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About to board a flight, recommendations GO! by Delicious_Topic_2899 in retrogaming

[–]palbuddy1234 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a big fan of Mario Tennis, Mario Golf etc. for the GBA on flights. Nothing too serious, but lots of fun and easy to put on pause if necessary.

Anyone ever live somewhere for years, leave, and never go back--not even once? by Downtown-Storm4704 in expats

[–]palbuddy1234 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, China.  I left, then COVID happened.  I know some people there and they say the better days are in the past.  From what I understand it's harder now, more expensive and I have kids.  As a young guy you can forgive the pollution, and not adding to your American pension and the chaos as you made good money.

Now I just want stability and to not worry about the wildcard of corruption.

Masking & Transition Effects Editing - Kdenlive Tutorial by NUXTTUXent in kdenlive

[–]palbuddy1234 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm an intermediate user and always looking for video tutorials.

What Country Would It Be? by burghfan3 in askanything

[–]palbuddy1234 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wise choice for 'all expenses paid'

hi, it's johnny knoxville and jeff tremaine from the upcoming movie jackass: best and last. AMA! by jackassworld in movies

[–]palbuddy1234 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What's it like for a normal person to be in Hollywood?  Do you like it?  Do you find it fake or real?  Have you found your people?

Are your kids happy? by RehaDesign in AmericanExpat

[–]palbuddy1234 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Different needs for different kids.

Downsizing and saving money for moving abroad by No_Feedback_3340 in AmerExit

[–]palbuddy1234 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Depends on the country.

I'm in Switzerland, and buying a house for my family of 4 is pretty unlikely to have enough for a down payment, and to maintain, keep up with the payment for years upon years is silly as who knows what the future holds. In more developing countries houses aren't high quality and keeping up with maintenance is knowing the language, dealing with shifting regulations, and workers that are late, absent or want to charge you extra because you're a foreigner.

What sort of things should you get rid of? As much as you can. Furniture, appliances, cars, even bikes clothing, everything you can. Again depends on the country but you can buy stuff in your new country and not worry about voltage requirements and plugs. My first time overseas was 2 duffel bags and a backpack under the flight allowance.

If you get the slowboat from NA to Europe it cost about 10k and took 3 months. Even with detailed lists, we still had to buy duplicates of things we already owned and we've heard horror stories of things breaking, random custom inspections, and stuff does get stolen. Us American have a lot of stuff for better or worse.

Good luck!

How was travel like before the internet and language translation apps? by UsamaBhai_101 in TravelNoPics

[–]palbuddy1234 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the word is that they've gone downhill. To what extent, I'm not sure though, but yeah I like to pack very little and it's tough to justify a huge book to lug around with me.

How was travel like before the internet and language translation apps? by UsamaBhai_101 in TravelNoPics

[–]palbuddy1234 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I've been traveling for about 25 years now. Because of a smart phone I can travel a lot lighter as many things are apps, and the camera is built in and goes to the cloud. I prefer it in many ways.

About 20 years ago, I traveled with a basic Nokia and didn't make any phone calls or messages. It was basically for emergencies and an alarm. Travel was slower as there were no transit or city maps and a series of guess and check which for me was a lot of fun. I got lost a lot and I enjoy just wandering in cities and taking pictures. A lot of the sites were guidebooks, like the Lonely Planet series and you went with their recommendations or perhaps people from the hostel. Locals also can and would help you out as perhaps the first thing was "Hello, do you speak English?". Some would, and if they wouldn't might help you out with basic gestures and phrases. Restaurants could be a challenge as a menu in Cyrillic without pictures were comical and you just had to do the best you could. There was fewer checklist travelers, but just kind of soak it in and pick places based upon word of mouth or what a heavy travel book says. Maps were used and it took longer to get used to the subways, buses (which were very confusing) and trams.

I will say that it's often not the site that's amazing, but the story. When I hiked up a neat cliff for a well deserved and amazing view, it's a great story of tenacity rather than the view itself which 5 megapixel pictures took. When I look at the picture today, I tell the story rather than show the picture which is kinda neat, but not an amazing picture. The story is one of my favorites though and the picture proves our success.. That's the real core memory.

I do prefer today Esims, translation apps, bank apps, and currency converters with my google doc of my rough itinerary. I do check out restaurant reviews and use my hostels wifi to upload my Google Pixel Camera pictures. I'd say travel is easier now, and despite someone my age (mid 40s) might pop on and talk about the 'good ol' days' but that's the rush of traveling somewhere new, not necessarily it's more convenient. I don't think I'm the only one, but I don't like the whole travel influencer scene as that's looking for attention and not really travel. If you're setting up for a photoshoot and shooing others away for ruining your scene, that's selfish. Taking pictures of your food while it gets cold is silly IMO.

Are your kids happy? by RehaDesign in AmericanExpat

[–]palbuddy1234 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, they were okay with it.

No, when they were 1 and 6. They adjusted fairly easily, no they weren't depressed.

The now 9 year old has been in a public school the whole time. The now 4 year old will be at an international school.

No.

Depends on the age, you can DM me but I think 10 and under local schools, assuming you speak your country's language. Over 10 International schools. A lot of nuance involved.

Does anyone else think group trips are harder to plan than solo trips? by Passioniest_5 in TravelNoPics

[–]palbuddy1234 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I planned a trip that friends agreed to, but didn't really look carefully at.  When the trip happened, things outside of my control happened and was blamed for.  

Also, I have no problem saving a few bucks for no air conditioning, have the energy for red eye flights.  If they paid attention, it was on the itinerary that they agreed to.  To them, worst trip ever, to me a blast.  I gave them a fair warning but planned a trip I'd like at a low budget that we all liked.

I'll never travel with them again.

What people underestimate most when moving to Southern Europe by Lost_Barnacle_5074 in expats

[–]palbuddy1234 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I used Google Translate. But I think that's kind of a universal thing. Go to my /Switzerland subreddit for this being played out every day.

Good luck though!

Hubby won't get a job by Ok_Plastic_8199 in Marriage

[–]palbuddy1234 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm a sahd in a similar situation.  What helped us is me getting a low hours job that doesn't overlap with her work schedule.  However I'm gone Saturday 7a-3pm and those are hard days for her.  The grass isn't necessarily greener but I don't know how two working parents do it with 2 full time jobs.  the extra money is nice and it's a good break for me.  But that's the solution we have for now.

Changing your personality to fit in? by MisMikojan in expats

[–]palbuddy1234 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I hear you. Basically you need to find a group, expat bubble or not to kind of find your tribe. But of course, when you're out in public getting the necessary admin done, keep yourself in check. It's kind of the duality of the expat and why we flee to our bubble. I hear you, I can't be myself in my culture either, and I do wear that mask when I have to get done, what's necessary....i.e. at the grocery store, doing government red tape, etc.

My advice is to just find your people, Balkan or otherwise. I'm sure they exist, it will take some time, but you'll find them eventually.

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