Author Topic: Where to Live as a Stock Photographer? (Read 42050 times)

Hobostocker · « **Reply #75 on:** November 20, 2014, 22:26 »

Quote from: Tror on November 20, 2014, 13:33

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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #76 on:** November 20, 2014, 22:29 »

Quote from: shudderstok on November 20, 2014, 19:44

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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #77 on:** November 20, 2014, 22:43 »

Quote from: shudderstok on November 20, 2014, 14:20

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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #78 on:** November 20, 2014, 22:45 »

Quote from: Tror on November 20, 2014, 16:07

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.

dirkr · « **Reply #79 on:** November 21, 2014, 15:46 »

Quote from: Hobostocker on November 20, 2014, 22:22

Quote from: Realist on November 20, 2014, 12:35
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.

ferdinand · « **Reply #80 on:** November 21, 2014, 17:36 »

Quote from: Hobostocker on November 20, 2014, 22:45

Quote from: Tror on November 20, 2014, 16:07
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...??

Hobostocker · « **Reply #81 on:** November 21, 2014, 23:41 »

Quote from: dirkr on November 21, 2014, 15:46

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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #82 on:** November 21, 2014, 23:42 »

Quote from: ferdinand on November 21, 2014, 17:36

... west european _- I think...??

yes

BenitaHanel · « **Reply #83 on:** November 22, 2014, 04:42 »

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.

Tror · « **Reply #84 on:** November 22, 2014, 05:51 »

Quote from: dirkr on November 21, 2014, 15:46

Quote from: Hobostocker on November 20, 2014, 22:22
Quote from: Realist on November 20, 2014, 12:35
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

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 ;-)

Tror · « **Reply #85 on:** November 22, 2014, 06:44 »

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

and Helen Fields (Video) is UK based. Anybody knows more bigger production companies for stock which are based in the US, Canada, UK, Germany,...?

Hobostocker · « **Reply #86 on:** November 22, 2014, 07:14 »

Quote from: Tror on November 22, 2014, 05:51

...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" ...

Hobostocker · « **Reply #87 on:** November 22, 2014, 07:22 »

Quote from: Tror on November 22, 2014, 06:44

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

Tror · « **Reply #88 on:** November 22, 2014, 09:03 »

...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

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)..."

stockuser · « **Reply #89 on:** November 22, 2014, 09:45 »

Quote from: Tror on November 22, 2014, 06:44

Wavebreakmedia is based in Ireland...

Wavebreakmedia have their studio in South Africa and pretty all of their production, team etc afaik too.

asmai · « **Reply #90 on:** November 22, 2014, 10:36 »

Quote from: dirkr on November 21, 2014, 15:46

Quote from: Hobostocker on November 20, 2014, 22:22
Quote from: Realist on November 20, 2014, 12:35
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!

shudderstok · « **Reply #91 on:** November 22, 2014, 12:23 »

Quote from: Hobostocker on November 22, 2014, 07:14

Quote from: Tror on November 22, 2014, 05:51
...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.

ruxpriencdiam · « **Reply #92 on:** November 22, 2014, 14:38 »

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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #93 on:** November 23, 2014, 01:40 »

Quote from: ruxpriencdiam on November 22, 2014, 14:38

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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #94 on:** November 23, 2014, 01:54 »

Quote from: asmai on November 22, 2014, 10:36

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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #95 on:** November 23, 2014, 02:04 »

Quote from: shudderstok on November 22, 2014, 12:23

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.

shudderstok · « **Reply #96 on:** November 23, 2014, 09:44 »

Quote from: Hobostocker on November 23, 2014, 02:04

Quote from: shudderstok on November 22, 2014, 12:23
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.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #97 on:** November 23, 2014, 22:49 »

Quote from: shudderstok on November 23, 2014, 09:44

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.

Buffalo Bill · « **Reply #98 on:** November 24, 2014, 01:01 »

Surprised no one mention Denmark- where the king of stock lives?

Red On · « **Reply #99 on:** November 24, 2014, 04:22 »

Quote from: Hobostocker on November 20, 2014, 22:22

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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Author Topic: Where to Live as a Stock Photographer? (Read 42050 times)

Hobostocker

Hobostocker

Hobostocker

Hobostocker

dirkr

ferdinand

Hobostocker

Hobostocker

BenitaHanel

Tror

Tror

Hobostocker

Hobostocker

Tror

stockuser

asmai

shudderstok

ruxpriencdiam

Hobostocker

Hobostocker

Hobostocker

shudderstok

Hobostocker

Buffalo Bill

Red On

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