nomad4ever

Hi there Visitor! nomad4ever.com is an Asia-centric, established Travel Resource for World Travelers, Nomads and early Retirees. You can find here Trip Reports, Tips about Money Matters, RTW Travel, Travel Gadgets, Medical Travel and Retiring early. If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever. Thanks for visiting! ;-)

As the election booths were closed earlier today following the first election after the Coup of the Thai Military - the smoke is slowly starting to clear up. It looks now like the Allies of then deposed former PM Thaksin Shinawatra are headed for a victory.

This would come as a double blow to the Military who executed the ‘bloodless Coup’ accusing Thaksin of Corruption and robbing money from the people. They basically took over the country, when the PM was on a business trip in Europe to meet with other leaders.

Seems that the people have a different opinion:

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever!

written by Chris

Asia is a melting pot of different cultures, religions and values. Ever since Marco Polo made his way to this part of the world, people had their own ideas, misconceptions or prejudices without even knowing some basic facts first hand.

Some of those prevail even today, especially about mixed relationships.

With this I mean relationships between Asian and Caucasian women or men.

Everyone heard those kind of stories of bald, old, fat foreign men flocking to Asia and soon be seen hand-in-hand with an exotic beauty. Sooner than later they will buy a house and a pickup truck for their ‘new-found family’. A bit later they are back were they were before - just stripped of their money and other belongings. Need an example?

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever!

written by Chris

Most people still believe that they are dependent on what Government pension plans or their previous company will provide for them when they are ready to retire. Or that they have to work until 65, 68 or even until they drop dead to the floor. That debt, cost of living and steady consumerism and expenses will never allow them to live a more relaxed life and enjoy their day - with whatever comes to their minds.

Do you belong to them?

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever!

written by Chris

Asian women inspired the fantasies of men around the world for ages. In recent times you can see more and more Asian actresses like Lucy Liu, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh on the big screen as well; as Hollywood got aware of their obvious features and attraction to the male population of this planet.

That wasn’t always the case in the western hemisphere.

Let’s go R&R!

Before the American GI’s ‘erected’ their first R&R (Rest & Relaxation) camps in Philippines during and after WWII or in Thailand during the Vietnam war, this part of the world sparsely saw more than a few naughty Europeans or Americans. Reports during the old Colonial Times rarely mention this topic at all. This of course all changed back then and more.

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever!

written by Chris

Over the last few years, some countries in Asia made it more and more difficult for long-term tourists (or none-working Expats) to stay longer than just a few months in country. Thailand only recently made their Visa Rules more difficult and complicated; before that monthly Visa Runs to the neighbouring countries were quite common.

Indonesia introduced a Visa-On Arrival (VOA) for maximum 30 days with respective fees only back in 2004 - before you could get a 3 months stamp for free. The bureaucratic processes to attain and extend a Social Visa are legendary. Although there were some rumours of longer VOA (up to 120 days) a few months back, those have yet to materialize.

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever!

written by Chris

Awhile ago we were discussing, if it’s a wise or safe decision to fly a Budget Carrier long-haul. However your opinion is about that subject - luckily time didn’t stop and some of the usual suspects seem to follow through with the idea.

Even if you don’t like the idea to fly long-distance or intercontinental flights with a no-frills airline; it surely would mean more competition and hopefully lower prices for all of us.

So what’s the news?

It seems that there is some movement in the sector, Asian Aviation pioneer Tony Fernandes looks like he’s teaming up with creative aviation individualist Richard Branson, to really make cheaper long-distance flights possible for everyone.

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever!

written by Chris

Laos is a great country to visit. As you might know, I’m a big fan of Laos, as it’s still cheap, unspoilt, great scenery, with friendly people, delicious food, tasty beer and a relaxing and free atmosphere.

Sort of Thailand 20 years ago, as some things are pretty similar and most Lao people can speak Thai and even have Thai ancestors or relatives. You can even pay with the Thai Baht almost everywhere.

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed of nomad4ever!

written by Chris