Ignore the smog, and exercise
Most of us expats live in cities, I suspect. I doubt you'll find very many Americans hanging out in the rural areas of China, India, Russia, South America, and Africa. The big opportunities are mainly in cities, even if just to network. That means we have to deal with pollution. Air pollution, especially. You can drink filtered water, but no matter what else you do to safeguard your health, you've got to breathe the air. A question we expats often have is whether or not it's healthy for us to exercise outdoors. When the Air Quality Index in Beijing is over 200 (and considered dangerous), I'm not always sure it's even a good idea to take a stroll. Well, a recent study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives has an answer: Go ahead. Do it. Exercise. Entitled Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks? the study focused on bicycling, but I don't see why the results wouldn't apply to walking, running, playing tennis, or whatever else you might want to do in … [Read More...]
Interview: Gerardo Robledillo of Expatistan
Although he's not an American, Gerardo has created a very useful site for American Expats: Expatistan. The site collects pricing information for large cities around the world and lets you compare costs. It's not perfect, but it gives you a quick grasp of whether your cost of living will increase or decrease, and by how much. Another great thing about the site is that the price information is crowd-sourced, which means that the site should get more accurate the more it is used. Where are you … [Read More...]
Tip: Take probiotics for digestive health overseas
Delhi belly and Montezuma's revenge are bad enough when you're on vacation. But if you're an expat living in a developing country, concern about food safety becomes a daily worry. If you get sick, you might miss work and important meetings. And you're not going "back home" in a week or two, where the food is generally safer -- you're staying, and might get sick again. Plus, when you're on vacation, you're often more prepared: When you go travel in a poorer country, you take your medicines with … [Read More...]
Interview on Expat Alley
There's an interview of me on Expat Alley, my favorite expat blog. Tom Frost, an entrepreneur who lives in Uruguay and Argentina, writes the blog and I enjoy his writing for its wit and insight. I read a lot of blogs that are information based, about technology, marketing, China, and so on. Tom is one of the few personal bloggers I like to read, just for his thoughts and observations. He often makes me laugh: I need to get pissed off and need to get pissed off now. Then I look out the window … [Read More...]
An amazing story
This isn't about life as an expat, but it's too damn good not to share. In 1971, Les Braunstein, who was the original singer for the band that became Blue Oyster Cult, crossed through the Khyber pass on horseback -- and lived to tell about it, obviously. It was 1971. I’d been traveling in Asia for several months, and to have an adventure, and to impress a girl, I’d bought a horse named Herat so that I could ride through the Khyber Pass from Kabul, Afghanistan, to Peshawar, Pakistan. This … [Read More...]
New fees for consular services
If you need extra passport pages, or need anything else done at your nearest embassy, hurry. Fees will be changed on July 13, 2010 -- with most of them being raised. Some of them a lot. Here's the full list: What especially annoys me is the new fee for having pages added to your passport. US $85! That's up from zero. I can understand needing to charge something, but hey: It's just a few slips of paper. They often add them on the spot while you wait, I believe. They say these fees … [Read More...]
How to have a better vacation
I really enjoyed a recent article from The Boston Globe called The best vacation ever. Drake Bennett, the author, writes about the scientific research into happiness, and how that can be applied to taking a vacation. Basically, think of your vacation as having 3 phases: 1. Planning before the trip 2. The trip itself 3. Your memories afterwards Something surprising to me was the finding that people are often least happy during the trip itself. That's because you're dealing with all … [Read More...]
Outsource your cost of living
Just returned to China from a week in Bali. While there, we met with the father of a friend of mine, who retired in Bali a couple years ago. He loves it, and it's not hard to understand why. Besides the fantastic weather, the friendly people, the international culture, the great restaurants, and the beautiful scenery, Bali is inexpensive. You know how much he pays for his 3-bedroom house with a swimming pool? Three thousand US dollars per year. Wow. I'm sure there are all kinds of … [Read More...]
A cautionary tale
Speigel Online has an incredible story of how Mohammad-Reza Mouazzen, an experienced and cautious German businessman, was scammed by Chinese businessmen in Shanghai. The deal involved shipping a crane to Iran. Not only did Mr. Mouazzen document every part of the process, he even went to the dock to see the crane loaded onto the ship. Yet what arrived in Iran was a junky old crane without an engine. Somehow, the cranes were switched -- probably with the help of people at the dock. What … [Read More...]
The things we get excited about
While in a meeting with a client last week, I learned from them that a Gap store is going to be opening in Beijing. I was thrilled. Finally, I will be able to easily buy new clothes! Clothes that might even fit me! So what this means is that I have travelled to a distant country and made a new life for myself, only to get excited about a Gap store. … [Read More...]
Outsource your cost of living
Just returned to China from a week in Bali. While there, we met with the father of a friend of mine, who retired in Bali a couple years ago. He loves it, and it's not hard to understand why. Besides the fantastic weather, the friendly people, the international culture, the great restaurants, and the beautiful scenery, Bali is inexpensive. You know how much he pays for his 3-bedroom house with a swimming pool? Three thousand US dollars per year. Wow. I'm sure there are all kinds of … [Read More...]
How to have a better vacation
I really enjoyed a recent article from The Boston Globe called The best vacation ever. Drake Bennett, the author, writes about the scientific research into happiness, and how that can be applied to taking a vacation. Basically, think of your vacation as having 3 phases: 1. Planning before the trip 2. The trip itself 3. Your memories afterwards Something surprising to me was the finding that people are often least happy during the trip itself. That's because you're dealing with all the confusion and frustration of travel: how to get places, where to eat, … [Read More...]