nomad4ever

Do you use your mobile phone when traveling in foreign countries? Yes? No? Apart from the comfort of not having to change your SIM card and just calling and getting called like you’d do everyday; the usually outrageous roaming charges will surely knock you out of your travel budget soon.

But – it doesn’t have to be that way. Just get a local SIM card!

Is it really that easy? Yes and No.

written by Chris

I was asked by Arelle to write some more about the Philippines. Especially the beaches of the Philippines. So here we go:

Are the Philippines worth visiting? You bet!

It’s an amazing country. With friendly people, cheap accomodation and 7.000 islands to chose from. Lonely Planet calls the Philippines the ‘forgotten islands of South-East Asia’, which is a shame; because the Philippines have a lot to offer.

Especially, if you like water sports, soft sand, ocean waves and beach life. Where to go? Where to start?

written by Chris

Although ‘wealthy’ or ‘rich’ are terms a lot of people would interpret entirely different, it usually means that you have a lot of money. A load of money. Tons of money. Or at least more money than the guy next door, your neighbour.

Even the United Nations had to evaluate in its latest study, what ‘rich’ actually means – globally speaking:

• USD 500.000 are required to rank among the wealthiest 1% of the world’s people
• Only 37 Millions of people live on this planet, with that level of wealth

written by Chris

I used to pay around 400-600 Euro for my Health Insurance – per month! Not that I didn’t try to reduce that or even get around it at all. Why not pay for what you use only?

But back in my home country Germany, you have no choice. You have to pay for a health insurance and you basically pay for it with an arm and a leg. That is, if you earn a good income. The service you receive, when things go wrong, can range from mediocre to great, although you have limited influence, on which doctor or hospital to chose.

written by Chris

If you invest in stocks, shares, funds or currencies like me, you want to know constantly, how the markets stand. This way you know what the clock is ticking and are able to react quick, if necessary. When traveling in foreign countries, this can be quite difficult. Even more so, if you are a Permanent Traveler or Nomad.

Of course you can read a newspaper every day, surf the internet until you drop or log into your Online Banking or Brokerage Account to check, what time it is for your investments.

written by Chris

What an earthquake @ Asian Stock Exchanges around the region, after yesterdays announcement! The Thais suffered the most of course. I monitor a few stocks and funds over there, mainly an ABN Amro Certificate (covering the SET50 candidates), which lost about 25% yesterday, with Siam Commercial Banking, Krung Thai Bank and Bangkok Bank all around 19-30% in the red.

On average, it was a 15% crash at the SET, the Stock Exchange of Thailand and a single digit decline in its currency – the Thai Baht.

A blood bath!

written by Chris

It looks like the high rise of the Thai Baht is over for now. The Baht, with gains of more than 16% this year, was Asia’s best performing currency in 2006 – thus making traveling to Thailand slightly more expensive than usual for foreigners.

But what is that? Over the last 2 days it had the biggest 2-day-decline since May 2004, as reported this morning by Bloomberg.

written by Chris

I was asked by Lizza from expatinterviews.com, if I could fill out their questionaire about people living abroad from their home country. While surfing their website, it’s really interesting to compare the different interviews of other people, who are in similar situations but have different experiences and encounters in countries around our globe.

On further thought, I felt it could be interesting for my own site as well, so here are the questions and answers I provided:

Where were you born?

I was born in Germany, in a small town which has no more than 20.000 souls and is located not far from Berlin in the eastern part of Germany.

written by Chris