Desert Girl To Tango Girl

[Arizona Girl]

Ok, Here it goes.
I'm moving to Argentina, because it's calling me. I'm 35 and single. Looking to live somewhere that I can have a life first and work to support it second.

My Current life:

Employment - I'm a Coach - Business and Life Coaching for 5 yrs. I do what I do because I believe we can all make a difference and have both happiness/fulfillment and performance/results. I work all the time right now. The fact that I run my own business here in the states gives me pause as to how I'm going to be able to get a J.O.B in Argentina. Your thoughts would be helpful! FYI I have another 10 years of business consulting in my past, so i'm great with helping entrepreneurs, cooperatives and departments leaders of larger businesses improve focused aspects of their businesses. I haven't seen a lot of job posts for someone like me. . . so how do I find opportunities?

Housing - I have a 2 bedroom apartment here in Arizona full of great furniture. Do I bring any of it? Store it to be shipped later, or cut bait, sell it all and bring the cash to start a new life? Any suggestions? Also, I have a Vizio tv - will the electronics be compatible for Argentina? And i have an "unlocked" I phone. Will I be able to use it there?

Pets - I have a 6 ilb dog. She's amazingly trained and travels well. She does well on dog food and I've cooked for her in the past. Are there any things I should know about bringing her down?

Social Life - I love people, being active, food and personal development. I'm not a big drinker. In fact I rarely drink, but I love loud, fun and laid back people besides in bars, where do I find you? Also, I'd love to meet someone special, and I'd love to learn to tango. It's going to be hard to leave my good friends here in AZ, so I'd like to connect with amazing women that love to have fun. I'm interested to learn about the different social groups, clubs etc.

Volunteering - This is a major part of my life and l tend to give my time to other women looking to improve their health or financial situations! Any suggestions who I can connect with?

Looking forward to meeting new friends and starting a new life in BA. Touch base to give me your thoughts and feelings on these items and more.

Bendiciones y amor,

Algo mas, puedo hablar bien, pero ha ido mucho tiempo. Puedo comunicarme, pero tal vez, voy a necesitar un poco ayuda cuando regresara a Argentina. It's been casi 15 anos desde que vivi in Sur America.

 

[lucha54]

Work remotely if possible.
Leave the furniture in storage or find a subletter. Rent furnished here.
Bring the dog but know it will be expensive when you move her back to the USA eventually.
Phone is "unlocked" but is it tri or quad-band? Is it REALLY unlocked?
You can meet people via the forums, we are a social bunch.
Volunteering is easier if you speak Spanish- take classes first to get it back to working condition then look for NGOs that don't charge you to volunteer for them.

whatever you do, don't make it hard to move back to the states in case you tire of BA after a few years. Don't move your entire life here until you've been her for at least 2-3 years.

 

[robwerwe]

Looking to live somewhere that I can have a life first and work to support it second.

This really depends on what job you have here, if you earn pesos things could be difficult. But its great that your open minded enough to realise how bad the Live To Work mentality is in the US.

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]furniture.[/background]
[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]I personally wouldn't bring it here. Either sell it or store it.[/background]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]Social life.[/background]
Looks like some of the older more established expats have a good comity going here. The younger ones tend to come and go.
Its also pretty hard to break into local circles, unless you have a local BF/GF otherwise from my experience they don't really want to know about extranjeros.
I really would recommend a short stay here of a few months before committing your life. A lot of people I know can't wait to leave the place.

Volunteering
Lots of opportunities here I think there is another thread about it.

Good luck and I hope all goes well!

 

[Myca13]

Come here for few monthes, before you make you final decisions. It is a beatiful culture, with so many different people that for sure you help you as a life coach, but a first you might have more opportunities in the business field. Argentineans are very pround of their own thougths, so first you will need to do a deep imersion in their way of thinking that is TOTALLY different from the states.

 

[ghost]

Don't move anything other than the dog. Just move cash.
This is a English language forum. You will not impress by typing spanish.
Good luck.

 

[Meri]

I had a friend from Australia who is also a coach and corporate trainer and she was able to work remotely - coaching sessions via skype. I don't think she made as much money as she would have liked but she did sustain herself for a couple of years. Perhaps you could do the same? Definitely think trying to find a local job would be tough - financially and otherwise. If you can earn dollars your quality of life will be so much higher. My friend also got some corporate coaching gigs in Colombia and Brazil but found the cultural differences really challenging in this line of work (but also very interesting!)

It's a great place for a dog - and you're lucky yours is so well behaved and can travels well. Food might be more limited here than the states but if he's a good/easy eater, no probs there.

Sounds like your motivation (life first career second) definitely aligns with the culture here. I personally find it a bit "softer" than the US.

I definitely agree that you should come with some flexibility of returning. For me, things have changed dramatically since I first arrived a couple of years ago - some good, some bad. I am able to return to the US relatively easily (although my dog probably won't travel well!) and I think that has made me able to ride the bumps a little better.

You should be able to make friends easily - in some ways I think it's easier to meet new people in an expat community. Many expats are super open, friendly and willing to help out when needed. It's like, we're all in this together.

Best of luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll figure out what's right for you!

 

[dennisr]

Good luck and the best on your adventure.

Just have one request, do not ask your mother for peanut butter while you are in BA.

 

[EricLovesBA]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]Social life.[/background]
Looks like some of the older more established expats have a good comity going here. The younger ones tend to come and go.
Its also pretty hard to break into local circles, unless you have a local BF/GF otherwise from my experience they don't really want to know about extranjeros.
I really would recommend a short stay here of a few months before committing your life. A lot of people I know can't wait to leave the place.

Strange - my perception has been somewhat the opposite - especially among those Argentines who speak some English. Although I do now have said gf (wife), so maybe that makes me biased. But over time my perception of the locals is that being social is basically their 1st priority in life. They certainly place far far far more time and energy in being social than I ever have or would dream of, and I don't notice them excluding outsiders, strangers, foreigners, etc. Only thing is you do have to encounter them in an accepted social setting - accept an invitation to some kind of get-together and take it from there.

 

[Jaredberryman]

If you can, try to work remotely in the U.S., or plan on having some savings and starting a business here. Please be aware that life in Buenos Aires is not easy going whatsoever, but is very fast paced and difficult. People here, though, place a high priority on relationships and will sacrifice a lot to maintain those relationships.

 

[Arizona Girl]

Wow!!! The out pouring or response, literally brought tears to my eyes this morning! Thank you all!
Ghost & Dennisr! You are hilarious!
EricLovesBA - thanks for the counter point. It's always good to hear both sides of peoples experience!
Meri - Thanks for the encouragement. This has been just a thought in my mind for 6 mnths now, and I'm pretty nervous still.
Myca - I've lived in Paraguay for about 2 years previously and visited Argentina for a couple of weeks. I have a friend in Mendoza and know a couple who spends summers in Bariloche. Do you think it'll seem really different for me still? I've lived in SA before, but I don't know if there is something particular to BA or Argentina in General or if its just the whole SA culture you are referring to. . . Could you tell me more about your experiences?
Lucha54 - Thanks for the details on the phone. I will work to get things set up to work remotely. I'm just concerned about sustainability.

Everyone - I'm not tied to BA. It just seems like a GREAT landing place. Any thoughts on other places to live that you think have a great expat community or some other undeniably attractive features?

Arizona Girl!!