 Many
people think that Fiji is just an island, like Tahiti, but what is common
to both of them is that they are actually island nations spread out over
thousands of square kilometers, with many islands, from large to very small.
But
there is a huge cultural difference between the two. French Polynesia,
the home of Tahiti, its largest island, is infused with the same type of
“Aloha Spirit” as are the Hawaiian Islands. The Fijis, meanwhile, have
a history that involves two distinct groups of people, the first of which
are the native Fijians, a race of large people of African descent (more
than ten thousand years ago). Anthropologists and archeologists have not
yet figured out the migratory pattern that brought them to the Melanesian
Islands, just as they are still theorizing how the Polynesians got to Polynesia,
and thence to New Zealand, where they are now known as the Maori. Perhaps
some of those mysteries don’t really need to be solved, but it has been
conclusively proven that the Melanesians are genetically related to Africans. |
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 Affordable
Living in the South Seas: Fiji Islands By Joe Soeckers-
About 20 years ago I began my search for an island paradise that would
allow me a life style that included safety, stunning natural beauty and
a low cost of living. I was living in Hawaii at the time and have to say
that the lifestyle there was pretty good – if you had lots of money and
did not mind the crowds, and with 7 million visitors a year, I mean crowds.
My search was motivated by many things – global overcrowding, geopolitics,
the lack of future resources like fuel, water and food in densely populated
places and cities, the declining quality of life and what I felt was an
ever-more obtrusive government that simply did not seem to have me or my
children’s interest in mind. So I went and looked for the most likely place
to suit my need. And I looked for several years. |
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 The
Fiji Islands: Part 2
- On Vanua Levu, the second largest island, you will find several very
inexpensive just-offshore island resorts that include the hammock, snorkeling,
neighboring islands you can walk to at low tide, and really friendly faces
all around. Nonetheless, be aware, as petty thievery is prevalent by domestic
staffs at almost all but the finest resorts, where the personnel are searched
before leaving the property. The simple solution to that is to not bring
your fancy stuff and get an economical camera, which you will not cry over
when it gets lost in the shuffle. That said, there thousands of travelers
that come to these pearls without ever missing anything. On the camera
end, if you must leave your camera in your room, you might want to remove
the memory card and hide it well, or put it in an envelope to leave at
the front desk for safekeeping. |
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 Living
and Working in Fiji: The way the world should be - By Jacqueline D. Brown
- Living in Fiji can be just about what you make it. It can be cheap
or expensive depending on the lifestyle you chose to follow. If you
want the city life but on a smaller scale, then Suva, the capital, is for
you. When I was reseaching an island to move to, Fiji kept popping up in
the top five for cost of living, quality of life and friendliness of the
people. But living in L.A. at the time, I knew I wanted a slower pace.
To be on island time. Suva is good though as a change from big city life
to island size city life and from there you can find smaller quieter places
not on the tourists tracks. The capital offers night clubs, apartments
and houses from $250 to "luxury" flats and homes ranging around $3500.
Sometimes, if you let the owner know you plan to live at the residence
for a long time, you can work a deal. Other then that, they see your face
and automatically think you have money. |
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 Living
in Fiji - Island Fever By Susan Rungo-de Geus
- We had this crazy dream.It’s a common one… a captivating one even. But
one that was, for most people, but a dream.Pack up and take to live
on a the South Pacific island.Splendid islands that seem to float adrift,
on impossibly blue seas.Places of paradise untouched by the ravages of
industrial man.For us, this is a dream we dream while we are awake. We
bought property in Fiji years ago as an investment.Only 8% of the entire
South Pacific is available for purchase to nonindigenous persons.This makes
the “dream” more elusive, and as such, more desirable. It took five years,
and all of a sudden we had chartered a new course–uprooted from what was
familiar and comfortable, to brave a whole new world. I was a journalist/columnist,
Brad a busy chiropractor. Life in California was spinning out of control–poor
air quality, high taxes, water that was just too scary to swim in, let
alone consume, and influences that were definitely unacceptable for our
teenage daughter and young son. |
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 Paddling
Fiji's Kadavu Islands by Melissa McCoy - "Paddling
to the edge of the lagoon's reef, I looked over the side of the kayak.
I had the uncanny feeling that I was scuba diving. Acres of staghorn coral
reached for the surface like millions of deer antlers; countless tiny,
florescent blue and green fish darted among the antlers. Scores of purple-blue
starfish lay like a handful of jewels strewn across the sandy bottom. A
large school of flying fish whisked past. We lazily passed a few tiny,
deserted islands ringed with powdery white sand beaches and coconut-laden
palms. I would given anything to set up house on one of them." Launching
on our sit-on-top kayaks, the crystal clear water was stunning, tinted
like a patchwork quilt in every conceivable shade of blue, from turquoise
to royal blue. Each time my paddle blade dipped into the shimmering water,
my kayak eased forward as if floating on a cloud. We were surrounded by
the salty smells of the ocean and the balmy sea breezes. Schools of flying
fish took flight in front of us, skimming the surface of the water as they
raced away from us. |
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 Island
Fever ~ Moving To Fiji ~ by Susan Rungo-de Geus
- We had this crazy dream. It’s a common one … a captivating one even.
But one that was, for most people, but a dream. The dream was to pack up
and take off and live on a beautiful South Pacific island. Islands that
seem to float, adrift, on impossibly blue seas. Places of paradise untouched
by the ravages of industrial man. For us, this is a dream we dream while
we are awake. We bought property in Fiji years ago as an investment. Only
8% of the entire South Pacific is available for purchase to non-indigenous
people. This makes the “dream” more elusive, and as such, more desirable. |
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 Paradise
Found on Fiji - There are No Rules - by Collin McKenny
- The year is 1988. I'm sitting under the stars in Walnut Creek, California,
with my husband and an old friend. We start fantasizing about building
a small boutique resort-an "artist's colony"-in New Zealand. It didn't
take long to discover that the Kiwis weren't hospitable to emigrants over
the age of 35, so backburner that idea..... Collin McKenny first
had dreams of getting out of corporate America in 1988. The idea of a gold
watch to send her off into an unwelcomed retirement, someday, didn't appeal
to her. She and her husband wandered the South Pacific, then the Caribbean,
then decided Fiji would be their paradise found. That was 1997 and
the year they said good by to the rat race and set about to achieve their
dreams. Now, they have a tropical retreat on that beautiful island. Their
retreat is called Lomalagi, which means "Heaven" in the Fijian language.
Lomalagi has six bungalows, swimming pools with waterfalls, a "playhouse"
with pool table & games, a dining pavilion with bar, and a coconut
plantation where locals harvest the coconuts. They're living the good life. |
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 Sailing
the South Pacific: Episode 2 By Jamie Douglas
- The night before, a rickety sailboat had pulled in, in desperate need
of rigging repairs, and the Kiwi “Captain” had a crew of 2 completely inexperienced
girls who actually jumped ship and swam ashore, asking for help and protection
from the lunatic on the nameless boat. They explained that twice the US
Coast Guard had prevented them from leaving Honolulu for Auckland, citing
that the vessel was inherently unsafe, but in the middle of the night,
he snuck out of Hawaii with rotten sails and rigging, no lifeboat or life
jackets, and lacking provisions to cross the Pacific Ocean. By sheer luck,
they made it to Fanning, which one of the girls spotted in the morning
sun, with the “Captain” insisting they were approaching Samoa. |
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 Six
Short, One Long – Cover Your Assets and Escape to Tonga By Capt. Jared
Passenger - Ever
get that sinking feeling? For anyone who has ever been on a boat
that was taking on water or someone who had been rudely awakened to a burning
house in the middle of the night or perhaps a passenger of a car driven
into a lake who watches the water filling in around their feet and rising
up past the windows, they can tell you first-hand about the strong urge
to escape that accompanies such emergencies. I too have that feeling.
For the past 10 years or more, I have come to the realization that the
USA, and on a macro scale, the Western world, if not all the world to some
degree, is in a state of emergency on almost every level: financially,
environmentally, politically and spiritually. |
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 Live
in Tonga By Robert Brice - Change has certainly
been a popular slogan for a long time now in the States, and now it looks
like it will be implemented. Who knows what will change, but changing your
address to somewhere in paradise was always a good idea and now it seems
especially apropos. So far the changes for some have been loss of job and
home, with more to come as they predict. So why wait for change to hit
you when you’re down? Get proactive and make the change yourself. Sell
out and get out. Head for where prosperity still exists and to where no
matter what happens, you will never freeze or starve. Change everything
and move out of these countries in turmoil! Yes, out of Dodge and by sunset,
for the sun may well be finally setting back there. So, kiss your horse
(and your house, if you still have one) goodbye and sail away. Be tough,
you can’t take everyone and everything, not all at once. Someone in your
family tree has to be the pioneer in these times. This time, “go west”
means beyond California, out of America and the same for those in UK or
Europe. Just to put this radical “change” into perspective, a 12 hour plane
ride is probably all we are talking about, so don’t think of yourself as
a potential lemming. |
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 Voltage-Finder
Search Engine - Voltages Around The Worlds-
Find out any nations electrical voltage simply by entering the nations
name in the drop down menu. If you are going to use electrical appliances
abroad, you need to know what type of electrical voltage is used in the
country where you're moving or traveling to and what type of adapter or
plug is needed to plug your appliances into the outlet. Section includes
Diagrams Of Adaptor Plugs and a World Electric Power Guide -- Read
Using
Electric Power Overseas - Three things
can be different about foreign AC power compared to power at home: [1 the
supply voltage, [2 the supply frequency, and [3 the physical shape of the
socket. Before transporting and using your electrical appliances overseas
it is essential to know what type of electrical voltage is used in your
destination country. |
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 Partner
With Us! - IS THERE A FIT? Do you have a website, business, or service
that shares a commonality with EscapeArtist? If so, the time has arrived
to put us to work doubling or tripling your traffic & income - we can
do that. - Take
a look! |
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| Directory
For Expatriate Search Tools |
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| Conversions
- Metric - Imperial & Other Conversions |
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| Freighter
Travel: Escape From America By Freighter |
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 Crazy
Joe’s Top Three Picks For Overseas Home Business -
Crazy Joe KNOWS what’s ‘hot and what’s not.’ After living in the basement
of EscapeArtist for 14 years and living on pretzels and sodas, his real
joy in life is attending staff meetings and telling all of us what is trending
with network marketing companies, affiliate programs, franchises and home-based
businesses. In each issue, we will share Crazy Joe’s Top Three Picks so
you can take advantage of money-making opportunities and still have time
for a real life. - Part
of the Overseas Home Business Portal |
 15
Paying Travel Magazines That Want Your Writing -
Becoming a travel writer isn’t easy – but by harnessing new media and the
Web, it is possible to make a career out of traveling the world. To help
kick start your career, we’re offering a FREE download of 15 travel magazines
that actually pay for your writing. All you have to do is fill out the
form below. Join the Matador Travel Writer Hot List to get travel writing
tips and tricks from the editors at Matador. You’ll also get instant access
to your free download. - Free
Download |
|
 Art
in the Andes - Expat Haven San Rafael - If you are looking for
an unusual holiday and are interested in painting then you might be interested
to hear about my experience in San Rafael, Mendoza. This beautiful
place is a green oasis of vineyards and orchards set in a spectacular desert
landscape. An excellent way to decide if you want to live in San Rafael,
or other parts of Argentina. La Susana is where many expats hang out. |
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 Own
Your Own Vineyard In Argentina - Now
You Can Have Your Vineyard and Drink it Too - Does it sound like crazy
advice to say, “BUY A VINEYARD”? If so, I hope you’ll think again
after I tell you what happened to me and my husband when we landed in Argentina
for the first time. Mendoza Province, the heart of Argentina’s wine country,
has over a 1,000 vineyards and wineries that produce 70% of all Argentinean
wines and 40% of all South American wines, so we knew we had our homework
cut out for us. We would love to share our experience with you and we look
forward to having you as a
future guest at our estancia. |
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 Overseas
Classifieds - Offshore Classified
Advertisements - From The EscapeArtist Network - The products & services
you can't find . . . nor advertise . . . in rogue nations,
you will find here. Advertise in the classifieds for 1$ - get seen by millions! |
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 Escape
From America Magazine An Expat Magazine - is
filled with information about living oveseas, much of it written by expats
who have moved overseas. Our magazine provides real information on
what it takes to live abroad, including articles on international real
estate, asset protection, and a wide range of issues related to the international
lifestyle - In addition we have 1,000's of archived articles from
past issues free for the reading... |
 World
Without Borders “Offshore Intelligence” - Without Borders is a
unique monthly publication aimed at intellectual adventurers. It
is written for a select group of men and women interested in learning more
about global opportunities they would never encounter anywhere else. |
|
 Yacht
Broker - Yachts WorldWide - Yes, Boats, Barges and Yachts for sale
worldwide in the online Yacht Broker. - If it floats on water it's in the
Yacht Broker - Buy or sell a yacht, sportsfishing vessel or sailboat -
List your boat for free! |
 Advertise
Your Real Estate, Yacht, Product, or Service on EscapeArtist -
Wow! We're growing, we'll soon have videos on our real estate marketplace
site, our magazines have over a half million readers, and those readers
are looking for real estate abroad. Find out about advertising on EscapeArtist,
or becoming a partner of EscapeArtist. Join one of the fastest growing
sites on the internet. |
|
 Expat
Nations Listed by Country - For ease of navigation
to a specific country we do have a list of nations in alphabetical order
- This directory will link you to articles or other resources on various
nations even if we do not yet have a full relocation directory for that
nation. - |
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 Streetwise
Philippines - It would
be easy to call this an 'Insiders Guide To Meeting Women in the Philippines,'
but it is much, much more than that. You can be sure that there are really
high quality women in the Philippines, especially if one knows where to
look, but just as important is learning that one can live a quality lifestyle
here in the Philippines, even find ways to make a better than average income.
To accomplish these very desirable ends one needs to be streetwise, which
means knowing where to look and where to be.
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 The
Philippine Property Primer
- The Philippines Property Primer is a dynamic resource that does as the
title implies; it primes you so you are ready to explore this often confusing
marketplace. There are many deals to be enjoyed in this market for those
who know the rules and where to look.
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