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Expats often cannot or should not live like locals due to fundamental differences in healthcare expectations, comfort needs like air conditioning, religious and cultural practices, and the inherent risks associated with adapting to unfamiliar environments.
The video explores why many expatriates find it difficult or inadvisable to live exactly like locals in their host countries. The host, Alex, addresses common criticisms expats receive for not adopting local lifestyles, arguing that practical reasons often prevent this. Key among these are differing expectations around healthcare, where Western-educated expats may be wary of traditional remedies lacking scientific backing or accountability, preferring established medical practices despite their own imperfections.
Comfort is another major factor, particularly the need for air conditioning. Many expats, accustomed to climate-controlled environments, find it challenging to adapt to living without AC, especially in hot climates, impacting sleep and overall well-being. Religious and cultural differences also play a significant role; while expats should be respectful, adopting local religious practices, which might include conversion or specific observances like Lent or fasting, is not always a desired or feasible choice.
Furthermore, the pursuit of success and risk assessment differ. Locals may have family support systems or a deep understanding of the local landscape that allows them to take risks, such as starting a business or riding a motorbike, which expats may not be able to replicate safely or sustainably. The initial allure of 'living local' can also fade as practical challenges emerge, such as legal restrictions on working, difficulty finding suitable housing, or the sheer inconvenience of not understanding the local language for everyday tasks.
Ultimately, the video suggests that while expats should strive for respect and integration, a complete adoption of local living styles is often impractical due to differing comfort levels, health priorities, cultural backgrounds, and risk tolerances. The romanticized notion of living like a king on a minimal budget is often at odds with the realities of expat life, where adjustments are necessary but not always synonymous with fully adopting a local lifestyle.
Expats often can't live exactly like locals due to fundamental differences in healthcare expectations, comfort needs like air conditioning, and religious practices. Adapting to unfamiliar environments also presents inherent risks that locals may not face.
While integration is possible, a complete adoption of local living styles is often impractical for expats. Differences in comfort, health priorities, cultural backgrounds, and risk tolerances make a purely local lifestyle unsustainable or undesirable for many.
Expats often have specific comfort needs, such as air conditioning, which are not always standard in local housing. These needs impact sleep and overall well-being, making it difficult to fully adapt to a local lifestyle without them.
Expats may prioritize verifiable healthcare over traditional or unproven remedies, trusting Western medical practices. This differs from local approaches, and expats may not have the same acclimatization or understanding of local health systems.
Expats should be respectful of local religious and cultural practices, but they are not obligated to convert or adhere to traditions that conflict with their own beliefs. Complete adoption is not a requirement for integration.
Expats may face risks that locals navigate differently due to lack of acclimatization or support systems. Activities like riding motorbikes or starting businesses can be riskier for expats compared to locals.
Many expats are accustomed to climate-controlled environments and find it challenging to adapt to living without air conditioning. The absence of AC, especially in hot climates, can significantly impact sleep and overall well-being, making it a crucial comfort factor.
Expats often express wariness about relying solely on traditional remedies or local healthcare systems that may lack scientific backing or accountability. They tend to prefer established medical practices, even with their own imperfections, due to differing expectations around healthcare.
While some expats can adapt to certain local customs, many find a complete adoption of local living styles impractical. Challenges include differing comfort levels, health priorities, cultural backgrounds, risk tolerances, and the need for amenities like air conditioning.
Some expats find it difficult to eat local food exclusively for extended periods. They may miss familiar Western dishes like steaks, burgers, and sandwiches, even when local options are cheaper and readily available.
Expats may not have the same acclimatization or safety nets as locals, making certain activities like riding motorbikes riskier. The challenges and dangers associated with local traffic can be significant.
Navigating essential tasks like finding housing or understanding legal restrictions often requires fluency in the local language. Many expats lack this fluency, which can be a significant barrier to truly adopting a local lifestyle.
Expats should be respectful of prevailing local religious practices, but adoption or conversion is not always desired or feasible. Cultural backgrounds and personal beliefs mean that expats are not obligated to adhere to traditions that conflict with their own.
0:01 Hey YouTube, Alex here. And in today's video, I want to answer the question: why can't most expats live local style? I get this question a lot from people. Oh, you guys are doing this, you guys are doing that wrong. You should really be living on $364 a month. And anything more than that, you're being frivolous. I want to explain in this video why most people cannot and should not attempt to live local style, regardless of the country that they're living in.
0:28 I think these are generalities and not meant to be taken as gospel for one specific country. I've noticed the same trend in numerous different countries, and I think they apply here. So let's go ahead and get into it. Why don't all expats live local style? And so I'm often getting this question, 'Oh, you expats, you think you're too good to live like a local person?' This and that. I've experienced this in many different countries, and as your resident expatology, I thought I'd answer this question with some practical reasons as to why many expats can't live local style. So let's get into it.
1:03 Reason number one is that a lot of expats skew older. So they tend to be older people who are more prone to health conditions. And depending on the country you're in, local healthcare remedies may not be rooted in any scientific basis. Or they may involve potions or herbal remedies or products derived from certain parts of animals that aren't scientifically proven to have any kind of medicinal benefit. And there's a lot of hope that goes into that. 'Oh, well, take this powdered rhino horn and you're going to have more vitality.'
1:40 The reality is, if it's not proven by Western science, there's good reason for that. In the West, in the United States in particular, they throw as much money as possible at trying to find different forms of new medical technology, advancing current medicines, understanding side effects. They're on the cutting edge because of the profit motive, because of the scientific method. Now, I'm not here to say Western medicine is perfect. Certainly, there are some challenges within Western medicine. But one of the things that helps Western medicine is that there's culpability. There's legal liability. If they put out a medicine that's harmful, then there could be dramatic financial consequences.
2:20 This seems to be less the case for traditional medicine. It just doesn't seem as common that I hear, 'Oh, well, I went to this woo-woo guy with no qualifications, no quality control, or standardized regulations in terms of his or her certification process. I was able to get some kind of redemption or I was able to be made whole.' It seems like when something goes wrong there, you're just kind of on your own. The first factor there is that living local style may have dramatic health consequences for older retirees, especially. But even younger guys, I mean, if they tell you something that doesn't make any sense and you follow it, you could be putting your health at risk.
2:59 Risk, you could be making the condition worse. Certain conditions, if left untreated, can actually become dramatically worse. And if you're thinking, 'Oh, I'm just going to always defer to the way that a local person does it,' in some cases that's fine. In some cases, that's not going to be a problem. They've solved different problems in different countries. But with medicine, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'd rather go with more established methods. I think doing your own research on top of all this is of utmost importance.
3:30 Good morning, sir. What's your name, sir? Oh, Alex, nice to meet you. Brian. I'd also say, don't just defer to the Western medical professional or the medical professional from your home country. Because that's really what I mean by that is not modern medicine, but somebody where you speak their language, hopefully you've known them for a long time, and then you can go and double-check and verify what they're telling you. You can go and look it up online. You can Google it. 'Hey, what is this medicine do? What does that medicine do? What are the common treatment protocols for this?'
3:58 Of course, none of this is medical advice. I'm not a medical professional. It's more of a general discussion on having some level of doubt. I always say, trust but verify. And this is the first challenge with living local style. Finally, I'm not here to say East bad, West good, developed good, developing bad. Rather, that we have to take responsibility and accountability for our healthcare decisions. Don't just trust Western medicine either. Remember, they push sugar and the sugar industry and these high-carb, low-fat ways of eating that have really been detrimental to the health of a lot of people. So they make mistakes as well.
4:37 It applies generally that you should not be outsourcing your healthcare decisions to a third party, whether it's a witch doctor, whether it's a Farmer's Almanac, whatever it may be. You really have to take accountability, do your own research, go and get different tests done if that's something that would help you to uncover things like food allergies. I myself have some allergies. Fortunately, none of them are food-related, as you could tell. Yeah, it's something to be mindful of that we can't just go abroad and think, 'Oh, okay, local people, they know everything. Everything that they do is the way I should do things.'
5:14 They're going to make mistakes too. People are imperfect, people are fallible. What worked some years back, or what people thought worked some years back, may not be applicable today. Things have changed. Our science has gotten better. We know more about different kinds of solutions, and we've had time to hone them. So check online to find more updated and relevant information that's relevant to you as an individual. What works for me may not work for you. What works for you may not work for me.
5:44 I'm not one of those people that says we should always defer to this or always defer to that. I do think that there's a reason that many of the wealthiest people in the world do seek healthcare solutions in the United States. Places like the Cleveland Clinic are famous worldwide for healthcare treatments. The Cleveland Clinic treats people who are the most discerning healthcare customers, those who are willing to spend the most, capable of spending the most, to have their treatments handled. And they're probably doing a ton of research before they spend those dollars. They probably really want to get to the bottom of their healthcare concerns, and they're willing to pay for the best and the brightest to set their treatment protocols.
6:23 Let's get into our next point here. The next point is that local style may mean no air conditioning. Some of the countries that I travel to are prone to very hot weather. And in any country you go to, electricity can be expensive in some countries relative to the median or average local wage or income. Electricity can be cost-prohibitive. And so running the aircon can be so cost-prohibitive that local style accommodation may not include aircon. And that may be fine for a day or two, maybe that's fine for a week. But many of us coming over here, we want air conditioning. We're not comfortable with living without air conditioning. We're used to in our home country, we grew up in a Southern state like I did, where we run air conditioning. We like the aircon. We like the cooling sensation that it delivers.
7:11 Some of us, like myself, I can't sleep very well without aircon. I stay awake, I toss and turn, I'm sweating, I'm uncomfortable. I've tried to adjust to it at times, to moderate my electricity bill, but I just can't live that way. And I think especially for some older guys that may be more sensitive to heat, maybe they've got a medical condition where they have to really be careful about their environment. Maybe they just don't like to be hot and sweaty. Then they may not be capable of living local style. Local style may involve not running an aircon even in the hottest months of the year because aircon in many of these countries, your bill may run as high as like 80 or 100 US. I've had those bills in Thailand and in Vietnam when I'm staying in short-term accommodations like say, month to month. Then typically I pay extra for electricity just because that's just the rate. I should probably negotiate that better, but that's another factor there where local style, as in living without aircon, a lot of guys can't do that.
8:14 And if they're not sleeping well, because they can't sleep because of insomnia, I think a lot of us sleep better when we can cool off at night, especially if we're from the West where it cools off half the year in much of the US. Then that could lead to other health problems. I think most of us need a good night's rest. Local style may mean dealing with a lack of aircon in such a way that most of us are just not used to. We're not accustomed to that. We can't handle that, and we're not going to adjust to that even after an extended period of time. We're just not going to adjust to dealing with that. A local person may be adjusted to it, maybe they've become accustomed to that heat. They may have lived there their entire life, and so it's not a bother for them. But for us, we're used to working in an air-conditioned environment. We're used to being able to run aircon whenever we want, as much as we want, and we budget for that, right? It's included in our budget expectations. It's not a surprise for us when we get a higher electric bill based on aircon consumption.
9:11 So local style, I know some people are fine with it. I think many are not, especially if you're from a cold country or a cold part of a country and you're used to winter. The Philippines doesn't really get winter. Most countries in Southeast Asia don't really get a proper winter, with the exception of like Northern Vietnam, Northern Thailand, maybe parts of Laos. It doesn't ever really cool off. And so it's not like, 'Oh, I can do this half the year, half the year I can't.' It's like, no, you're going to probably want to run it year-round. For most people, I know some guys can do local style during the day, like they don't run aircon during the day. They may go out to the malls.
9:47 Day they may go out to the malls, they may go to other air-conditioned environments, but then at nighttime when they're wanting to rest, they're wanting to sleep, then they'll run the air conditioning. So, local style, totally local style, may involve not running the air conditioning at all. I think a lot of us either run it half the day or run it all day, much more so than not running it at all. And of those who run it part of the time, they may spend a good chunk of their day in air-conditioned environments like restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, department stores, places where the average local person may struggle to afford that, where they may be enjoying air conditioning even if they're not paying for it. And places where the average person may not be able to afford to partake in that activity or in what's on offer at that location.
10:36 The next point why many expats don't feel comfortable living like a local is that local style may have some religious implications. Now, I'm not here to disparage a certain faith or a certain practice; that's beside the point of this video. Depending on where you go in the world, there may be a prevailing faith. Like in Latin America, many people are Catholic. Here in the Philippines, as well, 80% of Filipinos are Catholic. And so, local style may involve adhering to certain Catholic traditions that some expats may not be open to following. Right, there are certain observances, certain holidays, certain requirements. I think one of the things that sticks out to me is Lent. Observant Catholics who follow Lent will typically give up something that they really desire. I know a lot of guys that I grew up with that were Catholic; they would give up video games. So for a certain duration of time, I think it's like 40 days, they would actually not play video games, they wouldn't buy video games, they wouldn't participate in that activity as a sacrifice.
11:37 Now, for a lot of expats, they may not want to follow a certain faith tradition. In some other countries, Islam is the prevailing religion. Of course, in some places, then the expat may have a faith that is not the same as the prevailing one in the area, and that may be the case for them in their home country. I used to frequent a restaurant that was owned by an Egyptian gentleman. He was a Christian, but from my understanding, Egypt is predominantly Muslim. And so, following local style may involve conversion that that person may not be comfortable with. Doing things local style may involve conversion to a certain faith that that person, they very well may respect that faith, they may be totally supportive of others' right to practice it, but they may not want to convert. They may feel like, 'Wow, I really like the culture of this country, I really like that people have faith, but I'm not willing to make that commitment in my life. I'm not ready. I don't quite understand the requirements. I don't quite understand everything that goes along with that.'
12:43 It's not a simple thing to convert to a religion; it often requires following different ordinances, making different sacrifices. I know that faithful Muslims, they engage in fasting from sunrise to sunset a certain part of the year, and there are different requirements to go with any faith you're talking about. This idea of expats living local, yeah, I do think expats should be respectful of the faithful and those who observe different religions. If you're not from a certain country, you should respect that, you should be considerate of that. But this idea that that should also come with a conversion? Most of us are going to fairly tolerant places. By its very nature, those who are not becoming expats for business-related reasons, most of us are going to fairly tolerant places. By its very nature, if we're seeking a long-term visa, then these places have some kind of program for people who are not local to fit in and to live there, to be able to enjoy their lives there.
13:44 That's one of the beautiful things about the Philippines is that you have people of many different faiths. I think most of us want to go to more tolerant countries, countries where people of different ethnic backgrounds, people of different faiths, people of different cultures, places where people of different faiths, different ethnic backgrounds, different cultures can all live in harmony. And I think that's one of the beautiful things about the Philippines is you have people of many different traditions generally living just fine around each other. Something that I love about the Philippines is even though I don't observe Catholic traditions, I feel very welcome here. I've never had anyone mistreat me for not being Catholic, tell me I'm not welcome here for being Catholic, anything like that. I've had similar experiences in Colombia and Peru, two other predominantly Catholic countries.
14:31 Am I not living local? Well, no. If the average local person is attending Mass every Sunday and observing other holidays throughout the year, Easter, Christmas, and I'm not going to the Catholic Church to observe those holidays, I'm technically not living local. And that's totally okay. The next point is that local style may be at odds with success. In the US, living local style may mean living far above your means, may mean buying too much car, too much house, going on vacations you can't reasonably afford. This goes for anywhere in the world. Living local style here in the Philippines may involve being a small business owner, an entrepreneur, because the Filipino person knows, 'Hey, if the business doesn't work out, I can go move in with my Tito or Tita, I can stay with my parents for a while, I can save up again.' If the expat thinks, 'Oh, I see the locals owning businesses, and if it doesn't work out or they go live with their family,' well, if the expat's not from here in the Philippines, they don't have family to go stay with if things don't work out. So that's another example where the foreigner cannot live local.
15:37 They cannot afford to take the same risks as a local person. Motorbikes are another example of this. A lot of local people grew up riding motorbikes; they're very accustomed to them, they're used to riding on them, they're used to using them to get around town. Some expats are as well. Not here to judge. If that's you, you don't mind riding a motorbike. I did not grow up riding motorbikes; I'm not super coordinated. I don't feel comfortable riding them. Should I live local anyway? Should I copy what I see people that are from the area doing just because, 'Ah, well, you know what, whatever, I'll figure it out, I live here now, so I could just do everything the way that a more experienced person can do things?' No, for me, I've assessed that it's not worth the risk for myself, and that's okay. Maybe that'll change someday, but for now, I don't feel comfortable riding a motorbike.
16:26 So there's another area where I can't afford to take the same risk that a local person can take. They're used to it, they're accustomed to it, they have a lay of the land. Plenty of locals ride with no issues. The number one cause of major issues in Southeast Asia for foreigners is riding a motorbike. That's a risk I'm not willing to take. Maybe I stand out as a weirdo for walking around or only taking trikes, Jeepneys, buses, planes, every other available option, but I'm okay with that. I'm okay with not living local in that way because I've assessed the risk and I've figured out that for me personally, I'm just better off not doing it. Plus, I don't even enjoy driving. Even if I could drive, it's not something that I love to do. Even in the United States, where I'm from, it's just kind of stressful for me personally. So that's another area in life where I may never live like a local person.
17:21 The next point is that living local style may lose its luster. I know a lot of people are fine with what you could call roughing it for short durations of time. Maybe you like to go out and go camp in the wilderness, in the woods, you put up a hammock and you put up your mosquito net and you relax. That's awesome for a weekend for some people, but to live that way for an extended period of time, I think that's where it could lose its luster. In some ways, you can't even live local style, right? Like foreigners in most countries in Southeast Asia, for example, cannot legally work a job that could be done by a local person. So this idea that you're going to live local and you're going to go get a job, if you're watching this, you're probably not permitted to do most jobs here in Southeast Asia. Thailand regularly busts people who are working there without proper permission. So you can't work a job that a local can work.
18:15 On top of that, certain housing options are going to be hard to find as a foreigner. I have a buddy who will give a tip to a local person to go sort out those options, but if you're freshly arrived, you may not have those connections. You may not know the lay of the land. You may not know, 'Hey, I can get a deal over here.' It might be hard for you to find those options. They may be word-of-mouth only, they may be in inconvenient locations, they may be too small for your liking, they may not have air conditioning. Like I mentioned earlier, you may find that some local accommodation is not to your liking. I have friends that have described their local style accommodation, they're comfortable living that way, and you may be that way. I'm personally not, from what they described, they wouldn't be options that I would be comfortable with. And I think that rings true for a lot of guys where the local style apartment may have a shared kitchen. You may think, 'I don't want to share a kitchen with other people.' No offense to them, but that's just not for me. So that's something else to think about as well: what does local style entail?
19:15 Some people have this romanticized version of the world and they think that living abroad is like this 'house on dream' that guys are living like kings for $400 a month. And the reality I found is very different from that. I've been to roughly 20 different countries. In many ways, life overseas is awesome. To live local style there's...
19:38 It's awesome to live local. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm not here to say that it's wrong to live local style. For us as expats, it's just not what we're used to.
19:46 There are many different aspects of life here that will take adjustment for you. I think the Philippines can be easier in some ways to adjust to than some other countries.
19:55 But some of those real estate listings may only be in the local language. And maybe you know the local language, but odds are you don't. If you don't know the local language, can you really live local?
20:05 The challenges to learning a new language could be a video of its own. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this video. Let us know what you think down in the comments.
20:16 Can you live local? Can you not live local? What does living local mean to you? Additionally, give us a thumbs up if you give us a thumbs up. It really helps with the YouTube algorithm.
20:25 And finally, subscribe to the channel down below if you want to see more content like this. And we'll see you soon.
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