Why We Chose Nicaragua 🇳🇮
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- Опубликовано: 15 июл 2024
- As Americans with jobs that allow us to work from anywhere in the world, most everyone seems to be pretty surprised that we chose the small Central American country of Nicaragua. In this special video, I break down the main factors that led to us choosing this country.
#nicaragua #centralamerica #relocation
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:48 Safety → Nicaragua is the second safest country in the Western Hemisphere after Canada
1:59 Healthcare → “Not the best, but it’s good”
2:50 Women safety
4:14 Location → Low time/effort to come back to the USA. Also same time zone as Texas: no disruption for business and family in the USA.
7:36 Working remotely as a tourist → [Self note here: consult with a lawyer, because taxation is a complex subject. Checkout PWC for example]
10:44 Residency → Easy to get permanent residency
11:33 Right to own, invest, start companies
12:06 Infrastructure → Best highway system in the Western Hemisphere. Good fast home/mobile internet.
13:26 Weather → Exceptionally warm, stable year round. Gorgeous sunsets.
16:06 Food → Steak culture, high quality organic produce. Base: rice and beans. Cost of food is low.
17:41 Cost of living → Extremely low, you can easily hire a maid
22:53 Obligatory mention for the people and culture → Western culture
SAM has lived in Panama, Romania and considered living in Mexico before choosing Nicaragua
24:58 Spanish is not an exotic language
26:53 Incredible availability of the ocean
Welcome to Nicaragua! 🤗 🇳🇮 We definitely need productive and smart people like you. Thank you for using this small and humble country as your primary home. I have watched a couple of your videos and figured out how knowledgeable you are in general. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated. Are your daughters doing well with the culture shock? Suggestion: Spanish 3-5 minutes short videos will be great for only Spanish speaking audience. Perhaps, every two weeks posting. There are a lot of Nicaraguans living around the world and they surely will love to keep in touch with Nicaragua through your videos. God bless you!
My Spanish is rather embarassing to have recorded for posterity, lol.
Great idea 💡 👍 💜🥁🐉🎤🎶✈️🇳🇮💞
@ScottAlanMillerVlog Why not captions ,or subtitles ? Or even an automatic translater ( gadget !? ) !?💜🥁🐉🎤🎶✈️🇳🇮💞
Hello Scott, I am a military veteran who works for federal government and live in Georgia. I got married to a Nicaraguan woman in Managua last Spring. I instantly fell in love with the Nicaraguan culture. I have purchased three different properties one in Managua and two in El Tuma. I will be arrive in Nicaragua in ten more days. I will be harvesting with my wife family starting on December 18. I will return to America on January 8. I would be honored to meet you. I sure your a busy man
That would be awesome, and congrats on getting to come down. I'm in the EEUU for most of that time but return on the 1st so there is about a week of overlap at the end of your journey that I should be around.
Congrats on your marriage !! I bet she's beautiful. One of my all time favourite actresses is Barbara Carrera 😍 I am a Japanese woman living in L A. ! Lol. Why so many properties did you purchase ,if I may ask ?
I'd love to visit Nicaragua someday soon !! 💜🥁🐉🎤🎶✈️🇳🇮💕💞
Very happy, you're happy in my beautiful country Nicaragua. Wondering if you would be interested in buying another home; our family home in Rivas, Nicaragua ❤️ 🥰❤️. Let me know if you are. Maria.
My beautiful country where I was born, Nicaragua ❤️❤️❤️❤️.
Great Video, Thank you
Yes I’m subscribing, this channel is over the top informative.
Thank you!!!❤
Awesome! Thank you!
The government is stable until they are not. I agree with everything you eloquently said except the government part. Man, you can talk up a storm
I love how Western 1st world people think their governments are stable... the USA has people questioning the last election, since more blacks voted for biden than obama, weird, and already questioning the next election in 2022.... literally breathes away from civil war but think Nicaragua is less stable with a dictator for decades.... so naive
LOL I always laugh at comments like this. The US citizens live a delusional life. US govt is the most corrupt criminal unstable government in the world, especially now same is true with danger. Look at your daily news to see the violence that engulfs you.
Any country has a political problem just saying ! I’ll take a chance on that to live my life not live to work
😂😂😂😂 very informative
Pretty much the story of all latin America, political uncertainty comes in waves, less than a handful of countries down there don't go through political turmoil atleast once in a 30 year period, in fact the only country I can think of that hasn't is Uruguay.
That being said the stability typically lasts long enough to comfortably live for awhile so why not do it and take advantage of the arbitrage, if worse comes to worse you can always hightail it out of there lol.
Gracias, que bonito escuchar a personas como usted 😊
Aquí en Managua hace calor, en León es todavía más, pero veo que se ha adaptado al clima.😅
It's so nice not to hear "that's sick, that's epic, hey guys, I was like, she was like, that's awesome, I know right?, OMG".
Well presented and encouraging. Nicaragua is now on my list.
Welcome 🤗❤️❤️❤️.
Thanks for sharing your insights on living there. It is on my list now.
My pleasure! And hopefully we see you down here soon!
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Do you have any recommendations or previous videos on the best beach communities where expats and digital nomads may be gathered?
@@onetruecalling so these two don't go together particular well. Expats actually tend to go where digital nomading is worst, strangely. San Juan del Sur is the hub of expats (it's a beach) and the other Rivas beaches are all pretty heavily expat focused. Those are all less than ideal for DNs because of their higher costs and greater difficulties in getting solid power and internet because they are expat areas that aren't focused on being able to work.
The northern beaches, north of Rivas, basically all have very few expats (but always a few) but all have amazing power and Internet because it's where Nicaraguans actually live and work. You can basically go anywhere as a Digital Nomad because infrastructure is so good here. But expat enclaves risk cutting off the ability to get access to it (Gran Pacific specifically blocks solid, fast and reliable internet!)
Thank you, a very useful and informative video. Nicaragua is high on our list of places to make our next home. Have been curious about Leon, so very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
0:48 *Safety* → Nicaragua is the second safest country in the Western Hemisphere after Canada
1:59 *Healthcare* → “Not the best, but it’s good”
2:50 *Women safety*
4:14 *Location* → Low time/effort to come back to the USA. Also same time zone as Texas: no disruption for business and family in the USA.
7:36 *Working remotely as a tourist* → [Self note here: consult with a lawyer, because taxation is a complex subject. Checkout PWC for example]
10:44 *Residency* → Easy to get permanent residency
11:33 *Right to own, invest, start companies*
12:06 *Infrastructure* → Best highway system in the Western Hemisphere. Good fast home/mobile internet.
13:26 *Weather* → Exceptionally warm, stable year round. Gorgeous sunsets.
16:06 *Food* → Steak culture, high quality organic produce. Base: rice and beans. Cost of food is low.
17:41 *Cost of living* → Extremely low, you can easily hire a maid
22:53 *Obligatory mention for the people and culture* → Western culture
SAM has lived in Panama, Romania and considered living in Mexico before choosing Nicaragua
24:58 *Spanish is not an exotic language*
26:53 *Incredible availability of the ocean*
OMG awesome, thank you so much. Chapters have been added to the video.
Thanks for sharing valuable content Scott 👍
My pleasure!
Oh YAY !! I AM VEGETARIAN, TOO ~!! I love organic produces & 95% of my foods I eat are organic produces/ products ,so very very good to know !! Thank you so much 💓 👍👍😍💜🥁🐉🎤🎶✈️🇳🇮💕💞
Soy Nicaraguense y tengo una casa en León que voy a poner de renta, basically this is a good video.
Thanks! Where in Leon? What barrio?
Thanks for sharing. I've had Nica picked out for a while now and trying very hard to set up myself to move there in 10-20 years (my career is not translatable to digital nomadding so that's unfortunate.) Enjoyed everything you said. I'm not happy with Ortega personally but I believe the future will continue to improve. Just subscribed and can't wait to live vicariously through your family! Lol
What's the problem with Ortega? The way Scott makes it sound is everything is rainbows and sunshine and other than some poverty in the area it's simply paradise lol.
Thank You! 🤝
Hey man I’m from nicaragua I don’t know by some of these clowns are being rude 🤦🏾♂️ I understand the topic of the government and the dictatorship is horrible but other than that the country and people are beautiful and very safe. It’s by far safer than any state in the US. I’m currently in Mobile, Alabama and there’s murders here every single day and shootings like every 4 hours it feels like. I loved the video and your full breakdown! I will be visiting in July I plan on staying in San Juan del sur and going to Leon, granada, somotillo (where I’m from), little corn islands and managua!
Very nice and thanks for the good words. Yeah, super safe. And wow, yeah, Mobile is a pretty scary area.
That's great, look us up here in July when you are down!
Thank you! Practical important information. thoughtful and easy to understand. see ya there👦
This video was enough to convince you to move! That's awesome!
Great video ! The only thing I would say is your use of the word “ warm” may not be accurate. 😀 My wife grew up in Corinto and I grew up in Florida. I thought Florida was unbearably hot until going to Corinto. Wow !
We may retire there but looking at Matagalpa or Jinotega that is still not cool but bearable.
We do love Nicaragua !….great people !
I really love Matagalpa and Jinotega. I'll do some episodes up there soon. I have one or two in Matagalpa but not much time there. Jinotega I have not made it to in years, I need to visit very soon. Lots of good filming to be done up there and it will be a needed break from the heat. I have to go to the USA in May for two weeks (just life logistics) so that will cut into my travel schedule. That area, along with Esteli, is just fantastic. But Esteli is much more expensive. If it was only up to me, I would have chosen those cities to live in. Likely Matagalpa either downtown or in the western hills as it is so interesting over there. But downtown you can walk to so many restaurants and activities. I really like the downtown of Matagalpa.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog I lived and worked in Matagalpa from 1989-93, an intense period both at the tail end of the 1980s revolutionary decade and then in the transition period after the 1990 elections. I really appreciate the effort you put into your videos, and it's been both nostalgic and inspiring to hear your take and to compare it with what I know and remember from my time there, which I absolutely loved. I wish you could have seen Matagalpa's downtown in 1989!
@@erikmar2979 That's great. Matagalpa is such a great town, i love it. You need to come visit again!
Nice video... Thanks for the info
Thanks! I hope that it is useful!
Very informative and convincing video. I’ll check it out. Thanks.
Glad that you found us!
you are right about Nicaragua,i have never been in leon,im from Matagalpa,you are right too about matagalpa,nice wheather,nice city. if you dont know much about the department of Matagalpa,is the third larges city after managua y leon, but in population is the second one after managua, right now is about 700 thousand people in the department,im a teacher ,thats why i know. you are doing a good job. thanks.
Oh yeah, departmento Matagalpa is very large. So many small communities in that region. Do you teach in Nicaragua? You need to visit Leon, it is a very unique and historic city and not hard to get to from Matagalpa. Ana who appears on my vlog sometimes is from Matagalpa and Mileydi is from Sebaco. Karla is from Matagalpa, too. I used to have an office in Matagalpa. I did some filming up there a few weeks ago, but hope to be back soon. It is one of my favourite places in the country.
León..... I personally like Managua, Masaya and Granada. There are nice beaches just an hour away from Managua, and the city offers nice, modern gyms. Wal-Mart stores, and nice Malls. But, the city of Leon is very nice.
Managua is way better than people give it credit for. It's a nice city with so much good food and so many activities. And the weather is nicer than Granada or Leon. I like it a lot. Leon gives us a small town feel while still having lots of stuff. No Walmart or Pricemart, but making a run to Managua for shopping now and then isn't so bad. I appreciate the small barrier to shopping that we have, it stops me from casually just buying stuff without contemplating how much I really need it first.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlogj
Wow, glad you put all this in a video. Really is a different take on the area than what is presented in the states. Thanks for the video.
Yes, for sure. What we hear in the States is pretty dramatically different from what you witness on the ground here.
Great video. You should come to visit Esteli and Nueva Segovia for a few days. We have mountains and great coffee. Because of my job, I travel to the north of the country and I've had the opportunity to know amazing little towns.
I've been up there but very little. Certainly on my list to explore!
Very interesting!! 👍🏼😀
Thanks! I've been needing to make that video for a while. I get asked that so much. Now there is a place to send people.
Great video 🤩
Thanks!
Thank you for choosing Nicaragua. Funny story, I lived in your city for 6 years, loved that city. You are so smart, Nicaragua should feel proud of attracting people like you to make their home. Next time I visit there I would like to have a cup of coffee.
thank you so much. and of course, let me know when you are in town.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Who does relocation assistance stuff for Nicaragua?
Good vid!
Thanks
Scott, you are amazing and so convincing. How do people contact you personally?! I'm going to end up watching all your videos!
My newer videos list my Instagram account @ziffedtraveler - I can be reached there. THanks!
Thank you Thank you Thank you for the frank, positive, family perspective on Nicaragua.
Our pleasure!
Great video. Information I learned from you here is priceless. Born in Managua but live in Florida most of my life. Was considering retirement in León, but now I'm actually moving. $1k mo u live like a king. 👍🏼. Hot as hell though not warm 😁.
That's awesome. Welcome back!
Me watching all your videos to practice my listening skill because you speak fast. That's great.
Viva Nicaragua 🥰
I'm like "English" on "expert" mode.
thank you !!!
You bet. I hope it is helpful. Also check out my three things wrong with Nicaragua video for a little counterbalance :)
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog i will. the reason i found you is because a u-tuber called itchy boots is on her way to your town soon she is on a 300cc honda on her way to Alaska from equadore just mind blowing trip so far i recomend u check it out tks again
To Leon or Las Peñitas? I’ll check her out. How far away?
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Leon . for saftey reasons she gives no details just the town. tks.she actually started out in patagonia but covid screwed things up
Hey Scott - Thanks for all your vids - loving the content and info. Do you know if the Gov there has plans to implement Digital ID such as in Western countries?
To the best of my knowledge there is no talk of this at this current time. Of course, I would not be in the loop on that if it was not in public discussions so easily they might be considering it. But at this time, it seems pretty unlikely, especially given how well things are working on paper right now (keep in mind how small the population is) and that most business is done with the US which is also still not digital (except Utah, which is just piloting a digital ID right now.). I would expect in 3-4 years that that would change, but it'll be a little bit, I think.
My dad retired to Nicaragua back in 2003 .
That’s great. What city?
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog masaya he loves that volcano lol.
Wow 2003, that's back when almost no Americans retired there, it was usually Costa Rica back in those days or nothing, most people would barely even consider Nicaragua for a week long vacation in those times let alone any longer of a stay haha.
Your dad is smart man. 🤓
I glad most people here like Leon to Rivas. But I'm not leaving the beach in my backyard. San Juan del sur area is the best.
León yo the beach is walkable. Rivas to the beach is not. Leon has the only beach in a backyard. Nowhere else has the city meet the beach.
You do have to keep in mind that the 90day extension you are receiving is contrary to the laws on the books. It is just that the current circumstances are that that enforcement is lax. The actual rules are 72 hours out of the country every 90 days. This has not been enforced for years though.
Not that it changes anything today, but should be kept in mind.
Are you sure that the extensions are not on the books? It's a very strict, very repeatable process. I'm pretty sure it is official in every sense. No aspect of it is lax or casual. It's a precise time and location, and the paperwork is processed centrally in Managua. The immigration lawyers say that it is the official law.
That the 72 hours outside is casually ignored and most people can come in after 24, that's a squishy "not heavily enforced" bit of the law handled by local border control where a local person just doesn't bother enforcing the 72 hour rule strictly - and only sometimes. But the extensions are very much overseen by every piece of the government mechanism and it's all at the highest level and visible and exact.
The US state department (hardly the authority, but they have good info in English) mention that the extensions are part of the process. And some sites even state the law that does it, the 2011 General Law on Migration. And the law that they mention matches exactly the extension process so seems legit.
I believe that there are two laws in play. There is the old 2011 90 day extension (180 day total) laws that has long been available. Now, since 2020 with COVID, there is an additional, overlapping 30 day extension by three times law that is the same length of time as the 90 day extension, but requires three time the effort to do, but is more likely to get approved that everyone uses. Both are laws and both seem to still be current. But the results of both is still a maximum of 180 days without either filing intent of residency or doing the "72 hours" out and back in process.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog I used to have the link saved but lost it . I believe it is with Ley 761 which Google does a good translation on or one of the associated Ley called out in it.
DOS and Rosario do make arbitrary changes to it from time to time with executive orders.
Your Local Migracon office can show you them (the ley) as well
.
Canadian here looking to move to Nicaragua. Heading there this coming winter. It might be our new home. Have a 4 year old boy. Don’t want to raise him in Communist Canada.
Great video Scott, can you share where you get the safety data please. This is great info to send to others to satisfy the haters... Also did you see the recent tweets from Nayib Bukele and their current Homicide rate? I am not sure but I don't think I can share the tweet links here on youtube. It is on his twitter if you check it out. There homicide rates have dropped dramatically.. They were 0 for July...
Nayib Bukele says" If we annualize the month of July, the rate would be 2.19 annual homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Compared to 2021, we would be by far the safest country in all of Latin America"
Just following up on this one Scott: If you could share where you sourced your safety data on Nica and the neighboring countries. I would really love this data to help friends and family get that Canada is not as safe as they think.
Once again a great video really appreciate all the information that you compile and you put into it very thorough. I have one question you referred to covid requirements for entry. Which covid requirements are there for the entry into Nicaragua? I just traveled around the world and there was no covid requirements anywhere else I went why is there still covid requirements of any sort because that's not been my concern nor a problem for me
there haven't been requirements for years. that video is three years old :)
Whoa, the tax exemption just blew my mind. I had no idea...that is awesome! Great info here, thanks
It's a game changer. SO much more money from the same salary.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog I mean I'd rather not have to pay ANY taxes when I'm not living in the United States but to have such a huge reduction in taxable income is the best I could hope for since I'll be stuck paying taxes there forever if I want to stay on the radar and go back to see my family without worry. I'm gonna watch all your videos!
"Paradise." 👊🏿😉
That sums it up!
❤
Did you ever consider/compare or live in Belize or Grenada (the island)?
Super different. Grenada I don't know well (although I should move there as I've lived in the two other major Granadas already) but Belize I work for and have for a long time. It's basically the opposite of Nicaragua. Expensive rather than cheap, poor infrastructure instead of great, east coast instead of west, english instead of Spanish, dangerous instead of safe (but not dangerous like the northern Triangle.)
It would be very rare for Belize and Nicaragua to make the same short list as nearly any factor that would make you want one would rule out the other.
Hi Scott, great video, thanks. Just curious if you have heard of Joel from Life in Nica out of San Juan Del Sur ? He's a quote Realtor there. I know there is no such thing in Nicaragua so I was wondering if you had heard anything about him either pro or con. Thanks
of course i know him. I think every expat in Nicaragua has. I'm 100% on "never hire a buyers agent" in nicaragua, ever. no exceptions. if you were to do so, and i'm telling you not to, you'd definitely want to make sure that there were nicaraguans, only spoke spanish, don't work for an agency, and aren't in san juan del sur and don't have a website. watch my rules of thumb of real estate video. i cover why anyone you can find has to be a disaster for you. even a well meaning honest agent can't do a good job for you if any of those things are true because of the gringo tax.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog - Thanks Scott, can you recommend a good Nicaraguan who could help me in a house purchase in SJDS? I'm fluent in Spanish.
This is a very positive video. The last one I saw said to watch out for scorpions in your shoes ( one a week), no night driving and walk with many people in troubled areas (Managua and Del Sur). Are any of these cons true though?
Scorpions exist, while safer varieties than you get in the USA, you still want to take the same precautions that you do there. I lived in Texas and the scorpions there are far more dangerous. You want to take basic scorpion precautions here too, just because they tend not to be dangerous doesn't mean you want to run into one. So yes, check your shoes. But you need to do that in the USA or Italy, too.
I'm not sure why you'd not do night driving. We do that constantly. It's dark and you have to be more careful, but that's true anywhere. You can definitely drive at night. Lots of people do, the roads stay busy. Maybe they have some specific area or concern that I don't know about but this isn't an "avoid driving at night" country like, say, Romania. I've found Romania and Panama to both be more dangerous than Nicaragua for night driving.
Managua is a big city so normal precautions of a big city apply. But you can walk all over the city alone during the day without any concern at all. It's a pretty safe city for a city of its size. At night I walk alone without much concern. If you are comfortable walking US cities alone at night, Managua would be fine. San Juan del Sur is DEFINITELY safe in the daylight. At night, it can be slightly rough just because it is loaded with drunk tourists and that can make for easy pickings, if you know what I mean. But even there, I've never felt that I couldn't walk alone but... be aware of your surrounding for sure.
Those are very isolated places, though. SJDS is basically an enclave so doesn't reflect much of anythng of the rest of the country. Any normal area you can be alone at night. Leon, Granada, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Jinotepe, Diriamba, Rivas, Chinandega, Masaya, Esteli, you can be walking alone without worry, even at night.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Thank you so much for the timely advice Scott so hope you enjoy your coffees. The following video had me creeped out a bit so thanks for bringing me back. I have never visited Texas but, the following video had me thinking that they snuggle up in bed with you? ruclips.net/video/uAs4zFeYBEg/видео.html
The scorpions in Texas? There aren't that many. Arizona is where it is REALLy bad.
The highlands of Nicaragua are cooler - don’t forget!
My wife and I had a question. When we move to Nicaragua, are they going to check all of our stuff in every box at the border?
Anotherwards, we're making a tiny home from a bus and adding a trailer hitch to pull a small trailer. We want to pack everything in the trailer when we move. Will they check and pull everything from every box to check? Thanks for the info with all the videos.
Not necessarily, but assume so, yes. Nicaragua is VERY thorough at the border. No one else is like that along the way, they are unique in the region (both in that they take stopping drug trafficking seriously & that they don't focus on the speed of tourism for revenue) so they treat border security very differently from everyone else. So assume that most likely, they will go through at least a lot of your stuff.
Hi there. New to channel. I am hoping to bring my family with two small children to Nicaragua next year. Hoping to do a beach/ road trip. Is there a preferred route? We love pacific Costa Rica specifically Santa Teresa. Any advice?
Somehow I missed this comment. So sorry.
If you like Costa Rica, we sure to hit San Juan del Sur in the south, it's Nicaragua's "Little Costa Rica" village. Only real negative is that it is SO much farther south than most everything else. So you spend a little extra time getting to and from, but it's by far the most popular and largest beach destination in the country so it's special and you want to get there if you can.
If you are coming in from CR by road, SJDS is easy. If you start from the airport in Managua, it's a small nuisance to get there.
Popoyo in northern Rivas, Pochomil in Managua, Las Peñitas in León and Jiquillo in El Viejo are your main beaches to hit the different regions of traditional beaches. All very different. That's a big distance to cover, but lots of beach opportunity. Plus with just a little inland driving (much of which is necessary to get between beaches) you can hit loads of the non-beach sights too. Leon is a decently major destination on its own, for example.
Nicaragua is small, consider hitting Ometepe and Granada if you have time.
Did you ever consider living in Greece (specifically the Islands) ? If so, what were your thoughts against Greece? Thanks!
Jajajaja. By "considered" if you mean "did you live in the Greek islands", then, YES. I lived on Crete near Rethymno. I absolutely loved life in Greece. The islands were fantastic. In the winter the place is literally empty. Food is amazing. People are great. Language is tough. Island life there is amazing, I'm a huge fan. My "Take Flight with Scott" channel has a bit of filming done in the area. It's not from when I lived there, I returned a few years later with my nieces and did four or five episodes in the area.
ruclips.net/video/tuC8Mr4Cnv4/видео.html&pp=iAQB
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog that amazing!! Aaaaa what a dream! Good to know... and very interesting you chose Nicaragua over Greece to live. ♥️
Lol in the minute 4:44 a child just fall in he’s “patineta”
Hi Scott. I see you take a lot of important factors into consideration when choosing a place to live. I also am from Texas, and would be visiting home often. You mentioned Colombia and I believe Panama as good options too. Can you tell me why you decided against those 2 countries, as they are also on my list? Thank you for all your incredibly helpful insight!
Great country options. I talk about them in an upcoming video. I lived in Panama myself, actually. I hope to visit Colombia this year. All of them are very viable depending on what you are looking for. Nicaragua is the cheapest and safest of the three, and the fastest for returning to Texas.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog I think that's highly debatable whether Nicaragua is cheaper than Colombia, In Colombia gasoline is much cheaper, electricity is cheaper, especially if you live in any strata that's lower than 5, electronics are cheaper.
Food in Colombia might be a little more expensive but I think this really depends on where you live, in Medellin the food is probably more expensive than any city in Nicaragua but in Bucaramanga the food is just as cheap if not cheaper.
Rent on average is more expensive in Colombia in most cities especially Medellin but even here there's nuance, if you're fine with living in strata 3 or lower you'll find comparable priced rent even in Medellin, and in Bucaramanga rent will probably be cheaper in all stratas less than 5.
The only city where rent probably will not be cheaper than a middle of the road rental market in Nicaragua is in Cartagena, but even here if you compare Cartagena to Nicaragua's most expensive neighborhoods to rent from it'll probably be about the same or maybe only slightly more expensive.
Where is the link to buy you a cup of coffee? I saw it, but can't find it now?
It's in the show description. And here it is too! :)
www.buymeacoffee.com/scottalanmiller
Thanks!
Le gusta porque es vivir de gorra muchos beneficial solo ocuparse por Renta y comida
No estoy seguro de entender. ¿Qué gorra?
La gente que viene acá viene en su mayoría a trabajar, ya tienen su trabajo desde sus países o abren negocios acá. Y si aún fuera así, si pueden venir a vivir acá sin hacer nada es porque se pueden mantener e igual son bienvenidos. Buen vídeo.
Do you have any videos of the process it takes to come down? We are from Canada, and are looking to retire next year, and seriously considering Nicaragua, but it seems to be a bit of a challenge knowing who to trust for the right information..
In regards to your flights? Or something more than that? Which details do you need? I come and go regularly so have pretty updated information.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog I guess everything, Scott. I've been watching your videos, and have come to feel that I trust your perspective. We'll be coming from Canada, but I'm sure the process is similar. My questions are like what do we do about taxes in our home country? Do we need a Nicaraguan bank account? How do we find a decent place to live? What do we need to do to bring our cats with us, etc..
@@6515Mayfield okay cool, I'lltry to answer on a "soon" video. I think I can record that on Oct 3rd's video. :)
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Awesome!!!
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Hey, saw the video - thank you!
I'm thinking about Nicaragua, Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia as a second residency option. I could qualify for a retirement visa! Is it possible I could find a part time job in Nicaragua? Do you have any ideas on how to get a remote job for extra income?. Thanks! Great resource your video.
I have offices in Nicaragua and Bolivia. If you are coming from the US, you'll find Bolivia far more challenging politically (for you moving.) Most of our team in Bolivia is looking at NIcaragua pretty seriously.
Part time jobs you can assume won't exist here and most residency options will bar you from or discourage you from getting one in country. The goal of them encouraging people to move here is either to spend retirement resources, work remotely to wherever they are from, or invest to create local jobs.
Working remotely from NIcaragua is about as easy and effective as it gets. Because phones, Internet, etc. work so well from here, it's often more reliable to work from here than from most affordable parts of the USA! But as far as finding a job, that mostly comes down to what career field you have experience in. But right now is the best time ever to try to do this since never, ever has the USA been so short of a workforce. They are hiring people remotely at a pace never seen before.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog I have been to Bolivia 🇧🇴 It’s amazing, some would describe Bolivia as magical! I work in security currently, “Security officer” but I would be willing to answer phone calls or do some job remotely? I don’t have a college degree.
@@christopherhouse7937 Given the employment climate in the US, I'd think that getting a remote security job would be easy. There are so many open jobs in general, and SO many in security. I think you'll find finding a job to be easy. Might pay less than if you were local, but it only needs to pay 10% as much to be an amazing deal :)
I own a company in Managua. Are you bilingual?
Hey I came across your video. So Ive only been there like 3 times my family is from there I have my dual citizenship but my grandma's house is in Masaya. Can you guide me to people in that area that can help guide me to move there? If you can't it's ok I'm trying to find ways to connect with locals there
I'm not sure that I actually KNOW locals from Masaya. But what do you need to know to be able to move? Expats move to Masaya regularly, without local contacts. You should have it far easier. Is there any question that I can answer?
Is this still updated !? I just googled earlier about safety in Nicaragua & got mixed info. ! They're saying caution level raised to level 3 ! I'd love to visit there someday soon !! 💜🥁🐉🎤🎶✈️🇳🇮💞
This is completely current. We are insanely safe and absolutely nothing to make it risky whatsoever has happened. Nicaragua remains the safest place (except for Canada) in the Western Hemisphere. You can be VERY confident, the US only raises the "threat level" in Nicaragua when something bad happens in the US and they need to distract people from their own country.
The US State Department giving false travel advisories isn't unique to Nicaragua. THe entire system is false and used to manipulate the American people. Travelers the world over discuss how it is utterly fake and has no connection to reality whatsoever.
@ScottAlanMillerVlog WOW !! Everything in this world is political ! That sucks! Lol. I am fed up as everything's fixed & manipulated / stimulated in this world !! Fashion,music ,politics,history ,sports ,foods ,medical / pharmaceutical stuffs ,now even travelling !! Ugh~!! Thanks !! Very eye opening response !! Thanks ! Thank you so much for your replies !! 👍 👍💜🥁🐉🎤🎶🇳🇮✈️💕💞
I'm a single 55 yo female from the USA and visited Nicaragua in May. I felt completely safe even walking around in Managua at night.
@lifewith9cats153 Very good to know !! Since my previous post,I've watched so many videos & Scott has kindly been answering my questions,I am very confident about that now !! I live in one of the most dangerous countries,if not the most dangerous, U.S.A.,anyway !! LOL Thank you so much for your reply , a reply like yours helps me a lot & gives me more confidence, much appreciated !! 😊 👍👍💜🥁🐉🎤🎶✈️Nicragua 🇳🇮💕💞
Biden is no friend of their country so he had the state department raise the crime rate.
so besides investing and retirement how can I become a resident
Just those and marriage.
Best highways in Central America 5th best in Latin America.
I've been to Thailand, it's actually not that much cheaper than Nicaragua
Not a lot but my wife was there three days ago and going straight from Nicaragua to Thailand (and Laos as of yesterday) she said it was noticeably cheaper where she was.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Well as they say location location location, I suppose I could have been in one of the more pricier spots in Thailand, but from my experience there most small meals were about a $1 to $2, I wasn't finding a whole meal any where for like 50 cents or anything like that, not saying it doesn't exist but I didn't see it.
Did get a chance to check out some 1 bedroom rentals in a nice area and they were going for like $180 a month, 2 bed units from what little I saw of them seemed to go up disproportionately higher for their size though, about $450 a month.
Gasoline there was about $4.80 a gallon, slightly less than Nicaragua but still more expensive than the US on average.
electronics might have been slightly less than Nicaragua, there was certainly more variety of electronics in anycase but I didn't pay to close attention to prices so I can't say 100% for sure.
It's pretty hard to find a $.50 meal in NIcaragua. It gets cheap but that's pretty extreme. It DOES exist, for sure. But if you were a tourist in Nicaragua you'd struggle to find that. I bet Thailand has that too, if you know where to look.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Entirely possible, I was only there for a week so who knows, I certainly witnessed some very low prices, but I can only speak from my experience and I didn't see it, just as I didn't see prices that low in Nicaragua either.
Cheers.
Scott do you help relocate there ?
I do! Send me a message on instagram @ziffedtraveler
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog. When are the dry months in Nicaragua, Scott ?
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog I’m still doing everything to retire in Nicaragua
What is the"covid paperwork"? What are the specific requirements?
When you going to Nicaragua you got to do your covid test and have the paper in hand or on your phone nothing else
Correct. They require a clear COVID test before entry. You have to send it in before you fly down.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog yes 72 hrs before your flight
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog send it in where exactly and how?
@@user-nd9re8vr6l there is a government website where you submit it. And your airlines has to submit it to. But don’t rely only on the airlines.
Hey Scott,
Seems like to keep my same phone number and be able to get two step verification from financial companies here, people seem to port over their number to Google voice for $20.
At that point if my phone is unlocked, I can pop in a Nicaraguan SIM card and I’m all set ??
With Lidia heading there Monday, I guess she can just bring back a SIM card. Do you use Claro ?
Thx !
I've never had any luck porting to Google Voice. Are you thinking of Google Voice or the Google Fi mobile service? The issue with Google Voice is if you are going to return to the US from time to time, what will you use for a phone. I use an iPhone so can have "unlimited" SIM cards in it as eSIMs. So I have my US number as an eSIM and plug in my Nica SIM physically.
I use Tigo, but Claro is good too.
Oh, $20 is the port fee, not the monthly fee, for porting to Google Voice. Okay.
I'm looking into this, for those of us outside of the US full time, this could be a huge cost saver. Thanks for the tip. I only keep my US number for those security codes as it is.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog
Originally I thought I would just receive the code by email rather than text, so I didn’t have to worry about a Nicaraguan phone number, but it seems like most digital nomads port over to Google and keep the same US phone number, then just pop in a SIM card upon arrival.
As always, great videos…I watch and rewatch them. 😀
Yep, I use an IPhone as well. Google voice, not Google gi. Vagabond Awake , priority Focused Life, are two digital nomads that did this but several others said they did as well.
I’m sitting here in the mountains of Nicaragua in my winter clothes. Otherwise 100%
LOL, what? What's the temps and what city are you in now?
Hi SammieJo.. where are you located that youd ve wearing winter clothes?
@@angelab4652 north of Jinotega
Viva Nocaragua linda
Claro que si!
If its so safe, why does the US government have a travel warning saying reconsider travel?
LOL, you think the US warnings around the world come from the safety of those countries? Clearly you've never traveled and are new to what government warnings are based on. jajaja
Remember that much of the world has those warnings about the US, too. If the US is so safe, why do they have those warnings?
The US is FAMOUS for all their travel warnings being fake to promote or discourage economic development where they want in the world. They have nothing to do with your safety, like most things the US government does, it has little to nothing to do with the general good or safety of American citizens.
Remember that under Obama the propaganda law was passed relieving the government from any burden of being honest with the public. The state department openly has no mandate to provide factual travel advisories and doing so would go against their own interests.
At 75 and having no children, I am not about to change that. But were I to have children. I sure would not raise them in Nicaragua. In Latin America only good schools will be in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. But slam dunk my choice would be Germany.. I can say many things good about Nicaragua but if I had children would not be there or in any Latin Country other than the 3 I mentioned.
Other than Gertmany my choice would be New Zealand. They issue 1 year visas to anyone with a college degree or technical a skills.\
I will not burst your bubble. If you go to El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala thinking you are going to renew your Visa, think again. Its just like a European Shenegan Agreement and as though you never left Nicaragua. You need go to Costa Rica or all the way north to Mexico or Belize. Yeah I made that mistake some 8 years ago.
Germany criminalizes home schooling and other alternative school forms. It's one of the last places that I'd take children. I'm not a fan of government controlled education programs. I appreciate the predicament that the Germans are in as right wing extremists use private education to indoctrinate children. But the "wards of the state" thing is not something I'd subject any foreign child to if I had options.
Nicaragua is fantastic because it doesn't take away your freedoms and providing far better schooling isn't outlawed. It's not like anyone, ever comes to Nicaragua and puts their kids in public school. So the quality of the free public education system really is not a factor for expat kids. But the freedom of education is. So Nicaragua is a slam dunk over German for education and children.
Germany also doesn't give easy residency. So while, as parents, it was one of the first countries we blacklisted as an option for living in while we had kids, it's also an extremely difficult option.
And, as Americans, living in Nicaragua, we get completely free American public school educations still. So if that was "good enough", we'd just do that. It's not, so we don't. Even if we still lived in the US we'd not lower the standards for our kids to that. But we have access to it in whatever capacity we want to use it.
So for exactly the reason you mention, Nicaragua is an excellent choice if you have kids and want them to get a good education. Whether you choose an excellent private school like Ceba here in Sutiava, or home school, you have plenty of options. It's not like public schools in most any country are just randomly open to people living there anyway. You are looking at important data for the future of investment in a country, but the things you are looking at aren't what matters to parents trying to get a quality education for their kids.
But Nicaragua offers a safer environment to learn freely in compared to any of those other Latin American choices. So that's a huge deal.
LIterally, NIcaragua is number one for exactly having kids and wanting them to be safe and educated.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog It’s leftist that have been indoctrinating children worldwide with their woke garbage. Cmon man.
Also, Germany USG occupied. Ie, Nordstream.
I’ve been wanting to visit an “actually existing” socialist country or at least a country that calls itself socialist. This might be a good one to check out.
I don’t believe they consider themselves socialist
What if you have no covid paperwork?
They don't ask for COVID paperwork to visit or be a long term "border runner." It's not a requirement in any way for that. I honestly don't know a single place that requires that. That's not normal.
Haters gonna hate. Nicaragua is the safest country in the Americas. Imagine Nicas that have been living in America for decades telling you how they see Nicaragua when they hardly even step foot there.
That's very true. No doubt, decades ago Nicaragua was quite dangerous. Just like how the US used to be quite safe (at least if you were white) but today isn't safe (for anyone). Safety changes over time. So many people complaining about it, but all from afar. It seems crazy when you live here and you are like "are these people talking about THIS country?" It's as if they've no idea what this country is like. Everyone living here is not living a life anything like what people claim from the outside.
It's especially crazy to hear people who are in the US say it. If they were in Canada, sure, Canada is nearly as safe and traditionally is safer (and likely will be so again... but maybe not.) But in the US where children are in more danger WHILE IN SCHOOL than adults are out in public in Nicaragua is insane... like, take about the pot calling the kettle black. I checked the stats, the numbers are insanely different. I grew up in safe areas of the US, and never felt as safe as I do in the middle of the city in Nicaragua.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Yeah I agree. Nicaragua is a shadow of what it once was in the 70s and 80s. To the person in the comments that said there's machete attacks,drunken fights, etc in Nicaragua well that happens like in every 3rd world country lol even in places like Canada where I live there's more stabbings and shootings than in Nicaragua. Just take a look at the stats in places like Toronto, Winnepeg or Vancouver where gang violence is at an all time high so I'm not sure what the commenter was trying to prove. I moved from Nicaragua to Canada in 89' and if I could go back to Nica I would. I can see why many expats call it home now, there's good reason for that.
And a key difference that we hear is that in Nicaragua you hear of a "story" of someone that thinks that they were "threatened" with a weapon. While I don't doubt many of the stories, few come from the news and few have any established crime. It's just "I heard someone say that they knew someone who...." And you ask "did they die", and it's always "Oh no, nothing happened." or "They stole their phone." Which is still bad, but it's not the same as having actual people actually killed from violence.
In one case it is both hearsay (but presumably based on fact somewhere) of a "threat of violence" and the other is credible news of specific "actual violence." Very different things. And I wonder how often people report "threatened with a machete" when they ACTUALLY were just drunk and walked by a worker who was carrying their work machete with them and perceived it as a threat. And I definitely hear the exact same stories of "someone was threatened" several months apart, but always told as an identical story, but long periods of time apart. It's really obvious that a lot of the "information" about scary things in Nicaragua is rumours that just make the rounds and when people get bored, they pass them around again. Everyone says "a guy I know" but when pressed, no one ever actually knows the person that the story supposedly happened to.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog that's true. Alot of the times it's all hearsay especially from people outside of the actual country. If you want to compare just look at neighbouring El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras where there's actual real stats of all the violence that happens in that region. Anyways thanks for shedding light on what's happening in Nica for us who want to move there in the near future. Keep these vids coming!
@@Seekingtruth-mx3ur maybe you can manage to escape the cold north and return to paradise!
Great video. But I couldn't help but watch the kid in the background crash.
Jaja, they are hard not to watch.
McDonald best & quality; did he mentioned that crap,. I live in what is suppose to be the best city in U.S.A & the WORLD "bull York city" or NY., not even in here, McDonald doesn't get any near quality, neither healthy, . I get diarrhea & stomach discomfort, after eating that none beef patty with chemicals, that movie "super sized me" was right, to hell with Mickey D, .I'll take a healthy Nicaragua meal anytime.
I just got back to Nicaragua after two weeks in the US for the holidays and boy did I miss healthy, home made nicaraguan food!
OMG. You have all of us in Miami rolling on the floor pulling our hair out. One accuracy is Nicas central location and climate
Saying much of Nica does fine without AC is like saying they do fine without Audis. They are the 2nd or 3rd poorest country in the W Hemisphere ( 2 words that you repeated it seems like 250 times) they have no money or sufficient power grid for AC.
I love Nica. Have travelled all over many times. I live in Miami, grew up with Nica friends since 1978 and live where I have 7 fritangas within 2 miles of my home so I know Nica and Nicas.
Your failure to mention so far that Nica suffers under the despotic rule of a muderous, kleptocrat corrupt dictator and his lunatic drug addled wife who together will cook the books of any local or national election and imprison or disappear anyone who speaks out against them is laughable to leave out.
Also, there are no mass school or workplace shootings like in US but there is huge violent crime with machetes between neighbors in drunken rages, muggings at knife point, domestic violence femicides and child sexual abuse. These are not committed with firearms bc the people are too poor to own a gun. Rarely officially documented by poorly trained and often barely literate police officials and a medieval system of stat keeping.
Let’s be real. Nica is a wonderful and inexpensive place for expats and tourists who don’t mind traveling in an impoverished nation controlled by a corrupt dictator. The people and sights and geography are wonderful but for an expat, tourist or woman out walking at night it can be a very very dangerous place and should be completely avoided in cities.
No one watching your video should put any weight in what you have said as far as safety or status of women etc. yes the people and county are wonderful. It is cheap as hell but there are huge risks and we are keeping a murderous regime in power by investing there.
Edited for spelling errors
Second poorest, but I think you've been away too long. The strong Nicaraguan middle class is a real thing and there is plenty of infrastructure and air conditioning now. But even when available and affordable, many people prefer fresh air, especially as it is not that hot. In Leon, it is too hot for me. But Managua, even as a native New Yorker I prefer the fresh air as it isn't that hot the majority of the time. People who are staying in hotels or going to nice restaurants definitely can afford AC when they want it and I have lots of friends who swear by it, but that going to enclosed air isn't something that a lot of people would want to do shouldn't be surprising. Much of Europe is the same way. If you live in the US, it's easy to get a skewed view of AC. The weather tends to be brutal and fresh air is rarely an option, so AC is necessary. But for a lot of the world, jumping from hot to cold and never letting your body adjust and getting enclosed air are big negatives. And considering how much pandemics spread in places where enclosed air compared to open air cultures, there is a natural human evolutionary desire to have fresh air.
I can afford AC and am sitting in my open air living room right now, even in Leon, by choice.
Stop saying Nica, just say Nicaragua. It's completely disrespectful. We don't say Cub and Cubs, we say Cuba and Cubans...
@@mikerivas9091 nicas say Nica and nicas. It’s how it is said here. It is like you would say US instead of USA or America instead of United Stated of America. It’s the not in any way disrespectful to use the name as the Nicaraguans desire to be called.
For example in Leon a traditional breakfast is called a Nica on menus.
It’s like saying American instead of estadounidense. Nothing wrong with the short accepted form. It’s unofficial. But it’s how people tend to prefer to be called. Almost every Nicaragüense I know prefers Nica to reference themselves.
I think it only sounds bad because he comes across so negatively and out of touch. If he was using the short form more positively it wouldn’t have that connotation.
Or if it wasn’t a political opinion coming from Miami. Of course the ‘Muricans have many opinions on how Nicaragua should be run. Easy to make claims from afar without any idea what it is like on the ground here.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog i think he was referring to Miami boy Damiami
Yeah. You’ve been away too long. Just by saying Nica instead of Nicaragua says a lot. Been to Nicaragua every year for Christmas and early Spring. You pointing out the obvious about crime in and against their own neighbors is common in every city in the world . We are human. Also the obvious, why would a woman walk alone in the dark ? Homeboy points out what and how he sees living in Nicaragua.
Lol, Colombia does not have the best medical care in all of the west, what in the world you smoking bro haha.
Who competes with it? It crushes the "famous" places like US, Canada and Panama. People from all of those go to Colombia when they've given up on those terrible systems. It's way ahead of Central America. Medellin is the world's hospital city, ten world class hospitals in a single city.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog Not claiming the US or Canada are better, I know they're horrible, but private health care in Mexico in among the best I've seen, and yes I think Panama's is descent too.
I've also heard the health care is good in Argentina as well but I have have not confirmed.
I'm surprised that Panama's is not as good as Colombias's but given how pricy things are in Panama and how the US has it's nose in everything in Panama maybe it shouldn't be that surprising so I'll take your word for it.
just keep your politics to yourself, you are a stranger not a local and the locals dont want stranger talking about politics
Pretty much a general rule anywhere.
@@ScottAlanMillerVlog don’t listen to this clown 🤦🏾♂️
In Canada is the same especially right now with the truckers convoys,not to mention the States with democrats and Republicans. It’s seem bad now to get your country’s flag anywhere you go and you are accused of nationalist, a bad word for liberals.
Scott Alan Miller, I don’t know what you mean, when you say “ pretty much a general rule anywhere” I don’t believe that any other country in the region will prosecute you for expressing your right to freedom of speech, Nicaragua will.
well everywhere, absolutely everywhere in the world, including the USA, it is wildly inappropriate to come in as an outsider with opinions about someone else's government. this requires no explanation.
Great video! Are you on Instagram?
Thanks. And yup....
instagram.com/ziffedtraveler/
That's my main one. Also...
instagram.com/laspenitaslife/
instagram.com/leonnicalife/