I would also like to hear about Costa Rica. My main questions would be.

1. Price of living near beaches

2. How reliable is internet

3. How hard is it to get a bank account set up

4. How easy would it be to be living legally over there

Nice thread, I wanted to create a similar thread, because i m looking for a nice place where i can stay during my holiday. But the most important factors for me are:
1) girls- it has to be ez to get a beautifull hooker (i mean the best option would be if the prostition was legal there and there would be red light district or something like that)
2) girls- but not hookers, just party girls who come there to have fun
3) clubs and nightlife
4) it has to be european city (eventually south american) cos i m going to Thailand for a year and will be ****ing asian girls there so just want to enjoy caucasian during holiday lol :P
5) it has to be on the seaside
6) weather must be nice

Any ideas guys?

updated my guide for moving abroad:

www.highstakeslife.com/movingabroad

one note about Airlie beach-- there isnt a beach. fun town. no beach.

Andrew

Country - Macau
Firsthand Experience? - Yes, lived in hotels for a couple months.

avoid lol nightlife is world class and people speak English (sort of), but other than that it is shyte.

Can you please compare the pokergames to the games in Vegas or another place? I am only interested in the value of them, taking rake etc into consideration.

Thanks!

Just as you said, they are good but not awesome. The player pools are small and the number of regs per table is huge - but most of the regs aren't great unless you are in the highest stakes games. Chinese nits mostly.

I haven't played in LA or Vegas in 2-3 years so couldn't give an accurate comparison. The obscene rake is certainly a factor particularly in the low to mid stakes games and might well eat up most or all of any extra value.

City/Country - San Sebastian, Spain (Much of the info can apply to other Spanish cities).

Firsthand Experience - Yes, Lived here 2 years.

Cost of Living - 3/10 - Western Europe isn't cheap and San Sebastian is the most expensive city in Spain. Having said that, San Seb is still much cheaper than some other European cities like London, Paris etc. A room in an apartment is likely to be round 300-400 Euro per month and a 2 bedroom apartment 700-1200 Euro a month + bills (depending on how nicer place you want). I'm paying 1100 a month for a 3bdrm place.

Recreation - 7/10-10/10? (depends on your idea of recreation) - Tough to put a rating out of 10 because it really depends on what you're into.

If you're really into your outdoor activities like surfing, snowboarding/skiing, hiking, kayaking, cycling etc. Then San Seb is probably a 10/10 for you. San Seb is one of very few Euro cities to have a decent surf break in the city, and many of Europe's best surf breaks are within an hour drive north or south. Skiing/boarding is within a 2-3 hour drive away in the French and Spanish Pyrenees. There's loads of hiking options around and other outdoor activities. San Seb also has a team in the worlds 2nd best league (with the worlds best players) La Liga. Biarritz and Bayonne often play big rugby matches here.

If you're really into your partying and going out clubbing every night and to big concerts every other night then San Seb is probably closer to a 6 or 7/10 outside of Summer(10/10 in Summer though, a lot going on from mid June till Mid Sep). San Seb is fairly small (population of 180,000 more or less) and therefore the nightlife doesn't compare to places like Barcelona, Madrid or London. Outside of Summer bars are generally only busy Thursday- Saturdays (unless their is a fiesta on) and their isn't a lot of variety in the nightlife.

How Scary? - 10/10 - Very safe here, you're not going to encounter any problems unless you really make a big effort to go searching for/creating problems.

Poker Playing? - 8/10 - No problems with online play. For live play, the casino here offers most nights. The times I've been there has just been 1 table with it either being a sit and go or NL cash game. Games are very soft in my limited experience there but the rake is high. They also have monthly tourney's ranging with a reasonably sized buy-in, which I'm yet to play.

Getting here - 5/10 - The local airport is tiny and I think only fly's domestically, Bilbao and Biarritz airports are around a 1 hour bus trip away and between them they have pretty good links to the rest of Europe. Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Airports are roughly 6 hours away on a train and obviously have good links to everywhere.

Staying here - 10/10 for Euros, 7/10 for others. - Like everywhere else in the Shengen zone, those from non EU Western countries automatically get 3 month tourist visas on entry. To stay longer the main options are...
-Get Sponsored through your job (won't work for poker players obv)
- Get a student visa through a language school (pretty easy from what I've heard)
-Overstay (do-able from what I understand but obv not something I should recommend)

To stay permanently your best bet is to meet a nice Spanish girl and get a partnership visa with her or get married.

I also understand that if you live here 3 years and are able to prove it you are able to apply for Spanish residency.

For better info on this stuff check out this site.. http://www.spainexpat.com/

Other stuff -

Food - Great for the high rollers out there, more Michelin stars per capita than any other city in the world, 2 of the top 10 and 4 of the top 50 restaurants in the world in or near San Seb (according to restaurant magazine). San Seb also has the best Tapas (pintxos) here in all of Spain. Only thing San Seb lacks in food is variety, most of the food here is Spanish/Basque style, not many good Asian/Indian/Arab food options here.

Language - English here is OK compared to the rest of Spain, I came not knowing any Spanish and managed to survive (I speak OK Spanish now). Locals here also are happy to speak English if they know any (unlike 40km north in France). Having said that, the more Spanish you know the easier life is here, anyone looking to come here long term should make an effort to learn and speak some Spanish. Basque is also spoken here but I wouldn't worry about learning that since it's near impossible to learn and all the locals here speak Spanish anyway.

Any other questions let me know.

Really, London is no good? I'm nearby in Berlin and considering moving there. I don't really like extreme cold weather, although I am fine with 15-20 degrees. Or should I just go back to somewhere in Asia and be a baller there with the same amount of money spent?

I can't answer that question for you and if you couldn't sense the sarcasm in my post you need to visit the sarcasm detector shop for a tune up.

I wouldn't want to live in London but millions of people do so what do I know.

Can anybody do Chinese cities? Shenzhen/Guangzhou/Zhuhai would be fantastic.

lol wat

When I was there I got pickpocketed, nearly mugged and there was a bombing. I probably ran bad but a 10/10 is laughable anywhere in Spain due to theft alone.

In terms of safety, Costa Rica > Nicaragua > Panama > Honduras > El Salvador = Guatemala

just had these written up:

http://www.highstakeslife.com/cebu/
http://www.highstakeslife.com/montreal/

Nice job!

In Cebu, what are the highest daily ran NL Holdem games, and where are they?

Thanks!

Sounds to me like you ran extremely bad. The chance of being affected by a bomb or terrorist attack in San Seb these days is so small that its not worth considering (yes I've heard of ETA).

I agree that pickpocketing and petty theft is an issue worth considering in Barcelona, Madrid and the South of Spain. Here outside of Summer its a non-issue. In Summer its a very minor issue but as long as you use a little vigilance and common sense then you're very unlikely to encounter problems unless you run very bad.

what about Philippines? any Americans grinding an online living there? id like too hear more about that. how hard is it to get residency there? open a bank account?

im a full time online player and am going to move. just dont know where?

Belize

So are you guys interested in just living in a country for 90 days then leaving? Ive read this whole thread but it seems that most of these places described are just temporary stays with the exception of a few. Im trying to find more info on permanent moves as a US citizen, so if anyone has something please post.

I found this website (http://www.sovereign-investor.com/la...?code=X190LA17), but Im not sure exactly what it is offering. Too tired to investigate further at the moment.

Great thread btw, keep it up!!

Unless you are getting a job there or going to school or in some cases marrying a local or opening a business/buying property etc - you can't just move places and live there indefinitely. This is pretty constant throughout the world.

However there are loopholes of varying degrees of difficulty throughout the world. For instance, 90%+ of the people living in Thailand do not 'live in Thailand' as far as the government is concerned - they are basically just long term tourists and maybe a few are students.

The reason for this is there aren't a whole lot of people in our circumstance - young with the means to support themselves long term and not needing to work in the country, legally or otherwise. So immigration is not really setup to handle people like us. They assume if you want to go to a country with no source of income and stay for a long time that you'll actually be working there illegally, so they setup safeguards to prevent this. If you want to stay and play online or whatever you just need to figure out how to work your way into their existing framework and figure out a way to legally stay. In most cases this is possible with some effort (Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, The Philippines, Costa Rica, Argentina and many more). In a few it is damned near impossible (such as Macau and Western Europe, for example).

In other words first figure out where you want to live - then figure out a way to make it work. In most cases, where there is a will there is a way.

City/Country Newcastle, England

Lived there for 23 years.
Cost of Living - 5/10 Newcastle is fairly cheap compared to London ect, therefore I'd say it's pretty average for a city. For renting a shared house, I've paid around 300 pound per month, including council tax in Jesmond which is a pretty nice area, although mainly students. Average beer is around 2.50, then around 3-3.50 in late bars/clubs. There are a lot of restaurants in Newcastle and there is loads of Italian restaurants which generally have pizza and pasta for 5 or 6 pound during the day, then they are around 7 or 8 pound after 7 or so.

Recreation 6/10. There isn't much to do in Newcastle apart from drink, and watch football. The party scene is very good (often rated in the top 20 citys or so for partying) the party scene caters for everyone, upper class, your average guy, young ones intent on getting hammered, and those that just want to pick up a dirty slag in the infamous Bigg Market. FWIW the Bigg Market is the most known place to drink in, but I wouldn't advise anyone to go there, full of 18 year olds thinking they are hard looking for a fight, and roided up meat heads who are think they own the place. Having said that I have been known to end up in there, as it can be a good laugh if you are hammered and don't have much idea of your surroundings. The best scene for 20-30 year olds would be the Diamond strip, which has grew over the past few years originally quite up market, but due to its popularity it has attracted a few dickheads, albeit not many. Newcaslt also has a highly rated club called Digital which often has world class DJ's playing. All the nightlife in Newcastle is 10 minutes walk away from each other maximum.

Newcaslte is a passionate city about it's football club Newcastle United, which if you walk down the main shopping street Northumberland Street you will see several people in a Newcastle top, short sleeved, no matter the weather. Newcastle's stadium holds 52,000 and anyone in Newcastle should go to a game for the atmosphere, a ticket will cost 25 pound, although when a big game is on, tickets will be difficult to obtain.

Apart from that Newcastle has everything you expect in a city, lots of gyms, cinemas a few parks and museums that I've never bothered with to be honest.

How Scary? 3 - Not scary at all, there will are a few dodgy suburbs but I find thats the case for most major cities, main problem over here is young teenagers hasseling you for money or a cigarette, although that's quite rare. The Bigg Market on a night can be quite scary and if you walk down it there is a fair chance someone will mouth of at you if you are well dressed or look like a tourist.

Poker Playing 6/10 Tournaments every night in the 3 casinos in the city with cash games every night and 24 hours on a weekend or 50p-50p, 50p/1 and 1/2, Aspers in the Gate has dealers choice with blinds of 5/5. Online is easy over here with no restrictions, internet speeds are around 10mb.

Getting here 9/10 - Real easy to get to, quite a lot of places do flights direct in Europe, and some in Asia. For anywhere else just fly into London then London is an hours flight or 4 hour train ride away.

Women 5/10 - Newcastle is a strange city for women, the stereo type is women wearing barely anything, with too much fake tan. These girls are found in the Bigg Market and the Gate, although the Gate does have a few stunners, most of them quite cheap though. Most of the decent girls in Newcastle are students from the 2 universities here, Northumbria and Newcastle. These are found in the Diamond Strip mainly, although on a student night venues and promotions frequently change, so just go out on any given night and someone will be standing outside The Gate handing out flyers telling you where to go, so just go there for student fanny. Most of the best looking girls in Newcastle probably go to Tup Tup, which is mainly for footballers and black guys. Sadly Newcaslte is a city where women chase after footballers. There are quite a few hot girls, but the amound of fat girls and orange girls massively outweigh them.

City/Country - Balneário Camboriú, Brazil
Cost of Living - 6- Could live with only 1.8k dollars. I live very very well with 3.1 dollars. Live like a king with 5k per month. My spending (of about 3.1 per month) includes living in a 4 suite apartment at the beach with 2 roommates, and full-time maid who comes everyday and does everything.
How Scary - 10 Not at all. Police everywhere, no bums, no slams, no favelas. Just like a very nice suburb area in the U.S.
Poker Playing - 8 -3 poker clubs for live poker withing 10 minutes of driving. Other poker clubs and private games in cities nearby.
Getting here - 9, gotta fly to Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro or Brasilia and get a connection to Navegantes (NVT)
Women - 10... I mean, 10 isnt right, its more like 1000!!!! Not kidding...

Please, read my post and you can see a lot more information about this city.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/92...ayers-1039226/

[QUOTE=NCSU07;26513636]So are you guys interested in just living in a country for 90 days then leaving? Ive read this whole thread but it seems that most of these places described are just temporary stays with the exception of a few. Im trying to find more info on permanent moves as a US citizen, so if anyone has something please post.

+1000 more info on permanent places please!

Seems like the Phillipines looks solid so far?

TL