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Personal Preferences
May. 25th, 2021 04:24 pmIn yesterday's post, I talked about getting basic information for my database, so that I knew some of the most common and useful facts. However, while that information is good, it isn't necessarily tailored for me. There are plenty of things that are important to me that are more important than a country's GDP, so in this post, I'm going to talk about finding that information.
As I also said yesterday, I've been writing down all kinds of criteria that could be useful. One of those criteria is how the country handled the COVID pandemic. Yes, it isn't over, and yes, it is hard to accurately assess this, as reporting is inconsistent. However, expectations are that we will be seeing more pandemics and other catastrophic events in the future thanks to climate change. I am definitely the kind of person who would prefer a proactive government that enforces mask-wearing, so I am using this data to look at who did best and worst.
Another factor that is important to me is same sex marriage/homophobia. I'm bisexual, but not in a relationship with a lady at the moment. However, this is less of an issue of what I need for my lifestyle, and more that I like to live in a place with a diverse population and without the government telling you who you can have sex with (excluding those who cannot or do not consent, who should be protected). To that end, we have this data on where same sex marriages are recognized and this data on homophobia. The phrasing in the article on homophobia seems to indicate that they think that a decrease in homophobia drives an increase in GDP, which seems like it would be the other way around to me, but I haven't read the whole thing. I've just mined it for its data.
What other kinds of things am I interested in? Marijuana legality, as I will try the THC-free CBD oil at some point, and if it works to decrease my anxiety and help me sleep, I'd like to be able to take it in my home country. The World Happiness Report also seems useful, as does the "Fresh Air Living Index", which list the best countries for outdoor activities, like hiking. This last one seems great, although I'm pretty annoyed that they have the table as an image. If I want to use this data, I'm going to have to enter it all in by hand. Grrr....
Another very important factor to consider is malaria. I can't take antimalarial medication, as that is what caused my brain damage. So, I am currently ruling out countries that have malaria. There are a couple of malaria vaccines in the works, so there may be a time down the road when I would be able to live in a country that has malaria. But not now.
The last table that I found was the difficulty of the local language. There are a lot of things I prefer about Russian over French, but even after not having spoken French for years, I find it easier to understand than Russian, just because there are so many similar words to English. I also really loved Chinese, but I don't know if I'd be able to learn it well enough with my brain damage to be able to speak it even vaguely fluently.
Tomorrow, I'll start talking about the most difficult part of this process: immigration. I expect that it will involve a lot of searching for information on individual countries, so I may put some of the data into the database first to help filter out countries where we definitely won't live rather than looking at Sweden or India's immigration policies.
Also, as an aside, I've been trying really hard to avoid picking one country over another. People have suggested a lot of options, but I am working on making the decision in a data-driven way for many reasons. It is exhausting for me to sort through all this data, and it is even more exhausting to spend a lot of time looking up information on individual countries only to find out that they are too expensive, too dangerous, too homophobic, too racist (which, by the way, is very hard to measure, so it isn't on my list), have malaria, have too much income inequality, etc. Instead of "have you considered X country", I would prefer "a lot of countries have retirement visas" or "here is a way I have heard about dealing with the visa situation in country Y". The information on retirement visas from a friend was _very_ useful, and I would love to hear how expats in Vietnam deal with the visa situation. I am considering all countries right now (in theory, although in application, there are a lot that are out because there is a shooting war there for example), so you don't need to ask. After I have come back with a list, then you can feel free to ask why I didn't choose one or another country.
For friends who are also considering moving overseas, I suggest using a cost of living index or something similar to filter out countries that you can't afford before you start really getting invested in one country or another. It is stressful and depressing for me to see how expensive some very appealing countries are. I think that setting realistic expectations of where you can afford to live is much better than looking online at "the top 10 places to retire" only to find that many of them are out of your price range.
As I also said yesterday, I've been writing down all kinds of criteria that could be useful. One of those criteria is how the country handled the COVID pandemic. Yes, it isn't over, and yes, it is hard to accurately assess this, as reporting is inconsistent. However, expectations are that we will be seeing more pandemics and other catastrophic events in the future thanks to climate change. I am definitely the kind of person who would prefer a proactive government that enforces mask-wearing, so I am using this data to look at who did best and worst.
Another factor that is important to me is same sex marriage/homophobia. I'm bisexual, but not in a relationship with a lady at the moment. However, this is less of an issue of what I need for my lifestyle, and more that I like to live in a place with a diverse population and without the government telling you who you can have sex with (excluding those who cannot or do not consent, who should be protected). To that end, we have this data on where same sex marriages are recognized and this data on homophobia. The phrasing in the article on homophobia seems to indicate that they think that a decrease in homophobia drives an increase in GDP, which seems like it would be the other way around to me, but I haven't read the whole thing. I've just mined it for its data.
What other kinds of things am I interested in? Marijuana legality, as I will try the THC-free CBD oil at some point, and if it works to decrease my anxiety and help me sleep, I'd like to be able to take it in my home country. The World Happiness Report also seems useful, as does the "Fresh Air Living Index", which list the best countries for outdoor activities, like hiking. This last one seems great, although I'm pretty annoyed that they have the table as an image. If I want to use this data, I'm going to have to enter it all in by hand. Grrr....
Another very important factor to consider is malaria. I can't take antimalarial medication, as that is what caused my brain damage. So, I am currently ruling out countries that have malaria. There are a couple of malaria vaccines in the works, so there may be a time down the road when I would be able to live in a country that has malaria. But not now.
The last table that I found was the difficulty of the local language. There are a lot of things I prefer about Russian over French, but even after not having spoken French for years, I find it easier to understand than Russian, just because there are so many similar words to English. I also really loved Chinese, but I don't know if I'd be able to learn it well enough with my brain damage to be able to speak it even vaguely fluently.
Tomorrow, I'll start talking about the most difficult part of this process: immigration. I expect that it will involve a lot of searching for information on individual countries, so I may put some of the data into the database first to help filter out countries where we definitely won't live rather than looking at Sweden or India's immigration policies.
Also, as an aside, I've been trying really hard to avoid picking one country over another. People have suggested a lot of options, but I am working on making the decision in a data-driven way for many reasons. It is exhausting for me to sort through all this data, and it is even more exhausting to spend a lot of time looking up information on individual countries only to find out that they are too expensive, too dangerous, too homophobic, too racist (which, by the way, is very hard to measure, so it isn't on my list), have malaria, have too much income inequality, etc. Instead of "have you considered X country", I would prefer "a lot of countries have retirement visas" or "here is a way I have heard about dealing with the visa situation in country Y". The information on retirement visas from a friend was _very_ useful, and I would love to hear how expats in Vietnam deal with the visa situation. I am considering all countries right now (in theory, although in application, there are a lot that are out because there is a shooting war there for example), so you don't need to ask. After I have come back with a list, then you can feel free to ask why I didn't choose one or another country.
For friends who are also considering moving overseas, I suggest using a cost of living index or something similar to filter out countries that you can't afford before you start really getting invested in one country or another. It is stressful and depressing for me to see how expensive some very appealing countries are. I think that setting realistic expectations of where you can afford to live is much better than looking online at "the top 10 places to retire" only to find that many of them are out of your price range.
Previous: Part 2 - Data Collection |
Next: Part 4 - Input
