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 I think these are gener ities 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 exp patology I thought I'd answer this question with some practical reasons as to why many xats can't live local style so let's get into it reason number one is that a
lot of xats 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 healthc care 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 scientific Ally 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 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 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 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 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 cuz 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
of course none of this is medical ad 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 health care decisions don't just trust Western medicine either remember they push sugar and
the sugar industry and these high carb lowfat ways of eating that have really been detrimental to the health of a lot of people so they make mistakes as well it applies generally that you should not be Outsourcing your
health care 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 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 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 healthc Care Solutions in the United States places like the Cleveland Clinic are famous worldwide for
health care treatments the Cleveland Clinic treats people who are the most Discerning healthare 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 health care concerns and they're willing to pay for the best and the brightest to set their treatment protocols 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 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 airon 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 airon we like the cooling sensation that it delivers some of us like myself I can't sleep very well without airon 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 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 airon 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 shortterm 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 airon a lot of guys can't do that 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 airon 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 air conditioned environment we're used to being able to run airon 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 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 they may go to other airon environments but
then at night time when they're wanting to rest they're wanting to sleep then they'll run the airon so local style totally local style may involve not running the airon at all and I think a lot of us are
either run it half the day or run it all day much more so than not run it at all and of those who run it part of the time they may spend a good chunk of their day in
airon 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 airon even if they're not paying for it and places where the average person
may not be able ble to afford to partake in that activity or in what's on offer at that location the next Point why many aats 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 faith Traditions that some expats may not be open to following right there are certain
observances certain holidays certain requirements I think that one of the things 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 now for a lot of expats they may not want to follow a certain Faith tradition 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 that idea 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 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 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 Fair L 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 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 different Faith 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 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
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 aats 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 so there's another area where 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 Jeep knes 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 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 J 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 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 airon 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 h 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 is what does local style and tail 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 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 nothing wrong with it
I'm not here to say oh it's wrong to live local style for us as expats it's just not what we're used to there's 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 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 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 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 and finally
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