contribute to society.

The focus of most US incarceration systems is profit; to exploit criminals for their near-free labor while receiving taxpayer money to house those criminals.

Additionally, most states in the U.S. charge prison inmates for their incarceration. This policy is almost never referenced in TV or movies, but 42 states and DC have “pay for stay” incarceration legal frameworks, so a prisoner can be charged for meals and rent and medical care every day they are incarcerated, then get out of jail or prison in the US and be in more debt than when they went in.

It’s also difficult to get a job as a convict in the US and get access to social support, so without any legal way to support themselves and no viable social framework by which to rejoin society, many US criminals feel forced to fall back into criminal activity just to pay for rent, food, and their children.

Most Chinese markets should have the real one anyway, which is fantastic and worth looking for: it’s “mala huoguo tangdi”, or in english “spicynumb hotpot base”, in Chinese “麻辣 火锅 汤”

If you show those pictures to a Chinese person, they’ll know exactly what you’re showing them.

laziji means “chili chicken” so don’t say that, show them the picture of the block in its packaging and “麻辣 火锅 汤”, they’ll know what it is.

Yea, it’s crazy good, you’ll dig it; I have made it with larb and pretty much every form of meat and veg stir-fry and it’s always nuts good. I almost exclusively use that spice block when I cook nowadays because it’s very straightforward, portionable, delicious and quick.

Good luck with your gig!

heck yea.

If you like this cooking method at all, the daiso mala flavor is worth trying out since it’s a dollar, but this is what you really want and what I usually use for cooking almost everything:

the best part of mala and laziji(op) is the fresh sichuan peppers, which the daiso one does not use; they use roasted sichuan peppers, so it’ll be good, but flat overall, no pop and fresh mix of flavors.

Get that block above, and hot diggity dang, it’s a layer of beef tallow on top and then a hundred(or like twelve) spices just staaaacked underneath.

same process, fry whatever you want with a little oil, when it’s nearly done cut off a chunk of this stuff, throw it in, turn off the heat, stirritup and mind blown. A 1x1 inch section of this hot-pot base block is my shortcut to easy, consistent, amazing flavor.

nice.

After talking about it, it sounded really good, so I made some mala bacon.

Their laziji looks homemade, and is a different spice mix than the mala I commented with, but they’re similar dishes. Afaik, this mala packet is a new product from Daiso.

That said, if you find this packet there, you’ll be able to pan-fry a very similar dish. Cut up some chicken breast, fry it up with a little oil, right before the chicken is finished, empty half or the entire packet into the pan, turn off the heat, stir everything for 20 seconds or so, good to go.

Nice, China does chili right. I’m going back to China in a couple weeks to visit my friends and don’t tell them but a not small part of me visiting is because of the food and specifically the 麻辣.

Oh actually I’m having some 麻辣油now, found it in daiso today.

tldr: Exchange first, bring less cash.

You can bring that much and generally have to declare bringing in any amount of cash over 10,000 euros into the EU.

I’ve been traveling 15 years and find that currency exchange heavily depends on your currency and local facility of exchange, so:

i have no doubt you’ll be able to find a money changer that can exchange rial and dinar, but since they’re not as popular as other dominant currencies at the moment, it is worth checking prices in your area before you go.

If you can find a place that exchanges under 5% nominal exchange rate, there’s a good likelihood that’s a better exchange rate than you’ll find upon arrival in the EU.

I made that stuff a ton backpacking across Japan, it means one square unless it’s supposed to serve four people.

I usually used 1 to 2 squares each meal for myself, feel free to add a first cube, mix it in, then add more until you get to your desired consistency.

If it’s just you and a single meal, all 8 pieces is probably going to be too much.

Thank you. I’ve never heard of these guys, but will be posting them in the travel community now.

I’m watching the first episode in Japan, it’s a lot of fun.

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Healthcare abroad is a great option for anyone who can’t afford their medical bills or wants better quality of care.

It isn’t dumb to feel overwhelmed, though many people regret the things they didn’t do.

The “overwhelming” part of travel is usually of our own making, while the valuable part of traveling is simply living in a new world.

Don’t plan any activities, don’t rent a car. Watch movies, sleep all day in your comfortable apartment and then visit the markets or cafes when you’re hungry.

Just by being somewhere new, you’ll be learning and living; I tell everybody who asks me about traveling that travel should be slow and easy and as comfortable as you want, especially in the beginning.

Vietnam is a solid pick: the people are incredibly kind and you get to eat pho every day.

If you’re already thinking about the excitement of a new country, China or Taiwan is the way to go. If you go to Japan again, you’ll be wondering about the new country you didn’t choose half the time.

China’s mountains are amazing , their cities are fun, the food is still my favorite after 30 countries, the transportation across the entire country is very convenient and cheap, you can buy the newest electronics at rock-bottom prices, the celebrations and community activities are fun, my Chinese friends are the only people I’ve met traveling who I still stay in regular contact with, the street food the foooood.

I have four episodes dedicated to my favorite chinese foods, you should go to China and get the food.

It’s going to feel a lot different(and louder) than Japan since there’s still basically zero non-Chinese people living in China, so everyone will be confused about your presence and there won’t be much English, but if you plan your stays ahead and check the transportation(I can help you with that if you like, I lived in China for over 6 years), you’ll be good to go.

you’ll have to use alternative apps, Didi is their rideshare app, for example, but it has an English version that’s easy to sign up for and works just as easy as uber/grab/whatever you’re familiar with and of course it’s china so everything including taxis will be dirt cheap.

I also love Taiwan, and if you want a more relaxed new adventure, that’s a great place, it’s a much quieter and more organized version of China and they still use the traditional characters, which is cool to see. Taiwan is definitely worth visiting as well, but it will feel a lot like Japan and you probably won’t be surprised and confused every twenty minutes like you will be in China.

Oh, and the island sea-goddess pilgrimage in Taiwan will begin mid April, looks like the 17th this year, so there will be a lot of fairs and things going on leading up to and during that time. They walk around the island visiting different temples to honor Mazu, the resident sea goddess.

Ooh, and Taiwan has amaaaazing vegetarian buddhist food, that should be mentioned.

Okay! Reach out if you like, have fun!

Thanks, I’m flattered! Feel free to do so at the next opportunity, I’ll be there ready to not shut up about travel, haha.

heyo, I’ve been traveling for ~15 years now, been to ~30 countries so far and it continues to be extremely rewarding and fuuuun.

I’ve had travel partners now and then, though I prefer solo traveling for the absolute wide-open “guess I’ll go walk toward that mountain in the distance for 4 hours” and “guess I’ll try 8 gelato flavors today” type of freedom that is very difficult to attain traveling with others.

I’m traveling solo in Matsuyama, Japan right now. Today I decided on a whim to take a train to Imabari, hung out at a temple, found my favorite yuzu ponzu sauce at a grocery store, spent a couple hours at a public bath, practiced some Japanese, stopped at a random yakitori restaurant on the way back, talked in terrible Japanese with the staff who were very kind and gave me a free shirt I’m wearing now! Pictures of the amazing food here.

I love solo traveling so much I keep doing it and talking about it, nothing else really compares for me. it’s certainly worth looking into and If you have any specific questions or concerns, I and the travel community are here as resources for anyone interested, so feel free to reach out. Apartments, healthcare, jobs, transportation, budgeting, whatever, I’m happy to talk.

Ha, beep boop, acknowledged. Thanks