Recently I mentioned on the podcast that my wife and I were moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Well we’ve finally arrived and are starting to feel settled in.
I want to say thank you to the dozens of people who emailed me with well-wishes for this new adventure in our life. It’s cool to feel connected to so many people through social media. In addition, I’ve had several people from Buenos Aires who listen to my podcasts who emailed me to meet up. That is a pretty amazing phenomenon to me.
I’ve had a number of people express interest as to why we chose to move abroad and specifically to Buenos Aires. So I wanted to post some information about our decision and how podcasting and internet business helped get us here.
Ever since Melanie and I got married we’ve wanted to live abroad. Employment, our previous rock band or school have always determined where we’ve lived until now (Salt Lake City followed by Manhattan).
When Melanie finished grad school last Spring, the possibilities were wide open to us. We had nothing tying us to NYC (other than friends and a bit of family of course). Even though we love NYC, now is the ideal time to live abroad since we still don’t have kids.
The main reason I got into internet business is because I can do it from anywhere. As long as I have an internet connection, I can create and publish online content. I can can connect with my community and work with my students/clients. This kind of freedom is a key element for me to have to feel fulfilled in life.
On Internet Business Mastery we encourage people to decide what they need for fulfillment in life and then to pursue it. One of my life pursuits is to provide information and encouragement to help others achieve the lifestyle of their choosing.
In the spirit of freedom of location, we started looking for a place to live abroad. Our first choice was Paris since I have lived their before and Melanie wants to learn French. Unfortunately the current conversion rates for the euro put a damper on that. We wanted to live in a country where the US dollar would go a long ways allowing us to really enjoy the experience there.
Reading the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss planted the bug in my ear about Buenos Aires, Argentina. We started our research and quickly realized why Tim likes it so much. In the end we chose Buenos Aires for several reasons.
- We have a brother-in-law from Buenos Aires whose parents still live here.
- We have a few Spanish speakers in our extended families now and thought it would be useful to learn the language.
- Argentina is just a great country with lots of interesting things: plains, mountain, a city much like Paris, rain forests, huge waterfalls, etc.
- Buenos Aires fits the urban lifestyle that we prefer right now.
- The USD goes a long way here. Last weekend I had the best steak I’ve ever had for $8 USD. The subway is 30 cents USD per ride! Granted, this kind of currency leveraging requires that you have a means of making money in US dollars or something of equal or greater value. Internet business and my podcasts allow for that.
- It has only snowed here once in the last 90 years.
We’ll see where things take us next. We plan to be here for the next several months.
Have you lived abroad? Where did you live? Where should Melanie and I live next?
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Maybe you can put together a blog entry or a podcast or an ebook describing the steps you took to relocate. I’ve also been interested in living in Argentina but really wouldn’t know where to start in terms of finding a place to live, etc. especially without speaking Spanish.
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@Joe,
That’s an excellent idea. And in fact, my wife and I plan to do a whole site on living abroad for information workers. We will be starting a blog soon about our experience of moving and living here. I’ll announce it here.
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Will you be able to podcast together with Sterling from Buenos Aires? I’m new to learning about podcasting and was thinking of starting one here in America with a friend, but I’ll be moving back to France this summer.
BTW, I’m so inspired by this blog/podcast. I’m currently in a whilrwind of reading about internet marketing. I feel like I’ve discovered the “missing link” to my future. THANKS Leslie
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@Leslie,
We will still record the podcast while I am here. Before I was in NYC and Sterling is in Utah. We talk over Skype and each record our own end of the conversation. Then we have it edited together. In the end it sounds like we are in the same room. This is called a “double ender.”
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Thanks! Technology is awesome! Enjoy your new life.
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Hello Jay,
Since you are in Argentina, consider your next move to Brazil (South or Northeast).
South is closer and and the environment will be similar. You can even visit the country on weekends (make sure you have a proper visa).
If you plan to fly around, consider “The Brazil Pass”: a flat fee air ticket for non-Brazilians where you can visit up to nine sites. Here it is a site with more information http://www.brol.com
Good luck!
Ed Torres
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Hi Jay,
I made a similar move few years ago – just the other way around.
I now live in Barcelona, Spain but my main office is based in Bangkok, Thailand. I go there once every 2 months (I’m running an online business, and 12 people working in Bangkok) and I have been for the last 2 years living in Spain, learning spanish, kitesurfing (I live in front of the beach :) and traveling around Europe.
My online business is actually related to lifestyle design, as it provides apartments and offices to be rented for a week, a month or a year anywhere in the world. which is great for me, as each time I travel, I always have a fully furnished apartment+ fully equipped office available for me :)
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Hi Jason,
good to see you’re having a great time in Buenos Aires. There’s a great blog dedicated to this kind of living at http://locationindependent.com/blog/
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Hi Jay!
I just recently moved to Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and I too am settling in.. If you don’t mind the heat and humidity (kind of like Miami) then this is a great place to live, a lot of history and culture. You have Cancun and the Riviera Maya 3 hrs away and the famous Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza, as well as dozens of other archeological sites. We also have beatiful nearby beaches and a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course! CHeck it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9rida%2C_Yucat%C3%A1n
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Hi
Congratulations on your move. I lived in Colombia and despite the whole history they had, it is a GREAT place to be, if not for living, at least for visiting. My comment would be more on the side of: if you want Paris… why not? conversion ration means that you are making dollars and converting into euros but… what is preventing you from making euros? why not re-create what you have but in Europe? Spain is also a great place to live, and if you learn spanish you will be half way through.
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That’s so AWESOME!! I want to move somewhere like that once I get a great income going. I was thinking about New Zealand since they have great surf(I love surfing) and beatiful landscapes, plus 1 USD converts to 1.3 NZD.
Jay, if you make an ebook/video course on internet business abroad, with detailed descriptions & plans about choosing a location and making it work, I’d probably buy it. Thats my dream!
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Jay,
Congratulations on the big move. I lived across the Andes in Chile for two years as a missionary. I loved Chile. The people are great and once you get outside the smog of Santiago, the country is beautiful. Since you’re relatively close, you could visit pretty easily.
I like your idea of blogging about your experience there. I have a website about my stay and observations in Chile and it continues to provide me a revenue stream and opportunities to connect with people around the world. You can see “Pepe’s Chile” here:
http://www.pepeschile.com
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Jay,
As I see Spain/Spanish seems to be of interest to the people here, here’s a link to a guest post I wrote about moving to Spain http://locationindependent.com/blog/2008/02/01/could-spain-be-your-next-location-independent-destination/
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Congrats Jay. I am living near Whistler BC as my first foray into the mobile lifestyle. Halfway through 5 months now and you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to work 9-5 in a cubicle again. I will hopefully be spending the month of June down in Buenos Aires so maybe we can go to lunch and I can buy you one of those $8 steaks! :-)
Best of luck!
P.S. Love the stuff coming out of IBM
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@Ed,
Brazil sounds great. Thanks for the tips. I’m sure I’ll step foot into Brazil when I visit Iguazu Falls. After knowing French and soon Spanish, Portuguese shouldn’t be too bad.
@Gael,
It sounds like you have a great internet lifestyle going for yourself. Once I know Spanish, Barcelona will be on my “must visit” list.
@Chris,
Thanks for the awesome blog recommendation. There definitely seems to be more and more people enjoying freedom of location these days.
@Xaviero,
Merida, Yucatan looks great. I think I would love the food there. I’m not a huge fan of heat and humidity, but maybe if I come at the right time of the year it would work fine.
@Andy,
You make a great point. With a bit of creativity, I can change things so that I make money in Euros. It’s always best to ask “how can I make this work.” We considered Columbia. It looks fantastic there.
@Steve,
New Zealand is on our radar. In fact, there is a good chance we will go there next. Besides, I have to take a Lord of the Rings helicopter tour ;). GEEK ALERT!
My wife and I are working on something for individuals who want to live and do internet business from abroad. We’ll let you know.
@Joe,
I dig the name of your blog, Pepes Chile. I’ve bookmarked it for ideas–both for travel and our blog. I would love to cross the Andes and visit Chile.
@Jason,
Definitely let me know if you make it down to Buenos Aires. Congrats on living mobile. I love BC. Having grown up in AK, I’ve driven the Alcan Hwy a few times through BC and the Yukon.
If you like outdoor culture and indie films, you should check out the Banff Mountain Film festival the first weekend in Nov. It may be a little bit of a drive, but well worth it.
@All,
Thanks for the fantastic suggestions and resources. Makes me feel like I could travel my whole life and never see all the places that I want to. Exciting!
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Good News Jay! I’m always excited to hear about someone heading out to do the ex-pat thing. BA is probably a great choice with the dollar the way it currently is. I’d be really interested to see what you do with you ex-pat experiences (in terms of monetization). I’ve had a wild idea about what to do with my many years in Europe, but have yet to really bring anything to fruition…too busy working for the man! So I’m looking forward to your lead! Best of luck to you and lots of fun.
-taural
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Hi Jay. I really love Internet Business Mastery. Thanks to you guys I started a blog/podcast on Mexico travel, culture, history, and Mexican food, right now I’m doing very well. I’m still trying to build a community and then turn it into a business.
About relocation, I’ve lived in Europe and Mexico. It’s a great experience like you said, mainly because you get to understand other people, and you learn other languages. I want to visit Argentina, it’s a great place to live, great people and good eating.
Jay, I wish the very best over there. Cuídate mucho.
Lou
http://www.OfficialMexicoGuide.com
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Jay,
This is great! First off, congrats on your move to Buenos Aires, I have always wanted to visit. Second, I am really loving the content on your site and the podcasts you guys put out. Its really teaching me a lot. Appreciate it very much and look forward to more from the two of you.
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Hi Jay,
I just discovered Internet Business Mastery on iTunes (enjoying very much!) and then learned you and your wife just moved to BA. Congrats to you both!
I married an Argentine and got married in Tandil (Tandil is 230 miles south of Buenos Aires) and went on a honeymoon to Patagonia ice glaciers and then Mendoza wine country – best time ever! I am from Colombia – but have lived most of my life in Southern California. We visit lots of family in Argentina a couple of times a year and dream of living there…soon…
Here is a Buenos Aires website that might be of interest to you – I hope to meet the couple and join their communal dinning tables on one of our visits. Their website has lots and lots of info on relocating and living in Argentina. I believe one of the guys is from Brooklyn too. http://www.saltshaker.net/services
I look forward to your new site on the subject! We’ll let you know next time we are there!
Salud! Tanya
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@Tanya,
Thanks for the link. We can’t wait to visit Mendoza and Patagonia. Recently we had a great time in Pinamar.
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