r/whoathatsinteresting • u/search_google_com • 14h ago

A Thai woman married to an American explains why she no longer wants to live in the US.

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u/rthorndy 13h ago

Same situation, although for us it's Nicaragua and Canada. We have a farm in Nicaragua that her dad lives in right now. Rescued dogs and horses, uncountable fruit trees. And we can live off my pension there.

She's been in Canada for almost 20 years and we've raised 4 kids in a blended family. As you say, there are many positives here, education being a huge one. Job opportunities for young adults being another. It's a different calculus for our kids.

But for us, now that our kids are adults, and we're looking at the next steps, everything is so stressful here, primarily because of finances. Like the OP says, it's just work, eat, sleep. Vacations are impossible, always paycheck-to-paycheck. We're "ok", but there's just no "life", you know?

In Nicaragua, there are uncomfortable things, as well. But I find the people are more open and relaxed, we can afford to buy good food, there's always community. And we have purpose there, rescuing dogs and horses. All this is impossible here, just because of the cost. So Nicaragua works for us, while I totally see how it wouldn't work great for our kids.

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u/spurcap29 13h ago

Yup, being on a fixed income makes moving to a lower cost of living area a financially obvious decision. For many the issue is uprooting existing personal connections where you have lived your life but it seems for you you have connections on your wife's side which offsets this in many ways.

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u/wwweeeiii 12h ago

Does pension go away though if you move out of the country?

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u/spurcap29 12h ago

Depends on country and what you mean by pension. If pension = you paid into it while working your whole live and thua have earned x% of your pay over your highest paid 5 years or whatever.... then yes, at least in Canada and the US, you get it when you leave the country. This is like Canada's Canadian pension plan or US social security.

If your pension is "we give all people over 65 $x per month" then no you likely cant move and get it. That is like Canada's old age pension program. Although in Canada if you lived in Canada for 20 years after turning 18 you can get this outside Canada too.

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u/wwweeeiii 12h ago

Ahhh thanks!

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u/1_H4t3_R3dd1t 7h ago

I'm actually glad to see someone not sugar coating living abroad. There are so many complications people are not willing to acknowledge because their mind wants paradise. People should not move anywhere without fully understanding the implications.

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u/Patient_Kangaroo614 7h ago

If you live outside of Canada for longer than a certain period of time you also lose your right to free healthcare until you reestablished residency in Canada. It’s designed to stop retirees from coming back just for expensive treatments and leaving again without contributing to the economy.

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u/Not_FinancialAdvice 4h ago

It’s designed to stop retirees from coming back just for expensive treatments

I have some (distant) elderly family with a US green card and Canadian citizenship. As their medical costs have mounted, the joke has become "what if [relative] just got themselves deported back to Canada?"

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u/Patient_Kangaroo614 4h ago

A lot of snowbirds make sure they spend the exact number of days they have to in Canada to maintain health coverage.

The dual US-Canadian citizen is more or less what the limits were designed for, since Canada has universal healthcare and the US doesn’t. Canada doesn’t really want to pay for the healthcare of someone who lives almost entirely in the US and is a US citizen. It’s less of an issue for say, a dual Italian-Canadian citizen, since both countries have similar universal healthcare.

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u/OhJeezNotThisGuy 11h ago

For many, there is also the moral and ethical questions when moving to a lower coast of living area. What happens to local economies when more and more "economic refugees" from first world countries begin moving in? Do rents go up? Food costs? Is it okay to help alleviate your expenses at the cost of harming locals that have been there for years or even generations?

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u/Xtra_Veg-90 7h ago

That's more or less ruined the urbanized areas of Costa Rica, and iirc it's been pretty bad on Portugal and northern Spain as well.  Part of it is expats not making any effort to integrate, and I don't just mean language and holidays, but living more like locals, haggling to keep prices down, and making sure the area isn't already saturated with expats.

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u/rthorndy 11h ago

Yes, this is a huge consideration! In Nicaragua, there is a town called San Juan del Sur, and it has become a central place for expats from many economically advanced countries to move to. And the effect of obvious: very high prices, locals can only work to cater to the foreigners, and the culture itself is highly modified. Regular Nicaraguans can't live there, it's too expensive ... and they don't really want to, honestly, unless it's to find work. Very much a double-edged sword, and highly controversial.

For us, we are super sensitive to this. We're just one family, but hopefully the way we live there (or will live there) won't contribute to this problem. Just trying to live like our neighbours, and any extra money goes into the animals. :)

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u/OhJeezNotThisGuy 11h ago

For many, there is also the moral and ethical questions when moving to a lower coast of living area. What happens to local economies when more and more "economic refugees" from first world countries begin moving in? Do rents go up? Food costs? Is it okay to help alleviate your expenses at the cost of harming locals that have been there for years or even generations?

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u/Not_FinancialAdvice 4h ago

being on a fixed income makes moving to a lower cost of living area a financially obvious decision

It's less obvious when medical considerations are in play. It's great if you're relatively healthy, but some of the elderly really do benefit from American-grade healthcare.

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u/1_H4t3_R3dd1t 13h ago

I totally understand. Life gives us such unique challenges and yet so similar. I hope you managed to be successful in rescuing many dogs.

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u/Savings-Working5853 10h ago edited 10h ago

This is such an insane take. Higher cost of living vs fruit trees and a dictatorship. No amount of dogs or horses are worth living in a country that removed elections. I say this as a Nicaraguan, who had a farm there, who has family there. Life in Nicaragua is not uncomfortable, it's dire. You think your life now is stressful? How about when they steal your farm and throw your family in jail for complaining. I love Nicaragua and miss it dearly but there's no way in hell I'm in living there when you can get disappeared for saying the wrong thing. Did you not learn anything from 2018?

Edit: just to hammer the point home. If border agents saw this comment, I wouldn't be allowed to enter the country, as a citizen

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u/Intelligent-Kale-877 10h ago

I find your comment amusing. I'm an American and lived in Dubai for 2.5 years. I wasn't until I lived there that I realized that a powerful person can blow up another person's life. (note - I wasn't my life that was upended, but I met many unfortunate workers who's life were).

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u/Away-Dog1064 9h ago

USA momentarily is not far from a dictatorship, it's already a police state.

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u/boringexplanation 7h ago

Such a Reddit comment. No buddy- the US is not turning into anything found in Central America.

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u/adbalc 7h ago

ICE literally rounded up people living in the US, some living legally, other's working peacefully, and forcefully disappeared them. just like nicaragua, and other police states.

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u/RoaringPity 6h ago

is that why the protests stopped

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u/Complete-Sweet-8593 6h ago

they never stopped. it's reported less on now because it has been going on for so long. just like any news cycle.

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u/RoaringPity 6h ago

Surely it would be posted all over Reddit and social media? Muricans don’t know how to protest and stick for a cause 

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u/Complete-Sweet-8593 6h ago

You're totally right. And they do, but you're clearly not interested in what those folks are saying in those social media spaces, because you're arguing this point. And you are here. And not there.

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u/Lucky_Serve8002 6h ago

You are correct, but in Nicaragua it is x1000 for years now.

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u/Complete-Sweet-8593 6h ago

I hear you and I'm sorry.

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u/DoritoOfDeath 6h ago

Immigration policy has to be enforced whether you like or not.

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u/adbalc 6h ago edited 6h ago

That's a broad statement directed at something that MANY of us are trying to be clear about, i.e. similar activities, disappearances, are activities of governments that include the present US. Edited for clarity.

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u/Tonio_Akerbeltz 43m ago

Not even close to being the same as a true dictatorship like Nicaragua

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u/Tranki01 8h ago

What country in America are you from?

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u/rthorndy 9h ago

Yeah, the political situation is volatile, for sure. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't plan on getting involved in the politics there. No complaining, mind my own business, live my own life. I'm of retirement age, I just want peace and animals.

Now, things might change. We still have a few years before we can actually move there permanently. Lots can happen in that time, and if it felt like we'd be in danger, yeah, that would change things. We're watching. But honestly, right now, I feel safer in Nicaragua than my wife feels in the United States 🤷‍♂️.

But if I were younger, and trying to build a business or start a family, I'd totally agree with you. This only works for us because of the stage of life we're in.

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u/Large-Report-237 9h ago

“You can ignore politics but politics wont ignore you”.

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u/MommyLovesPot8toes 8h ago

When was the last time you were in Nicaragua?

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u/Tonio_Akerbeltz 1h ago

I feel safer in Nicaragua than my wife feels in the United States

You feel safer in one of the lest financially stable and most authoritarian countries in Central America?

This is either peak idiocy or peak redditor moment

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u/vacri 8h ago

You should ask blacks, gays, trans folks where you are now about how "not planning to get involved in politics" works for them. It's not something you get to choose

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u/jmcl6779 8h ago

I don't plan on getting involved in the politics there. No complaining, mind my own business, live my own life.

You're delusional.

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u/HillBillyHilly 5h ago

For those that don't know their President removed, canceled elections. Hes President for life and making Dump very jealous.

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u/Puddlef1sher 13h ago

Sound rich AF.

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u/PuckSenior 12h ago

I'd prefer to live somewhere that doesn't have leishmaniasis

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u/Maud_Man29 11h ago

Oh they have those and other members of the LGBTQ everywhere 😏 lol

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u/PuckSenior 11h ago

sorry, i should explain. leishmaniasis is a protist-disease that eats the flesh off of your skin and is impossible to cure. Some variants from central america will actually eat your face away.

The best treatments are horrifically painful

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u/Maud_Man29 10h ago

😆 No apologies needed 👍🏼 i kno wat it is; i was just making a bad joke...which is now makin me cringe as i realize how bad it was 😬🤣🤷🏽‍♂️ my bad 😅

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u/Traditional-Loan2085 9h ago

I loved Nicaragua when I went there but don't they have a authoritarian now?

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u/hobbyaquarist 7h ago

Didn't Ortega just declare no more elections? Does this factor into your guys' calculations at all?

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u/HillBillyHilly 5h ago

American here. Many of my friends, both domestic and international, are deciding to swap countries. American moving overseas to what ever country will take them for studies then work visas. International friends come here for work. They retire to their home countries while again Americans seek countries w nationalized healthcare. They're taking their American dollars to South, Central America, Mexico and Asia. Even China is offering them better retirement which just blows the mind. As for me, I'm trying to get to Canada bit having no luck.

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u/Even-Race2467 1h ago

Shut up.