see if moving out of the U.S. is even an option for me

Hello John Smithx,

I have moved your post from the previous one as it was    and also to enlarge your chances having better interactions from other members.

While waiting for their counselling, you can in the time being browse the different topics in the Colombia forum for infos like Cost of living in Colombia that might be helpful.

Good Luck!
Marjorie

Colombia is definitely not an egalitarian country. As most of Latin America, wealth is very very badly distributed. It is even the foundation issue that led to the birth of a the infamous 60 years old guerilla: the FARC.
The most egalitarian countries would be in Scandinavia. But if you are sick of "gynocentric" states, don't go to Scandinavia either.

I can tell you that for me, I have a better style of living here in Colombia (Barranquilla) than I did in the States. If you are careful, you can probably get by on about 50-75% of what you spent in the US. Of course, you can spend a lot of money here, as well, if you go high end for things.

As for a job...I think that is the wrong approach. For starters, with a 'job' you are going to have to deal with the work visa issue, even though there will be some companies willing to help (although in my experience, far less than people say). There are casinos here, although I imagine wages are much less than you get in the states (I was a professional gambler for a while, so this is a business I know very well). Plus, you would likely need to know a fair amount of Spanish to even have a shot at that.

The approach I took was to develop a business and some skills that were portable. For me, that was becoming a freelance writer. I'm not sure what skills or interests you have, but my suggestion would be try to find a way you can develop some sort of business or service with the work product being deliverable via email. This way you could work for clients anywhere in the world, while you live anywhere in the world.

Yes, this is not easy and it will take preparation and time. But it can be done (I am living proof). There is a lot of information floating around about specifics on how to do this, including courses and programs...not sure if you really need any paid for courses or programs, but they can be helpful in certain situations, I guess. If you get started down this path and need more specific advice, I would love to help in any way I can.

I certainly understand and agree with your gripes about the culture being destroyed in the United States. Incidentally, Colombia is an excellent place to find a wife...I am married to one down here since 2012 (I came in 2010 for the first time) and very happy. The other poster is right, its not an egalitarian country, but I find the culture more male-friendly, if not male-centric to a fair degree. There are 'modern' women like back home, but you can still also find very traditional, family-oriented women as well. The younger you go, the more likely you will find someone more like the ladies back home, however.

Hope this helps.

Someone wants to go live in Colombia because the US is too feminist, but they don't have the money to survive there?  What could motivate a man to do such a thing?  Maybe wanting to find cute, desperate, young women to date?  That's why I'd do it.  But being so negative about women doesn't seem like a good starting point for attracting women.  And anyone who would use a term like gynocentric should have a degree and a better career than working as a card dealer. 

Here's your valuable advice:  I'm married to a Colombian woman and I've lived in Colombia for 6 months.  I have a college degree in one of the most high demand fields (computer programming) and I couldn't find a job in Colombia when I was there.  The ones I've seen pay programmers about $1,000 per month.  I won't get out of bed for that.  There's no way anyone's going to get a "decent wage" in Colombia by US standards. Not gonna happen.

When I lived in Colombia I bled cash for 6 months (about $20,000 total).  You can get by for less, but it won't be pretty.  Your options are try to find an English teaching job for maybe $1,000 per month if you're lucky or save your money until you can live on your savings.  Most foreign men in Colombia are older and have saved some money or they are drawing Social Security.  Young men who want to come steal the hot chicas from us are in for a tough time (thankfully).

Your point about the wages is well taken. According to what I have seen and heard (I've been living in Colombia since the end of 2011, with one trip back to the States), most regular jobs pay just a few hundred bucks a month. Believe it or not, this is pretty typical for most countries, not just Colombia. This is also why my advice was to forget about looking for an actual job. Only doctors, lawyers, and engineers seem to make anything even close to what they would in the US.

I am curious as to why you bled so much cash. Personally, I am renting a 3-story home in a very desirable part of Barranquilla, for $700 a month. Three bedrooms, four bathrooms and very comfortable within a gated community with a pool as well. Yes, there are some expensive restaurants but you can also find very reasonably priced meals...and not just the places that are typically Colombian with local food. All types of cuisine from American to Mexican to Japanese. If someone were to watch their expenditures a bit, I think they will have a very nice lifestyle here in Colombia, spending much less than they would in the States. Back in Washington and Baltimore (where I'm from), rent on such a place would easily be $1,000 or more per month as an example.

I can also say from personal experience the Colombian medical and insurance system is a lot better than the US with ObamaCare. I spent a month in the hospital being treated and recovering, about half the time in the ICU and the other half in a private room in their clinic. It was an out of pocket cost of a little more than $100. The insurance costs about $90 per month for myself and my wife.

It will also be pretty tough to find a good teaching job here. Every American wanna-be expat talks about teaching English, but these are not easy to find. And they pay very little. You would be hard pressed to find one that will bring $1,000 a month, although you might be able to find that does offer a free apartment as a fringe benefit. It won't be a great lifestyle, but for someone just looking to see the country for a while it might work.

Like I said previously, anyone looking to actually move and live in Colombia should be thinking about having their own business. Jobs just won't work unless you can live on very little.

JRC

I don't know how I spent so much in 6 months.  I used to be a CPA and I know how much I had in my bank when I left and when I got back I had about $40,000 less.  About $10,000 was paying child support and auto lease in the US, so that leaves about $30,000 I was down.  I said $20,000 because some of it was not normal living expenses.

Some of that was travel back and forth from the US and taking her and her son back with me.  Some of that was because we had a cheap apartment rented from her cousin (about $300 per month), but we had to furnish it which cost me about 3 or 4 grand including refrigerator, beds, laptop, TVs, everything for the house.  Some was a trip to the embassy in Bogota.  We went out to party a few times, but only a few hundred dollars total.  We took taxis everywhere which cost about $200 a month, I think.

We should be able to live on about $1,000 per month in Colombia.  Maybe a little more.  But I read one of these threads once and somebody said "Take whatever you think it will cost you to live in Colombia and double it.  That will be pretty close to the true number."  After living there for 6 months I agree with that comment.  I don't want to go back and study my costs in any more detail.  It's too depressing.  But I recovered it all working here in the US in about 3 years.