BANGKOK, THAILAND:

COST OF LIVING: 9/10.

average hotel: $25 - 35 per night

average apartment: $250-400 month

best way to burn through the money is the partying to much plus you tip everybody so it adds up if you love to party.

Skytrain: 30 cents... great way to get around

INTERNET POKER: 2/10
illegal but you keep it on the down-low then your good. wifi sucks balls.. really sucks balls. landlines might be better.

DANGER:
10/10
'YEAH BUDDY **** YOU MAN YOU DONT KNOW ME, YEAH WALK AWAY BUD, YEAH **** YOU MAN **** YOU' : if this is you then stay at home, walk away from everything, pay the extra $2 even if you know your white ass is being hustled, thai's stick together and if you think of breaking the law dont. 18 year old caught with e's got thirty years so no drugs ever.

WOMEN:
9/10
think of it as an adult fun park, its cool but it aint real. dont be a fool and fall in love.
easy rule
lots of make-up: ladyboy. simple.

Cool. Where can I surf? Where can I ride some powder? Where can I get some sun? Where can I walk around without seeing a bunch of people who look like they wanna kill themselves? Where can I talk to a complete stranger like in other civilized countries? Where can I walk around with coloured skin without being stared at?

/rant

According to Forbes they are the 3rd "happiest" country in the world, so at least all the ones walking around not looking like they are about to top themselves will have big smiles on their face.

Just a heads up for Americans hoping to relocate for longer than 3 or 6 months: If you are under 30 years of age, then the Working Holiday Visa is an easy way to gain access to New Zealand, Australia, or Ireland for a year. I filled out an application on NZ's government website that took about 5 minutes and I was approved for the Visa 3 days later. I couldn't believe how painless the process was.

Country - Chengdu, China
Firsthand Experience? - Lived there 4 months and will go back soon

10rmb = $1.5

Cost of Living - 8 - Very cheap imo. Much cheaper than Shanghai/Beijing. Taxis will get you anywhere around the city for 10-15rmb. I've lived in a modern 4000rmb apartment (3 ppl) with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, big living room, terrace and A/C everywhere. There was even a swimming pool and private gym in the complex. Cleaning lady cost us 10rmb/hour and she did EVERYTHING. Eating out depends... You can get a Chinese dish for just a couple of yuan, or (relatively decent) western food for a little less than back home. A fancy buffet dinner at the 5-star Shangri-La hotel costs about 180rmb/person and is about the nicest you can get in Chengdu. There's an awesome all-you-can-eat Japanese place where you can have all the food, beer and sake in the world for only 100rmb. They rather see you leave when you start dancing on the tables though. Electronics are a little bit cheaper than in EU, but not as cheap as I expected them to be (I don't speak Chinese so I can't bargain). Clothes are cheap as well, if u can find pieces that fit you.

Recreation - 7 - I would never recommend anyone to visit Chengdu for a holiday trip. Life there rocks, but only if you have friends and know where to go. Since there are not a lot of foreigners, almost all white people "know" eachother and hook up at the same bars. If you like an easy, laidback lifestyle then Chengdu will definately suit you. Nightlife can be pretty epic as well. I had the time of my life over there. Seriously. It took me about 1.5 months to adapt though.

How Scary - 8 - Not scary at all. I haven't seen a single place where I didn't feel safe. Day and night. Chengdu people are the most laidback people I ever met in my life. They are also super friendly (and curious) to foreigners, and during 4 months NOBODY tried to sell me anything. You won't see a lot of westerners though.

Poker Playing - 2 - Gambling is illegal in China. Haven't seen any poker games around and don't know if they exist. Macau isn't hard to reach though. I've played online without a VPN and managed to get by. Only recommend Stars as their software gave the best connection. Internet is ****ed up slow for visiting foreign sites if you are used to western speeds. I had a 2Mbps ADSL connection for about 120rmb/month which gave me 75-125kbps dl speed. I read about a Fibernet connectoin with 2mb up and down guaranteed but it would cost you 2000rmb/month (wtf?).

How Easy to Get There and Stay There? - 5 - Getting a long-term visa can be hard as a tourist. You'd have to travel back and forth to HK. I know a guy who could get u a 6month Business visa for a 2400rmb fee though. Applying at a university will get you a 1 year visa without any problems. Btw in daily life nobody speaks English so having some Chinese basics could come in handy.

Questions and/or pics just ask.

Btw that apartment was fully furnished including Tv, washing machine, etc.. You can easily find a place for half the price (and less) if you cut down on the luxury.

How correct is the above statement? Looking for similar information on thailand (re: entering and coming back). Tks

Check out the Thailand travel guide and the thailand threads for info about that

Did anyone do Sweden yet?

Cost of Living: 4/10

Everyone knows Scandinavia is more expensive, but if you have a job here you will earn enough to live happily. If you're living off poker, especially if your earnings are in USD, not so much.

Recreation: 7/10

There's a ton of beautiful completely unspoilt wilderness, including Sarek national park which is one of Europe's last true wildernesses, many well-maintained hiking trails, and a **** ton of wintersports related activities. Nightlife varies a lot depending on where you live. Nightlife in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and the other big cities is pretty okay, in smaller cities it can be pretty so-so or non-existent.

As well, people here are in general pretty-good looking, I rarely see fat people and I see probably 1000s of girls every day that you could call a 6 or a 7 (if you're into thin blondes), so in terms of relationship prospects it's pretty good. If you're American you're probably well in pretty easily, Swedes ****ing love the USA/the UK.

Scariness: 10/10

The least scary place I've ever lived. As a woman I feel totally safe wandering around at 2AM on a Saturday night. Everyone speaks great English. The police are polite and pretty much like police in most civilised countries.

The only problem I think is that Swedes in general are pretty racist, even if they try very hard to make out that they're not, you only have to hang out around them for a period of time that they're comfortable talking naturally in front of you and you find out pretty fast that they're racists. They are not so overtly racist, they hide it by referring to middle-eastern and black folk as "immigrants". One time I was with a group of people and one of them was complaining about immigrants and I was like, "you know I'm an immigrant right?" and he's like "yeah but you're... you know", by which he meant that I'm white. Swedes in general think of middle eastern/black people as being illiterate ******s. Yes I know I'm generalising, but I don't think I've come across a single Swede yet in over a year of living here who has a normal attitude towards other ethnicities.

Poker playing - I have no idea, I live in a small ****ty town and Sweden's tax laws are arcane to me so I've never bothered trying to play poker here.

Easiness of getting in - 10/10 (for me)

As an EU citizen I simply took a train here and filled in a form at the local municipality office when I arrived. I got a 2 year resident permit and was able to live here and work whilst I waited for it. The residence permit was just a formality really that gave me access to healthcare-related stuff. After the permit expires I will prob get a permanent residence permit no problem.

I have no idea how it is for non-Europeans to get access. I think for Americans and so on it's obviously more difficult, you probably need to have some kind of relationship with someone here or a job for it to be viable. But again, I'm not really sure. I would be interested in hearing about how it is for others actually, if anyone knows.

wat?

What do you mean wat? If you're making money from online poker the money isn't going to go anywhere near as far here as it would in other parts of the world.

e: I guess I phrased it wrong, obviously you can earn enough via poker to live well, but the value for money is a lot less. If you have the option of earning money from online poker and living anywhere in the world, then Sweden is a pretty poor choice in terms of what you're going to get for your money.

ok. thought you were saying working a real job is better than playing poker in sweden since you were kinda comparing the two

Hey, looking for someone with knowledge of Goa, India, or other cheap Asian cities/places near the beach.

Goa seems nice with good climate, cheap living, some casinos, online poker seems legal etc.

About poker in Goa:
http://openthemagazine.com/article/l...s-and-the-atms

And check the promotions on PokerStars they are running sats for one Event in Goa:
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/goa/

Or this portal for more info:
http://www.pokerguru.in/

Its the swedish immigration system that blows so much. We place all immigrants in the same areas, which makes the natives racists 'cause the multicultural parts crashes. In combination with lack of jobs and poverty, its no wonder why criminal activities take place more often today in our country.

But let's not go into a Flashback-discussion here .

Today I would say Sweden is 7-8/10 in safety. The bigger cities like Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo can be very dangerous actually late nights, especially if you're a girl. The number of rape indicents has increased significantly over the last couple of years, but also personal robbery and assault. The smaller towns are usually extremely safe though.

Not going to do a big review right now, but I'm a NZ citizen and now live in Melbourne. PM me with questions or ask here, I'll try to remember to do a write-up later

Miami, Florida USA
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

1st Hand Experience: Live here

Cost of Living - 7
Expensive compared to 2nd World countries, but significantly cheaper than most big cities in the world & cheaper than most major cities (New York, L.A., San Fran, D.C.) in USA.

Real estate has really taken a beating here over the last 3-4 years. Cost of buying a house or condo is down at least 50% from highs. Rental info. here: http://miami.craigslist.org/apa/

Lots of Europeans & South Americans fly to Miami solely to shop, as clothes, electronics & such are both cheaper here due to lower taxes and currency exchange rates. On average, prices of food & clothes are probably 30-50% cheaper in south Florida than in in France, U.K., Switzerland, etc.

Recreation: 7
South Beach is well known for it's nightlife/party scene, though IMO it's overrated. High end clubs charge $20-$30 cover charge to enter, beers are $8-$12, mixed drinks $10-$20. At average neighborhood bars beers are $4-$6, mixed drinks $6-$8.

Live music scene not so good, much better if you're into electronica, house, trance, hip-hop, etc.

Lots of good beaches & hot women, waves suck so surfing does, too. Scuba diving is so-so. Good kite surfing. Lots of opportunities for golf & tennis. OK fishing.

Public transportation sucks, so a car is an absolute must if you're going to live or spend any significant amount of time in South Florida.

Europeans will probably find summer temperatures oppressively hot & humid. Best weather is from November to March.

How Scary? - 6
Like any big city, if you're drunk, loud, or stupid, &/or walking in the wrong area late at night, trouble will likely find you. South Beach & downtown Miami definitely get very sketchy-looking after 2AM.

Poker Playing - 8
There are six poker rooms within 30 miles of each other. 5% rake up to max $5 plus sometimes another $1 per pot for bad beat jackpots, high hand jackpots. Limit poker is not very popular, but you can play 1/2NL up to 5/10NL at most rooms. Some rooms spread 10/20NL hold'em.

How Easy to Get There and Stay There? 8
Very easy from Central & South America & from anywhere in USA, probably pretty easy from Europe, a bit more difficult & expensive from Asia.

I have no idea about visas.

Girls - 8 to 10
Loads of hot women all around, helps if you're bi-lingual (English & Spanish) & have money.

Food: 6
IMO the restaurants & food here is lacking compared to other big U.S. cities.

Been lurking the travel forum for a good while and now is the time I do my part.

Yes you're spot on. If anyone is considering to move to Stockholm and live like a baller on anything less than <$5000 a month, good luck with that! You can definately live a normal life but forget partying like it's Thailand. You will just have the average "svensson" life ( maybe slightly above with $5000 ).

The other problem is if you play on a poker site outside of EU you will pay 30% taxes on your winnings ( yes winnings not profit ) AND YOU CANT DEDUCT YOUR BUY INS. That means if you lose a $1 million pot and next hand you win a $1m pot. You will tax $300k even though your profit is zero.

Now I know this sounds completely insanse and even the most evil tax man can't do this well in a way you are right if you are thinking that. Because in reality I don't know if anyone has actually been taxed this way even though it's the law. I for one have been taxed once for my winnings outside of EU and they didn't give a **** about asking about my revenue, I just stated my profit and they were fine with taxing 30% on my profit and not my revenue. So I didn't get royally screwed.

Easy solution: NEVER EVER PLAY ON NONE-EU SITE. On EU sites it's completely 100% tax free. There have been discussions on declaring poker as a game of skill now and that will lead to taxes... not a problem unless you play on staying here for a good while.

Suggest you read this if you are not white and planning to move to Sweden:

My 2 cents on the racism part since I am a "middle eastern" living in Sweden.

"hey are not so overtly racist, they hide it by referring to middle-eastern and black folk as "immigrants". One time I was with a group of people and one of them was complaining about immigrants and I was like, "you know I'm an immigrant right?" and he's like "yeah but you're... you know""

You are spot on again, I think I've only experienced direct racism to my face like once or twice by swedes. You're definately right about "immigrants" being code word for blacks and middle easterns. Me and my friends saw 2 skinheads in central Stockholm a month ago and we were shocked. We're like "dude, they are skinheads we never get the chance to see one". One of my friends wanted that we go up to them and ask if we could take a picture together. ( think he wanted to post it on facebook and have a lol-moment ).

My point is the racism here is not violent. Stockholm is not Moscow where you might get beaten up in the subway or just walking down the street for being non-white. If you are scared of being beat up by racists in Stockholm you are really really really paranoid...

Even though I am middle eastern I have also experienced "but you are okay" comment. I think it's because I speak fluent swedish with no accent so he didn't consider me to be a illiterate ****** even though I considered him to be one. :

If anyone have more questions about Sweden/Stockholm I'm happy to answer.

Country - MEXICO – NOTHERN BAJA.
(ROSARITO BEACH & ENSENADA)
Firsthand Experience? - Yes

Cost of Living - 10 - Basic items such as food and rent are cheap, especially in comparison to other cities in California, for example a Ocean Front Condo 1600 sq/ft, nicely furnished, amenities, security and privacy for around 1000 Dlls/month.
Gas is 30-40% less expensive compared with US, here you will need a car to move around (US license plate are OK) or use Taxis that are also relative inexpensive.
• Grocery bill around 250 dollars a month for a small family.
• Cost of a movie for two people from less than 11 dollars including popcorn.
• Doctor’s visits starting at around 20 dollars.
• Internet Access and Cable TV from 60 dollars.
• Game of golf starting at 35 dollars
• Hair Salon hair cut and color can start at around 27 dollars
• Eating out
• McDonalds, less than 4.50 for a super size combo
• Chinese food, less than 4.50 for a “lunch” (enough for 2 people)
• Traditional Mexican food, complete meals from around 4 dollars.
• 5 star meal starts at 20 dollars per person.

Recreation - 8 - Nightlife is abundant and cheap (especially during the summer), beach activities, natural parks; wine country region just 35 min away. And if by any chance you miss the US, San Diego California is only a 25 drive.
How Scary - 7 - Most of the city is safe and if you live in a gated community, don’t need to worry. Now if you are looking for trouble, you will find it easily just like in any other place in the world.
Poker Playing - 10 - There is no live poker but online poker is 100% legal and not taxable (less than 99K/year), the Banking system is complicated at the beginning (they want to prevent money laundry) , but with the proper documentation (not that hard) and $1000 Dlls you can open an account free of charge.
How Easy to Get There and Stay There? - 10 – Just 25 minutes south of South of San Diego or 2hrs from Los Angeles. You don’t need a visa to stay in Northern Baja but it’s a good idea to get a FM3 (Tourist visa good for one year). If you want more information fell free to email me.

Bit harsh on the woman.Generally not the best looking in the world overall but you do find some crackers but further around the country more woman are down to earth ,better looking but less slutty.

Overall dont come to ireland looking for woman.

anyone anything about colombia?

Medellín

Cost of Living - 8

Rent, food, drinks, taxis all pretty cheap compared to typical first-world cities of similar size.

Recreation - 3

If you enjoy nightlife/getting drunk, Medellín is similar to most other cities in the world, except that the people you meet there are more boring than average. If you enjoy anything other than drinking, you're pretty much out of luck. Despite having the best weather in the world, there is practically nothing that can be done outdoors in or near the city. Much of the city is effectively unwalkable due to the mountainous terrain and due to its design, and the few public parks you can find are made mostly of concrete. Indoor options consist mostly of massive shopping malls. Basic things like sporting events and concerts don't hardly exist, or at least not at a level for most people to care about.

Safety - 7

Despite being one of the most violent cities in the world, it's actually very safe if you stay in nice areas and don't go looking for trouble. Crime is mostly gang-related and the collateral damage at this point in time is pretty minimal. The safe and unsafe areas of the city are segregated pretty well and can be identified pretty easily by the quality of construction. Most locals are very protective of foreigners and will go out of their way to help strangers.

Poker Playing - ?

Live poker exists but isn't worth playing. There's nothing to stop you from playing online. I don't know anything about cashing out there post-Black Friday as an American, but I have no reason to think it would be any more of a problem than in most other countries.

How easy to get there and stay there? - 10

You get a tourist visa for 2 months when you arrive. You can get one month extensions until you've stayed a total of 6 months in the calendar year. My research indicates that getting temporary residency is very straightforward and easy for foreigners that have money.



I liked Bogotá much more, but I wasn't there long enough to know how happy I would be if I lived there long-term. Safety was worse, and recreation seemed better, but still with some of the same drawbacks present in Medellín.

My opinion contrasts pretty strongly with what others have posted on 2p2, but I don't think it's too far off from the general consensus of what people have said to me in person (and there is some overlap in those two groups). So, make of that what you will.

Hey I really appreciate your post, thanks a lot!

Have you been in other parts of colombia as well? The beaches or cali for example? And have you been staying in an apartment or hotel there?

I stayed in an apartment in Medellín, a hostel in Bogotá, and I didn't visit any other parts of the country.

Can somebody do Malta please and Brighton.