Post: #1

Short story: I've been living in China for many years and set aside enough money to buy what I think would be a comfortable life in my midwestern hometown. My plan would be to buy a couple properties (less than 150k total): rent one, the other as my residence and grow marijuana there.

With this plan and my spartan lifestyle I would be retired essentially. My state gives free healthcare to those making less than 15k annually and I think I could keep my taxes below that with lots of tax write offs from the marijuana business.

The problem: What is it like to move back to the states after living abroad for the last decade? Also, I went to uni in the sticks in a conservative stronghold. So I haven't experienced liberal fucktards much since I actively attack them if I find them in my social circle here.

Anyone freak out while back? Sometimes I get a little bit of anxiety when I go at the mall because its completely empty and that feels strange after pushing through mobs of people here. Other than that, I'm stoked to be back to a place without air pollution, lots of nature, pace of life is slower, be around family (grandparents are in bad health and we are close).

Obvious negatives: Midwest girls are fat as they come. There is incredible thirst among the people I know around there except for one player who has been a natural his whole life. That seems ugly. I will be free almost all day every day though, plenty of opportunties for day game downtown coffee shops, rock climbing gyms, cooking classes, etc.


Other choices: Could always move to another place somewhere in SEA asia for a while and work part-time, chill and barely work using a little money every month from the stash to keep afloat, work on game (which Im pretty bad compared to RVF players), just get the dick wet constantly for a while. I have not done that in the last 4 years since I focused on making bank.

So the question above stands: Has anyone made moving back to the states work? Money wise it would be a great situation for me, not really having to work, where im from is beautiful 8 months of the year with a shitty winter. The flip side - fat midwest american feminists.

Post: #2

I have been living in EE for 4 years now and do not intend to go back except when career makes it necessary. Though I don't rule it out completely.

There are better and worse places in the West to move to - depending on the lifestyle you build it can be even better. I would not mind living in Las Vegas, Miami or New York for some time, but if you intend to run Daygame in the Midwest, then that can be tough.

Best option is to test it out - move there for 1-2 months and see how it feels living there. You will know very fast whether the place agrees with you.

Post: #3

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At this point in my life, I only return to the US to see family/friends and to do business development activities. I do not view it as a place where my time is well spent in the context of dating and, as such, I do not pursue women while I am there.

I do not consider Thailand to be a good place for doing business but I love the nightlife there. As such, I don't conduct business development activities specific to that market but I partake in the social scene.

Like the markets, every country has unique competitive strengths and weaknesses in regards to what you can personally take from it.

Identify specifically what it is about the US (or any country) that works for you and visit when necessary to take advantage of that.

If you can make your income location independent then it's no longer an either-or scenario. You can be mobile and spend your time in different parts of the world, including the US, to take advantage of the unique things that give those locales a distinct advantage over the other places where you spend your time.

For the record, the only cities I can tolerate in the US at this point are NYC, SF, and Miami.

Having spent a substantial portion of my life in China and Hong Kong, I can relate to the elbow room and clean air aspects of your experience.

My humble suggestion is that you might try to avoid viewing one particular location as being the ideal spot for you - instead design your life in such a way that you can be like a window shopper between different locations, taking what you want from each but absorbing none of the negative.

Example:

-Own an internet business based in Hong Kong, with a territorial tax system that means your offshore-produced profits will not be taxed

-Spend your time in Bangkok and live in a cush $500 USD per month condo in the center of town and enjoy the benefits of being a single man in the local dating market

-Take occasional trips to the US to see friends and family

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Post: #4

Quote:You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love, back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame, back home to exile, to escape to Europe and some foreign land, back home to lyricism, to singing just for singing's sake, back home to aestheticism, to one's youthful idea of 'the artist' and the all-sufficiency of 'art' and 'beauty' and 'love,' back home to the ivory tower, back home to places in the country, to the cottage in Bermude, away from all the strife and conflict of the world, back home to the father you have lost and have been looking for, back home to someone who can help you, save you, ease the burden for you, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time--back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.

It's a good quote.

My personal experience is that after having lived abroad for a long time, you will never feel 'home' like you did before. You can feel more at ease, enjoy the familiarity, the language, the fresh air all that which you mention, but if you think that you will return now triumphant to your hometown and expect everything to both be as you remember it and at the same time, want to be recognized as the new man you are, then it will be a disappointment.

Prolonged travel changes you for good. Like YMG wrote, I think it's more realistic and better to consider your home country like you would any potential expat opportunity. It will not be like a paradise lost, even with a lot of money. Don't move back home unless you see yourself moving there purely from expat considerations.

Post: #5

(12-23-2014 07:22 AM)ball dont lie Wrote:  So the question above stands: Has anyone made moving back to the states work? Money wise it would be a great situation for me, not really having to work, where im from is beautiful 8 months of the year with a shitty winter. The flip side - fat midwest american feminists.

Why would you want to move back to the States but not get a job? I can tell you that you're not going to find much better paid work than if you live in America.

This country provides a man opportunity to still make it, especially with a small business. The Midwest is actually ideal to start a small business given logistics and the well-educated and productive workforce.

I moved back to the States six years ago because I got offered a job that paid me 3X as much as in Europe. While I miss living back in the Old World, having a lot more money makes life ultimately better. I also got engaged, but it's to an EE whom I met in NYC.

The local women weren't that bad (I lived for a few years in Upstate NY). You can still get your rocks off as long as you've got some semblance of game and use multiple channels. But for truly beautiful women, you're going to have to settle in a major poosy market like NYC, LA, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Vegas, etc.

If you don't want to work, I'd suggest cheaper places with better climes and women, e.g., SE Asia, South America. Or Eastern Europe with better women and cities. Otherwise I think you'd get bored laying around in your hometown, trying to game the local women.

This country is set up to make and spend money, not to really enjoy life to its fullest. Not unless you're really rich.

Post: #6

The only people that would be happy to get back to the US would likely be [unenlightened] Black men. Landwhales are "better" than goose eggs to them.

Post: #7

@ YMG Solid advice!

Post: #8

I don't know if I am enjoying it or I have gotten used to it, but it's not as bad as I worried it would be when I moved back.

Post: #9

(12-23-2014 10:20 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  ...but if you intend to run Daygame in the Midwest, then that can be tough.

Best option is to test it out - move there for 1-2 months and see how it feels living there. You will know very fast whether the place agrees with you.

Good advice here. I have a lead to grow pot in the States and that seems like a pretty easy lifestyle. Need to move out to my buddies place, buy a mattress and throw it in his garage and live there for a bit, checking it out.

Post: #10

(12-23-2014 12:00 PM)PUA_Rachacha Wrote:  

(12-23-2014 07:22 AM)ball dont lie Wrote:  So the question above stands: Has anyone made moving back to the states work? Money wise it would be a great situation for me, not really having to work, where im from is beautiful 8 months of the year with a shitty winter. The flip side - fat midwest american feminists.

1) Why would you want to move back to the States but not get a job? I can tell you that you're not going to find much better paid work than if you live in America.

2) This country is set up to make and spend money, not to really enjoy life to its fullest. Not unless you're really rich.

1) Yeah I would move back to grow pot and work on a website. I have a lot of material for teaching English and think I could make some money from all the people getting into that.

2) I agree the USA is set-up to spend money, but doesnt mean I have to do it. I think the USA is great because when I want to spend money, I have great options for food, fun, recreation, but I dont have to spend. A frugal life is very possible. Live near the city center, get a bike, have some properties and relax.

How long have you been living abroad? I'm getting kinda of tired of dealing with the stupidity of a foreign culture. The stupidities of my own culture I know well enough. Maybe a place with less stupid people would be the answer. Where is that?

Post: #11

In addition to what YMG wrote, I'd also say that getting into the cannabis business is risky.

It's too fragile.

Do you really want to build up a nice business only to have the federal government come fuck you up and haul you off to jail?

State law and the constitution means jack shit to those people.

Without a drug war, their grip on billions of taxpayer dollars weakens.

They're not letting that go without a fight.

Find an anti-fragile business that grants you mobility, a good income, and frees your time.

Seems to me that throwing down an anchor somewhere in fly-over country and getting into a precarious business is asking to get double fucked.

Post: #12

(12-26-2014 02:14 AM)VincentVinturi Wrote:  In addition to what YMG wrote, I'd also say that getting into the cannabis business is risky.

It's too fragile.

Do you really want to build up a nice business only to have the federal government come fuck you up and haul you off to jail?

State law and the constitution means jack shit to those people.

Without a drug war, their grip on billions of taxpayer dollars weakens.

They're not letting that go without a fight.

Find an anti-fragile business that grants you mobility, a good income, and frees your time.

Seems to me that throwing down an anchor somewhere in fly-over country and getting into a precarious business is asking to get double fucked.

I'd agree with this.

There is always an element of risk in a startup but it's not good if the risk is the random whims of a borderline police state government.

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Post: #13

Go to Washington or Colorado to do you weed business. You will not be shut down in either place assuming you get proper licensing (which can be pricey). When legalized, it is not nearly as profitable, for obvious reasons, but I'm sure you would be ablebto support a simple lifestyle quite comfortably.

As for moving back to the States, you will be able to adapt and learn to enjoy it again. It could take a year or even more, but honestly for how much well-deserved USA hate there is on this board, it is really quite great for almost everything except skinny feminine girls (this could be changing for the better, only time will tell). Money is good. Just like always, you have to be smart, but the USA is fine and you can learn to love it if tou try. But of course, right now, other places are cheaper and have better women. It just depends on your life goals and what gives you happiness in the here and now.

Post: #14

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Here's a question for you, balldontlie - you have a lot of experience dealing with China, right?

Have you ever considered doing one of the following:

1. Going to HK/Shenzhen/Guangzhou and starting a physical products business with a kickstarter campaign, a la the guys from The Elevator Life and Enter China?

Here's an example of one of those types of ventures:

http://www.originalgrain.com/

I get the feeling that you are still in your twenties. Teaching part time while hustling on an entrepreneurial venture could be a very good use of your time. Even if you fail you will learn a ton from your experience and not be destitute.

2. Find a skilled Chinese programmer/hacker/dev friend who is willing and interested in building a prototype for a tech startup with you, gain some initial user traction with your minimum viable product, and then raise an angel investment round in Hong Kong? Or possibly venture capital?

Here's an example of a bootstrapped Hong Kong startup that I really like:

http://www.italki.com

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My point of view is that it might be worth trying something daring, bold, and entrepreneurial in China/Asia before calling it quits and returning to the US. You've already invested all this time in the region, right?

Not everyone is entrepreneurial and cut out for launching ventures, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

I don't know you personally, although I do know that you seem to aspire to do something entrepreneurial. Being physically in Asia gives you a unique competitive edge and ability to identify and seize opportunities.

I would consider trying to launch something in Asia and seeing how far you can get in 1-2 years.

If you crash and burn you will have at least learned a lot from the experience.

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Post: #15

Family is first.
So you may want to examine your decision in terms of your relationship with your grandparents, and then plan around that.
Or at least try and figure out a way to spend more time with them a couple times a year while you are living abroad.

Post: #16

Two years abroad was enough for me.
First I thought it was only the post-travel blues giving me a hard time, but now I know it's something permanent.

Home doesn't feel as home anymore.

Post: #17

(12-26-2014 02:52 PM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  Family is first.
So you may want to examine your decision in terms of your relationship with your grandparents, and then plan around that.
Or at least try and figure out a way to spend more time with them a couple times a year while you are living abroad.

While your parents are alive and you like them I agree.

But-
--once your grandparents and parents are dead
--and your siblings if any are either beaten down
--or so conventional they would think you were insane for adventuring in 3rd world shitholes and making out with much younger 18+ women

There is no one in my family whom I want to know who I am.

I don't really relate to my half-nieces etc who would just view me as a
bizarre old fart.

Unless I start my own family, I'm alone in the world.

Post: #18

(12-23-2014 07:22 AM)ball dont lie Wrote:  Short story: I've been living in China for many years and set aside enough money to buy what I think would be a comfortable life in my midwestern hometown.

Some questions I have
--After all that exotic experience won't you feel like a 40 year old in high school going back to your hometown? Isn't everyone going to seem so boring after all you've seen?

--As someone over 50 I remind you that youth is very highly valued in the sexual market place in America. It only gets worse there, both from the point of view of absolutes-- obesity, feminist domination ( for a while at least) -- and your declining relative value so if you are 35 , 45 you are investing in a place that will become more rejecting sexually as you age.

The decline in opportunity from 45 to 55 was HUGE for me in America.
When I was 45, early 20s chicks were pretty attainable, at 55 no more.

--One thing I really agree on is the negative of air pollution. Those particles go down in your lungs and don't come out. There is no treatment, and it is insidious, you don't notice the decline in functioning in your lungs until you've permanently lost some percentage of functioning.

I want to get out of this Philippines city within 9 months.

Post: #19

Four years for me, coming back was nice for about 6 months and then I realized the place had not changed.

I will leave again, I hope. Trouble is I won't look back, I am close with my parents who are thankfully in good health.

I am closing in on half a century, I may not look it but mentally it is there.

Post: #20

I remember coming back to the US after about a year in China. I got off the plane and was immediately engulfed by fatasses while making my way to immigration. I felt dazed, as if I had just stepped into some alternate reality. It's been over a year since my return but I still feel like I'm in purgatory, just waiting till I can gtfo of here and return to Asia again. I've enjoyed some solitary moments like hiking and camping in Wyoming and Montana, target shooting deep in the woods, climbing mountains in Colorado etc. The USA does have nature, I'll give it that.

But as far as the people and society in general? Fuck that noise. Between fugly manbeasts and politically-correct wankers, it's a horror show. Sure there are some diamonds in the rough, but I have neither the energy nor the inclination to seek them out while my chief focus remains to put myself in a position where I can leave this place again.

With all that said, I can imagine settling back here for the long haul later on in life. I feel no desire for kids or a family at the moment (I'm mid 20s), but I suppose it could happen. If I end up settling down and have a high income, there are worse ways to live life than having a house in the Pacific Northwest, hiking in the forests, daysailing along the isolated coastline etc. But while I'm still young and on the make? Fuck no. I can't leave soon enough.

Post: #21

Since moving abroad and back I have come to appreciate my family a lot more. I am still in my twenties and I suppose I am just ending the phase of needing to be away from them to establish myself on my own, and can see from a slight distance how wonderfulmy family is compared to most of the world out there.

If I did not have that I would be back abroad.

Post: #22

I have no reason to return so I doubt that I will. I never miss anything about my home country, indeed when I meet people from there overseas I often feel animosity towards them by default. I don't really care about family or really care to tall to them, and my friends were never much use to me and still aren't.

Hence unless I land a fat FIFO paycheck or 6month-on contract for some reason, I won't return.

Post: #23

That sounds depressing Phoenix and full of anger damn

Post: #24

I haven't moved back but I increased the amount of time I spend in the US in recent years to 3-4 months per year. I'd agree with people who say the US has nothing to offer if your alternative is living in NY/LA/SF or other large US city. If you're in the Midwest or Rocky Mountain states though, there are definitely some benefits. In material terms, you can easily have the best quality of life available (relatively large home, easy to buy quality food direct from farmers, car, cheap big box and online stores). You can have guns. There's plenty of open space. You drive rather than take the subway. You have easy access to the Rockies, outdoor activities. Unlimited and immediate access to English language movies and books. Quality of health care is generally good. Large, cheap gyms. People are friendly. Fatness isn't too bad by American standards and, if you're in a university town, there should be plenty of not-yet-fat girls.

Whether you can be satisfied there probably depends on your priorities and stage of life. If you are ready to be settled down and comfortable and pursue your established interests, no problem. If you priorities are still new experiences and meeting new people, you might want to be in a larger city, in which case the only good options are outside the US.

Post: #25

(12-27-2014 07:45 AM)Brian Shima Wrote:  That sounds depressing Phoenix and full of anger damn

Haha yeah I guess .
I did lose around a decade of happiness in my youth though, due to all the factors mentioned and several other related ones.
This year has actually been relatively pleasant, in fact I comfortably cleared the top bracket of the 'Has 2015 been good to you' poll which is light years from the life I once knew. I've probably had more happiness in the last year or so than I've had since I was a child, and it's come from buying a plane ticket out of a culture I despise, and firmly (but not completely) cutting off all old friends and family, who were by and large useless human beings.

So yeah really probably won't be returning .