The Expat Files - 05/04/12

-My Latin American Insider’s seminar is all booked up but if you’re interested in getting on the waiting list for the Guatemala event, email me attheexpatfiles@gmail.com with the word WAITING LIST in the subject line or better yet, go to www.expatwisdom.com and sign in with your email to get full details and updates as well as any info on last minute openings.

-Be sure to go to www.expatwisdom.com and get my big free report “17 Undiscovered Latin American Paradises”

This report came about after so many requests by folks asking me to list some of my own personal “off the radar” picks. So here they are- places that any expat could live, work, play do business and/or retire, in style, for less than half of what it would take in the first world. And sure, there are hundreds more to choose from, but I had to start somewhere!

-There are the whole range of and spectrum of successful expats in Latin America. Some of them are absolutely brilliant in all things and some are stand-up drunks that can’t tie their shoes correctly. Yet the huge majority seems to do quite nicely once they get acclimated and learn the ropes. So, what does it take to be a so-called “expert expat”? Do you need to have that little extra spark or ethereal substance to really kick butt down here? In a word, no, since you have something even better going for you; the thing I call the “gringo advantage”.

-Those unavoidable “gringo” prices. Sometimes they prevail- even off the tourist trail.

-How to get around in Latin America if you don’t have a car and don’t want to ride those rickety, stinky “chicken buses” (which I don’t recommend even though the guide books do)