-I'm a late-twenties guy in the U.S.
Best time of your life ...to not be in the US.
-I have an ok career track: I make a little less than $60k per year and there are decent long-term prospects.
Careers are slow track bullshit.
Start some kind of a company, bring your unique talents and real value to the world, and liberate yourself from ever having to say the word 'career' again.
- I love my job 50% of the time, I hate it the other 50%.
What Fisto said.
-I have two years of thai living expenses saved up (and, I save an extra year worth of thai living expenses every year i stay in the U.S.)
How much do you actually have?
You'll want about $2k-$3k/month to live decently here and a few Gs in the bank for visa runs, hospital visits and other incidentals.
-I would like to not work for a while. I want to just read, lift weights, bang chicks, sleep decent hours and eat good food.
I challenge you to replace 'not want to work for a while' with 'find a way to replace my income, liberate my time and give myself location independence'.
You have enough buffer room to get something off the ground without killing yourself in the process. Take advantage of it now and live the rest of your life in freedom.
Or go back to your $60k/year career in the US that you love 50% of the time. Up to youuuu.
-I have a girlfriend right now, but I hope I never marry anyone. Right now, I really don't want the "normal" western goals (marriage, family, career advancement, etc), just read, lift, bang, sleep, eat.
You're going to love it here.
-I'm drawn to thailand by the low cost of living, the good food, the easy lays, and the freedom.
So find a way to stay.
You're always going to have it in the back of your mind that "fuck...I'm eventually going to have to go back." Screw that shit man! This is the opportunity of a lifetime.
I promise you that you'll have plenty of time to bang loads of chicks, lift weights, read, sleep decent hours, eat great food and travel around Asia even while you're working on a biz. How do I know this? Because I did all of those things today (except read my kindle which I do before bed).
And instead of 2 year's worth of funds saved up I came here with about $1500 in my checking account and $22k in debt. So I'm holding you accountable bro! Do this thing...
Here are the risk factors I see:
(1) fucking up my career- basically, I worry that i will wake up after a year or two in thailand and I realize I want to go back to the West, but now I've fallen off the career ladder. My industry is really conservative so it'd be tough to get back in after going expat.
The fundamental question is do you need a career in the first place? Read the book The Millionaire Fastlane. It'll open up your eyes to some next level shit.
(2) related to point (1), by fucking up the career, I feel like I'd jeopardize my chances at having a normal, conventional family life if I ever ended up wanting that (suburbs, house, wife, kids, etc)
Let's say you continue on your career track.
That can go up in smoke in the blink of an eye. You'll always be at the mercy of others to hire you, employ you, pay you, empower you to create value, etc.
Just bypass all that crap and make your own moves.
(3) related to (1), maybe it is dumb to spend down my (humble) net worth when I've been fortunate enough to start building wealth. Again, I'm worried ill wake up as a 35-year or 45-year old man and say "what the hell was I thinking?"
Don't spend it all. Spend some of it and invest the rest of it in a business of some kind.
On the other hand, I feel like I should not wait, because:
(1) the cost of living spread between the U.S. and Thailand might narrow (thailand and such is getting more expensive, so I feel like low-cost SEA won't be there if I wait too long).
There's some truth to that. Especially if you want to live like a Westerner, eat organic shmorganic foods, etc.
All the more reason to start getting rich now, so you don't have to worry about all that minutiae in 5 years.
(2) life is really short
Amen.
(3) I worry that I might get stuck (fall in love like an idiot) with a western girl the longer I stay in the west (whether my current gf or some other girl sooner or later)
Come to Thailand and I promise you'll be rid of this fear forever more.
(4) I look at the 50-year old guys that did the "normal life" track and I think they're crazy for going through all the s when if they didn't buy the his, marry the girl, have the kids and buy the boat, they could have been free. Instead, they make $200k a year, but they NEED to go to work tomorrow, they NEED to smile when the client yells at them, etc.
That's very insightful and totally true.
$200k is worthless if you're mortgaging your life for a bunch of bullshit you don't need.
And it's even more worthless if you're buying shit you don't need, going to you 'high paying' job to buy said shit, and having virtually no time to enjoy your supposedly high quality of life.
And then at the whim of some company's upper management, you're out on your ass with a bunch of debt that you now have to liquidate.
Life is short, so it's too short to leave it in other people's hands.
You've got to grab that motherfucker by the ballsack, look him in the eye and say "look bitch, this is what we're going to do. We're going to get money, fuck bitches, travel the world and do a bunch of cool shit. Got it?"
What angle am I missing in this analysis?
The one where you haven't yet resolved to take your financial and work future into your own hands.
And buy your ticket already. ;-)