I lived in Southeast Asia for a few years in my 20s - not teaching English, mainly just scraping together a living through random Internet bullshit, but I had lots of friends who taught English, and I've seen what a good springboard it can be for global travel if you want to live abroad.
But the main thing I'd say to anyone considering moving countries is that most countries aren't highly desired immigration destinations like the US or Western Europe, and thus most countries don't have strict and tightly-controlled immigration systems like Western countries do. If you want to go spend a few years in Thailand as a Westerner, it's laughably easy - just buy a flight and you'll probably figure it out once you're there, as your Western dollars/pounds/euros will go a looooong way.
(I apologize to any Thai people reading this; I know that digital nomads and other wealthy foreigners aren't universally appreciated in the countries they park up in. Am just sharing my own experience.)
I wouldn't want to live in that part of the world for the rest of my life, but the time I did spend travelling was the best thing I ever did and I have no regrets. I wrote about it here if anyone's interested:
Alex Jones is being a dick? Disgraceful - we need to censor the internet.
Cloudflare is protecting a Neo-Nazi website from being DDOSed? There's no such thing as neutrality - we need to censor the internet.
Journalists are getting "harassed"? This must be stopped - we need to censor the internet.
Someone I don't like got elected? The problem is "disinformation" - we need to censor the internet.
Some guy in Scotland made an idiotic and tasteless joke involving his dog? We can't allow this kind of content - we need to censor the internet.
Joe Rogan is platforming the wrong people? They mustn't be allowed to spread their bad ideas - we need to censor the internet.
Something, something, Russia? Censor the internet! Censor the internet!!!
But wait: now suicidal people are getting suicide information from a web forum? You'd have never have guessed, but the answer is... to censor the internet!
Idk, I think that maybe the issue isn't the issue, these people just want more power to censor the internet.
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.” - Anatole France
Okay, then let's not force businesses to make their buildings wheelchair-accessible either, because most customers can walk. If some customers can't shop there anymore then the market will take care of that problem too, right?
We definitely did that in the Netherlands when I worked at a computer store. Credit cards are comparatively rare, and while "2%" doesn't sound much it's a significant fraction of our profit margin.
On a €600 laptop or desktop we'd earn maybe €50 to €75. The €12 is a comparatively large fraction of that. We didn't actually make that much more money from more expensive laptops, so for a €1,000 model we'd typically also earn €50 to €75, and with €20 of that going to Visa... yeah. After factoring in costs for sales, warranty, rant of the store, etc. there is not much left.
On one hand you can say "well, it's only €20", but on the other hand if everyone started paying paying by CC we'd pretty much go bankrupt.
The official Apple store in Vienna adds 2% to the price if using a CC (at least last time I was there). Then again I don't know anybody who even has a CC here - AFAIK they just aren't that common and they aren't even accepted in a lot of places (though that is changing). They also don't work as normal credit cards in the US i.e. you don't really get credit, since it auto-deducts what you owe from your bank account during the next billing period.
Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it here in Britain. Some smaller businesses might insist on a £5 minimum spend if you're not paying cash, but even that has become very rare since the pandemic.
But the main thing I'd say to anyone considering moving countries is that most countries aren't highly desired immigration destinations like the US or Western Europe, and thus most countries don't have strict and tightly-controlled immigration systems like Western countries do. If you want to go spend a few years in Thailand as a Westerner, it's laughably easy - just buy a flight and you'll probably figure it out once you're there, as your Western dollars/pounds/euros will go a looooong way.
(I apologize to any Thai people reading this; I know that digital nomads and other wealthy foreigners aren't universally appreciated in the countries they park up in. Am just sharing my own experience.)
I wouldn't want to live in that part of the world for the rest of my life, but the time I did spend travelling was the best thing I ever did and I have no regrets. I wrote about it here if anyone's interested:
https://blackshaw.substack.com/p/digital-nomad