Yep can see myself in bits of all that , but could you write up the lifestyle for the same people if they were non expats , it would be a depressing read to say the least
Thanks for the post

"cantankerous old cunt" Had a good chuckle at this one KFH

Just don't retire. Where ever you are.

hanno wrote: ↑Wed Jan 13, 2021 7:10 pm Red River Delta, for a few days of birding

Spoonies on the list?
Mouth of the Delta, this time year. You could be one of the privileged few.

(Spoon-billed sandpiper; Calidris pymaea. The most desirable bird in the world to many. and the subject of "perhaps the most complex wildlife preservation project ever undertaken for a bird". Global pop was 200, now more like 400.
Find at Koh Kapic in 2014 made it #500 on the Cambodian bird list.)

clutchcargo wrote: ↑Wed Jan 13, 2021 7:46 pm I got a rude wake up call recently as to what I thought about the cheapness of living here as an expat. I was previously availing myself of credit card included travel medical insurance by regularly returning to my home country as a perpetual tourist. Now that I've bitten bullet on expat insurance...at my age, that is a significant impost. Albeit a necessary one I think unless I want use up all my retirement savings or my family need to succumb to a gofundme..

I have to second this one. As a subtitle of KFH's "enough dough" I have seen multiple "acquaintances" here crashed and burned by not having medical insurance (and/or dough) to cover the expected medical issues inherent during retirement years of age. Or inadequate medical care available to treat a serious illness or one deemed a non-emeregency in the Western world but left to fester here. Being found decomposed by your landlord is not a good look.

Don't retire to SE Asia if you get homesick easily.
I know, this sounds so obvious, but I've met a few people who went to Asia thinking they were heroes, only to cry themselves to sleep each night after a couple months, missing family, friends, food, and conveniences.

This is excellent advice however the item left out of the original list and mentioned by clutchcargo and cambo swa is health.

Review your medical history and ask yourself : Would I want to be chronically ill in a foreign country? Do I want to die, possibly alone, in a foreign country? If you are in good health thats great but you would be surprised how quickly this can change. Then there is the financial side of health. There is no free care here although medical care can be relatively cheap. Health insurance is pretty expensive (especially over 60) and is really only suitable for "black swan" events. If you develop a chronic condition the insurance may decline to renew your policy. Then there are people like me who are uninsurable - could you manage uninsured if you are in this category? Philosophically I believe that once you have lost your health then you are screwed and best to die quickly but others think differently.