Post: #1

I can't be the same one with this problem. All of us have a long wishlist of locations we want to tear through, but don't have the time to cover down on even a fraction of them. So, in the end, how do you decide on which places to hit, and leave the others for another day?

Post: #2

I'm watching Samantha Brown in Rio on TV right now. I want to go. I also want to fuck her. I think about it all day and can't choose so I feel you.

Funny thing..I got a wedding invitation yesterday and it got me thinking..The guy getting married owes me 2k. I texted him..Don't you owe me money? He said yes..I think $500. No dude! 2k! Do you think you're going to get married while you owe me cash? I don't think so. I want to go to England so you better pay me. I expect that money this week and will book a flight to anywhere depends on how I feel that day.

Maybe we can get this in sync so I could cockblock you in another strange land.

Post: #3

I have a somewhat mechanical approach to it.

For every place I break it down like this:
1. Known conveniences, such as pipelining prospects, quality of local girls, easiness of local girls.
2. Tourist factors. Sightseeing quality, access and quality of transport (be it taxi, bus or metro)
3. Cost. Both the trip and the general cost of things at the destination.
4. Recommendation of peers. And this is by people whose voice I trust, such as many people on this forum who have actually gone places.

All these carry a 25% weight and I rank them on a factor of 1-5 and repeat the entire process for every possible location. I then have an actual index here I can compare places. Granted, this isn't always set in stone there are always intangibles but I've found this system to produce a very solid top 3.

Post: #4

Firstly, I determine what the local language of the country of my destination. Although I am very eager to pick up new languages and I don't mind the discomfort of learning (as long as the locals don't snob me for being a foreigner). So countries that would be hard/dangerous for me to move around as a non English speaker I avoid for now, unless I am friends with a native of that country.
Secondly, if that is in place, I look for a place where there are ripe business opportunities. A product (or products) that I can move without too much hassle there. For pleasure, I look for accessible hot lizards, with nicely shaped, fresh smelling onions.

That's pretty much it. I'm addicted to positive exposure.

Post: #5

As a "Location Independant" worker/traveller(or whatever I am), I tend to spend extended time in new countries and ply my trade.

First of all, cost of living, I quite often like to experience countries that somewhat economically shafted so I can act like a big shot that I can't afford to do so much in my own country

Then there is Internet Connection, I sometimes have to make some very serious business calls, so I can't deal with bad connections etc.

I also prefer:

Sun
Good Food
Ease of renting apartments.
Favourable visa regulations
Ocean
And of course sexy girls.

I'm currently planning on an imminent trip to GOA, India.

Weather - Tick
Food - Tick
Visa - Not on arrival to my disgust, but only 3-5 days processing time
Girls - Lots of Russian girls, sorry Indians but no thanks.
Ocean - Tick
Cheap - Tick Tick
Internet - FAIL!! - I am horrified to hear that India has some of the lowest internet speeds in the world. Many properties don't even have fixed line internet in Goa, they use Mobile Broadband which delivers speeds of less than 2 Mbps.

Will bust out a data sheet for sure.

Post: #6

@ vicious and Deb- Nice equations. There are so many factors it isn't easy. Ease of renting an apartment is high on my list now, as well as potential biz opportunities. Another important factor is knowing someone on the ground. This could make a HUGE difference.

Another wild card factor to consider is how your background can play into social proofing. My current job will pay off big time in Georgia and Jordan. I'd be a fool not to cash in on it. In fact, I'm going to. Because of this I've had to bump other destinations off the list.

Post: #7

I look at conditions right now and try and seize opportunities.

- Seasons (if the weather is shitty, bump it down the list and do it another time)
- Plane ticket. A great price is an incentive to go right now. Also, can I get this place as a stopover on the way to somewhere else I was going anyway?
- Exchange rate is always a factor. Is it good now, and do I expect it to get better if I go next year instead?
- Any festivals or events that are essential to the trip - is it the right time to hit those?
- Hookups with locals and traveling friends. If there's a good reason to meet people there right now, give it priority
- Is the place likely to change soon? Then consider going sooner rather than later (for example, Cuba for travelers who want to experience it as it is now)

Post: #8

I will present my criteria for choosing a place over another.I really had to search blindly before I reached some conclusions.So what matters:

1.Race.Always choose slavic over germanic.The genes talk in every case.

2.Religion.The more atheist the better.(exception Poland a special case)

3.GDP/capita.It has to be lower than 20000$ or better lower than 10000$.Here there are many objections.For example Poland with 21000$ currently is excellent place.However Poland is a special case.(I will explain later)

4.Average income.The magic number is 300$ per month.If the average income exceeds this number you have development of middle class.Middle class hinders easy pick up in a magnitude of matters.

For example Ukraine is now at 220$ so it is still rather good.At one moment at 2008 the average reached 300$ and things had become much more difficult.I thought Ukraine was at the step of vanishing as a promising destination until crisis of 2008 lowered the value of the grivnya to 50% and salaries were accordingly reduced.This made Ukraine again a top destination.

Belarus which was always 30% economically better than Ukraine now faces severe problems and without Russian help(integration to Russia) it is on the brick to collapse.For first time in 2011 at some moments the nominal wages in Belarus declined to lower level than the Ukrainian average.So Belarus becomes more and more interesting.Russia is atstalemate now while it was in Poland's level 4 years ago.

5.Unemployment.The best is unemployment over 20%.Imagine Poland before 2004 when unemployment was at 25% and in young persons at 50%.This meant that in every family only one person was working and the girls had a disposable income about 40-50$ per month.You could probably fuck like Rocco these days(although there was some blocking by polish men who had not yet largely immigrated this happened after 2004 and EU accession).

Czech republic with a ridiculously low uemployment rate of 4% is one of the most difficult coutries despite atheism prevalence(93%) which makes girls very open minded.

You can use a mathematical formula by multiplying everyone of these factors by a stable number.

For example without having been to Africa before I suspect that Africa is the best place since average income there is the lowest.I would however avoid muslim regions to decrease the religion factor.

Then again we have the polish paradox.Why in Poland in western regions the women are more promiscuous than in eastern regions as recent polish study showed despite the latter being less economically advanced and with more unemployment?There cultural reasons come into play probably more influence of western regions by German libertarian ideas transformed into free sex in polish society.

Anyway I will also try to analyze the effects of communism and why it makes things much better.

Post: #9

(02-20-2012 10:49 AM)el mechanico Wrote:  I'm watching Samantha Brown in Rio on TV right now. I want to go. I also want to fuck her. I think about it all day and can't choose so I feel you.

Funny thing..I got a wedding invitation yesterday and it got me thinking..The guy getting married owes me 2k. I texted him..Don't you owe me money? He said yes..I think $500. No dude! 2k! Do you think you're going to get married while you owe me cash? I don't think so. I want to go to England so you better pay me. I expect that money this week and will book a flight to anywhere depends on how I feel that day.

Maybe we can get this in sync so I could cockblock you in another strange land.

Holy Shit ! A similar thing happened to me. An ex-buddy (who never paid me the money i lent him so i cut him off) of mine asked me to borrow $2k for his business. Dude was a really good friend of mine, and he only gave me $1500 of it back. He got married within a year of me loaning him the dough, and moved out of town. Incidentally, he never payed me back so i cut him off. But in hindsight, I should have taken his ass to small claims court. So, moral of the story is, a good friend does not screw over his buddy for a small loan. And if he does, then he is not your true friend, a you should do whatever possible to collect. Good luck Mechanico, don't let it go too long unpaid or he will screw you.

Post: #10

(02-20-2012 05:32 PM)Deb Auchery Wrote:  First of all, cost of living, I quite often like to experience countries that somewhat economically shafted so I can act like a big shot that I can't afford to do so much in my own country.

Pretty much my only knock against someplace like Panama. The country uses the U.S. Dollar as the de-facto currency. I like to go places where I can spend money and not really care about the amount.