I’m writing the Expat Chronicles book about my 10 wild years in Peru and Colombia. I’m re-reading the posts from my first year and it reminds me how much Latin America has changed. For reference, see Not Your Old Man’s LatAm Expat Scene. Or read this version condensed to one paragraph.
The gringo expat scene in Latin America has been transformed by three forces: perceived safety, remote work and the internet economy. The community has exploded in size and gone from delinquent oddballs to educated remote workers, leaving old-school voices like Expat Chronicles largely forgotten by a new crop that never needed a pioneer to show them the way.
Reading my old posts, I realized that the way things used to be made me stronger. They gave me better lessons on Latin America. I wondered if the conveniences that today’s digital expats enjoy are a kind of crutch, a disadvantage. They’re missing a full education in Latin American culture.
Don’t go down to Latin America to make life easy. Doing hard things is what makes you strong. If you’re over 50, maybe you deserve to take it easy. But life on Easy Street makes you soft. Nobody becomes tough doing boxercise or using the machines at Planet Fitness. Only a fool brags about turning in an essay written by ChatGPT, and associate’s degrees in general studies don’t earn much more than if someone hadn’t gone to school at all.
Going to live in the rich enclave surrounded by gringos is the equivalent of boxercise. A remote job renting from a landlord who speaks English in the nice part of town is like joining Planet Fitness. Sure, you get a participation trophy. But why not do something hard? Something edifying? Something you can be proud of?
I did not move to Peru to live on Easy Street. It was a huge challenge. If I were smarter, I would have been a little scared. Good.
If you’re not scared, you’re not doing anything hard or interesting. You’re being a pussy. Face your fears. It not only makes you stronger. It makes you happier.
Chasing comfort makes you soft. Pursue pleasure and become miserable. Especially pleasure. It leads to religion, death or jail. Trust me on this. I’m old and wise.
If I were starting out today, I probably would have taken an online job too. I’d be a fool not to. But you can adopt activities that have the same educational immersion and character-building effects that I benefited from in the 2000s. Here are some ways you can replicate the edification of an old-school LatAm expat.
Don’t do remote work only. Take a part-time job teaching English or volunteering. Do some kind of work where you must show up in person and be surrounded by natives every day.
Join a sports team where you are the only gringo. The most intense language immersion I experienced was playing basketball on a team of Peruvians who all grew up together in the same Jesuit, primary-through-secondary school. Try running plays, following instruction and talking smack in that environment.
Don’t live in the nicest part of town. Live in a neighborhood where you can go weeks without seeing another gringo. It doesn’t have to be poor. Middle-class, “midtown” districts were my favorite. They’re usually located in between the rich enclave and the historic city center.
Don’t use dating apps. Go out dancing. Take a dance class if you need. Don’t date anybody who speaks English better than you speak Spanish.
Don’t buy your food at the fancy supermarkets. Go to the wet markets. And do NOT call them “farmers’ markets.” Don’t eat at any restaurant with a menu in English or English-speaking staff unless it’s a special occasion. Like showing your visiting family around.
Don’t take Ubers. Take the bus whenever possible. If you’re in a hurry, hail a taxi in the street. Get a bicycle. Don’t be a pussy about riding it in the street.
Don’t use online maps when out and about. You can confirm the address and route on your laptop at home. But once you’re on the ground, no online maps. Ask around for your destination.
Don’t carry plastic. Pay only with cash. Everything all the time. Cash.
Don’t stream video. Get a cable package. Watch the local news. You don’t have to watch the network primetime entertainment programs, but be aware of what they are.
Don’t stream all your music. Pick a favorite radio station and listen to that more than you stream.
Don’t hire fixers to do your government legalese. Queue up with the masses. Feel the bureaucracy.
Don’t go secular. Attend a Mass or whatever religious service applies to you. At least once. It will be different. You’ll learn something.
I didn’t choose all these harder ways for personal growth, but necessity. The modern conveniences weren’t there. And I am better assimilated for it. I didn’t just live in Latin America. I let it change me. That’s the difference between a decade of immersion and a digital nomad’s glorified tourism. I don’t live in South America anymore. But South America lives in me.
Stay off Easy Street, which keeps you soft. Comfort is forgettable. Difficulty is formative.
And of course, don’t be a pussy.
If you like what you read and are interested in the South America before Airbnb, Uber and credit card processing, you’ll love my upcoming book.
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All true. A keen analytical take and yes, today’s expat gringos are mostly online nerdy-fags. They are people to avoid when you see them in public and characters that you can’t help but take advantage of if given the chance. I’ll say this, after 10 years you were just starting to warm up. Do you find that your spouse has become more americanized than you anticipated she would? That’s the flipside of the coin.