Vancouver B.C. in summer, Whistler B.C. in winter, Monte-Carlo if you can afford it, Northern Italy, Northern Spain.
Well, everybody complain about weather in Vancouver. I must admit I never spend a winter there, I' ve been in Van from June to December. Well , summer is not bad at all, dry climate, not too hot and cool night to sleep like a log , and hey! no mosquitos , wow great Winter drizzle is a bit annoying, but temperature is much higher than in North Italy(where I live currently) and overall many more inches for year in NYC or Chicago. I know some places have much better climate, but I was considering all aspects of living. What I really missed when I was there was night life , geez go to Spain and you'll know what I mean. And as an uncivilized Latin, I felt a bit strange walking on Robson and seeing all those guys hand by hand... not so common here hehe
Now that's humanity at its finest! Anyhoo, mark1, you seem to be moving around quite a bit. Could it have anything to do with taxes? That might be an important consideration as well.
Sorry no offense intended, I know it's wrong and stupid, but you should have seen a friend of mine from Italy... lol " hey, hey don't walk so close to me, they might get us wrong." rofl, Homofobic 100%. btw I meant on Davie not on Robson I travel for fun, but travelling and trading as an Italian Resident, sure helps to keep taxes under control, especially when you have your accounts out of the country. If you are not running a business and avoid to drive a Ferrari, they won't bother you. Ps. Someone asked .... I'm 35 and trade for a living since 1997-98
Alright, I'll give it a try. Not ranked in any particular order, these are places I have been to and have stayed at least 1 week and therefore have a certain amount of understanding of the place. Paris, FRA - Definitely up there in terms of quality of life. Disadvantage is high taxation. Dubai, Emirate - Incredibly wealthy, sunshine, beaches, good food. no taxes. Beirut, Lb - In recovery mode, most beautiful ladies in the world, no taxes, beaches and awesome food. London, UK Cayman Island - No further comment. Ibiza - same as Mark1 Venice or Florence, Italy - Very nice culture. I could go on for a while but I think that's about it in terms of trading places.
I saw Thailand on one of the lists here. I was there for the past two weeks. I just returned to the US yesterday (which was today in Thailand ). I couldn't really seriously consider trading from there myself due to my family situation, but I could see how it would be very appealing for a younger and single guy. As mentioned, the people are extremely friendly. The women are incredibly beautiful, and the cost of living is very low. Drawbacks seemed to be that in Bangkok the traffic is horrible, and the pollution is beyond belief. The very visible contrast between prosperity and poverty is kind of depressing for an American to have to witness constantly, but that is reality in most of the world I guess. The time difference is a major inconvenience as well if you want to trade US markets. I do not know if they used daylight savings time or not there, but either way, trading basically the opposite hours (AM/PM) would be kind of tough for most people....(US markets 8:30 pm - 3 am). But I guess that could be gotten used to. And of course there are always different markets to trade. I left Bangkok and flew for a 3 day excursion to Phuket, which is a beautiful (parts I saw) beach island about 450 miles south of Bangkok. I could see living there as I would imagine most people would find it appealing to live in a beach "paradise." It was similar to Hawaii, and also reminded me a lot of Jamaica topographically. I was able to connect to the internet on a slow ADSL line from my hotel in Bangkok. In Phuket, I tried the dial up service that was offered in the hotel. It was so bad I gave up and asked for a refund. But, just out of curiosity I put my bank card in an ATM machine and I was able to withdraw cash from my Florida bank virtually instantly, so obviously there are ways to get "wired" if you are willing to pay. It is more expensive than it is here in the US however. I saw an ad in Bangkok for DSL for what worked out to be approximately $75 US a month....which is relatively steep, but not a big enough factor to affect one's bottom line as a trader. (At least it shouldn't be). As a tourist, I did not get a good feel for the cost of permanent housing in Thailand. I have to guess it is pretty low since the cost of everything else was low. The taxi to the airport from downtown Bangkok was less than $10. The same ride here would have been closer to $50 plus tip. Full body massage for 2 hours was $7.50, and a 45 minute foot massage was about $4 in Bangkok. I assume the same in Phuket. Great way to relieve stress after a session of trading for sure!! (legitimate massages....I am sure you can get a "happy ending" for a small bit extra, or a shorter duration massage if that is what you want). Language was not a problem for English speaking people. Most Thais speak a little English at least. Learning Thai would come in handy but I think it is a tough language to learn. The language is unique to Thailand, as is their writing. The computer keyboards shift between our alphabet and theirs, but since Microsoft is so essential to technology, using computers there (as I guess is the case anywhere) is easy. Just as English is the universal language of aviation, apparently it is the language of technology worldwide also. Put your hands together, bow slightly, smile, and say "Sawasdee" (Thai greeting) and everyone is your friend. Truly a peaceful and friendly country that has never been colonized or invaded or war torn as all it's neighboring nations have been. It really is a warm (literally and figuratively) and beautiful country. Again, if I were young and single, I would certainly consider trading from Thailand seriously. Of course it is probably easier to fantasize about it than to actually do it. It is a hard thing to leave your own culture and live in a completely different one. But it sure seems like an ideal location in so many ways. I will be going back in November again hopefully. The trip is staggering in length.....over 30 hours with layovers from Florida. I did not do it continuously. I stopped in Chicago both going and returning. Still it was over 24 hours both ways from Chicago with brief stops in Minnesota and Tokyo....and doing it in coach was the pits. But the airfare was a small fraction of what it would be with a comfortable seat in first or business class (cost less than $800 round trip from Chicago). But if you go there to trade, then the "commute" is not really a factor once you make the move permanent. I am not sure what the deal is with a work visa. No visa at all was required to stay for a short visit like mine. But I am sure it is a do-able thing if you are determined to stay there. Peace (Sawasdee), RS