I'm a Black Expat AMA

[Belize King]

I was just on a thread regarding Japan. I am considering moving to Japan full time.

I’m 37 married with a stay at home Wife. I have two daughters soon to be 4 and 1. We spent two and a half month in Okinawa earlier this year. Loved it. Now considering the “permanent” move.

I’m a contractor and our contract is about to get renew for another four years. Money is good.

Pros to moving abroad:
States are getting crazy and this inflation is running wild. FEDs are trying their best to curb it and is has actually slowed but your dollar only goes so far. Luckily, I bought in 2020 so I have a mortgage under 1600, but groceries, gas, and goods have risen and I doubt this corporations will drop the prices.
Crime is bad. Being away from home for six months a year, I have to worry about my Wife getting gas, road rage, and random acts of violence. I live in a “hood” of Atlanta so it’s unfortunate that the peety crimes are a bit higher in my area.
Schools. I try not to get too much into the rating of schools. As long as I support my daughters, they should be able to excel regardless of the school rating. That being said, America’s broken homes have created a tough environment for teachers and students.

Cons:
I’m black everywhere I go. Okinawans are used to us being American and living near a base, but you are an American, not Japanese, and black. Fortunately, we didn’t have a single issue and most seemed friendly.
I’m also an Army Reservist so I have access to a DoD school. I’m a low priority so my children can be pulled whenever. Plus I have to pay as well. I haven’t looked into the off base solution to school. She’s still pre-k but 2025 she will be ready for school. What will be the cost?
Safety is a concern. We had two typhoons, an earthquake, and North Korea poppin off while there. I told my Wife Japan engineers their buildings to withstand 200 MPH winds and massive earthquakes. North Korea and China don’t want tit with us but what happens if they slip or a rouge agent slips. Most of our forces are on that island so that would be the spot to “Pearl Harbor”.
Finally, the visa issue. I’m good but my family isn’t. I don’t want to have to fly to Korea every 90 days for visa runs. I would have to find a solution for that issue.

All in all, I’m ready and been ready. My family is Belizean so my vision of the American dream is a bit different. We see America as a place to get bread then we go home and retire. I have the ability to live anywhere in the world. Most people believe there are greener pastures outside of America. That may be the case but you will still have friction points wherever you decide to leave. Is that country you decide to bounce to worth it? We thought about Belize, Mexico, and Ghana. Now that I have a gig in Japan, I need to show my family it’s possible and easy. If this goes well. Mexico or Ghana could be next.

 

[Wiseborn]

I was just on a thread regarding Japan. I am considering moving to Japan full time.

I’m 37 married with a stay at home Wife. I have two daughters soon to be 4 and 1. We spent two and a half month in Okinawa earlier this year. Loved it. Now considering the “permanent” move.

I’m a contractor and our contract is about to get renew for another four years. Money is good.

Pros to moving abroad:
States are getting crazy and this inflation is running wild. FEDs are trying their best to curb it and is has actually slowed but your dollar only goes so far. Luckily, I bought in 2020 so I have a mortgage under 1600, but groceries, gas, and goods have risen and I doubt this corporations will drop the prices.
Crime is bad. Being away from home for six months a year, I have to worry about my Wife getting gas, road rage, and random acts of violence. I live in a “hood” of Atlanta so it’s unfortunate that the peety crimes are a bit higher in my area.
Schools. I try not to get too much into the rating of schools. As long as I support my daughters, they should be able to excel regardless of the school rating. That being said, America’s broken homes have created a tough environment for teachers and students.

Cons:
I’m black everywhere I go. Okinawans are used to us being American and living near a base, but you are an American, not Japanese, and black. Fortunately, we didn’t have a single issue and most seemed friendly.
I’m also an Army Reservist so I have access to a DoD school. I’m a low priority so my children can be pulled whenever. Plus I have to pay as well. I haven’t looked into the off base solution to school. She’s still pre-k but 2025 she will be ready for school. What will be the cost?
Safety is a concern. We had two typhoons, an earthquake, and North Korea poppin off while there. I told my Wife Japan engineers their buildings to withstand 200 MPH winds and massive earthquakes. North Korea and China don’t want tit with us but what happens if they slip or a rouge agent slips. Most of our forces are on that island so that would be the spot to “Pearl Harbor”.
Finally, the visa issue. I’m good but my family isn’t. I don’t want to have to fly to Korea every 90 days for visa runs. I would have to find a solution for that issue.

All in all, I’m ready and been ready. My family is Belizean so my vision of the American dream is a bit different. We see America as a place to get bread then we go home and retire. I have the ability to live anywhere in the world. Most people believe there are greener pastures outside of America. That may be the case but you will still have friction points wherever you decide to leave. Is that country you decide to bounce to worth it? We thought about Belize, Mexico, and Ghana. Now that I have a gig in Japan, I need to show my family it’s possible and easy. If this goes well. Mexico or Ghana could be next.

what was the reason that Belize city got ruled out?

 

[Reactor1804]

I meant 120K a year not 12.

Help a brother out. I'm living in Brazil

 

[Wiseborn]

Help a brother out. I'm living in Brazil

How do you like it? which city do you live in?

 

[Belize King]

what was the reason that Belize city got ruled out?

I meant Belize in general and not the city. I personally couldn’t live in the city with my family. It’s crazy out there even in the “good” spots.

The main reason why we haven’t thought about Belize is mostly personal. My Wife wouldn’t want to live near my family. My Dad is in PG which is the South. It’s a sleepy little town where everybody knows everybody. I actually built a small little house there. I put maybe 5K into it so you can imagine the size.

Dangriga is where my Aunt is. My Sister has land there as well. Griga is cool but the sand flies are the worst. We would probably move to placentia but the price has gotten high. A 1/5 of an acre goes for 100k. Then you need 50% of the value of the home in equity to borrow. Interest rates are 10% +. On top of that, the cost to build a concrete house is $130-200 SF. That’s States prices.

Gas is and has always been above $6 a gallon. Most people don’t drive nor need it but still. With gas that high our goods are expensive even if we get everything from Mexico and Guatemala.

All in all, if I had a piece of land, I might be worth it but right now, we want to be somewhere a bit faster. Belize is when the kids are out the house.

 

[Wiseborn]

Help a brother out. I'm living in Brazil

How do you like it? which city do you live in?

I meant Belize in general and not the city. I personally couldn’t live in the city with my family. It’s crazy out there even in the “good” spots.

The main reason why we haven’t thought about Belize is mostly personal. My Wife wouldn’t want to live near my family. My Dad is in PG which is the South. It’s a sleepy little town where everybody knows everybody. I actually built a small little house there. I put maybe 5K into it so you can imagine the size.

Dangriga is where my Aunt is. My Sister has land there as well. Griga is cool but the sand flies are the worst. We would probably move to placentia but the price has gotten high. A 1/5 of an acre goes for 100k. Then you need 50% of the value of the home in equity to borrow. Interest rates are 10% +. On top of that, the cost to build a concrete house is $130-200 SF. That’s States prices.

Gas is and has always been above $6 a gallon. Most people don’t drive nor need it but still. With gas that high our goods are expensive even if we get everything from Mexico and Guatemala.

All in all, if I had a piece of land, I might be worth it but right now, we want to be somewhere a bit faster. Belize is when the kids are out the house.

Yeah I get it. shyt is low key expensive to live in a western standard in small countries.

 

[Reactor1804]

How do you like it? which city do you live in?

I'm in São Paulo. Honestly I love it, although sometimes I consider moving back to the US mostly for my daughter and family issues, but I got a nice lifestyle here in Brazil and it'd be tough to give it all up

 

[Steel]

Dam is it that bad??

There's two types black guys who usually come. The weekend warriors who are just coming to party and the expats. The weekend warriors are cool they just doing them sometimes very goofily and are the ones most likely to get robbed or scoped. Some of the expats for the most part are usually older goofy looking dudes who you can tell just never got p*ssy in the states but what they find out is that dating in Colombia is similar to the states. You cant be 55 overweight, bald, living off retirement or a minimum wage job and find a loyal 23 year old to settle down with .That goes for all the races. A lot of these dudes have money issues and live just as poor as the Colombians its embarrassing.

 

[Wiseborn]

People get upset when you spoil their “Paradise” by telling them the truth. I’m in a couple WhatsApp groups and when you tell these old dudes that their 22 yr old gf is for the streets they become defensive. Relationships in Colombia and Medellin bring out the delusional weirdos.

Dude met a girl on Tinder his old ass didn't get scoped and she spent the night dude spent 30 minutes asking me What it meant This is from a dude with 10 years living in the DR basically he asked me if he thought she liked him because she called to make sure he got to the airport safe. I had to explain that's common courtesy in a country that's technically still in a Civil War.

 

[Wiseborn]

General Travel hacks:

Take a few pictures of your luggage so that you can indentify them. This is very important on long haul flights that can be delayed especially if you're making multiple stops.

Putting an Airtag on your luggage is even better.

 

[Wiseborn]

When your bags don’t make it to your destination, speak with a member of airport staff immediately. They may have paperwork for you to fill out describing the physical attributes of your suitcase and its contents. Hopefully, the airport can locate and deliver your bag to you in a timely manner. (Before you depart, make sure there are no irreplaceable items, like keys, or things you’ll need immediately, like medication, in your checked luggage.)

The most an airline can pay a passenger for permanently lost luggage is $3,800 for domestic flights. Again, airlines may reimburse you for items you needed to purchase while your suitcase was missing, so keep receipts.

 

[Neuromancer]

Is it true that black men who go to other countries are just broke losers or is that some bitter bytch gossip?

 

[Alvin]

General Travel hacks:

Take a few pictures of your luggage so that you can indentify them. This is very important on long haul flights that can be delayed especially if you're making multiple stops.

Putting an Airtag on your luggage is even better.

facts on the latter, that or put something very identifiable on them. Think I'm going carry-on though for the Sou, I'm getting those travel cubes to condense your stuff down with.

 

[trap101-ETHout-Allegri-In]

Is it true that black men who go to other countries are just broke losers or is that some bitter bytch gossip?

Take a few trips to a few places in the world and make that decision for yourself (not to the known "nikka" spots, but genuine travel for the sake of exploring)












The answer is no tho......don't let a few with a bias ruin your quest for happiness....

 

[Wiseborn]

safety Pro Tip Use only ride hailing apps.

Using Uber, Didi Bolt, Grab, and Indriver is better than using taxis, One you know how much the ride costs before you get into the car secondly you have the option of paying by card finally you're being tracked in real time in case something goofy happens

Check out this video explaining it.



Be careful of renting a car and frankly unless you have a specific need to rent I'd advise against it. You can use Ride apps to book city to city rides and can rent an uber by the hour. i had a ex who drove for Uber ( we actually broke up because she didn't have time to hang out with me) the hourly Uber rate is 39,000 COP in Colombia or less than 10 dollars an hour.