Since 2018, I've lived in the Philippines and Mexico as a digital nomad. And since five years ago, I've learned one simple lesson about the United States..
We.
Have.
It.
So.
Good.
Here.
The other day I took my wife on a drive through the countryside to my hometown. The whole two hours she stared out the window and said "LOOK AT THAT" as we passed by literally every house.
She said they looked like perfect little cakes before asking me a question I'll never forget.
"How could you leave this place?"
My wife grew up in a town called Pueblo Viejo in Veracruz, and told me her elementary school didn't have a roof. Here's what it looked like.
I couldn't get great photos of my elementary school, but for comparison, here's where I went to public high school.
My wife is about as critical of the United States as anyone I know.
We discuss racism, guns, imperialism, drugs, and cartels all the time.
So it was a little surprising for me to hear her say "How could you leave this place?"
A person who seems like the USA's biggest critic sometimes.
I remember touching down on the island of Mindanao in 2018, excited for my Philippines adventure. What greeted me was the worst poverty I've ever seen in my life. Shanties, stray dogs, dirt, trash, and filth like I've never seen before. I love the Philippines, but this experience was gut wrenching for me as a Maryland kid who's used to driving on roads like these.
I was not in Kansas anymore.
What I found in the Philippines, though, were a bunch of warm, wonderful people who just wanted me to enjoy their country. Sure, there wasn't a 7/11 on every corner here, but the natural beauty of the jungles and beaches were cherished and preserved. I made a video later that year called "The Philippines Is Not Poor," talking about how this country was rich with culture, warmth, hospitality, and natural beauty. I waxed poetic about how disgusted I was with Americans for judging a country based on income. It went viral and got 4.6 million views on Facebook.
Over the next few years, I made a variety of videos and articles trashing the USA, which garnered me a lot of love AND hate at times. Weirdly enough, it was mostly love. If I made this video then, you'd probably hear me talk about how much better it is to live in the Philippines or Mexico, but you're listening to the me from RIGHT NOW. A guy who's spent 5 years living abroad in developing countries, and is quite honestly a little weary of the bureaucracy, noise, dirtiness, and general difficulty of living in a place without all the amenities of back home.
If you asked 1,000 Filipinos living in poverty whether they'd want to become a citizen of the USA and make 20-30x more money every year, the vast majority would say yes. And if they didn't say yes, and you could let them live out a month in the comfortable air-conditioned splendor of the USA as a "free trial," they'd almost certainly say yes by the end of it.
I told my wife that traveling to the USA is like eating cake for the first time. After that, all you want to eat is cake.
It seems so many gringos travel the world and preach about how much they love living in X, Y, or Z developing country, while glossing over the fact they live in an extremely Americanized, posh part of town replicating everything they can get back home. To the gringos who live in the countryside full time like the locals do, I salute you. At least you're putting your money where your mouth is.
And I get it. The USA has big problems with mass shootings, racism, homelessness, inflation, and drugs to name a few. Not to mention the fact that our country seems like it's about to have another Civil War at any moment.
But a research group from Florida State University recently reported that those who immigrated to the United States are happier and more satisfied later in life, on average, than those born here.
Interesting.
In September of this year, U.S. Immigration agents processed more than 200,000 migrants who crossed the southern border unlawfully. Many of these migrants are paying $10,000+ for a guided passage across the border where countless perils await them. Just so they can get here to the United States of America.
These migrants know about ALL our problems. They know about the racism, mass shootings, Trumpers, inflation, drugs, and any other criticism of America you can name, and they STILL put $10,000 on the table to make the perilous crossing.
I don’t know if that says more about how BAD it can be in Mexico, or how GOOD it can be in the USA, but regardless, it’s a fascinating fact to ponder.
A lot of digital nomads make videos criticizing the USA, talking about how it's so much better to live abroad for X, Y, and Z reasons.
Before I left over 1,500 days ago, I was as critical of our country as one could be.
I hated it here.
After visiting some of the most remote regions of the Philippines, though, where electricity is non-existent and emergency rooms are 20+ hours away, I realized something obvious.
Shit, it’s kinda difficult here.
Then I realized something else right after:
Americans have zero gratitude.
We’re just here in our little America bubble, focused on all the negatives, taking almost everything for granted.
We blow everything out of proportion, too. I saw a tweet the other day that said “Things I will be avoiding for my future babies/children:
Vaccines
Fluoride
Seed oils
Food dyes
Detergents
Circumcision
Public schools
Shoes in the home
I couldn’t help but laugh at this ridiculousness.
How privileged do you have to be to write something like that?
My wife tells me she’d be lucky to eat chicken broth as a child.
Even the digital nomads who complain about prices in the USA and go live abroad for the currency arbitrage are able to do that because their US passports are stronger than prime Arnold Schwarzenegger. They also EARN in stronger U.S. dollars, that get sent straight to their U.S. bank account.
So they’re in these situations because of the USA, whether they like it or not.
The term “First-World Problems” can describe 95% of the things gringos typically complain about. And guess what? Just because the USA is a better country to live in than most others in the world doesn’t mean we DON’T have problems that need to be fixed.
I’m not saying that racism, gun control, and drugs aren’t an issue.
I’m simply saying that many people are way too hard on the red, white, and blue while severely discounting the incredible benefits they’ve received from living here.
And that scale needs to be balanced.
My scale got balanced by visiting remote villages, squeezing into packed metro trains, and seeing families of 6 sleep together in a house the size of my childhood bedroom.
A few years ago I watched Wolf of Wall Street in horror as Leonardo Dicaprio said “I’ve been a rich man and I’ve been a poor man, and I choose rich every fucking time.”
I’m here to shamefully report to you that he’s 100% correct. Most people, if they were smart, would choose to be richer rather than poorer.
I love the Philippines, and there’s so many great things about their country, but I don’t want to live there long-term. I want a house in the USA, even if everything is more expensive there. Is that so wrong for me to say as an American?
My wife and I watch Malcolm in the Middle all the time. Malcolm’s family is poor in this show by American standards. One day my wife turned to me and said “They’re poor? They don’t look that poor to me.” That spoke volumes to me.
I’ll leave you with this.
To be in the richest 1% of the world, you have to make just $34,000 per year.
In the USA there’s a lot of talk of billionaires and the top 1% and taxing the rich.
Well, we are the rich. We are the 1 percent.
If that’s news to you, that’s proof of my original point..
We have it so good here.
Signed, Tom.
As someone who is considering longer-term travel abroad, this article was good food for thought. Looking forward to reading more!
Great piece. Thank you!