Expats Go Deep or Wide, Not Both

latin america 5 comments

Expats in Latin America generally come in two types. One stays put in one place forever. The other hops all over the region.

Both strategies have advantages and disadvantages. In a nutshell, the first gains a lot of specialized knowledge about his city, while not learning much about the region. The other learns a little about the region, but never gains true expertise in one place.

A “stays put” expat in Peru might say you can’t drink the water in Latin America, while a counterpart in Colombia would say the taxis have meters. They’re both wrong in the other’s country. These are simple examples you’d learn on a short visit, but the point applies to the deeper knowledge it takes years to gather.

You can hear a “stays put” expat in their Spanish. It’s heavy on the local slang and figures of speech. They may not be aware which ones are unique to their country. The wanderer, on the other hand, could have a cleaner international Spanish, or it could be a mutt of different accents and keywords.

By definition, you can only do one of the two. Time is finite and you can only be in one place at a time. If you’re leaving that place often, you’re not getting deep. And if you’re spending all your time in one place, you’re not getting wide.

I might make an exception. I knew an expat who is coming up on 30 years in Latin America. He lived in Caracas, Asuncion and La Paz before settling in Bogota, where he’s been for 20 years. I’m not sure he’d say he has wide experience, but in theory if you get multiple decades you could tick both boxes.

I feel like I did neither. By living in three cities over 10 years, I never went too deep in any one. Nor did I travel far and wide. I haven’t visited most countries in Latin America, and the ones I have I only scratched the surface in the capital.

In hindsight, I wish I had stayed put. I wish I had gone deeper into one place. I’m definitely an expert in Peruvian history and culture, but I didn’t cultivate 10 years in the most important area: contacts. You only build your network gripping and grinning on the ground.

I’ve realized staying put isn’t in my nature. I’m one of the men who don’t fit in.

5 comments

  1. So, if you had to settle somewhere in Latin America, where would it be? Like you, I am a big fan of Lima and would happily go to Peru to spend time in Lima so somewhere like Pueblo Libre, Jesus Maria or Magdalena would suffice but also

    Queretaro, Puebla (Mexico) Ibague, Pereira, Manizales (Colombia) Mar del Plata, Villa Carlos Paz, Salta (Argentina) Iquique, Vina del Mar (Chile) and there are quite a few cities in Brazil I would settle in, mostly in the south but Portuguese is a pain in the arse.

    Like

    Reply

    1. What a question! I’d probably default to Lima but at the same time, as one who doesn’t fit in I may need something new. But I’m older now so not inclined for something too crazy. More like retirement, so maybe Chile or Panama? The capitals of course. Maybe Buenos Aires in 10 years if it makes economic progress.

      On the other hand, sometimes I think I’m just done with Latin America. Obviously there are distinctions place to place but the broad strokes are all the same. I wonder if I’d like something in Europe, maybe France or Ireland.

      Like

      Reply

  3. There´s a few things I disagree on:

    1. ¨By definition, you can only do one of two¨

    I dont think so

    I think it´d be very easy to do both

    I would say I did

    When I started, I basically just hopped around the region from city to city with certain cities being my base cities for a tiny bit each. Did that for about 2 years. In that time, I visited a majority of LATAM countries

    Then I moved to Mexico where I have been here for almost 8 years

    I had the basic experience in each city and I would definitelty I have dug deep into Mexico City and Estado de Mexico way deeper than most gringos ever would

    I would imagine there are other gringos who have done the same. Did some traveling and then chose a country

    I think a gringo who picks a place to settle down in and then does side trips kinda is doing the same thing also. OK, he has a home somewhere in LATAM but he is still seeing other countries on a basic level like a traveler would. A difference is the traveler is moving around a lot more without a solid home but they still both saw all those cities (well the traveler probably saw more but still…)

    Still, I agree most gringos dont really do both

    Most do fit into one of both groups: travel hopping from city to city or staying put somewhere

    2. ¨I feel like I did neither¨

    I dont know about that

    Well you know your life better than me

    But from your writings, it sounds like you went deeper than your average traveler into Peru. You married a local. Had kids. Did rentals. A business I think? Wrote the book on Lima. Some news experience I think?. Learned what you could about the culture. Healthcare experience. And more

    Contacts matter but I dont think it takes you away from the group of those who stay put and dig deeper into an area

    There´s always levels to this. Sure, there are those who have whatever those contacts looks like but I could probably set a higher standard and say well those people didnt dig deep enough because of whatever deeper standard I set. No, it doesnt take away from all the other experiences one has. Maybe those with those contacts (whatever that means specifically) dont have a family with a local, no local business, etc

    ¨The wanderer, on the other hand, could have a cleaner international Spanish, or it could be a mutt of different accents and keywords.¨

    Definitely true in my experience years ago

    I used to say ¨vos¨ after my time in Argentina. Havent in years tho

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply