Post: #26

Budapest indeed an excellent city with never ending things to do. I found the women to be very exotic, but younger locals to be really insular whether money-oriented or not. Older ppl were polite, but it's the access (lack of) to women of our preferences that'd be the deal breaker for me.

Post: #27

Argentinian peso has dropped 30% against the USD in 6 months (official rate, black market may have dropped more).

If you have location independent income it is probably a good year to be there.

Post: #28

Budapest is cheap, and there is a never ending stream of tourists in the summer. Hungarian girls are cute, but if you scan the pics on badoo etc you will see that they do not look after themselves in the manner of Ukrainian, Russian or Baltic chicks. 300E-700E a month will get you a place in central Budapest, depending on quality. You can get v high quality for 900E.

On the downside, I fear the city has been played out somewhat thanks to the stag night guys and the backpackers. Hungarians are over exposed to foreigners and with the exception of of young girls from the country (usually students in Budapest) you will not have any intrinsic value to them when you open them.

On the upside, unlike Belgrade, Zagreb and other Balkan cities the girls are not conservative and you will get laid. It's a beautiful city, and you can always bang a tourist chick or a foreign student studying in Budapest (lots of Swedes, Germans and Brazilians) if she is DTF on a free night. And, as above, thankfully there are plenty of girls from the countryside in Budapest.

If you are just looking to be a player, and bang lots of chicks quickly then Budapest is a great option. Bucharest is probably easier to bang chicks, but the city isn't as nice.

I'm interested to hear what people think about Sofia and Athens?

Post: #29

(02-12-2014 11:15 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  I always heard raves about Lisbon, Portugal. Cheapest Western European capital, great weather year long, fantastic food and wine, lots to do and see. Beautiful and historic city. Good and vibrant nightlife, friendly locals, mind you not the best local talent but has tons of foreigners and a huge Brazilian community. Very very high in my list of places to semi settle when the time comes.

Lisbon sucks man. I went there in April 2013. It was completely dead. There's like no young adults in their 20s. They've all left because there's no jobs. It is cheap by European standards for sure. I think it'd be a great place to take a chick on a cheap vacay if you're into that sort of thing. There's a lot of history and the food is pretty good (lots of garlic, onions, used in the dishes and excellent cod fish). Wine isn't bad either and can be had on the cheap.

The local talent sucks too. As for a game trip, I simply don't recommend it. I did discover a cool little beach town though called Cascais which is like 40 minutes from downtown Lisbon by train. The infrastructure is advanced and looks like the nicer parts of San Diego. It would be a cool place to post up in your later years if you really want somewhere low key to hideout, but there are no game targets out there.

That said, I was surprised by the diversity. People from all of Portugal's former colonies live there (African countries, Macau, Goa, etc). In fact, when I first arrived at the airport, if someone hadn't told me where I was at, I would have assumed an African country. Lots of people from Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde live in Lisbon. Race relations seemed very harmonious too. Better than anywhere else I've been in Europe. Strikingly different from that of neighboring Spain.

Post: #30

I know this is suprising, but. . .

Tokyo Hands down.

Osaka is good too and its cheaper.

Rents are somewhat expensive, but if you make like 50K+ its actually VERY affordable. Awesome public transportation basically means that Logistics are pretty much always in your favor. I used to live about a 10-15 minute WALK from Shinjuku(the #2 major hub sub city of Tokyo - #1 being Shibuya) which was like 3 minute train ride, I'd just have girls come to my place after they were finished with work, since it was so central that it was ALWAYS on the way from wherever.

Now Shibuya, and Roppongi/Azabu/areas (and omotesando) are pretty expensive BUT, all of those areas are about 10-15 minutes away by train.

The only issue is getting a visa. You could get a job teachign English to get a 1 year 3 year or 5 year visa, quit the job and your visa will still be active you'll just have to pay taxes. . .which can be expensive. But still If you're makign 50K+ a year in a decent bachelor pad, its not really that bad.

You can also set up your own company there and get a Visa that way. You can set up your location independant company there and do fine.

Its way more affordable that L.A. SF and NYC

Post: #31

Speakeasy, I've been doing a lot of reading about a place called Salinas in Ecuador. Apparently its very cheap but a pretty nice place. The furthest north I made it in SA was Lima so I cant vouch for the beach town myself but I've read nothing but good things.

Of course Ecuador isn't the best of destinations and I think this particular peninsula only has like 250k people and the town of Salinas like 40k. But during high season it is suppose to be packed.

Post: #32

This thread appeals to me as I'm earning my money in USD and always on the lookout for better value. If you're getting paid in USD you might want to look at:

Argentina - the Argentinian Peso has taken a beating recently and you can get almost three times more peso for your dollars than four years ago, not including the black market.




Brazil - the Brazilian Real has gotten weaker. While a couple of years ago you would only get 1.5 reals for a dollar, nowadays it's closer to 2.5.




Dominican Republic - pretty good value for your money




Indonesia - it's looking pretty good right now, we're getting almost 12.000 rupiah for an american dollar whereas a few years ago it was closer to 8500.




The Philippines - it was about 40 peso for a dollar when I was there early last year and it was already amazingly cheap. Now it's about 45.




Moldova - not bad, the best rate of the last few years.




Russia - back to 36 roubles per USD, whereas a coupe of years ago it was around 28.

Post: #33

Tokyo is my dream city to post up for a few years. I went crazy when I was there. Best city I ever went to!

In terms of visas, how about a student visa where you take Japanese lessons at a university? Or even a cultural visa where say you'd be taking judo, karate, or heck even calligraphy or flower arrangement courses. Lol is there such a thing?

I'd love to see you post a data sheet on living in Tokyo or around it man.

HH,
Agreed that I wouldn't go to Lisbon to pick up locals, but more with an already hot gf, post up a few months and using it as a base to travel around Europe and northern Africa.

(02-16-2014 12:28 AM)CJ_W Wrote:  I know this is suprising, but. . .

Tokyo Hands down.

Osaka is good too and its cheaper.

Rents are somewhat expensive, but if you make like 50K+ its actually VERY affordable. Awesome public transportation basically means that Logistics are pretty much always in your favor. I used to live about a 10-15 minute WALK from Shinjuku(the #2 major hub sub city of Tokyo - #1 being Shibuya) which was like 3 minute train ride, I'd just have girls come to my place after they were finished with work, since it was so central that it was ALWAYS on the way from wherever.

Now Shibuya, and Roppongi/Azabu/areas (and omotesando) are pretty expensive BUT, all of those areas are about 10-15 minutes away by train.

The only issue is getting a visa. You could get a job teachign English to get a 1 year 3 year or 5 year visa, quit the job and your visa will still be active you'll just have to pay taxes. . .which can be expensive. But still If you're makign 50K+ a year in a decent bachelor pad, its not really that bad.

You can also set up your own company there and get a Visa that way. You can set up your location independant company there and do fine.

Its way more affordable that L.A. SF and NYC

Post: #34

I should probably make a thread on this but take my word for it : Portugal and specifically Lisbon is improving a lot in terms of girls, I go to a Social Sciences university and the evolution is stunning, both in terms of looks and slutiness, this has deeper ramifications which would require a longer post to expand on.

Post: #35

Lemon,
By all means go ahead and post in a new thread your thoughts and impressions on living in Lisbon. Very interested to read whats up from someone who is currently living there.

Post: #36

VP I still maintain that it is not at all an ideal place for gaming and much less for economic reasons (in terms of getting a job, for sparing money and living comfortably it can be excellent) but I feel there are a few things that need some clarification. I'll pop up a post soon, maybe a datasheet combined one. Even though as a Portuguese I'm not exactly in a foreigner's POV in terms of gaming here but anyway!

Post: #37

Not sure whether to bump this or create a new thread. But since the dollar went on a rampage this year...

What are some of the best value intl cities of 2015?

Post: #38

(02-15-2015 02:06 PM)The Llort Wrote:  Not sure whether to bump this or create a new thread. But since the dollar went on a rampage this year...

What are some of the best value intl cities of 2015?

In terms of Cost of Living here is a decent resource: http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/index

Not sure 100% sure of the accuracy as I've only been to a dozen or so of these cities listed.

Post: #39

(02-15-2015 04:27 PM)Designate Wrote:  

(02-15-2015 02:06 PM)The Llort Wrote:  Not sure whether to bump this or create a new thread. But since the dollar went on a rampage this year...

What are some of the best value intl cities of 2015?

In terms of Cost of Living here is a decent resource: http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/index

Not sure 100% sure of the accuracy as I've only been to a dozen or so of these cities listed.

According to that ranking, Kiev is the best value city in the world, cheaper than Delhi. That couldn't possibly be right. Or can it?!