Geomax Slummaxxing

[Reptilian7662]

What would be the absolute cheapest country to geomax long-term if you're willing to slummax and live like a local? I want to escape from the wagie lifestyle ASAP and I'm wondering what the best country/city would be to make your money last the longest. I understand you're not going to get HTB living this lifestyle, but I don't mind a MTB.

I heard for example Thailand is actually cheaper than The Philippines, but how can that be when The Philippines is so much less developed?

Please bless me with your pearls of wisdom

 

[Orientalist]

Africa, no? Somewhere like Kenya. Noone’s willing to do that though. But yeah, philippines purchasing power is surprisingly shit

 

[geneblackman]

you can get a 1 bedroom apartment in a non-white part of argentina for like $200 a month in a low tier city

 

[enrique]

you can get a 1 bedroom apartment in a non-white part of argentina for like $200 a month in a low tier city

you can even get that in buenos aires, however no balcony, 20square meters and a lot of neighbors and in a shanty place of town, i wouldnt move just for that, but in the end it all depends on what you are willing to do, for how long, for what purpose, and what you got to lose

 

[myeyes]

A big thing will be visa. It costs quite a lot of money doing visa runs especially flights.
In Asia, this leaves you with
- Thailand if you can get DTV
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Phlippines

Another thing is English, if you go to a small city with 200k population and the English level is super bad, even getting a mtb who speaks English might be hard.

And then price. When people say Philippines is more expensive they’re mainly talking about the cities. In the countryside it’s still partly true but things get way cheaper and the difference is small.

My recommendation is research small cities in the Philippines with populations of 100-200k people, these will be really cheap and you’ll probably be close to the beach and islands and stuff and will be better than city slum living. Or you can try Africa or South America but these could be dangerous

 

[14passport]

A big cost will be visas, so you need to find somewhere where getting a visa is easy and cheap, or factor in the cost of doing visa runs.
Healthcare is also important.

You can live for cheap in lots of places, I have a friend living in Kobe, Japan and he pays 300$/month for rent for a small house, you can get restaraunt meals for under 5$ (at home way cheaper) and public transport is cheap as fuck. Not only poor countries are cheap, many countries are surprisingly affordable outside of big cities.

Pretty much all of SEA can be extremely cheap. In Bangkok you have condos for 200-300$/month, or less, if you are willing to live far enough from the city center.
Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam.... you have lots of countries that can be extremely cheap. China is also very cheap outside of Shanghai, Beijing and certain tier 1 areas.

But realistically you want to make a list of requirements and then narrow it down, because i assume you are not willing to live in an appartment in the slums of Manila without AC for 150$ per month.

You can always marry someone for a visa, if you find a perfect country for you, and are willing to do that.

 

[Reptilian7662]

Good points, didn't think about the visa yet. Will have to do some research. I'm also gonna do some exploratory work in rural Kenya/Uganda/Philippines/Cambodia and see where the best value for money is. I know RyanBoundless was living for $600 on the edge of Lake Victoria in Uganda.

South America doesn't appeal to me because they're so extraverted and the countries there are generally more dangerous.

 

[Reptilian7662]

I'm getting really burnt out from my job. I think I really need at least a year geomaxxing break. I was just looking at AirBnBs in Uganda and the price to quality ratio is really bad compared to SEA. So for long-term Africa is just not worth the cost.

- Thailand if you can get DTV
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Phlippines

What are the visas you're referring to and how much do they cost and for how long are they?

 

[myeyes]

I'm getting really burnt out from my job. I think I really need at least a year geomaxxing break. I was just looking at AirBnBs in Uganda and the price to quality ratio is really bad compared to SEA. So for long-term Africa is just not worth the cost.

What are the visas you're referring to and how much do they cost and for how long are they?

Thailand DTV visa, can stay 1 year at a time but most do 6 months because reentering is much easier than renewal. Lasts 5 years, really cheap for the length.

Philippines can extent tourist visa for up to 3 years from government offices, small cost each time, interval gets longer the more you do it.

Other two I don’t know, I previously asked ChatGPT which countries in Asia have good long term cheap low requirement visas and those 4 were the only ones

 

[Orientalist]

A big thing will be visa. It costs quite a lot of money doing visa runs especially flights.
In Asia, this leaves you with
- Thailand if you can get DTV
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Phlippines

Noone has mentioned Malayisa, which has great QOL:COL ratio, English, and 3 month stay without a visa (i.e. free) which can be extended 2 months, or just do a visa run to Vietnam/PH or something. I'm not sure how hard you can slummaxx there though since I've only been to KL and Penang which were at least slightly more expensive than Vietnam for example