I loved Switzerland. I visited Zurich, Lucerne, and Basel in '09. But cost of living and exchange rates are definitely a downside. I had to pay 100 CHF for a dress shirt in Zurich. I literally ran out of money while I was there.

fwiw, there aren't too many people in South America without any white blood, and somewhere around 150 million are pure white. But if your hair is a half inch long you'll stand out like a sore thumb regardless.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogra...rica#Ethnicity

Zurich is very expansive that's a fact. I'd say that the french speaking part of Switzerland is a lot more "social"...Like I said in Geneva u'll pay approx 1000dollars for a decent appartment, but still, these days not a lot are free..That saying if u can have a resident pass here, things are very smooth, the state will always pay you the minimum (2300CHF) even if u dont work..I mean here there is no crime because there r no poors simple as that..

Now 100CHF for a shirt seems to me expansive for sure u can find places with decent price like everywhere, a lot of tricks if u know the city and overall everything is a little cheaper than in other big euro cities (london paris) except like I said the food

Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia

Lived here for about

Cost of Living: 7 - Pretty cheap up here but saying that it was geared more for the tourist trade so watch where you shop. Eating out may vary but all tastes are catered for
Recreation: 10 - Gateway to the great barrier reef and home to the beautiful, tropical Whitsunday Islands, rainforest's, snorkeling, sky diving and just
plain old sun bathing the night life is always vibrant with a lot of people from allover the world enjoying them selfs. Women from allover the world 11/10 imo.
How Scary?: 10 - Very safe you will only find trouble if you look for it first world country very little crime.
Poker Playing: 0 -No live games apart from home games just a bunch of ******s as for online 10 all you need is a connection.
How Easy to Get There and Stay There?: 8 - Easy to get a 12month working holiday visa all sorts of visa options available but they are pretty tight at the border so you would need your paper work in order.

Great thread- more on Croatia, Pattaya, Phnom Penh please.

Also, comments on weed laws would be much appreciated, thanks!

Anyone with info/experience with Costa Rica?

ehh, everyone rating how scary differently

Sometimes I see a high number and think it's a good thing, or a low number and think it's a bad thing, and blehh.

Wish that one part was more defined, but other than that love the thread.

Hi guys, these have been great

I'm uploading all these into my blog/site to use as a resource. I'm not going to credit you guys by default as it's a huge pain in the ass to PM everyone.

So,

if you want credit for posting a review or if you'd like to re-write please send me a PM

I'll post a link here soon with everything uploaded. I'm aiming to provide a clean and organized list of links and information that will help you choose your new home. I'm not doing this for a profit or anything, it's been my personal project for awhile and now is the best time to start.

Best of luck

Anyone that have lived a longer time in Belize or Costa Rica? Please post.

My experiense is that Costa Rica is the safest country in Latin America.
Panama is nice but really not safe.
Some counties like El-Salvador guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua is out of the question.

By the way support poker players alliance.

Morocco:

Personal experience: yes, lived there.

Cost of Living: 9, dirt, dirt cheap.

Nightlife: 2. drinking and promiscuity are very looked down upon, though while they still happen, gotta jump through major hoops.

How Scary: 7. generally, very safe. dont live in casablanca, though.

Poker: 2. If you find a game, it will be soft. good luck finding a game, Islam's not so down with gambling.

Difficulty of getting there: easy from europe (direct flights from Spain, France, and the UK), hard from anywhere else (gotta connect through limited flights to Morocco).

Morocco is my fave country on earth but probably not super consistent with the poker lifestyle.

Andrew

That's quite a generous rating for how scary, I've been there a few times and would give it a 4 or 5. I really enjoyed the food in Maroc (there should be a category for food imo), got through loads of tagines. Some good surf there too which is always a good bonus. For the poker category, live is tough, online is alright though, I remember doing some grinding when the surf was flat, although I can't remember if I was able to play Partypoker or not, might of been in Ipoker.

Anyone with info/experiance in New Zealand?

I'm pretty curious about NZ and AUS for poker, mostly Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.

one problem with australia is that it's internet service is usually sold by the amount, not unlimited for a fee. This means somebody using a lot of internet every day can easily get charged a whole lot relative to other places.

as for coolness of cities, you probably don't want brisbane (kinda a big, less exciting place). Sydney is awesome, beautiful, and very posh. Melbourne is less posh, more down to earth. I prefer Melbourne, but both are pretty sweet.

Andrew

I'm kind of an old person trapped in a young person's body. Neither me nor my girlfriend party or socialize very much. We like the outdoors a lot so my assumption was that Sydney and Melbourne wouldn't be worth the higher price tag of living there.

One other question though, which of the major Australian cities has the most art museums/nonprofits/galleries?

Edit: I did go to Melbourne once for Aussie Millions a few years ago and thought it was an awesome city, I just read in a lot of places that finding a place to rent is really difficult.

I would like to see this as well.

Along with Costa Rica do Belize please. Belize City specifically would be nice too.

I know almost enough about the cost of living and the nice/not nice neighbor hoods/ providences. I am most concerned about high speed internet and if the local ladies like white dudes?

Also in Costa Rica how hard is it to stay there longer than 6 months, Belize this seems like a cake walk and a $300 US fee.

All of this is stuff I have read on the internet in the time I have been looking into this country (much longer than since black Friday.)

Belize, Mainly Belize City

Cost of Living: 9/10
From what I can tell appartments are cheap and the US$ goes a long way. $250 will get you an entry level place, for $1000US you would probably be looking at I would think the local food will be cheap. I am not sure about the price of high speed internet or its availability.

Crime: 3/10
There are gated communities and a lot of appartments advertise barred windows and gated complexes. I am sure there are high end gated communities but I do not know their locations exactly but would assume they are located in Ambergiris Bay. Back to the crime, it sounds like in most neighborhoods if you leave for a week your things will not be there when you get back. No vacation from your vacation allowed. As for actual violence, itis a tourist destination and typically tourist destinations try to protect outsiders.

Poker ?/10 B&M I would guess probably not very many. There is for sure one casino that says it has a pokerroom. On the up side there is no taxes on income in this country.

Recreation 5/10
Jungles and Mayan temples to tropical beaches or Rock climbing. It has it all. As for Night clubs, it looks like they have beachside bar type places, as for a dnce club I have no idea. Just found bowling and a fitness center at the Princess Hotel and Casino, among other things. OH, and a presidential Suite is only $500 US a night!!!

Ease of entry/residency:
10/10- This is just speculation but it would seem to get a work permit it cost $300 US and filling out a short form. So hopefully not very difficult to obtain. With out it you may stay in the country for up to 6 months.

Women ?/10
No clue, with out dance clubs to make us look cool compared to them under black lights I have no idea how we would get a local girl or if they like foreigners. Sticking with traditional tourist destination locals they would probably enjoy us.

Getting a job ?/10
Not sure why you would go to Belize looking for a job tbh .


Top ten places to live in Belize

Hong Kong
Cost of Living: 3/10
Hong Kong is usually cheaper than New York, but not by too much. There are good deals, though-- here's a link to a studio right near one of the main social scenes for about 1350 USD: http://hongkong.craigslist.hk/apa/2273783254.html . In general, spendier than most, though.
Safety: 10/10
Hong Kong is very, very safe.
Poker: 8/10 Online poker is technically illegal, but generally ignored. It's 38 miles to Macau.
Recreation: 8/10
Not too much in the way of sports, but beautiful tropical beaches are only a short ferry ride (less than an hour, usually) away. Can't really beat that.
Easy of Entry: 9/10
Super easy for Americans to set up shop in Hong Kong.
Political security: 7/10
Still maintains all the rules that existed under UK authority, though there is always the danger of China doing something crazy.
Women: ?/10
Beautiful women from everywhere in the world, don't really know what else to say here.


Hong Kong is basically New York City but more modernized, great weather, and incredible food. English is pretty widely spoken, they have an incredibly good subway system and its very, very easy to get back to the USA (direct flights to everywhere). Short trip to Macau for top level degeneracy. Plus, there's Disneyland. It's an unbelievably vibrant city.
Party scene is excellent with all the people working in finance looking to party hard. LKF is a totally sweet party scene, TST a little dirtier but also way fun, and it gets much dirtier than that. Something for all types.

I've traveled all over the worlds, HK is in my top 4 world places (the other three being west coast of US, NYC, southern france/spain/italy).

Andrew

How? Americans can only stay for 90 days and British for 180 days, without a visa and you are not allowed to work, etc.

Would be great to hear about Uruguay if anyone has any info

Uruguay is not a very exciting place to live.

I've heard punta del este is pretty nice

What about London?

expensive city