 Unique
Housing: Taking Expatriate Living to the Extreme
- Nestled within the Makax lagoon in the belly of Isla Mujeres, Mexico
you will find an expatriate, Richart (Rishi) Sowa, who decided to create,
rather than purchase, his own land. Richart is originally from Middlesbrough
England, but caught the travel bug early in his life and started exploring
the world in his teens and early twenties as a traveling artist.
He found himself in Mexico in his thirties with a guitar, drawings and
a new idea – an island made out of recycled material which floats entirely
on plastic bottles. Now fast forward about 15 years. I had the pleasure
of meeting Rishi and took my first steps onto “Joysxee”, Rishi’s third
floating island. Joysxee is approximately 25 meters in diameter and
floats on about 125,000 plastic bottles. As I step onto the island
there is slight buoyancy and a smile crept across my face. Rishi
resides in the three-story house he has built on the island which includes
a guest room, kitchen, two showers and natural compost toilet. The construction
of Joysxee is fascinating; Rishi collects plastic bottles from all around
Isla Mujeres and they get stuffed into recycled fruit sacks to create a
floating platform. Palettes are put on top of the full fruit sacks,
then board or carpeting on top of that, and finally sand. The baby
mangroves he plants on the edges of the island serve as an additional locking
system as their roots take hold of the bottles below. |
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 Designing
A Shipping Container As Nomadic Housing
- Global Nomadic Housing for expats? Why not? Design
your living space & workshop and take it with you... Maverick
designer Colin Reedy tells us how. In this the second part of this innovative
concept Colin provides drawings of what a shipping container can be turned
into. The finished product is amazing! You can use this concept
to turn a shipping container into a portable dwelling that you can cheaply
ship anywhere in the world. It's sort of like global backpacking
with your own house. Colin provides details on how to build one yourself.
This series originally appeared almost two years ago in Escape From America
Magazine. It engendered thousands of letters to the editor, a couple
of spin-off articles by others who were living in Container Housing, and
some like articles in other magazines. It's one of our favorite articles. |
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 Down
To Earth Living - The Cave Houses Of Southern Spain
- Old cave houses in the Granada countryside can still be found for a relatively
small investment. Last year, old cave houses in need of renovation were
on the market in Granada's pricey Albaycin district for 30,000 to 50,000
euros on small lots with no conventional buildings and no Alhambra views.
For finished cave houses, expect to pay eighty to two-hundred thousand
euros, depending on the adjoining land that goes with the cave, the views,
etc. There are currently cave houses with land advertised for as high as
900,000 euros, with Alhambra views, though we regard this price as extraordinary.
Given the real estate market in Spain, prices will continue to go up. You
can also explore areas such as Guadix and either buy existing cave homes
or buy land and build, with the latter option probably presenting the best
value if you discover a good site. |
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 Building
a Straw Bale House in the Baja - I got started
with a foundation and storage building three months on my 80x80 lot after
flopping trying to do the same project in the USA. The lot in Mexico
cost $1800 with septic in, the foundation was $1500, the storage building
about $500. There the project stood for three years while I tried
to jump start my life again. After I remarried I put $6000 together
and that was enough to hire a local Mexican contractor to raise walls,
stucco the inside and outside, and instlall window and door frames. I was
less than $10,000 into the project and was at roof level. I
can't imagine ever selling this, unless I lose my good health (in Mexico
I always feel great). I am writing an advance medical directive to
make sure my kin do not force me out of my "castle" for superfluous reasons--THIS
is the place to retire for so many reasons--cheap labor, low crime, generally
balmy weather, outdoor recreation, proximity to U.S., friendly natives
and spectacular scenery. I fell in love with it long before I had
even turned the sand over for footings. |
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 How
To Buy A Castle In The Former East German States
- There are, however, incentives to restore such castles and manor
houses. The states have funds which pay subsidies toward renovation. This
can be as much as 30% to 40% of the cost of renovation. Grants are allowed
and agreed to before renovation begins, but are paid after renovation is
finished. Thus, an investor will have to invest his own capital before
receiving the subsidies. An investor is also entitled to receive the 16%
VAT tax (value-added tax) back he has paid for building supplies. This
too has to be applied for, and is paid after renovation is finished. |
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 How
To Buy A Castle In The Former East German States Two
- As an incentive to buyers to rebuilt and renovate these historic
castles and manor houses in their original form the governments of the
various states are offering grants which are available to investors, not
as loans, but as incentives which never have to be paid back. The average
amount of such a grant is about $250,000. To buy a castle or manor house
is not as impossible or expensive a dream as it may appear if you are interested
in such a property in the former East German states of Thueringia, Saxony,
Saxon-Anhalt and Brandenburg |
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 All
You Ever Wanted To Know About Buying A Castle By Helga van Horn-I
once said that most people will do almost anything to read about buying
a castle, because it's such a fascinating subject; but few of them will
ever really go out and buy a castle. Well I wrote that before the Berlin
wall fell and the sudden surprise appearance of numerous magnificent castles
in Eastern Europe. Suddenly we were seeing castles worth buying at
prices we could afford. Then came the expat revolution, (diaspora?) and
thousands of people starting moving overseas; and what better house could
we ask for beyond a castle? That's the top of the line in housing.
...and think of the business you could run out of a castle; Bed & Breakfast,
Resort Hotel, Restaurant, Spa, Condiminium Project, Joint Ownership, Time
Share . . . you can use your own imagination to figure out dozens of use
concepts, because the greatest part of buying a castle is the dreaming.
. . . and there's money to be made with castle ownership ... |
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 And
Now for Something Completely Different... Freedom Ship - The World’s
Biggest Ship—The World’s Newest Tax Haven?
- Mark Nestmann analyzes Freedom Ship's potential as a tax haven. Freedom
Ship International, Inc. (FSI ) plans to offer the opportunity for an unprecedented
lifestyle by constructing a sea-based, mobile, full-spectrum residential,
commercial, and resort community on a mammoth, mobile, sea platform. The
community will travel the entire globe over a two-year cycle, never leaving
international waters. It will spend only 30% of its time in transit and
the other 70% standing offshore points of interest. A fleet of aircraft
and watercraft will ferry people from ship-to-shore, around-the-clock,
residents for touring and business, and as many as 30,000 onshore guests
and visitors daily. What is it's potential as a tax haven? |
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 Unique
Real Estate - Converted Railway Stations
- Churchill and De Gaulle held a top secret meeting here four days before
the D-Day landings: all aboard for a converted railway station with an
intriguing war-time history... On June 2nd 1944, just four days before
the Allies landed on Normandy's beaches, a train carrying Winston Churchill
and members of his war cabinet pulled into a cutting close to Droxford
station in the Meon Valley, Hampshire. Here Churchill met with Eisenhower
and De Gaulle to discuss the invasion of Europe, which was scheduled for
June 5th. Storms were lashing the coastline and a decision was needed:
Ike and company repaired to nearby Southwick House and decided to hold
off for twenty-four hours. The invasion went ahead on June 6th instead.
Droxford station was chosen for the rendezvous because there was a tunnel
near the cutting and it was hoped that if the Luftwaffe made an unwelcome
appearance the allied leaders would be able to take cover there and escape
the bombers. |
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 Offshore
Real Estate As Offshore Survival Retreat - Advice Without The Sugar Coating
- Very Exciting Real Estate Profits In The First Two Decades Of This Century
- I have never been a dooms-day preacher and I don't intend to start
now. With that said, it would be prudent for the reader to take a
calm and objective look at some of the possible negative situations that
may soon take place inside the USA and see how those events may affect
you and your loved ones. I believe that you can avoid being in the pathway
of those oncoming disasters by having an offshore survival retreat. An
offshore survival retreat can be many things, it can be a summer home,
a place where your family lives and survives a social break-down that may
be happening in the USA, it can be an excellent investment, it can be an
excellent place to live, it can be a way of expatriating and diversifying
some of your assets offshore, it can be the beginning of a better way of
life. That is what this article is about in a nutshell. It
can be all of those things at the same time, or it can just be the one
that is the most important to you. I call it investing in offshore
real estate. |
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 Shetland
Islands - Stone Cottage Living In The Shetland Islands: The Most Northerly
Part of the U.K. - Occasionally you
can buy something for as little as GB£16,000, though it will probably
need some work. UK properties are probably physically smaller that US ones
I believe, but bigger ones occasionally come on the market, consisting
of an old stone-built Manse or Dwelling house of some past Laird (landowner).
The unusual occasionally becomes available, an island or a lighthouse property,
though these are rare nowadays. I came to here from my home town of Liverpool
in 1991, taking up a job offer with the UK Coastguard. I love the sea views,
the empty beaches and the wildlife literally on my doorstep. I left the
Coastguard over a year ago, but plan to keep here as my home base. I have
a nice old stone-built cottage, with sea views to the front and a loch
(lake) on the rear, where I can go catch some trout for supper. There are
sheep and cattle in the fields around me, and plenty of wild flowers along
the roads and lanes. |
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 Unique
Housing for Global Nomads - Tiny Tumbleweed House -Conventional
housing, the kind with four plain walls and a mortgage, doesn’t appeal
to everyone, especially the inveterate global nomad. If we wanted safe
and normal, we’d stay at home in the first place. But once we hit the road,
we need an escape plan. Whether it’s for a month or for the rest of our
lives, we need somewhere to sleep, hide from the weather and generally
nest. These days, downsizing is more than a trend; it’s a necessary part
of survival whereby smaller is better. The era of 2000 square foot McMansions
is over and many will not lament its passing. Smaller, specialized housing
leads to big savings on energy and building materials. With efficient housing,
size does matter – it costs much less to maintain 200 square feet than
2000 square feet. |
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 Real
Estate In Japan - It Can Be Done - Home Sweet Home . . . Sumo Style
- ...there DOES exist a crack in the Tokyo dome. It exists in the legal
system. I say this from first hand experience. The Japanese have locked
themselves by their culture and rigid inflexible interpretation of their
legal system into a situation that can be taken advantage of by anybody
with the will to do so. The rest of this is about why and how we did it
and it can be a guide (or you could call it a light at the end of the tunnel)
to anyone wishing to own real property in Japan without paying off a mortgage
for 30 or more of the most productive years of your lives. The author,
David Markle is a long-term permanent resident of Japan and lives with
his family in rural central Japan. He has previously contributed to Escape
From America Magazine with a unique article on homesteading in Japan. |
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 Avoiding
Renovation Nightmares as an Expat in Belize
- I have been in Corozal, Belize a year now and I am finally well
adjusted to life here, but it took about 5 to 6 months to get over the
feelings that I made a mistake. This was nothing like living in the
United States. I had read before moving to Corozal that time was
not an important issue for Belizeans, so I was prepared for that, having
lived in other places where time was not an issue. But trust issues
became a big concern for me, as they are for all ex-pats and even Belizeans.
I want to share the experiences I have had with hiring people to do some
maintenance on my house. I decided to rent a house for a nominal amount,
by American standards, but I wanted to do some things to make it feel more
comfortable for me. Let me just note here that not all laborers working
on Belizean homes here are Belizean; some are Guatemalan, Mexican, as well
as other Central American countries. |
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 Down
on the Farm - Homesteading In Japan - Homesteading
in Japan? If not, why not? The author of of this article, David
Markle is a 17 year resident of Japan. He first came to Japan as a student
and has resided there pretty much ever since. In this article he covers
homesteading in Japan, what it takes, how it's done and where to look.
"...some local governments will actually pay you to live in their village.
I am not kidding. Granted it is not enough to get rich on, but, believe
it or not many localities are falling all over themselves to recruit families
especially with younger children, to move to their town. They are offering
all sorts of incentives and assistance to try to “revitalize” the countryside."
- By David Markle |
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 Links
To Permaculture Articles - Yes, we
have Permaculture Articles on our website, also articles about those who've
remodled house overseas. Search our database. 4-Escape is a search engine
that searches our network of websites each of which shares a common theme:
International relocation, living & investing overseas, overseas jobs,
embassies, maps, international real estate, asset protection, articles
about how to live & invest overseas, Caribbean properties and lifestyles,
overseas retirement, offshore investments, our yacht broker portal, our
house swap portal, articles on overseas employment, international vacation
rentals, international vacation packages, travel resources, every
embassy in the world, maps of the world, our three very popular eZines
. . . and, as they are fond to say, a great deal more. |
 Create
a New Country - Creating A New Country - MicroNations & Principalities
- Why not start a new country? One just like you want. The idea isn't
so far-fetched is it? Well, a group of people have been trying to
start one for three decades. In fact several attempts have been made. Q:
Why hasn't it happened? A: The folks trying to start one have all been
Libertarians. A Libertarian, in case you don't know, is someone who thinks
and talks but never acts. (Sorry fellows.... just stating the obvious.)
But the concept is a sound one. With a new country there would be the possibility
of freedom from taxes, freedom of thought, respect for the individual over
the group and so forth. ~ What's cooking? Undersea Cities, Cities on Islands,
Boats that float with cities on them. There are several projects now under
way and lot's of speculation. Some thinktanks are doing some serious thinking
about it. ...and there are interesting articles about projects and places,
...and even some tidbits of hope. |
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 Guess
what makes Escape Dates different ?
- Single, Married, interested in growing your international
network of friends, now you can travel the world, and make money searching
for the perfect mates with EscapeDates international singles and social
networking community. EscapeDates has fused an online dating and social
networking community, with a unique income opportunity that pays members
to build their friend and social networks. Escapeartist.com, the largest
website in the world for international living and overseas jobs recently
launched EscapeDates and is well position to becoming a leader in the international
dating industry. |
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 Get
a Job on a Luxury Cruise Ship! "Discover how you can Travel to
the World's Most Exotic Places...having the Best Time of Your Life...and
Get Paid for it!" - “Now is the best time in history to get a job on a
cruise ship” - Get Paid to Travel the World Having the Best Time of Your
Life! - “It's almost the perfect job!”. |
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 Yachting
Careers - Where to go to look for
a yachting job. • Who to talk to get it. • Where to stay while searching
for employment. • How to make ends meet until you find a job. • About and
how to deal with crew agencies. • Extremely effective means of obtaining
employment outside of agencies. • The ins and outs of interviewing. • The
pros and cons of working on a charter yacht versus a private yacht. • Crewing
as a couple. • Vital tips that will put you ahead of the pack. • Crucial
mistakes not to make and much, much more. |
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 Chronicles
of the Jungle Mom Travel can become a place lived; and a place
lived can be a form of travel - Imagine a woman with children who
decides that she is going to go to Central America and live in the jungle
with her children. Is this travel or is it adventure? Where
does the line blur between travel and adventure? Shouldn't travel
be adventure? . |
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 See
Yacht Broker for Boats & 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! - |
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 International
Real Estate Market Property WorldWide & Current, Bargains,
Islands, Enclaves, Coast Property, Retirement Havens, Sale by Owner, Current
Listings 24 / 7! - Our claim at the inception was, "International Real
Estate is set to be the biggest and best investment market of the next
several years." |
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 Want
an overseas job? - We are working hard to make sure that you have
a much better chance to really get one! - Our overseas jobs listing section
has just gone through a total upgrade with hundreds of new listings of
jobs overseas! - It has search capacity by location, job type and salary
desired. |
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 Escape
From America Magazine Our 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... |
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 Self
Service shipping WorldWide - Ubox we ship - Save over 40%!
on international shipping. Door to door , Door to port , Port to port.
Professional services with discount prices. Call today for a free shipping
quote 866.566.9350 |
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 Mexico
Real Estate For Sale - We Make It
Safe To Buy Oceanfront And Ocean View Properties In Mexico. 1000’s
Of Listings To Choose From Escrow, Title Insurance, Financing-Free MLS
Search - Mexico Oceanfront And Ocean View Properties For Sale Prices Starting
$15,000. Safe And Secure Homes-Lots-Condos Photos, Video's, Virtual
Tours. |
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 World
Without Borders - 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. |
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 Organic
Fish Farming With Aquaponics Systems
- Portable Farms For Caribbean Islands & Expat housing - Instead of
buying groceries that have been shipped and stored, select your own organic
vegetables and home-grown fish to serve your family for dinner. |
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 Own
A Restaurant in Paradise - Atlanta
restaurant brokers Eric and Robin Gagnon recently traveled to St. Maarten
to relax on the white sandy beaches and enjoy the ocean breezes. Ever watchful
of the restaurant industry, they were surprised at the number of U.S.,
Canadian, French and English natives they observed who had relocated to
this tropical island to serve up their own version of cheeseburgers in
paradise. |
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 Safe
Medical Tourism World Wide Yes, Safe Overseas Medical Tourism Offshore.
Find Safe Clinics, Read Reviews, Active Discussion posts. Members &
providers can communicate directly and exchange information freely. |
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 Secure
Exclusive Rights to a Country - Secure the Rights to Your Country
and Partner with the Largest Website in the World for International Living.
Imagine having 500-1000 people per month requesting information about real
estate, jobs, tourism, medical treatments, banking, and immigration and
so on . . . |
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