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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: pixel8 on November 14, 2014, 02:39
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I am wondering where most Stock Photographers live, in and around a Large City or Small Town?
I recently moved from a large city to a smaller city and am thinking about moving back to a larger metropolis.
Currently I do all my photos in the studio but soon I want to start moving into photographing people and I think a large city will be important!
What do you think?
Where would you live if you could move for Photography?
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A bigger city ... with less photographers!
I live in Kansas City with a population of over 2 million but we also seem to have WAY more photographers than in other city I've traveled to. I've completely stopped using some of my most favorite portrait locations simply because too many photographers found out about them. 5 years ago I could take a client to the West Bottoms and shoot for 3 hours and we might not see a single person on the streets - it was almost creepy. Go there now on a warm day and you're guaranteed to see at least 15 different photographers within a few minutes, all shooting portrait & fashion clients. The last time we shot there my wife & I counted off maybe 30-40 portrait photographers in a 3 block radius. You would have had to wait in line just to shoot your client sitting on a fire escape. We drove around for about 5 minutes and left. More & more areas here in KC are getting that way too because there's just too many photographers.
Some of the other metros I shot in this summer like Denver, Colorado Springs, Omaha, Wichita, Des Moines & St Louis .. I never really saw any other photographers aside from some nature photographers in Colorado. We seriously didn't want to come back to KC after shooting those assignments. After our kids are out of high school in a few more years we're probably relocating to another metro simply for photography reasons.
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The White House
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If I could move I would probably go to Berlin. Excellent work environement, lots of Models,locations and much lower cost of living than many other big cities in Germany.
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Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
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Not quite as extreme, I have a friend who's going to retire to Italy. Says with his retirement income and SS, he can live in comparative luxury, travel to historic sites... and eat very well too! ;)
Conversations in person are like bumping into Tatoo on Fantasy Island. "Da Trains, Da Trains" :) And if that's not informative, they connect most of the major cities and are expanding to include more cities and other countries. Lines are designed for a top speed of over 300 km/h (190 mph).
190 miles and hour! WOW, I don't even do that in my car.
Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
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190 miles and hour! WOW, I don't even do that in my car.
Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
Than it's time to upgrade your car! The 2015 Corvette Z06 is the industry’s only supercar to achieve 650 horsepower and offer a choice of two transmissions – a 7-speed manual or an all-new 8-speed paddle-shift automatic. This puppy will pass by that train like it isn't even moving Uncle Pete!
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Wow fast cars. I wish I had a job that let me see and work around some "fast cars". Cycles too? ;)
http://www.istockphoto.com/audio_mp3_preview.php?id=19114378 (http://www.istockphoto.com/audio_mp3_preview.php?id=19114378) Benetton F1 car
(http://s5.postimg.org/ovoe2l207/rubber_wall_ama_490web.jpg)
(http://s5.postimg.org/66fsimpnr/AMA_Start_Saturday_Speed.jpg)
Guy in white is me. Best seat in the house, even if I am standing?
I don't stand so close for cars. safety rules keep me behind a concrete wall.
(http://s5.postimg.org/949f3ylev/corner_3_8_30_web.jpg)
Kind of behind a wall? See the white spot at the end of the black section of wall where I put down gravel, so I don't have to stand in the mud, when it rains? (yes there's a bench I can't sit on, good for the cooler and water jug though. And a lawn chair to hold my track bag, soda and clip board)
Imagine that. some people would pay to be that close to the action, and I get paid to watch? ;)
Will these do 190+
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8755020/P1%2Bcorvette.jpg)
190 miles and hour! WOW, I don't even do that in my car.
Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
Than it's time to upgrade your car! The 2015 Corvette Z06 is the industry’s only supercar to achieve 650 horsepower and offer a choice of two transmissions – a 7-speed manual or an all-new 8-speed paddle-shift automatic. This puppy will pass by that train like it isn't even moving Uncle Pete!
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Might be my answer to good place to live near and work? 28 miles...
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Might be my answer to good place to live near and work? 28 miles...
My Grand Pa always told me the best place to fish is your own backyard ;)
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Your Grand Pa knew my Dad? "If they aren't biting off the dock, there's no reason to go out onto the lake."
Personally I always said, more fish are lost because of bad line and dull hooks. "Always make sure your hooks are sharp." It applies to photos too. Be selective, only send up your best and not just anything.
But fisherman's wisdom is like old wives tales. There's one for every situation and many contradict another. That and fisherman are notoriously liars? LOL
I bought this place to be closer to the race track. Also to get out of the city, and also to downsize the office. I've posted this before or maybe in PMs, but, this was taken standing on my driveway, looking West. I haven't sent it up for Microstock, but maybe I should, just to prove the point. (will it get accepted?)
(http://s5.postimg.org/ikfiyzlgn/driveway_view_5236_web.jpg)
[please accept my apologies the image is a panorama and wider than the forum box]
True, people can travel and take useful, good, marketable images. But for the expense and time, shooting close to home will produce equally good shots with someone who has eyes and talent. No they won't be travel, unless it's seem as that for someone who doesn't live where you do? :)
Where to live as a stock photographer? Well everyone needs to decide that for themselves. For me, it's "Pete's Place" 8)
Might be my answer to good place to live near and work? 28 miles...
My Grand Pa always told me the best place to fish is your own backyard ;)
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Lighting, WB, fringing. ;)
Your Grand Pa knew my Dad? "If they aren't biting off the dock, there's no reason to go out onto the lake."
Personally I always said, more fish are lost because of bad line and dull hooks. "Always make sure your hooks are sharp." It applies to photos too. Be selective, only send up your best and not just anything.
But fisherman's wisdom is like old wives tales. There's one for every situation and many contradict another. That and fisherman are notoriously liars? LOL
I bought this place to be closer to the race track. Also to get out of the city, and also to downsize the office. I've posted this before or maybe in PMs, but, this was taken standing on my driveway, looking West. I haven't sent it up for Microstock, but maybe I should, just to prove the point. (will it get accepted?)
([url]http://s5.postimg.org/ikfiyzlgn/driveway_view_5236_web.jpg[/url])
[please accept my apologies the image is a panorama and wider than the forum box]
True, people can travel and take useful, good, marketable images. But for the expense and time, shooting close to home will produce equally good shots with someone who has eyes and talent. No they won't be travel, unless it's seem as that for someone who doesn't live where you do? :)
Where to live as a stock photographer? Well everyone needs to decide that for themselves. For me, it's "Pete's Place" 8)
Might be my answer to good place to live near and work? 28 miles...
My Grand Pa always told me the best place to fish is your own backyard ;)
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Lighting, WB, fringing. ;)
Your Grand Pa knew my Dad? "If they aren't biting off the dock, there's no reason to go out onto the lake."
Personally I always said, more fish are lost because of bad line and dull hooks. "Always make sure your hooks are sharp." It applies to photos too. Be selective, only send up your best and not just anything.
But fisherman's wisdom is like old wives tales. There's one for every situation and many contradict another. That and fisherman are notoriously liars? LOL
I bought this place to be closer to the race track. Also to get out of the city, and also to downsize the office. I've posted this before or maybe in PMs, but, this was taken standing on my driveway, looking West. I haven't sent it up for Microstock, but maybe I should, just to prove the point. (will it get accepted?)
([url]http://s5.postimg.org/ikfiyzlgn/driveway_view_5236_web.jpg[/url])
[please accept my apologies the image is a panorama and wider than the forum box]
True, people can travel and take useful, good, marketable images. But for the expense and time, shooting close to home will produce equally good shots with someone who has eyes and talent. No they won't be travel, unless it's seem as that for someone who doesn't live where you do? :)
Where to live as a stock photographer? Well everyone needs to decide that for themselves. For me, it's "Pete's Place" 8)
Might be my answer to good place to live near and work? 28 miles...
My Grand Pa always told me the best place to fish is your own backyard ;)
I agree- the sky looks funky in parts...
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Yes, I just clicked agree, it's the websize version not the actual stitched panorama. But still, both of you are correct. I live near a funny sky. ;)
Now, back OT, where in the world is the best place to live for a stock photographer.
My answer is, right here. I wonder if others have some locations, like Just outside Paris? San Francisco? I thought Italy would be interesting with great public transportation. You can get a rail pass and go all over, cheaper than with a car! Yosemite Valley seems like a nice quiet place? New York if you like action? LA for the movie, arts and recording industry.
Just seems like a personal decision, not something that others can answer?
Lighting, WB, fringing. ;)
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I am wondering where most Stock Photographers live, in and around a Large City or Small Town?
I recently moved from a large city to a smaller city and am thinking about moving back to a larger metropolis.
Currently I do all my photos in the studio but soon I want to start moving into photographing people and I think a large city will be important!
What do you think?
Where would you live if you could move for Photography?
I live in a medium size US city. Big enough to have an endless supply of good looking people to photograph, small enough to have affordable rent for my photo studio.
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Pittsburgh. Nice people. Crusty buildings.
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If I could move I would probably go to Berlin. Excellent work environement, lots of Models,locations and much lower cost of living than many other big cities in Germany.
Generally true, except the issue of low costs. In Berlin the costs explode currently at a pace that you can't believe it. Time to find alternativs!
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Not quite as extreme, I have a friend who's going to retire to Italy. Says with his retirement income and SS, he can live in comparative luxury, travel to historic sites... and eat very well too! ;)
Conversations in person are like bumping into Tatoo on Fantasy Island. "Da Trains, Da Trains" :) And if that's not informative, they connect most of the major cities and are expanding to include more cities and other countries. Lines are designed for a top speed of over 300 km/h (190 mph).
190 miles and hour! WOW, I don't even do that in my car.
I'm happy when somebody come to live in my country, but I would like to leave to US for the same reason that push your friend to come here. I will do not, really, because we have too many services for free as health assistance, and definitevely my work location is the world. For who works mainly in studio: rent an average equipped studio is 30-60 € per hour or 150-600 per day. Not exactly cheap
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Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
most of south east asia is still very affordable apart for Singapore.
if you can work remotely you can have 3G or 4G pretty much anywhere and ADSL up to 6-8Mbit even in godforsaken villages.
the only real issue is to get long term visas, especially for thailand.
i also heard good things about the cost of living in hungary, bulgaria, and greece.
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Cape Town in South Africa was/still is to some extent the natural go to place for stock. GoodShoot used it extensively (now wholly-owned on Getty via JI). It has a great ethnic mix, good facilities and the weather is also pretty good.
Sydney would be in the mix also but it's now gotten expensive with the currency strength.
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Somewhere like here. Rural with no immediate neighbours. Doesn't help with the photography really, but the peace and quiet is nice! :)
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Sydney would be in the mix also but it's now gotten expensive with the currency strength.
indeed it's getting out of control, i heard now in OZ it's 20$ for a pack of cigarettes and 10$ for a burger.
i remember 10 yrs ago when OZ was still cheaper than europe, times change !
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Somewhere like here. Rural with no immediate neighbours. Doesn't help with the photography really, but the peace and quiet is nice! :)
for long timers the real issue is always the Visa or residence permit, very few countries now give away 12 months visa "no questions asked", let alone 5-yrs dodgy business/tourist visas as in the past.
indonesia has all it takes to be a great location to settle down but they won't give you more than 60 days per stay unless you find a dodgy visa agent or you marry an indonesian girl and even then there's a lot of red tape.
Bali is a perfect location and still OK pricewise unless you stay in the touristic areas.
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Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
most of south east asia is still very affordable apart for Singapore.
if you can work remotely you can have 3G or 4G pretty much anywhere and ADSL up to 6-8Mbit even in godforsaken villages.
the only real issue is to get long term visas, especially for thailand.
i also heard good things about the cost of living in hungary, bulgaria, and greece.
Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
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Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
most of south east asia is still very affordable apart for Singapore.
if you can work remotely you can have 3G or 4G pretty much anywhere and ADSL up to 6-8Mbit even in godforsaken villages.
the only real issue is to get long term visas, especially for thailand.
i also heard good things about the cost of living in hungary, bulgaria, and greece.
thailand is one of the easiest places to get a visa in south east asia, you must be doing something wrong. i take it you are based there. pm me and i can suggest a very simple way for you to get a one year visa with a work permit, and you can do it yourself without all the lawyer nonsense - and trust me it is very easy with no strings. i know cause i have done it many times. and you don't even need to set up a false company with nominees or marry a thai woman or be a retiree etc.
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Camboia is the place to go!
In many respects, Cambodia is the cheapest destination in Southeast Asia and there are a lot of good reasons to live here, especially if you have a job where you can work remotely. For a pauper’s salary in the US, Canada, or Europe, you can like like royalty here.
most of south east asia is still very affordable apart for Singapore.
if you can work remotely you can have 3G or 4G pretty much anywhere and ADSL up to 6-8Mbit even in godforsaken villages.
the only real issue is to get long term visas, especially for thailand.
i also heard good things about the cost of living in hungary, bulgaria, and greece.
Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
i totally agree and it is really a great city.
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Somewhere like here. Rural with no immediate neighbours. Doesn't help with the photography really, but the peace and quiet is nice! :)
for long timers the real issue is always the Visa or residence permit, very few countries now give away 12 months visa "no questions asked", let alone 5-yrs dodgy business/tourist visas as in the past.
indonesia has all it takes to be a great location to settle down but they won't give you more than 60 days per stay unless you find a dodgy visa agent or you marry an indonesian girl and even then there's a lot of red tape.
Bali is a perfect location and still OK pricewise unless you stay in the touristic areas.
there are lots of countries in se asia that give decent visas. malaysia probably has the best deal in town for permanence next to singapore. and thailand contrary to the expat gossip is very easy.
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
2-300$ in SG ?? where ? how ? now they ask 20-30$/night even in the filthiest guesthouses in Little India.
must be a long time you don't go there.
Singapore named the world's most expensive city
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821 (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821)
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
2-300$ in SG ?? where ? how ? now they ask 20-30$/night even in the filthiest guesthouses in Little India.
must be a long time you don't go there.
Singapore named the world's most expensive city
[url]http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821[/url] ([url]http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821[/url])
shared hdb apartments on the far side of the island by the bridge to johor. but realistically closer to 400-500 as of late.
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thailand is one of the easiest places to get a visa in south east asia, you must be doing something wrong. i take it you are based there. pm me and i can suggest a very simple way for you to get a one year visa with a work permit, and you can do it yourself without all the lawyer nonsense - and trust me it is very easy with no strings. i know cause i have done it many times. and you don't even need to set up a false company with nominees or marry a thai woman or be a retiree etc.
cambodia is nr.1 for long term visa, you can get a 12 months business visa in any travel agency for less than 300$ in 3-4 days, no questions asked.
i guess you mean fake companies run by dodgy farangs and thai crooks selling working visa, good luck with that, they're the same who scamming people with ED visa until the last crackdown in august.
malaysia, singapore, no problem, 90 days per stamp and it's free, no need to even get a proper visa, just do back to back visa runs every three months.
vietnam : 3-6 months visa available.
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as far as i know you can even become a citizen in Singapore and Indonesia, not sure about Malaysia but i guess it's doable as they're relatively foreign-friendly unlike Thailand or Myanmar.
said that, you must give up your original citizenship in singapore and you must also join the military service for 12 months or more.
in indonesia i think you must live there for at least 5-6 yrs and speak fluent Bahasa before even trying to ask (lots of red tape of course).
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shared hdb apartments on the far side of the island by the bridge to johor. but realistically closer to 400-500 as of late.
ahhh you mean rooms in shared apt, that's certainly doable but what's the point, better go in Johor Baru or Sumatra ...
i don't think i could live in Singa for long, they would hate my chain smoking hahaha and i'm not gonna pay 7-8$ for a pack of cigs.
S'pore girls are also among the most entitled bit-ch-es in the whole SEA, good riddance.
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malaysia probably has the best deal in town for permanence next to singapore. and thailand contrary to the expat gossip is very easy.
their "Malaysia my second home" 10 yrs visa is definitely the best in SEA or in the whole of Asia in my opinion but you must invest some money to qualify, months ago i was in Saba and the newspapers were claiming it's been a half fiasco so far, less takers than expected and not enough results, seems it will be scraped soon unfortunately.
i don't know why you keep saying thailand is so easy, even in china it's easier than thailand and by a long shot, same for taiwan and japan and HK.
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
hahah what
just to rent one ROOM in singapore is between 700 and 1200 SGD. if you want a studio apartment, it's more like 2000 SGD. that's not luxury. and in europe for the same surface you pay around 400 euro. i mean, depending on the location, center of paris/london will be more expensive, but in singapore everything's expensive except i guess the far east/nortwest.
public transport is crap, especially if you have a transfer at jurong east
that food you mention for 2/3$ is crap.
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
hahah what
just to rent one ROOM in singapore is between 700 and 1200 SGD. if you want a studio apartment, it's more like 2000 SGD. that's not luxury. and in europe for the same surface you pay around 400 euro. i mean, depending on the location, center of paris/london will be more expensive, but in singapore everything's expensive except i guess the far east/nortwest.
public transport is crap, especially if you have a transfer at jurong east
that food you mention for 2/3$ is crap.
Clementi as an example, not too far from center, 200-300$ meaning 300-400 SGD, shared HDB flat. Many of my students still live there with a scholarship of around 1000 SGD a month and can still save half of it. And as i said, you can rent for as low as, not the average. Go to a food court there, meals are between 3-4 SGD (that's 2-3USD). Of course in the tourist area like Orchard, in the food courts meal are 5-7 SGD, that's 3-4 USD roughly. Well, of course if you dont like Asian food, then dont go there.
I lived there, 8 years, my family of 4 spent about 800 SGD a month on food, and we eat well, eat out most of the time.
Public transport bad? really? Are you using public transport? I have noticed that for people who love driving any public transport would be bad. I am relying solely on public transport (i hate driving), and i have lived (for years) in many big cities in Europe, US, Asia, and that is the best one I can tell you.
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
2-300$ in SG ?? where ? how ? now they ask 20-30$/night even in the filthiest guesthouses in Little India.
must be a long time you don't go there.
Singapore named the world's most expensive city
[url]http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821[/url] ([url]http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821[/url])
I am not talking about hotels, it's long term renting, not short term, and not condos, HDB flats.
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Clementi as an example, not too far from center, 200-300$ meaning 300-400 SGD, shared HDB flat. Many of my students still live there with a scholarship of around 1000 SGD a month and can still save half of it. And as i said, you can rent for as low as, not the average. Go to a food court there, meals are between 3-4 SGD (that's 2-3USD). Of course in the tourist area like Orchard, in the food courts meal are 5-7 SGD, that's 3-4 USD roughly. Well, of course if you dont like Asian food, then dont go there.
I lived there, 8 years, my family of 4 spent about 800 SGD a month on food, and we eat well, eat out most of the time.
Public transport bad? really? Are you using public transport? I have noticed that for people who love driving any public transport would be bad. I am relying solely on public transport (i hate driving), and i have lived (for years) in many big cities in Europe, US, Asia, and that is the best one I can tell you.
i lived there. my salary was pretty higher than your student's and still i could only rent a room and save not so much every month. i rented around CCK. and it's not just me, all my colleagues paid between 700 and 1100 sgd per month just for one room, with locations ranging from cck, boon lay, to the places MRT doesn't go :D. and even for 700-1100 sgd per month it's not comfortable. to me comfortable means - you have the whole place for yourself.
i didn't like the public transport, especially during peak hours. sometimes had to wait for 6 trains to pass until I could get into one. too crowded. people say crap about the paris metro, but i like it a lot better. there's a train every 3-7 minutes, and they're not as full. not as pretty as singapore, but more pleasant to ride in.
don't get me wrong - i love singapore, it's a great city, very modern and absolutely beautiful architecture. but it's not cheap. it's the opposite of cheap. when did you leave sg?
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Clementi as an example, not too far from center, 200-300$ meaning 300-400 SGD, shared HDB flat. Many of my students still live there with a scholarship of around 1000 SGD a month and can still save half of it. And as i said, you can rent for as low as, not the average. Go to a food court there, meals are between 3-4 SGD (that's 2-3USD). Of course in the tourist area like Orchard, in the food courts meal are 5-7 SGD, that's 3-4 USD roughly. Well, of course if you dont like Asian food, then dont go there.
I lived there, 8 years, my family of 4 spent about 800 SGD a month on food, and we eat well, eat out most of the time.
Public transport bad? really? Are you using public transport? I have noticed that for people who love driving any public transport would be bad. I am relying solely on public transport (i hate driving), and i have lived (for years) in many big cities in Europe, US, Asia, and that is the best one I can tell you.
i lived there. my salary was pretty higher than your student's and still i could only rent a room and save not so much every month. i rented around CCK. and it's not just me, all my colleagues paid between 700 and 1100 sgd per month just for one room, with locations ranging from cck, boon lay, to the places MRT doesn't go :D. and even for 700-1100 sgd per month it's not comfortable. to me comfortable means - you have the whole place for yourself.
i didn't like the public transport, especially during peak hours. sometimes had to wait for 6 trains to pass until I could get into one. too crowded. people say crap about the paris metro, but i like it a lot better. there's a train every 3-7 minutes, and they're not as full. not as pretty as singapore, but more pleasant to ride in.
don't get me wrong - i love singapore, it's a great city, very modern and absolutely beautiful architecture. but it's not cheap. it's the opposite of cheap. when did you leave sg?
2010.
Cheap or not it's relative, it's definitely not cheap compared to Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, but definitely not the most expensive as advertised. To put it into perspective, i moved to a medium size city here in the US, totally a boring, with terrible weather and bad healthcare, virtually no public transport, and we spend a lot more here on everything. Food of course, we cant eat out so often, cant possible swallow Mac Donald food all the time. For rent, well , cant even rent here, not many choices at all, so we had to buy, and we pay about the same just for real estate tax as for our rental in Singapore, not even talking about mortgage. There, another good thing about SG, tax is very low. With the amount of all taxes that we are paying now here we could pay tax AND live very comfortably in SG.
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malaysia probably has the best deal in town for permanence next to singapore. and thailand contrary to the expat gossip is very easy.
their "Malaysia my second home" 10 yrs visa is definitely the best in SEA or in the whole of Asia in my opinion but you must invest some money to qualify, months ago i was in Saba and the newspapers were claiming it's been a half fiasco so far, less takers than expected and not enough results, seems it will be scraped soon unfortunately.
i don't know why you keep saying thailand is so easy, even in china it's easier than thailand and by a long shot, same for taiwan and japan and HK.
yes the mm2h requires a small amount of money, but the three month visa is the way to go. back to thailand, it is the easiest of easy to get a one year work permit, as in apply and voila you have it in a few weeks. again as i mentioned earlier there is a visa very few people know about (thankfully) but it does work, i know cause i've done it for years. and the nice part about it, there is no shadiness involved whatsoever. no ED, no business, no retirement, no marriage, etc. it is so rare it seems you don't even know about it, but my bet is you'd get it in less than a month with no strings attached. just sayin. i did suggest you pm me on this as i really don't want to broadcast this openly on a forum.
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just to rent one ROOM in singapore is between 700 and 1200 SGD.
exactly.
and don't expect any discounts for us "Ang Mo".
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but it does work, i know cause i've done it for years. and the nice part about it, there is no shadiness involved whatsoever. no ED, no business, no retirement, no marriage, etc. it is so rare it seems you don't even know about it, but my bet is you'd get it in less than a month with no strings attached.
if you mean getting a proper working visa, yes, all you need is getting hired by some thai company, but here we were discussing about visas allowing foreigners to live or to work freely in a SEA country.
besides, it's a matter of principle with Thailand : they just hate us and there's no point feeding their corrupt government, if all i want is a beach with coconuts trees and a row of bars with hoo-kers there's plenty of other options in SEA where i also won't be bothered too much about my visa status.
the golden days of thailand are well and truely over, it was great till 2008 but now ?
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2010.
that explains everything, S'pore cost of living changed incredibly in the last few years, it was actually a cheap destination until 2005.
actually the whole SEA changed so much, we're getting the same sh-it as 10 yrs ago but prices have doubled or tripled, the locals are more and more unfriendly and take us for granted, scams and crimes are on the rise everywhere.
said that, the pros still outweights the cons for the time being.
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I live in Taiwan and the cost of living here is pretty low and there are loads of locations and models to shoot.
The downside to this is the demand for these locations and models doesn't seem to be very high.
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but it does work, i know cause i've done it for years. and the nice part about it, there is no shadiness involved whatsoever. no ED, no business, no retirement, no marriage, etc. it is so rare it seems you don't even know about it, but my bet is you'd get it in less than a month with no strings attached.
if you mean getting a proper working visa, yes, all you need is getting hired by some thai company, but here we were discussing about visas allowing foreigners to live or to work freely in a SEA country.
besides, it's a matter of principle with Thailand : they just hate us and there's no point feeding their corrupt government, if all i want is a beach with coconuts trees and a row of bars with hoo-kers there's plenty of other options in SEA where i also won't be bothered too much about my visa status.
the golden days of thailand are well and truely over, it was great till 2008 but now ?
great till 2008? * you really missed the golden days by a decade, by 2008 it was not the place to be at all.
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great till 2008? * you really missed the golden days by a decade, by 2008 it was not the place to be at all.
i know what you mean but it's the whole SEA chaging too fast for the worse, and i still remember my first trip in china where you could only see millions of bicycles and a few old taxis, no skyscrapers and no shopping malls.
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Turkey has low rentals in Istanbul and even less if you live in other urban areas (all have excellent bus connections, ferry service great around sea of marmara); food in markets is cheaper, and restaurants about 1/2 of US or European equivalents
i'll stick with seattle for a few more years, though, as I prefer urban living. easy airport access, and I spend 2-3+ months on post-shoot for every month of travel
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I think you left right during the property booming which is year 2009, but you probably was spared from the hike. Rental is very expensive now. I used to rent a bedroom at $500 during 2005, then gradually $700, then moved to 2 bedrooms HDB at $1800. It's now probably at $2300. Nothing close to luxury. Meals are still cheap at food court, and I agree although, if you don't compare with HK or Tokyo, Singapore has the best public transport, and cheap too.
some areas of Bangkok are already following the same trend, it's getting out of control, the chinese and the thai-chinese are buying at crazy prices as a long term investment and running a cartel to keep prices ridicolously high.
and anyone complaining about the public transport in SG should better take a look at the abysmal situation in places like Jakarta, Manila, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Yangon !
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Turkey has low rentals in Istanbul and even less if you live in other urban areas (all have excellent bus connections, ferry service great around sea of marmara); food in markets is cheaper, and restaurants about 1/2 of US or European equivalents
i always heard good feedbacks about Istanbul too, it's on my to-do list since a long time.
sooner or later i will also travel across the whole middle east, too bad that Sirya and Lybia have been devastated by the war, they have many interesting sites.
i've met guys who traveled in Afghanistan after touring central asia, they could only stay in Kabul and it was pretty expensive for foreigners, it's not a place where you can go backpacking on the cheap like in the 60's.
Kashmir is now semi open to visitors but still grey area, and who's going to buy images of kashmir if tourists aren't allowed ?
Tibet is still limited to tour groups, i was lucky to go there before the 2008 mess but even at the time many areas were closed to foreigners and full of checkpoints.
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I used to wait at that long too for trains during peak time. Lately I know the trick, during super peak time, I took a train one station to the opposite direction, then board to my train. Worked.every.time. But it might only work for certain location though.
Not possible at buona vista... both directions completely full :'(
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I used to wait at that long too for trains during peak time. Lately I know the trick, during super peak time, I took a train one station to the opposite direction, then board to my train. Worked.every.time. But it might only work for certain location though.
Not possible at buona vista... both directions completely full :'(
Take buses. I worked right at Buona Vista and never took MRT from there, buses are much better.
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Take buses. I worked right at Buona Vista and never took MRT from there, buses are much better.
It's ok, I'm not there anymore. :D
My friend took a bus from BV to Boon Lay and it took her an hour to reach. With the MRT, 20 minutes.
I lived at Bukit Gombak and the connections were horrible and for me it didn't make sense to use the bus. So I tried to avoid peak hours whenever I could, which was not often, as they have a long-tail distribution instead of a peak :)
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Turkey has low rentals in Istanbul and even less if you live in other urban areas (all have excellent bus connections, ferry service great around sea of marmara); food in markets is cheaper, and restaurants about 1/2 of US or European equivalents
i always heard good feedbacks about Istanbul too, it's on my to-do list since a long time.....
check our Istanbul page for general orientation http://cascoly.com/trav/turkey/istanbul.asp (http://cascoly.com/trav/turkey/istanbul.asp)
there are many gems like the Rustem Pasha Mosque that don't make the standard tours
http://cascoly.com/symbio/list.asp?list=129&w=4&word=rustem&site=http://turkey.symbiostock-network.com (http://cascoly.com/symbio/list.asp?list=129&w=4&word=rustem&site=http://turkey.symbiostock-network.com)
as I mentioned, the Turkish bus system is fantastic and an easy way to get around on your own.
my Turkish partner, Lutfi, is a university professor & licensed guide, so we can help if you need any sort of arrangements - hotel, rental cars, etc, or just for advice -- you can look at our previous itineraries to get ideas of where you might want to visit and how to put a trip together.
a warning - next april is going to be VERY busy in Istanbul and hotels are jumping their rates for the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli
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a warning - next april is going to be VERY busy in Istanbul and hotels are jumping their rates for the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli
dont worry for another year of two i'm planning to stay in Asia but after that i plan to travel the whole central asia and middle east and Istanbul is one of MUST see !
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What about North Korea ? Heard it is cheap there and transportation is clean and fast.
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
If the cost of living calculators found online are to be trusted, living in Singapore is much more expensive than Portugal.
And we're talking about a western European country that despite not being the most wealthy doesn't fall behind any other in most aspects when it comes to services, access to technology, healthcare, accessibilities, etc even in the smallest towns .
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I keep changing my mind. One day I want to move to Sicily and be mates with Inspector Montalbano, the next I'll have dreams of moving back to London and living like David Hemmings in "Blow Up".
The reality (if baby has her way) is likely to be some seedy English seaside town - when I'm too old to fight off the seagulls dive bombing my fish and chips.
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
If the cost of living calculators found online are to be trusted, living in Singapore is much more expensive than Portugal.
And we're talking about a western European country that despite not being the most wealthy doesn't fall behind any other in most aspects when it comes to services, access to technology, healthcare, accessibilities, etc even in the smallest towns .
Does the living calculator takes taxes into account?
According to your own post on the other thread taxes take out an essential part of your income. FYI, i have never paid more than 5% on taxes when i was in Singapore, for about the same income that subject to 30% here in the US.
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Contrary to common belief, Singapore is actually very affordable. Average cost for a meal in a food court 2-3$, rental can be as low as 200-300$, of course you can also have a luxury apartment for 30 times of that price. Great public transport, no need for a car. Best healthcare in the world and very heavily subsidized even for foreigners. Great services. For photography: diverse ethnicity, short fly to anywhere in Asia. I lived there for 8 years and now kicking myself everyday for not staying there.
If the cost of living calculators found online are to be trusted, living in Singapore is much more expensive than Portugal.
And we're talking about a western European country that despite not being the most wealthy doesn't fall behind any other in most aspects when it comes to services, access to technology, healthcare, accessibilities, etc even in the smallest towns .
Does the living calculator takes taxes into account?
According to your own post on the other thread taxes take out an essential part of your income. FYI, i have never paid more than 5% on taxes when i was in Singapore, for about the same income that subject to 30% here in the US.
The comparison was only in terms of price of goods. But some of them were incredibly higher. I cannot compare in terms of taxes. Maybe in the end Singapore may be cheaper.
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from today's BBC :
Singapore tops ranking of best place to do business
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30123422 (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30123422)
yeah, nr.1 place to make business, as long as you afford to pay the bills .... ;D
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from NUMBEO, a rough idea of Singapore's cost of living in USD $ :
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Singapore&displayCurrency=USD (http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Singapore&displayCurrency=USD)
notice that some of the items (beer and cigarettes for istance) are almost 10x times more than in nearby countries like Indonesia !
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Is it about cost or quality of living?
Countries that usually top the rankings in terms of quality of living are New Zealand, Canada and Scandinavian countries. Scandinavia is very expensive though.
When it comes to cost... depends on how much comfort one needs. You can live in a wooden shack in country with cheap food and your cost of living will be close to zero. But are you ok living like that? Some are. The goal should be not to find the cheapest, but the right balance between cost and comfort, which is very individual.
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Also, I don't mind to live somewhere slightly more expensive than somewhere cheap, but you have to watch your steps and be extremely vigilant all the time not get robbed, raped or even killed.
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Completely agree with the two previous post: living in a country / town that has good public transport, easy access to events (e.g. live music), good beer, and a certain level of safety is a requirement. Doesn't matter if it costs a little more: I work to live, I don't live to work.
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i live in italy, and i'll never want to change :) (until i will have jobs)
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Completely agree with the two previous post: living in a country / town that has good public transport, easy access to events (e.g. live music), good beer, and a certain level of safety is a requirement. Doesn't matter if it costs a little more: I work to live, I don't live to work.
how much is your monthly budget ?
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but the right balance between cost and comfort, which is very individual.
China and Thailand were a perfect balance but now the party's over.
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but the right balance between cost and comfort, which is very individual.
China and Thailand were a perfect balance but now the party's over.
Why?
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notice that some of the items (beer and cigarettes for istance) are almost 10x times more than in nearby countries
Cigarettes are a stupidity tax. You have to pay it only if you are stupid.
Smart people don't pay this tax.
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Is it about cost or quality of living?
Countries that usually top the rankings in terms of quality of living are New Zealand, Canada and Scandinavian countries. Scandinavia is very expensive though.
When it comes to cost... depends on how much comfort one needs. You can live in a wooden shack in country with cheap food and your cost of living will be close to zero. But are you ok living like that? Some are. The goal should be not to find the cheapest, but the right balance between cost and comfort, which is very individual.
I kindly disagree. Cost of living vs. quality of life - both are somehow connected if you live off microstock. Our income does not adjust to the country. The more expensive a country gets the less we can afford. And while it might be true that one cannot buy happiness, I am not so comfortable meditating in all my spare time in a 20sqm Apartment because I have to save money.
Statistics like "Best country to live in..." etc. usually rely on a) that your income is equalling or matching the countries average or above and b) exclude local mind sets and subjective criteria of a country. In Norway, Finland, Germany I would go crazy about the relatively reserved people. In Asia I would not feel so well on the long run being always a "Farang". Others might be perfectly happy in Sweden if they cannot cope with the daily Chaos in Bahia.
Second: living in a cheaper country has nothing to do with living in a wooden shack...lol. Healthcare, housing, services such as laundry, internet etc. many of those services I consider to be of equal quality than in the US or Europe - especially because you can afford the premium services. A good private health insurance in Chile e.g. gets you much better quality than the public health insurance in Slovakia...and it is cheaper. I met through the years so many people with chronic diseases who could not afford proper treatment in the US and therefore moved to a "cheap" country. Many americans get treatment in Latin america. Elderly retirees expatriating to Asia for advances care and daily help. Western europeans go not only for dental Jobs to eastern Europe - there are whole clinics made especially for UK patients since they seem to have a healthcare problem there (never tried it in London :-) ).
The "new" countries, the ones we regarded once to be third world or upcoming may offer a lot more quality to many as they might expect. Some people still think they get mugged immediately after popping out of the Airport in Kuala Lumpur or whereever lol.
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but the right balance between cost and comfort, which is very individual.
China and Thailand were a perfect balance but now the party's over.
Why?
because both countries are a dump. china is an amazing place to travel in, but whoa jimminy cricket, let's be real it is not a place to live in. thailand, the land of smile LOL and lies. again, a great place to have a month long holiday in, but if you have ever lived there it is really a messed up place, and so xenophobic. i have never seen such a large group of expats who are just miserable and complain all the time anywhere, and don't even get me going about the quality of expat there. sure there are exceptions, but for the most part it's a sad little place to live in.
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but the right balance between cost and comfort, which is very individual.
China and Thailand were a perfect balance but now the party's over.
Why?
because both countries are a dump. china is an amazing place to travel in, but whoa jimminy cricket, let's be real it is not a place to live in. thailand, the land of smile LOL and lies. again, a great place to have a month long holiday in, but if you have ever lived there it is really a messed up place, and so xenophobic. i have never seen such a large group of expats who are just miserable and complain all the time anywhere, and don't even get me going about the quality of expat there. sure there are exceptions, but for the most part it's a sad little place to live in.
Thanks for the clarification. I know Thailand and considered in moving there maybe someday. Never did it so far because I felt to "farang" after some time.
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but the right balance between cost and comfort, which is very individual.
China and Thailand were a perfect balance but now the party's over.
Why?
because both countries are a dump. china is an amazing place to travel in, but whoa jimminy cricket, let's be real it is not a place to live in. thailand, the land of smile LOL and lies. again, a great place to have a month long holiday in, but if you have ever lived there it is really a messed up place, and so xenophobic. i have never seen such a large group of expats who are just miserable and complain all the time anywhere, and don't even get me going about the quality of expat there. sure there are exceptions, but for the most part it's a sad little place to live in.
Thanks for the clarification. I know Thailand and considered in moving there maybe someday. Never did it so far because I felt to "farang" after some time.
try it, you might like it. basically keep away from all bar girls and those areas, keep all of your money out of thailand, don't even think about opening a business or even buying anything in that country cause you will most likely lose. it becomes a parody living there after a while. there is an old expat saying in thailand " thais are lovely because you know they are only lying to you when they open their mouths" a bit extreme, but not really that far from the truth. great place to visit though even if it's for an extended period, but living there is a mixed bag of continual tricks. most farang who live there do a lot of complaining, though there are very few who actually love it there and succeed, but for the most part the expats there are the garbage collection of the world, a sad lot.
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Cigarettes are a stupidity tax. You have to pay it only if you are stupid.
Smart people don't pay this tax.
smart people don't pay taxes at all.
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Some people still think they get mugged immediately after popping out of the Airport in Kuala Lumpur or whereever lol.
that's funny ... Kuala Lumpur is one of the BEST options at the moment for cost of living, healthcare, world-class services, banking, long term visas, infrastructures (trains, roads, buses, airports), food, and all.
Thailand is 30 yrs behind Malaysia and will never catch up.
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but for the most part the expats there are the garbage collection of the world, a sad lot.
well, the worst bunch can be seen in places like Pattaya, Angeles City, Cebu, Sihanoukville, Bali, Goa, and Kathmandu, but in my experience Pattaya wins hands down ! :)
you won't see too much sh-it in Chiang Mai or Hua Hin, it always depends on many factors.
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because both countries are a dump. china is an amazing place to travel in, but whoa jimminy cricket, let's be real it is not a place to live in. thailand, the land of smile LOL and lies. again, a great place to have a month long holiday in, but if you have ever lived there it is really a messed up place, and so xenophobic. i have never seen such a large group of expats who are just miserable and complain all the time anywhere, and don't even get me going about the quality of expat there. sure there are exceptions, but for the most part it's a sad little place to live in.
yeah but the expats you find in China are a very different bunch from Thailand, for starters you won't see any "sexpat", even the english teachers are more respectable.
in China you also won't suffer all the racism and xenophobia and dual pricing as in Thailand, actually i always find it very easy to get along with the chinese in general, especially when doing business, they're a lot smarter than south east asians in general, on the other side they can get very greedy and manipulative and materialistic but nobody is perfect.
Japanese and Koreans are the best in my opinion, it's a shame too many expats living there are giving us a bad reputation, especially US armymen and english teachers.
the farangs ? they've VERY good reasons to complain nowadays but ultimately they should better go back home if Thailand is no more the place it was years ago.
there's nothing a farang can do about the widespread corruption, racism, double standards, scams, and ripoff, and what about even basic things like broken roads, rubbish bags everywhere, bad smells, drunks, police asking bribes ... farang play a passive role in all this but again they should either leave for greener pastures or fully accept the situation and shut the F up once and for all.
i mean it was obvious to everybody that good deal we enjoyed in the past couldn't last forever ... prices have boomed also in OZ and NZ if that matters, it's more expensive than Tokyo to live in Sydney now !
or what about places that were once cheap like Russia, Africa, Brazil, Dubai, Spain, ?
nothing is forever, enjoy it while it lasts and stay mobile.
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Never did it so far because I felt to "farang" after some time.
nowhere in Asia they will welcome you with open arms but in some countries it gets a lot better !
that's a matter of personal taste and you should first take a look first hand and see what you like, for instance i see koreans and americans in particular enjoying the Philippines while everybody else think the place is a dump.
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Cigarettes are a stupidity tax. You have to pay it only if you are stupid.
Smart people don't pay this tax.
smart people don't pay taxes at all.
yeah...
and those smart people move to where taxes and cost of living are low...
and then start to complain and whine about "the widespread corruption, racism, double standards, scams, and ripoff, and what about even basic things like broken roads, rubbish bags everywhere, bad smells, drunks, police asking bribes ..."
On the contrary, really intelligent people accept taxes as a neccessity to run a civilized society and are thankful that they can pay their taxes - and get working infrastructure, solid healthcare, a reliable legal system as return.
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Never did it so far because I felt to "farang" after some time.
nowhere in Asia they will welcome you with open arms but in some countries it gets a lot better !
that's a matter of personal taste and you should first take a look first hand and see what you like, for instance i see koreans and americans in particular enjoying the Philippines while everybody else think the place is a dump.
Hobostocker,are you an american or a european ?
... west european _- I think...??
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On the contrary, really intelligent people accept taxes as a neccessity to run a civilized society and are thankful that they can pay their taxes - and get working infrastructure, solid healthcare, a reliable legal system as return.
sure, this makes sense in a tribal society with small villages and that's exactly how they're run in the third world, but it's a different scenario in the actual capitalist environment where the FED prints trillions of "mickey mouse" dollars to save the banks while asking me 20-30% of my hard earned cash to make sure i'm locked-in on their Ponzi scheme.
if the biggest corporations keep their money offshore in tax havens why should i do otherwise ?
intelligent people are aware of the world they live in and they act accordingly.
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... west european _- I think...??
yes
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As you know that the mobile phone signal jammer can cut off the signals of the mobile phones and soon make it impossible to make phone calls or send messages. In this way when you need the peaceful condition and want to stay in it, you can just use the best mobile phone jammer to help you achieve your goal. And now as the technology develops with high speed the advanced vip jammer has come into the market and are well welcomed by the group of people who need the jammer product.
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Cigarettes are a stupidity tax. You have to pay it only if you are stupid.
Smart people don't pay this tax.
smart people don't pay taxes at all.
yeah...
and those smart people move to where taxes and cost of living are low...
and then start to complain and whine about "the widespread corruption, racism, double standards, scams, and ripoff, and what about even basic things like broken roads, rubbish bags everywhere, bad smells, drunks, police asking bribes ..."
On the contrary, really intelligent people accept taxes as a neccessity to run a civilized society and are thankful that they can pay their taxes - and get working infrastructure, solid healthcare, a reliable legal system as return.
You haven`t been living in many other countries than your own, haven`t you?
Off course I respect your point of view and in some aspects you are right, especially when it comes to individual live. On the grand scale most of those "developed" countries are not much different than others (e.g. look at financial politics etc.), but I prefer to keep the subject with the personal live choices of microstockers instead of complaining about the crash course of the european central bank :D
Again, I doubt that infrastructure, healthcare etc. are so much better in the high tax countries. I had serious trouble in the US (with healthcare and costs)....had excellent Healthcare in a third world country when I had an serious issue to deal with. It is difficult to generalize. If you live in Sweden, Finnland, Austria, Canada, partially Germany you get more for your 40%+ total taxes. In Slovakia, Czech Republik, Brazil, the US, Colombia you get almost nothing.
I cannot see myself living again anytime soon in one of the first world/high tax countries. Not just because I want to get away cheaper. I prefer a more free and edgy lifestlye of other countries. Including the many flaws it brings with it, it also is a cultural thing. But again, it is very subjective.
...and just because one guy is complaining about Thailand doesn`t mean the whole world is like this ;-)
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To keep the thread on topic:
As I see, many of the big players are based outside the first world which might be a indicator of production conditions. Yuri based the productive part of his company in south africa. Africa Studio with over 500.000 images are from Ukraine (if I remember right). Pressmaster/Foto is in Russia, Dragon images are based in Vietnam, Lev Dolgachov is in eastern Europe. There are some individuals in Germany, Austria, Norway who earn well but at least some of them outsource parts of their production to countries like Argentina. Wavebreakmedia is based in Ireland...I, for myself, am based as well outside, mainly because of salaries, HR, costs of production etc.
Jean Locke is off course in the US :D and Helen Fields (Video) is UK based. Anybody knows more bigger production companies for stock which are based in the US, Canada, UK, Germany,...?
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...and just because one guy is complaining about Thailand doesn`t mean the whole world is like this ;-)
ohhh and i'm surprised he's not pulling out the most typical accusation i heard a million times : "you can't get laid back home so you escape overseas to F cheap girls" ...
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As I see, many of the big players are based outside the first world which might be a indicator of production conditions.
it's also an indication that stock reached the last stage of its boom and bust cycle because you just can't get any cheaper than that now
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...just stumbled upon...where do the happiest people of the world live:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2842403/Revealed-happiest-countries-world-contented-life-head-Costa-Rica-Vietnam-Norway-UK-fares-better-Spain-Australia.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2842403/Revealed-happiest-countries-world-contented-life-head-Costa-Rica-Vietnam-Norway-UK-fares-better-Spain-Australia.html)
From the Article: "...with Costa Rica, Colombia and Vietnam topping the league. The UK features at position 44 - higher than Germany (47), Spain (62), Canada (65), Australia (76) and the US (105)..."
;)
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Wavebreakmedia is based in Ireland...
Wavebreakmedia have their studio in South Africa and pretty all of their production, team etc afaik too.
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Cigarettes are a stupidity tax. You have to pay it only if you are stupid.
Smart people don't pay this tax.
smart people don't pay taxes at all.
yeah...
and those smart people move to where taxes and cost of living are low...
and then start to complain and whine about "the widespread corruption, racism, double standards, scams, and ripoff, and what about even basic things like broken roads, rubbish bags everywhere, bad smells, drunks, police asking bribes ..."
On the contrary, really intelligent people accept taxes as a neccessity to run a civilized society and are thankful that they can pay their taxes - and get working infrastructure, solid healthcare, a reliable legal system as return.
In theory, and only in theory, with oversimplified models, it is correct. In reality, though... there are (plenty) of places with high taxes and terrible public service and conditions because of corruption, bad management, spending money for wrong causes. And, there are some places with low taxes and excellent conditions, public services because of good management and no corruption. Smart people go there!
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...and just because one guy is complaining about Thailand doesn`t mean the whole world is like this ;-)
ohhh and i'm surprised he's not pulling out the most typical accusation i heard a million times : "you can't get laid back home so you escape overseas to F cheap girls" ...
no the whole world is not like thailand, thank god. it's a rare place that you have to live it to be complete with it. and one of the main motivators of leaving thailand is because there is a very large portion of the expat community that are there for the F cheap girls factor. oh yawn lads, get a life. it's a sad place to live, that is not a complaint, it is an observation.
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Here's an idea!
In a house somewhere that you would like to live with an ISP, electricity, water, sewer, cable, heat, AC, phone, a view, away from civilization.
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Here's an idea!
In a house somewhere that you would like to live with an ISP, electricity, water, sewer, cable, heat, AC, phone, a view, away from civilization.
that's living "off the grid".
unfortunately it will cost almost the same as living "on grid" unless you plan to do it for decades, the gear you need to be independent is not cheap and requires maintenance at least every 2 yrs.
i've seen some fine examples of off the grid living in small islands here in south east asia but there's still a lot of troubles and it costs a lot anyway.
besides, even a small boat will suck 10-20 litres to make just 50km !
and then zero security and if you get seriously sick or wounded you're F-ed.
there are millions of people living this way in poor countries but there's a catch : it's only doable if they're at least a village of 30-50 people, each one has a specific task and they share everything.
one may wonder, what about those buddhist hermits living in the himalaya ? it turns out (seen with my eyes) they actually live nearby small villages so they have a source of water and food and eventual healthcare, actually every morning the villagers bring them food and water and whatever else they may need (coal to make fire, clothes, medicines), they're never 100% hermits especially if they're old and cannot take care of a small garden and livestock.
hermits monks, same as above, they're always a big group with a clear hierarchy, each doing a task and helping each other, cannot work if you're alone unless you spend a sh-itload on electric and mechanical gear
but then it's not financially worth it.
i've also read about the american "preppers" living in the woods or hidden trailer camps.
yeah, but these guys have skills they're a sort of modern Robin Hood and they steal whatever they can from nearby villages, don't think they live out of fruits or vegetables found in the forest.
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And, there are some places with low taxes and excellent conditions, public services because of good management and no corruption. Smart people go there!
yes, but there are always hidden costs and that's the issue.
as for living on the cheapest possible accomodations : yes you can do it, as low as 50 bucks per months in some countries, but it doesn't mean you'll be allowed to live there safely ! as the only white guy in town you'll instantly attract unwanted attention from thugs and corrupted cops, one day they could even come to you with knives and guns and steal everything under your nose, you're an intruder and you're not one of them and the police won't move a finger ... the only exception is if you marry one of their girls and speak their language, then OK you're one of them somehow but never 100%, is it worth it ? i say NO.
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and one of the main motivators of leaving thailand is because there is a very large portion of the expat community that are there for the F cheap girls factor. oh yawn lads, get a life. it's a sad place to live, that is not a complaint, it is an observation.
just live and let live.
i've more respect for these guys starting a new life in the tropics with cheap booze and cheap girls than the gazillions of sad fat old westerners who never leave their godforsaken village and spend all day complaining about their miserable life.
a retired western guy with a monthly pension of at least 1000 or 1500$ can live fairly well overseas and he can afford a lifestyle that is unthinkable back home.
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and one of the main motivators of leaving thailand is because there is a very large portion of the expat community that are there for the F cheap girls factor. oh yawn lads, get a life. it's a sad place to live, that is not a complaint, it is an observation.
just live and let live.
i've more respect for these guys starting a new life in the tropics with cheap booze and cheap girls than the gazillions of sad fat old westerners who never leave their godforsaken village and spend all day complaining about their miserable life.
a retired western guy with a monthly pension of at least 1000 or 1500$ can live fairly well overseas and he can afford a lifestyle that is unthinkable back home.
i do live and let live, i just don't want to surround myself around that lot. it gets rather sad to see on a daily basis some fat old westerner self applaud himself and his fat westerner pals how wonderful they are cause they can score young chicks on their measly pension. getting younger uneducated girls from third world poverty is hardly a feat. it's just not what i want to see and it's not what i want to be around. to each his own man, but i find it rather sad. btw, complainers will complain where ever they are regardless if they have never left their villages or if they are in bar girl heaven.
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i do live and let live, i just don't want to surround myself around that lot. it gets rather sad to see on a daily basis some fat old westerner self applaud himself and his fat westerner pals how wonderful they are cause they can score young chicks on their measly pension. getting younger uneducated girls from third world poverty is hardly a feat. it's just not what i want to see and it's not what i want to be around. to each his own man, but i find it rather sad. btw, complainers will complain where ever they are regardless if they have never left their villages or if they are in bar girl heaven.
ok, but let me remind you the first rule of traveling is that everything is relative.
at the cost of going off-topic, these old farts have zero chances with girls back in the west but not because they're old or fat or ugly, just because they aren't rich !
in a poor country these guys are seen as rich just because they're white, no matter if they have barely a pot to pi-ss in, the locals will also presume you've enough money to afford airplanes and rent in downtown and eat in restaurants, that's "rich" for them and therefore for some girls you'll be a "prize", just as in the West a rich guy is always a good catch for gold diggers and anything in between.
the logic at play is exactly the same, just in a different way and applied into a different culture.
so, there's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of from the social dynamics going on in such places, girls looking for a rich suc-ker, and western girls looking for a "provider" with a good job, but for whatever reason these guy are blamed and shamed and yet nobody complain if a western girl expects to "marry up" or the first question she asks is "what do you (for a living)" in order to size you up $$$ ...
my opinion, girls are dishonest and rapacious everywhere and are treated accordingly, there's NO reason to survive as an old fart in the west when you can live much better in the tropics for the same price, i mean the concept here is really "surviving vs living" !
feminists and dogooders will rant about "exploitation" but it's just envy ... and they're the first fostering the real exploitation of the third world whenever they buy clothes made in cheap countries or tropical fruit or coffee or whatever.
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Surprised no one mention Denmark- where the king of stock lives?
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smart people don't pay taxes at all.
Do you feel smart crafty thieves and scammers? Who don't pay taxes stole to the whole community.
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Do you feel smart crafty thieves and scammers? Who don't pay taxes stole to the whole community.
they steal nothing because the government can print trillions of paper money whenever it's needed, see the FED or the Bank of Japan or the ECB, not to mention the scam of the government being supposed to be in debt with itself and printing money to repay its own central bank.
there's absolutely no problem if nobody is taxed, here in south east asia most of the people have never paid taxes, only businesses are required to be taxed but it's a grey area and there are many legal loopholes.
therefore taxation here is indirect here, whenever you need to call the police or go in a hospital or send your kids to school you will pay a fee, whenever a road needs to be fixed the shop owner will collect a fee to bribe the mayor, food in supermarket is taxed fairly (5-10%) while food in public market is tax-free, i could go on and on ...
taxation in the West is just a way of population control to make sure the slaves keep working hard in exchange of mickey mouse paper money and it's also needed to keep the rich/middle/poor ratio in balance.
me supporting scammers ? 100% of the Forbes top-500 companies evade taxes and most are based in tax havens.
everything you ever bought in your life is probably produced by companies who are not paying taxes or at least paying a pittance.
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Clearly there are people who will be unhappy, frustrated and bigoted little individuals wherever they live.
Anyway, you can live practically anywhere if you live within your means, use a bit of common sense and only have yourself to worry about. Those with families or significant others, much less so.
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Surprised no one mention Denmark- where the king of stock lives?
The "King" of stock (Yuri) moved his business to south africa a long time ago....
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i do live and let live, i just don't want to surround myself around that lot. it gets rather sad to see on a daily basis some fat old westerner self applaud himself and his fat westerner pals how wonderful they are cause they can score young chicks on their measly pension. getting younger uneducated girls from third world poverty is hardly a feat. it's just not what i want to see and it's not what i want to be around. to each his own man, but i find it rather sad. btw, complainers will complain where ever they are regardless if they have never left their villages or if they are in bar girl heaven.
ok, but let me remind you the first rule of traveling is that everything is relative.
at the cost of going off-topic, these old farts have zero chances with girls back in the west but not because they're old or fat or ugly, just because they aren't rich !
in a poor country these guys are seen as rich just because they're white, no matter if they have barely a pot to pi-ss in, the locals will also presume you've enough money to afford airplanes and rent in downtown and eat in restaurants, that's "rich" for them and therefore for some girls you'll be a "prize", just as in the West a rich guy is always a good catch for gold diggers and anything in between.
the logic at play is exactly the same, just in a different way and applied into a different culture.
so, there's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of from the social dynamics going on in such places, girls looking for a rich suc-ker, and western girls looking for a "provider" with a good job, but for whatever reason these guy are blamed and shamed and yet nobody complain if a western girl expects to "marry up" or the first question she asks is "what do you (for a living)" in order to size you up $$$ ...
my opinion, girls are dishonest and rapacious everywhere and are treated accordingly, there's NO reason to survive as an old fart in the west when you can live much better in the tropics for the same price, i mean the concept here is really "surviving vs living" !
feminists and dogooders will rant about "exploitation" but it's just envy ... and they're the first fostering the real exploitation of the third world whenever they buy clothes made in cheap countries or tropical fruit or coffee or whatever.
with that reply, you sound just like the "type" i am talking about. they always have one common denominator about justifying it, the overall lack of respect for women in general. you don't need to be rich to find a wonderful woman anywhere, you just need to show them some mutual respect. that goes both ways my friend, western woman or third world pick ups. just sayin.
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with that reply, you sound just like the "type" i am talking about. they always have one common denominator about justifying it, the overall lack of respect for women in general. you don't need to be rich to find a wonderful woman anywhere, you just need to show them some mutual respect. that goes both ways my friend, western woman or third world pick ups. just sayin.
but respect must be earned.
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frustrated and bigoted little individuals
living abroad is the best cure for bigotry but this word has been abused for so long it lost any meaning.
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Surprised no one mention Denmark- where the king of stock lives?
I'm not surprised at all. Denmark is really a beautiful country, but to live there is very, very expansive.
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I would leave somewhere where the US$ gives more !
:P
that's it !
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I'm living in Hamburg/Germany.
Beautiful city, but with hillbilly inhabitants. I'm thinking of leaving my hometown due to the fact that these hillbillys voted against Hamburg to be a potential host of the olympic games in 2024...
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5657/22429218692_4cec38eb55_c.jpg)
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/700/21821345553_e9e5578739_c.jpg)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7579/16059926322_ee64db5199_c.jpg)
Really beautiful:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42147919/Speicherstadt_Pano_Logo/Speicherstadt_Pano.html
Regards,
Martin
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I'm living in Hamburg/Germany.
Beautiful city, but with hillbilly inhabitants. I'm thinking of leaving my hometown due to the fact that these hillbillys voted against Hamburg to be a potential host of the olympic games in 2024...
Agree that Hamburg is a beautiful city - but disagree that voting against the Olympics makes them hillbillies. These days the Olympics are nothing but a commercial operation that sucks a lot of cash out of a domestic market in return for 5mins of fame. Hosting comes with so many strings and costs attached that the hangover is just a debt and facilities that have no long term value to the host city. Whatever values they might have stood for in the past, they're now just an event for sponsors, run by an organisation that is just as corrupt as FIFA.
Maybe someone can enlighten me what Coca Cola and McDonalds have to do with health, athleticism or sport?
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You have to be happy where you live. That was always my maxim and that's why I am where I am now. And on top of it, Perth in Western Australia - and the rest of the continent, is not short of cool and classy locations for a photographer ;) But I bet, if you love your home, if you love your life, then you've found the right place and creativity shouldn't be the problem anymore - and that can be (almost) anywhere in the world!