Thread by @terrorhousemag

one like = one unpopular opinion about travel, expatriation, and foreign countries

learning foreign languages is pointless unless you achieve fluency, most people you'll encounter in cities speak some English, and as soon as they find out you're a foreigner they'll switch to English because a) they want to practice or b) it's easier than watching you stumble

most overrated continent: Asia
most underrated continent: Africa

Americans are the most bearable Anglos when traveling abroad (at least in Asia and Europe) because the sheer expense of leaving North America filters out the really bad ones. In contrast, pretty much all Brits and Australians are human garbage

mountains > beaches, at least when it comes to producing livable cities and likable people

there is no such thing as finding a "trad wife" overseas because the mere fact of a woman dating you, a foreigner, over one of her countrymen means she is not trad by definition. in the words of the great philosopher Tim Sharky, "Good Thai girls don't suck white dick."

Balkan Slavs (Croats, Serbs etc.) combine the worst of Russians (alcoholism, social autism) and the worst of Sicilians (clannishness, laziness)

one extremely good thing about the pandemic is that it has finally convinced European supermarket cashiers (at least in Albania) to bag customers' groceries (like it's done in the U.S.) instead of forcing customers to do it themselves like a bunch of peasants

living in hot climates makes white people stupid. the dumbest whites on the planet are from Australia, New Zealand, and the American South.

pretty much any European city, even the shitty and irrelevant ones, is more interesting than even the best American city because there's actual history and character to experience instead of nauseating sprawl and suburbanization

it's very difficult to get in trouble abroad unless you do dumb shit. people who get killed, injured, arrested are usually doing drugs or trying to stiff a hooker or something else that's dumb. don't be a dumbass: you'll live longer

you'll learn more about the character of a foreign country by hanging out at crappy cafes then by going to museums and tourist attractions

only amateurs go to Hong Kong or Switzerland to open bank accounts. go to Georgia or Armenia. far less red tape, they're not part of the Common Reporting Standard, and you can get a savings account with 12 percent interest

living in Asia slowly breaks white men mentally, I don't know a single person who's lived in China, Japan, South Korea etc. for an extended period of time, surrounded by sideways pussy and face culture, and retained their normality

if you're in a "trad" Eastern European country, you should go to church even if you're not a believer because it'll keep babushkas from harassing you. if you're Catholic in an Orthodox country, go to the Armenian Catholic, Greek Catholic Church etc., you don't have an excuse

80 percent of the problems with transcontinental flights can be solved by not being a cheap fuck and upgrading to business class. if you can't afford that (it's not that expensive, on some airlines it can cost as little as $100 extra) you can't afford to live abroad anyway

teaching English is a shit tier job that pays shit and causes women to view you as shit. there are exceptions like China and Saudi Arabia, but by and large, moving abroad to teach English is beyond stupid. you are literally better off working at McDonald's in your hometown

most overrated European country: Poland
most underrated European country: Albania

the easiest way to get laid in Poland or Hungary as an American is to have a driver's license listing your address in New York, Chicago, or California. you don't even have to be from NYC in the former case because the girls are too dumb to know that there's a New York state

Americans are pretty much beloved everywhere, even in so-called "enemy" countries. shockingly, foreigners don't really care about the bugaboos of white American liberals ("god Trump is EMBARRASSING US ALL!") most people are too busy living their lives to give a shit

Hungary is less "trad" than the U.S., Budapest is full of sex shops (I've never seen as many sex shops in a city anywhere, it looks like Times Square in the 1970's) and prostitution is legal there. also, every other Hungarian woman is bisexual for some reason

the best American-style restaurants (and the only good Mexican restaurants) in Europe are found in Armenia, probably because the country is full of repats from California who brought the recipes back with them

Poland has better roads, trains, and airports than the U.S., the difference is so stark that it's embarrassing. I'm pretty sure the Poles just repave roads every day because they have a fetish for fresh pavement

Sweden isn't terrible, the so-called "no-go zones" are no worse than ghettos in the average American city. the biggest problem with Sweden is that it's ripoff-level expensive ($3 for a bottle of water, $5-6 to ride the metro, $10-12 for a beer etc.)

Arabic and Mandarin Chinese are the most unpleasant languages to hear. Arabic sounds like the speaker is constantly trying to hack up a hairball, and Mandarin Chinese sounds like the speaker is always threatening to kick your ass

the average Filipina is cleaner and more hygienic than the average American woman

when crossing an international border, you should always wear a suit or something nice (if you're a man), the border guards will go easy on you if you're dressed well

Georgian wine > French wine

European food is better than American food by virtue of not being loaded with GMOs and hormones, I lost ten pounds the first month of my move abroad without making any other changes to my lifestyle

KFCs in Hungary and Georgia are Chik-fil-A tier

the Appalachians > the Alps

if you insist on learning a foreign language you should focus on vocabulary over grammar, it's more important to know words than how to conjugate shit because with vocabulary you can at least communicate with people on the most basic level

learning foreign alphabets/scripts is easy. it's possible to learn Cyrillic in about an hour, Georgian and Armenian in two hours. the easiest is Greek which takes about 15 to 30 minutes (since many letters in Latin and Cyrillic script come from Greek)

taking out cash before you leave the U.S. is dumb because currency exchange booths in foreign countries are a ripoff. just wait until you get there and use a local ATM, the international usage fees are low these days

postal services > private couriers (UPS, DHL etc.) in many countries. in Hungary, the post office will make damn sure you get all your mail. UPS and DHL drivers will lie and claim you aren't home because they're too lazy to find a parking spot

American pizza > Italian pizza

Eastern European/Caucasus food isn't "bland," your tongue has been too rotted by artificial flavorings whipped up in a lab in New Jersey to appreciate what food tastes like when it isn't doused with a million Frankenchemicals

avoid talking to people on the street in most countries because they're usually trying to scam you or sell you a hooker for the night. look straight ahead and don't even acknowledge them when they yell at you and they'll leave you alone

you pretty much have unlimited freedom of speech in "dictatorial" countries so long as you don't get involved in local politics. the government isn't interested in policing you. stay out of local politics and don't be a blatant degenerate and you can do what you want

Canada has the most intrusive, strict border patrol in the world. as a former friend put it, "Canadian border agents look at Americans like they're Mexicans."

I can't stand it when people claim that Montreal is a "European city in North America," Montreal and Quebec are Vegas crossed with a West Virginia trailer park, full of dumb people who can barely talk and women who will sell themselves for a buck

updating this thread is gonna be a fucking nightmare but I will try

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